Reposted from the UA forums: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1861052-alabamas-nmf-scholarship-is-still-available-if-you-need-a-safety-apply-now.html
For those of you dreaming of an elite college, but struggling with how to pay for it, trust me, there are worse things in life than getting the bulk of your education for free at a mid-tier university.
Maybe we can post links to other affordable safeties for high-stats students that are still accepting apps here, as well.
One can sift through these lists for those where applications for admission and the large scholarships are still open:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
Universitynif Alabama at Huntsville also.
What classifies a school as a safety?
And if that is done, isn’t it deflating if that is the school s(he) enrolls at?
Re #3
Automatic admission and automatic affordability would make the school a safety.
It is not necessarily true that a student will see a safety as an undesirable choice.
That really depends on the student, the school itself, and whether or not it was the only choice the student had at the end of the day.
The best advice I ever received on CC was to make sure my kid had at least TWO schools to choose from after the dust had settled. If the “reaches” and “matches” end up to be unattainable, unaffordable, or a serious financial stretch, it’s really nice to feel like the decision hasn’t been made for you. Most kids like to have a choice.
And few kids think about this stuff once they get settled on campus and start making friends.
What is deflating is not being able to attend college bc you cannot afford to attend anywhere you were accepted.
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And if that is done, isn’t it deflating if that is the school s(he) enrolls at?
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Deflating? how? @ClarinetDad16
What words would you have for the many, many professionals and soon-to-be professionals that attended their safeties? My son’s orthopedic surgeon went to his safety (for free). Was it “deflating” for him? My kids went to their safety; was it deflating for them?
http://drtimjordan.com/2016/02/does-it-matter-where-you-go-to-college/
An interesting read.
@sosconcern Thanks for the link.
Another thought…How does UG impact students when applying to grad schools? In really top programs the competition for being the top student is tough. If you are not in the top couple of students within a dept and those other top students are applying to grad schools with similar goals, who gets the recommendation for specific grad programs if multiple students want to apply to the same program? How does being 8th in a dept at a top school impact where you apply and your recommenders vs. being the top student in a dept at a different school? (Not 100%'positive of the answer, but it seems like it might be worth contemplating.)
Fwiw…I can not share enough just how much my son loves UA. Zero disappointment and is very much doing exactly what the link describes:
He is definitely grabbing every opportunity.
Totally agree with @Mom2aphysicsgeek - DD is working hard and taking advantage of the opportunities. Loves UA.
True—but a state flagship? That’ll count as a plus pretty much anywhere, no matter whether it’s Michigan or, say, Mississippi.
And really, even more important (for research programs—professional programs may be different) is the applicant’s research statement and research experience.
This would only happen if the child sees and picks the safety as “that place where I applied because I know I’ll get in but I really don’t want to go there”. To me, that’s not a safety. That’s a school the child should not apply or attend. If a student takes the time to build the college list bottom up and research schools they truly would want to attend, the safety may not be the last choice school. It helps if the parent shares a similar view of the college list…
Absolutely agree with @LucieTheLakie that all students should have TWO safeties on their list so that, no matter what happens, there’s always a choice.
And @dfbdfb mentioned research . . . I’ll just say that there are worse things in life than enrolling at a research university with a top football program. What do you think all that football revenue pays for, anyway? (Hint, hint: state of the art research facilities!)
I wouldn’t call UA a midtier University and sell it as a safety.
There was a kid last year who was admitted to all the elite universities and chose UA for the money (is he attending?)
Not sure what the numbers are now but it is the only large public consistently winning national championships in football with close to 50% OOS population - the diversity of student population not available to anyone in any other national public school.
I think people are missing out the diversity of student population and the school is home to Saint Nick S.
Why does it seem like there is such a strong idea that a safety for admission and affordability must be an undesirable or unsuitable school?
there are safeties and there are safeties. If a student’s safety is their local CC or some unknown podunk directional then that’s quite different from when a safety is a flagship or regionally strong school.
Heck, I know a kid who was admitted to Alabama and a couple of well known private colleges/universities, with full need-based aid at the privates . . . and he chose Alabama!
Just as a point of fact, football is a money-loser, draining cash from colleges’ general funds, in nearly every case. Alabama is (probably) one of the exceptions, but no, in most cases football is not paying for any research facilities, whether state-of-the-art or not.
But that “unknown Podunk directional” can be the “regionally strong school”. I would say five years ago, or last year, very very few people outside the DC-Baltimore area ever heard of University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) but it is a strong regional school (with the ultimate directional school name).
The advice of liking your safety still applies. If the student wants to go out of Maryland, UMBC is a terrible safety even if the COA is near-free. If the student turns up his/her nose at the thought of UMBC because it’s 20 miles away from home, that student shouldn’t apply. There are plenty of schools that can work as a safety. Safety doesn’t have to mean “the school of last resort” or “if all else fails, I’ll go there”.