Looking to see if someone(s) has a strong opinion one way or another. It looks like my D’s college decision is going to come down to attending WP Carey at ASU (most likely in the Barrett Honors College) or the University of Alabama. As a TX resident, she would be OOS at both. Texas A&M, Arkansas (honors), SMU, TCU, and a few others are still in play but ASU and Alabama are the front runners.
Apples to apples with scholarships and financial aid taken into account at both, tuition and R&B at ASU Barrett would cost about $25-29K per year, and Alabama would be R&B only at approximately $10K per year because she has been offered a full tuition merit scholarship based on a 32ACT and 3.7 GPA (uw). ASU would leave her with about $20K in student loans to take care of after graduation and she would graduate from Alabama with no student loans.
I’d love to hear any constructive opinions as we begin to weigh our options. Thank you.
My D is in a somewhat similar situation, being accepted at Carey, and waiting on a Barrett decision. I was recently thinking of suggesting Alabama to her as a backup (there are a couple of days left to apply for scholarships!), as she’d also only have to pay room and board.
I don’t think she’d be interested in Alabama, though, as she wouldn’t want to consider going to school in Tuscaloosa, while going to school in Tempe/Phoenix sounds at least interesting. She might like Alabama if she visited, but I don’t think she would. (And, to be honest, she’s much more likely to end up going to school in Virginia or Massachusetts anyway.)
Carey seems to have some educational advantage over Alabama, though not a big one. The Barrett program seems really good, while the Alabama honors doesn’t seem to stand out. Poets & Quants just ranked 50 undergrad business programs, and I think Carey was 43rd (not great, but something) and Alabama wasn’t on the list. My impression is that would fit with other rankings.
Still, $10K vs. $27K is not nothing. If your D really feels that ASU is much more for her in terms of location, vibe, culture, nearby opportunities, etc., it may be worth it. If not, it seems she (and you) could really like Alabama and the idea of being debt free.
This is a good one as these 2 will likely be on my daughter’s list to apply to next year. Quality wise I think both programs are fairly similar across most rankings. Carey did well a couple years ago on USNews (27) and Alabama Accounting ranks very high but overall I think they are a very close match. The full tuition merit scholarship at Alabama is hard to beat . . . for a similar outcome. With your D’s stats the ASU President’s Scholarship should be $14k bringing tuition in at just over $11k. Not bad but once again free tuition is hard to beat. We know some students at Barrett who really love it - great eduction and special treatment. Hear nothing but good things at Alabama - tough choice, but definitely a financial favorite for you. Good luck!
she wouldn't want to consider going to school in Tuscaloosa, while going to school in Tempe/Phoenix sounds at least interesting.
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That sounds strange.
Have you ever been to those cities? Tuscaloosa is a beautiful city, very modern, with lovely surroundings. I just went thru Tempe and Phoenix within the last two weeks. Tuscaloosa is certainly not inferior in any way.
And the University of Alabama is far, far, far more beautiful than ASU on any day of the week.
@my2caligirls Will you be visiting Bama? I think you and your DDs will love it. I’m from Calif, now living in Alabama. There are a 1000 Calif students at Bama. Calif is #5 is sending students to Bama.
@mom2collegekids I am constantly learning about college options on CC and always take note of what you share - you are a very generous resource so thx! Have a couple of friends who’s daughters go there and love it. Bama is definitely on our list - ACT is a 29, needs a 30 to be a contender and warrant a visit but I am sure she will get there - not sure about a 32 but I know she will do her best. Met the Bama rep at our high school college night and she was great at selling everything that Bama has to offer. D interested in business and I have that covered, but also considering Occupational Therapy and that gets more complicated. As we progress I will reach out to you - thanks again and happy holidays.
My daughter in general isn’t interested in schools in the South (we are in northern VA, which is not really the South). And she prefers schools with access to major cities. So besides the Northeast, she’s considering schools in Los Angeles, Denver, and Phoenix/Tempe. But as someone who is 18 and not a big sports fan, she may have barely heard of Tuscaloosa, and knows Alabama only as a state in the Deep South.
I quite agree that anyone who visited Alabama and Tuscaloosa (which I’ve heard good things about) and ASU might well prefer Alabama. But as this is just considering a possible backup school, I wouldn’t push my daughter to consider places she’s not interested in.
I appreciate the insight received so far. Thank you.
There are still a few wildcards out there, so it’s not just between those 2 schools right now, but I predict that is what it is going to come down to. Straight up ASU vs Alabama with no Barrett involved, I’d be encouraging her more towards Alabama, but right now I am attempting to remain mostly neutral awaiting final acceptance and scholarship offers. Texas A&M with little or no scholarship help or SMU with a lot of scholarship and grant assistance may still have an influence.
In the short time I’ve spent on this site, I see a lot of people asking for advice and opinions, but do not actually see how the scenarios played out in the end. Without over posting, I’ll do my best to keep you informed and let everyone know what happens at the conclusion of the decision process. Thanks again.
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My daughter in general isn’t interested in schools in the South (we are in northern VA, which is not really the South).
knows Alabama only as a state in the Deep South.
@ mommdc, Yes, all of that is true and being considered. In addition to the extra Barrett fee, the housing and meal plans for Barrett students are pretty much the most expensive ones available. They are nicer dorms and the Barrett only cafeteria is top notch all the way, but one does pay for it.
ASU is a big urban university. It has a very solid business school. The business faculty is strong. With an honors college, one would get much better services. In contract, if not in the honors college, one needs to investigate how student friendly it would be in terms of access to faculty support, staff services, office hours, etc. I had taught at another public university in AZ, and I had heard some stories about the level of student support at ASU then. I cannot be sure about what I heard, but I think that should be something anyone who is interested in a super large research state university (not just ASU) should look into. In general, in a very large research state university, faculty priority tends to give to doctoral students, followed by master students and then (non-honors) undergraduate students.
Bama, in terms of reputation, is a typical state flagship university in the South. Its business school has a weaker faculty than ASU mainly because the faculty pay is VERY different. It is a fun school with tons of typical college experiences.
DD may not be interested in a school until she visits! I know many students who have changed their mind once they had a favorable visit and actually learned more.
Sometimes the budget and cost/benefit lead out too.
A new hired finance endowed chair at ASU will cost around $325-$400K. At Bama, the same hiring would have a budget more like $250k. I know a few peoples teaching at both schools. They are different tiers in terms of faculty research. An often cited ranking system (not a perfect one though) puts ASU at #22 and Bama at #126:http://apps.wpcarey.asu.edu/fin-rankings/rankings/results.cfm.
Well, I think it depends. ASU has a better business school, and probably a stronger honors college.
But Alabama is still a great university, and it offers the more traditional undergraduate experience than ASU does.
So it depends on what’s important for her.
It also depends on career goals. Not that a 17-year-old needs to know what she wants to do yet. But if she has ambitions of competitive jobs and top employers right out of college, Carey could help her get there faster. (She could still get there from Alabama, but that would probably necessitate working your way up and/or an MBA from a top-ranked school.)
I’d like to see the evidence for this (not being argumentative, if you have some I’d genuinely like to see it.)
I think some of prof2dad’s comments are aposite, Alabama needs to raise its game in terms of research and papers published so that it can become better known in the academic community. The lack of reputation in this area is why it has not risen in the college rankings IMO. However this does not speak to the quality of undergraduate education. It is entirely possible to have great undergraduate teaching independent of high profile research as we can see in many liberal arts colleges. For most undergraduates not intending to move directly to grad school the most important consideration is which employers are interested in hiring from the college. UA most certainly has high profile employers hiring out of their undergraduate programs in business and other majors.