Curious about the calculus for OOS who chose UA

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

<p>It is 2011, and in contrast to the past, UA’s student body now consists of almost 45 % out of state students. As an alum, I am not surprised that UA is an attractive choice for so many OOS. But I remain surprised when I see so many from Michigan, Connecticut, California, and other “Yankee” states (no offense meant) show interest in UA, especially given the state of Alabama’s rep, however overgeneralized.</p>

<p>I am very curious, what is in the calculus for most of you in deciding to come to Alabama to go to school? In particular, why do so many who could be admitted to top schools such as U Michigan, U Texas, any of the UC system schools, Ohio State, etc., choose UA? Are the slots for admission that tight? Are the scholarships much less generous at those kind of schools? Again, I am not surprised that when folks actually visit campus, they fall in love with UA, but what are some of the key reasons why some of you began to consider UA? Those of us who keep up with UA and its amazing progress know that it is a great place and institution, but how do so many OOS’ers find out too?</p>

2

<p>I chose bama because of the amazing scholarships they offered me. Tuition, housing, research money, 1k a year + 2.5k year for engineering, etc. The (from what I
ve read on this forum) really nice laptop was also a big factor, since my cheap parents have never bought me a decent computer. While some other schools offered me full tuition or full ride, bama’s offer was by far the best. Another thing was the personal attention i got. I got calls from bama students, offering advice and answering my questions over housing, scholarships, etc. Knowing that I get priority housing was also nice.</p>

<p>Here’s some schools I turned down:
Vanderbilt (not much money, family’s EFC was a lot)
Tulane(100k merit scholarship)
Baylor(full tuition)
UT Dallas(full tuition +)
University of Oklahoma(scholarship almost the same as bama, liked bama more, though)
UT Austin(not much money)
Texas A&M(about half tuition)
and my dad’s school (his university offers full tuition to children of faculty, but i don’t want to live at home, lol)</p>

3

<p>-Honors College…4 very distinct programs
-Great recruiting efforts…HS College Counselor and UA Rep
-Warmer weather…it’s been a brutal winter
-Southern charm…northern fast-paced hurried lifestyle is becoming less attractive to some
-Scholarship Merit Aid…of course is a huge bonus!</p>

4

<p>From OHIO</p>

<p>I have to agree with the other two posters. My son was a 2008 HS grad and NMF. He had no interest in applying to UA and thought he wanted a smaller elite school. I managed to convince him to apply in time to meet the scholarship deadlines. He was not only a top scholar, he was also a talented athlete. Since most of his schools he applied to were DIV III Athletics, he knew he would not see any Athletic Scholarship money. </p>

<p>He agreed to visit UA during his spring break only because we were already flying to re-visit Emory. I was the lucky one that joined my son during his spring break college visits. You did not have to sell me on UA. The hospitality, beautiful campus, nice weather and dorms were all great assets, but it was the NMF Scholarship package that had me sold. My son was drawn in by the personal connection from both students and staff he experienced during his overnight visit. (He met one of the coaches who arranged for my son to stay overnight in the dorm.) Within a one week period, UA moved from the bottom of the list of eleven schools he was admitted, to the top!</p>

<p>Emory - John Emory semi finalist 2/3 rd’s tuition
Case - 2/3 rd’s tuition
Davidson- 2/3 rd.s tuition
Chicago - 1/2 tuition
Vandy - 1/2 tuition
Carnegie = 1/2 tuition
Rice - 1/2 tuition
Washington Univ St Louis - withdrew application (got a bad read on the coach)
Texas A & M - 2/3rd’s tuition
Washington and Jefferson - 3/4 th’s tuition

  • we are only 20 minutes from The Ohio State University - son did not even apply because son wanted to go away to school. OSU also does not offer much in merit scholarships for in state students in his major.</p>

<p>UA has been the BEST fit for my son. He was also hand selected into the CBHP only one month before the start of the school year. He was even a late applicant (applied after his visit at the insistence of the Dean). My son LOVES UA!!! He has managed to balance academics, research (about 20 hours a week), athletics, leadership position on a University committee, Athletes in Action, bible study, and a girlfriend (he met at UA). He has earned recognition and prize money for his research and also the highest honor by the NCAA(Elite 88).</p>

<p>We love UA! Our youngest will join his brother at UA in August. Roll Tide!!!</p>

5

<p>We represent the non-honors, NMF, scholarship side of this forum. DD was a terrific student in high school but we knew we would pursue no accept any financial monies (long story…nuff said).<br>
The attributes on her “list” were short…we started with schools that had a HUGE football presence. DD’s older brother was a football player since he was 5…our home revolved around football…it was filled to brim with large offensive linemen boys (with a few tight ends and running backs thrown in). We had season tix for Mizzou and the kids began going to “football Saturdays” from the time they were tiny. DS was heavily recruited by many D1 schools but unfortunately due to a head injury his career came to an end. A school that had a very active football atmosphere was at the top of her list.
In addition DD also wanted a school that had a strong Greek presence on campus. She grew up watching an older sister and my self very involved in sorority life. In addition she had been schooled by DD#1 that part of life at college and success in the job world is bout networking and although not the only opportunity (honors colleges, research ect) the Greek system does afford those opportunities.
DH has a policy…apply to all the schools you think you’d like to attend and then we’ll visit…so…DD applied to and was accepted at the following schools…
Alabama
Arkansas
University of Washington
Oklahoma
Northwestern
University of Puget Sound
Pacific Lutheran University
Illinois
Missouri
Kansas
K-State
Yep …we visited them all!!! And some were great and some were painful (gotta tell you “waving the wheat” at Kansas was the worst!!! NJ Bama…we have the same feelings towards them that you do towards the “redheaded step child” in Alabama).
Narrowed it down to Arkansas, Illinois, UW, and Bama and made round two…Bama won hands down…!!!
The tour was nice but the people were what made it for DD. Everyone was so friendly…she feel in LOVE with sorority row…managed to talk with several girls there…they invited her into the houses…I really thought the kid was going to pitch a tent and just stay.<br>
Tailgating and going to a game were unbelievable! I am sure our friends at home thought we were raving lunatics when we came home. We had taken DS as well and he told his little sis…hands down “best football school ever”. Tailgated with some folks who adopted us…my DH was amazed at the flat screen tvs (52 inches!!) and the never ending supply of food throughout the day.
Since the day she has stepped on the campus it has been a fabulous experience…it has met every expectation and more!
I know y’all are wondering if the kid is going to graduate and actually work…well we hope :)…after realizing that being full tilt involved in all aspects of sorority life (DD is not a huge partier but likes to really get involved) and being a pre-med major do not mesh she has changed her major to nutrition and is having a terrific 2nd semester! She is balancing a full social and academic calendar (so far all A’s…wooot woot!) as well as being involved with recruitment next fall and a boyfriend (yes …she met this darling southern boy at Bama).
Interestingly enough there are 2 more girls at Bama from within a 10 mile radius of us (one from the other high school…cross town)…all 3 girls pledged the same sorority …not knowing each other before they arrived at Bama.
So a totally different perspective but one I felt should be shared as well.</p>

6

<p>My son will be selecting housing next week (non-honors). Looking for some advice from all of the experts out there! The suite style housing at Ridgecrest and Riverside looks “sweet”, but is also a bit more expensive that the typical dorm set up. He has found a room mate, so if he does end up choosing a dorm room with a double, I think he’s comfortable enough with his room mate that he’d be ok with that. They are thinking about Burke, does anyone have any experience with that building that would like to share? Any other recommendations? Suite style is not completely out of the question, but I think they are trying to save their parents a little cash! :slight_smile:
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have!</p>

7

<p>First contact with Alabama was Shane Sharpe’s letter amidst the deluge of mail received after the PSAT in son’s junior year. It got my attention. My son had already researched that Alabama gave out great merit aid for National Merit Finalists and decided after that letter that he should apply to Alabama. After researching and applying for the University Fellows and Computer-Based Honors programs he began to get excited about the possibility. He also applied to Auburn for their generous National Merit offer. He was still inclined to go to school in North Carolina, but, these offers drew him to apply and see what happened. He knows that we could afford to send him to one of our state schools but he’s sensitive to the burden it would put on our finances (yes, he’s a good one). Acceptances rolled in but there were few offers of merit aid to be had from the in-state options. He was invited to the Finalists’ Weekend at UA for the Computer-Based Honors Program the end of February and came home ready to sign. There were many revelations during the trip that generated that excitement. I think he had underestimated the opportunities that the CBH program represented until he visited. Also, the super suites were far superior to any housing at the two state schools he had visited. The beauty of the campus was another draw. Alabama was clearly the front runner after his visit but I counseled him not to commit until he got his financial aid packages from other schools to see what they offered. We still went ahead and paid his admission fee and housing fee since he was pretty sure this was his choice. Once he was offered a position in the CBH program it was a done deal. He wrote the other colleges to decline their offers. We never got those in-state financial aid packets but I suspect none would come close to the generous offer Alabama has for National Merit Finalists.</p>

<p>Acceptances left behind:</p>

<p>UNC-CH - made semis for Morehead-Cain. Not the best fit for Engineering Major</p>

<p>NC State - made semis for Park. No other offers of scholarship money.</p>

<p>Georgia Tech - no merit offers. Not a real option without merit aid.</p>

<p>Auburn - This one deserves some discussion. Son was admittedly drawn in by the National Championship Football run early on. If Auburn had hooked him into visiting he might have gotten caught up in the ‘family’ thing. He never visited the Campus and it made this pretty easy. From reading on College Confidential I felt that Alabama represented the better opportunity. I may be wrong, but, here were the reasons for that perception:</p>

<ol>
<li>UA has opportunities within the Honors College (UFE and CBHP). Programs that AU either does not have or does not promote. The pursuit of these opportunities also keeps prospective students minds on UA whereas there is little left to engage them with AU from December on. </li>
<li>Housing options - from reading on CC my impression was that while both universities offer honors housing to the National Merit Finalists the reality is that there may not be enough housing for everyone that wants it at AU. Again, this was my perception and it may be incorrect.</li>
<li>Departmental Scholarships - UA has automatic scholarships based on stats for their Engineering School that are renewable for GPA 3.0 and progress in major. For my son’s stats he receives and additional $2500/yr from UA. Son applied for Engineering Scholarship at AU and was offered $1000 for freshman year that may be renewable if he maintains a 3.7 GPA. </li>
</ol>

<p>This is not to denigrate AU’s offer. It remains a generous offer that we were thankful for and represents a great opportunity for students. For us, however, the scale tipped rather easily to Tuscaloosa. m2ck’s tireless response to questions here and the prompt response by staff at UA to any inquiries made this a most pleasant process. Thanks to all of you that participate here.</p>

<p>Roll Tide!</p>

8

<p>Have to jump in here, even though D hates it when I talk about her:)</p>

<p>I was doing the pre-screening for D and the 100’s of pieces of mail she was getting with her high Sophomore year PSAT. It was my job to throw out all the Mid-West, and South schools and just deliver the Northeast, and Northwest. There was the tiniest amount of interest in the UC system. Dream school would be Cambridge. Thought maybe the Ivies would be a challenge.</p>

<p>D is in the unfortunate position of having parents that the government considers rich, but the parents do not;) We had a rude awakening when discovering how much cost was involved with the top tier schools she was looking at, and that very few if any offered merit based aid, only “need based,” and according to them we had no need.</p>

<p>I started researching schools that offered merit based aid, about the time she became NMSF, and I came across several posts by, you guessed it…M2CK. She PM’d me and asked if we had received UA’s offer yet, and I said no, but I would watch for it. Now remember, all mail from the South was supposed to go in the trash so had I not heard from M2CK I would have filed it!!</p>

<p>The offer is lucrative, D was intrigued by the idea of not having to compete for aid, but still couldn’t imagine going to the South. So mom set up a visit, with quite a bit of push back from D (we almost didn’t make our flight because she was having misgivings about even going down!)</p>

<p>Leaving the frozen Midwest in October, and arriving to sunny and 70’s was the first positive:) wandering around campus and ending up in the middle of a Quidditch tournament just about sealed the deal LOL!! The campus is gorgeous, Dr Sharpe was amazing, the Dr’s Caldwell were friendly, helpful, and their research was fascinating. D came away with “it’s on the list.”</p>

<p>After all the research and time that has gone by, D has come to realize she is getting the best of both worlds. She will be surrounded by others that have a similar drive to succeed, she gets the financial backing of a state flagship, and yet she receives the small, cohesive unit that she hoped for, with the honors college. Being invited to participate in CBHP sealed the deal, even though she received full tuition scholarships from every schools she applied to.</p>

<p>D is still receiving push back from friends and tecahers at school. “The University of Alabama? Why not Ivy, your religious school, or our state school?!” But she proudly put on her Bama sweatshirt a couple of days ago, and wore it to school. </p>

<p>Roll Tide, and thanks to all of you great cheerleaders and supporters on CC!!!</p>

9

<p>Well, as an ex-Yankee who has lived in Loozyana and now lives in NC, I was already sold on the South. My old bones cannot take New England weather any more; we have been down here 21+ years.</p>

<p>We chose UA because they offered far and away the best scholarship package. (I understand AU, Oklahoma, Arizona State, and Central Florida offer similar packages…but UA’s was the only one we found out about in time. Thanks to mom2collegekids–cannot thank you enough, mom!)</p>

<p>We turned down:</p>

<p>UNC Chapel Hill – no merit aid beyond measly $1K NMF offer
UNC Asheville – no merit aid, not even their lowest ($1k) scholarship
Appalachian State – no merit aid, even after they’d begged DS to apply for scholarships
Western Carolina – $6K in merit aid, slightly more than half of COA. Would have been our choice if UA had not trumped their offer.
Ave Maria – $14K in merit aid; very generous, but still less than half of COA
Franciscan of Steubenville – $7,500 in merit aid…not even close. But we appreciated the thought!
Belmont Abbey College – finally came through with $15K scholarship and $1K grant, but COA is $36K…not an option.</p>

<p>We made our decision entirely based on $$$, but now we’re pretty excited about the other things UA has to offer. :D</p>

10

<p>D was intrigued by the idea of not having to compete for aid</p>

<p>Amen!! Driving all over the place to interview for long-shot competitive scholarships is not our idea of a good time!</p>

11

<p>:)</p>

<p>And, I thought this was going to be some kind of math-related question. :wink: I guess I can put my sharpened pencils away.</p>

<p>*D was intrigued by the idea of not having to compete for aid</p>

<p>Amen!! Driving all over the place to interview for long-shot competitive scholarships is not our idea of a good time! *</p>

<p>Same here…the thought of all those “scholarship weekends” (often at our expense), were not enticing to us. They seemed like cheap ways for other schools to get a lot of high stats students on campus, only to give away a few scholarships.</p>

<p>What I keep hearing in PMs from students/parents is that their own flagships have become too expensive and/or hard to get in. </p>

<p>Those from Illinois are upset that UIUC has become hard to get into and quite expensive for an instate public…and the costs seem to be rising and unpredictable. </p>

<p>Schools like Penn St are charging about $16k for instate tuition (plus R&B and books), so a 2/3 tuition or full tuition scholarship from Bama, makes Bama much more affordable. </p>

<p>When I met California families at Family Weekend last fall, they said that even without the scholarships, Bama would cost them about the same as a UC instate. Their kids were shut out of UCLA and Berkeley even though they were good students. They really wanted to go to a flagship type of school with football and other hoopla associated with school spirit. They didn’t feel that they could get that at a school like UCSD or UCSB or the other UCs that aren’t known for “big sports”. </p>

<p>Also…Bama’s name is in the air…it’s everywhere…you turn on ESPN, and it gets mentioned. It’s getting mentioned at family get-togethers, etc. As Nick Saban said in that video I posted on another thread…“this is one of the hottest schools to go to in this country because of all the enhancements…”</p>

12

<p>They are thinking about Burke, does anyone have any experience with that building that would like to share?</p>

<p>I’ve heard good things about Burke.</p>

<p>If you do go with suites-style, then Lakeside East is still non-honors I think.</p>

13

<p>They seemed like cheap ways for other schools to get a lot of high stats students on campus, only to give away a few scholarships.</p>

<p>Ain’t that the truth!!</p>

14

<p>m2ck, what thread did you post that video? I remember reading the quote, but I don’ t remember seeing the video?</p>

<p>To OP, while some other schools offered S the same dollar amount of scholarship money as Bama, when the COA is $55K it doesn’t come close. As a full pay family, you think about whether they are worth the $30K extra per year, none of them were. I’m not sure if S could have applied to any that would have been. But for us it was the opportunities, the honors college, the people & the campus.</p>

15

<p>DD has gotten used to the blank looks when she says she is going to Alabama. When she mentions the scholarship, classmates and teachers are satisfied. </p>

<p>But I think the primary reason she picked UA is the atmosphere. Everyone we’ve met seems enthusiastic and friendly. This is a big contrast to the folks in our area.</p>

<p>DD chose UA over:
Penn State
Pitt
Virginia Tech
Clemson
Georgia</p>

16

<p>Read Aphimommy’s post and exchange “daughter” for “son” and you’d pretty much have my story as well as my lil brothers. </p>

<p>I was a huge sports nut growing up and wanted to go to a school with a big time football and basketball program. Bama football spoke for itself and at the time (late 80’s early 90’s) Wimp Sanderson had UA basketball rolling and a perennial top 20 team. </p>

<p>I had actually grew up a Penn St fan and had an older brother who attended there. But I wanted to go away to school and Penn St didn’t have the combination I was looking for. </p>

<p>So anyway, my college “choices” were narrowed down using Street & Smith’s top 20 lists for football and basketball :-). Al Gore (sarcasm) hadn’t blessed us with the internet back then, so I relied on college handbooks from my guidance counselor and any info I could gather from sports magazine articles and came up with UA as my #1 school. I applied, was accepted, and enrolled, sight unseen. Drove down 5 days before classes started to attend late orientation and immediately realized I made the greatest choice ever when I stepped out of the car. The goosebumps I got that day still show up each and every time I visit the campus nowadays. </p>

<p>I may have picked my college for all the wrong reasons. But if there was a Hall of Fame for picks, I’d be a first ballot inductee.</p>

<p>Roll Tide!!</p>

17

<p>NJ Bama…you and I would get along just fine :)…if you ever have an inclination to come to Missouri and see Mizzou play…pm me…lots of bedrooms…we’d love to have you (and lil bro too!). A big Roll Tide and a M I Z—Z O U!!!</p>

18

<p>I would’ve responded (but even that you did, I still must): Z-O-U</p>

<p>I look forward to embracing the SEC…from Big 12 (when we lived in MO) to the Big 10 (since we currently live in Indiana) to SEC (where our money will be heading soon) ;)</p>

19

<p>Thanks ahpimommy. Maybe Bama will schedule a home & home with Mizzou like we did in the 70’s. I enjoy traveling around and seeing other schools when I can and have no doubt I’d have a great time in Columbia. Nothing beats a fall Saturday on a college campus.</p>

<p>I hate I can’t get down there for A-Day this weekend but I will be down there for several games (Ark, LSU, UT) in the fall. Maybe we can meet up for a drink then. </p>

<p>Roll Tide!!</p>

20

<p>UA got into the mix with the early scholarship offers, no 2 - 3 competition visits, DS wanted nothing to do with dog and pony shows. His history of hard work and commitments are who he is and what he’s bringing to the college. </p>

<p>He had a nice selection, with enough money coming in (with exeption of Calif. schools - no $ there) made each of them “doable” . So we left it to him. </p>

<p>Why UA? Honors College (small school within large school experience) put it into serious contention — the aspect putting it over the top - THE PEOPLE :slight_smile: . From his logistical analysis, degree (poss. even masters) with no debt leaves more $ for grad school. Housing is icing on the cake.</p>