<p>Wow. I think I am just going to tell her we are visiting Alabama, and see if a friend is able to go with her. Miami U and Clemson are not an option, without loans, if her dad does not pony up some funds. Quite frankly, Alabama would be about as “high” as I would go, with Montana a bit less (both of those would likely require nominal loans), then Alabama-Birmingham and George Mason…she is also aware of the cc and then uva option (no merit money). She has merit funds everywhere but chapel hill and I have stressed the four year commitment and no loans, so I think I will have to just sit her down, show her the numbers, tell her we are visiting Alabama, take her, and then have her make a choice without any reliance on her dad. Her dad’s kicking in would just make it all debt free for her, though he is not impressed with most of her other schools and would likely not pay at all just because of the choice. And I can read how wrong that is in so many ways, so no counting on him at all. Montana was much more appealing than we would have thought - after visiting the honors college (we were in the area) we found the honors college to be friendly, open, no pretense, and many students choose the honors college over Ivies due to numbers…and many of the students coming out of their honors college have great packages and offers at selective graduate programs. It’s not as large as Alabama, much colder, much farther, though warm and friendly and in a beautiful little town, artsy, etc. and I know she would excel academically and be able to keep her scholarship without stress. Also, within the department, there are numerous and, per a phone conversation, not too competitive scholarships that she has a chance at, that could be a bit more funds to throw in the pot. While the travel may seem daunting to some, after having made the trek numerous times, it’s much more “doable” from the east coast than it seems initially. That being said, something tells me to have her visit Alabama if only to ensure we make an informed choice. She did apply early enough to get the scholarships, but we did not apply directly to the honors college…would that still be an option? </p>
<p>Yes, she can still apply to the honors college. It’s automatic acceptance based on stats so don’t stress out over the essay (or whatever they call it). I think they ask for a short summary of the student but I really don’t remember. </p>
<p>If she likes the outdoors and is not bothered by the cold she will like Missoula. UofA and UofM are both good options. I am guessing the cost difference is the difference in room and board costs?</p>
<p>Twobeornot, it would be a great kindness to your daughter if someone close to your ex could have him just level with your daughter about his financial contributions (or lack thereof). </p>
<p>I have a niece by marriage who was HS class of 2013. Top 2% of her class, great GPA, good test scores, stellar ECs, volunteer work, etc. Her parents have been financially irresponsible their whole lives. College was a train wreck I could see coming for this girl’s lifetime. At the start of her junior year, I did all I could do to steer her towards schools she could attend due to merit aid. She qualified for a full ride at some schools, others she qualified for enough that with work and loans she could manage. Niece was determined to attend Marquette. Her parents took her to visit Marquette. Niece thought up until deposit time that somehow her parents would somehow magically find the dollars for her to attend Marquette. We all know what happened. Niece did not have a Plan B because her parents did not level with her. She wound up starting at our local CC (fully funded by niece) and her parents promised that they when she graduates the CC, they will fund the 3 years she will need at Marquette to graduate in her selected program. That will be the day I log on to CC and see threads about pigs flying. </p>
<p>Your D needs to be realistic about her opportunities, and her teenage brain has a hard enough time doing that without a wishy-washy parent. I know <em>you</em> know all this - but you need someone to lay it all out for her. If her father won’t do that, is there someone else she trusts and respects that could talk to her? </p>
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<p>If that’s what’s appealing about Montana (and I suspect there’s much more), I think she’ll find that at Alabama as well. People are very friendly and the folks at the honors college exceptionally so. Many of the posters on here can tell you about their students’ successes with graduate school and jobs. </p>
<p>As for costs, Alabama’s room and board is significantly more than Montana’s. However, if you’re going by the COA numbers Bama publishes, those are high. You can save over $3000 a year by choosing a standard double room instead of the suites that are built into the COA estimate. $600 a year in Dining Dollars must be purchased, but can be refunded at the end of the year if not used. My D had over $550 refunded to her last year. And after the first year a meal plan is not required. My D’s board costs sophomore year are significantly less than they were freshman year when she was required to have a big meal plan. After freshman year there are off-campus living options that are less expensive than the dorms, too.</p>
<p>Is your daughter interested in biology, psychology, or music? My daughter is a junior with a major in bio, double minor in psych and music (flute). She LOVES Alabama, so much that it was the only school for which she submitted an application. She’s involved in two research labs, and will be the primary author on a bio paper to be published this spring through her research professor’s lab. Daughter plans on getting a Ph.D. in genetics/genomics and going into research. </p>
<p>I have a feeling I could get her to sit down and talk with your daughter if you do visit campus. She has lots of friends, so she could probably find somebody who knows something about whatever is of interest to your daughter. </p>
<p>If you’re interested, PM me or let me know to PM you so we can arrange something.</p>
<p>“” but we did not apply directly to the honors college…would that still be an option? “”</p>
<p>Absolutely! Apply today! it’s an easy app. And don’t worry about the “essay”…it’s not really an essay and it doesnt’ matter. Just write a few sentences to introduce yourself.</p>
<p>And if your D like Montana’s honors college, then she’ll like Bama’s. </p>
<p>When can you visit? (Again, avoid a Saturday visit because tours are already booked up and she wouldn’t be able to meet with faculty or anything on a weekend.)</p>
<p>Set up your campus visit and then contact Susan in the Honors College. </p>
<p>Set up your tour here: <a href=“http://tour.ua.edu/”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama;
<p>Don’t delay setting up your campus tour! The tour is a mix of walking and riding in a small bus, so each tour is strictly limited to the number of seats on that small bus.</p>
<p>In the email to the below listed people, include: •Student’s name and contact info
•Date and time of the Campus tour that you’ve reserved.
•GPA and test scores (include likely NMSF if applicable)
•Likely majors
•Career interests (including med, law, etc)
•Anything particular that you want to see. If you have an interest in seeing the new Science and Engineering Complex, the TV or radio stations, the B-school or what-have-you, let them know.</p>
<p>Honors Recruitment</p>
<p>Susan Alley
270 Nott Hall
205-348-5599
<a href=“mailto:susan.alley@ua.edu”>susan.alley@ua.edu</a></p>
<p>Neil Adams
<a href=“mailto:neil.adams@ua.edu”>neil.adams@ua.edu</a></p>
<p>They will arrange the rest of the day…meeting with faculty, honors people, touring honors dorms, etc.</p>
<p>Sometimes mail goes to their SPAM folders, so call them if you haven’t heard back within a few business days. They do an excellent job and work very hard. </p>
<p>I may have missed this… What is your D’s major and career goal?</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for all of the helpful responses! To answer a few queries, I, and my husband, have attempted (for over a year now) to obtain a commitment from my daughter’s father re: college and the response is always the same - as if it’s an international, multimillion dollar business negotiation. The most recent, in the past week, was well over two hours with our commitment and his never committing to anything…another attempt a couple of days ago has gone unanswered. The charade has to end as a decision has to be made. I’ve just told my daughter the plan, and that our focus will be to move forward with the affordable options, and only those, and if he comes through in the end, fabulous and, if not, we will keep on our path and things will work out. I will have her apply to the honors college this weekend and I will contact Susan in the morning. My daughter is interested in english and history, and political science, but also excels in maths and sciences and knows she can change her course…at this time, though, her thoughts are politics. </p>
<p>Again, thanks for all the advice and assistance and I hope to be able to visit in the next couple of weeks!</p>
<p>Being from Charlotte NC and having a Presidential Scholar student who wouldn’t even apply to UNC-CH (you can PM me if you want to discuss that) I would echo the other comments that your D would find like minded peers and find her classes to be challenging at UA. </p>
<p>Several years back our CC friend from Hawaii (Malani where are you?) put very nicely how he took his NMF son to see Alabama somewhat against his wishes…you can look up his older posts or PM him, his son now says going to Alabama was the best decision he could have made!</p>
<p>Good luck to your D and your family as you navigate this process :)</p>
<p>We are from Ohio and my kids crossed Miami of Ohio off their list upon returning from a visit to UA. Miami offered them the Harrison scholarship that included full tuition. We visited many, many schools and UA was our favorite. My wife and I thought that UA reminded us of a bigger Miami of Ohio in terms of campus beauty. Our kids are thriving at UA.</p>
<p>I echo CrimsonMomNC’s sentiment. DD only applied to Bama, would not even consider Chapel Hill. Get her to visit and she will be hooked! Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Tobeornot - I so hope everything works out for your daughter! I agree with everybody else - get her to visit and the rest will fall into place. We live in Texas, and I thought my daughter was crazy when she told me she wanted to go to Alabama (ok, maybe slightly less so when she mentioned the Presidential scholarship) and went on my first visit to Tuscaloosa with very low expectations. About five minutes into our meeting with Susan in the honors college, my attitude started to change. Each person we met seemed to be nicer than the last, and the campus is truly impressive. Please keep us posted on how this all progresses! And Roll Tide!!!</p>
<p>Good luck in the decision (and funding) process. I agree that absent your ex paying for four plus years of UNC right now, UNC is not a viable option. Maybe she can attend UNC for grad school. </p>
<p>I’ve known a few people who went to school in Montana. If one likes the outdoors and living in a somewhat rural area, Montana (and Montana State) can be a great choice. While one can typically get to Missoula easily during the summer, such is not always the case during winter, especially during school breaks. Expect airfare to cost 50-100% more during breaks and plan ahead in case of flight delays. Except for a freak snow “storm” every couple years, Birmingham’s airport has lots of different flight options, which tend to arrive on-time or early. It’s very easy to fly Virginia-Atlanta-Birmingham as there are often flights every 60-90 minutes.</p>
<p>While it’s not for everyone, UA offers opportunities which suit a wide variety of interests. It’s not a party school unless one is looking for the party atmosphere. Interested students could probably find a party atmosphere at most colleges/universities, unless it’s a very religious school.</p>
<p>Schedule the visit - work out all the details and make the trip as fun as you can for your DD.</p>
<p>You will need to call Honor’s College directly. I know there is a heavy bunch of students visiting campus and many of these schedule visits through the end of the school year are ‘filled’ - hopefully they can make some good arrangements for when you can visit. You have an area recruiter that you can find how to contact through admissions.</p>
<p>Learn as much as you can on-line and also look at the video tour.</p>
<p>UA has a lot of campus excitement.</p>
<p>A good friend (who lives in TX but use to live here) and H and DD did not visit an out of state school with high merit until weeks before final decision date (April last year). I encouraged my friend to absolutely make the quick trip, and they are so glad they did. They decided to visit it and another college in that state with a quickly arranged trip - DD had high interest in high reputation school with no merit (girl was high stat student). They left the decision up to DD, and DD came through with choosing the high merit (also high reputation school) and she loves it there. IMHO I would have directed DD more because I am not one to throw away money that I have; I would not have been financially able to ‘afford’ the high reputation school with no merit award.</p>
<p>Since we live in AL, we have had the luxury of visiting UA a number of special visit days (Engineering Day, University Day, Capstone Scholars Day) along with being on campus for three UA Honor Band opportunities and other events (DD who will be a student at UA in the fall had a Duke TIP state honor which was awarded in 8th grade at UA).</p>
<p>A slight majority of students are from OOS, so the school will have a lot of comfort for students like your DD.</p>
<p>Help guide your DD through.</p>
<p>My DD is in a similar situation. Early in the application process, I suggested Alabama to my daughter, mostly as a financial safety - she is NMF - but also in part due to all of the positive feedback about bama on CC and also had some good feedback from several local students attending bama. The 5 year scholarship for NMFs is also very appealing, since it can be used for graduate level studies, and she will have a bunch of APs for credit. We have not visited the campus due to time and money constraints(we live in the mid-atlantic).</p>
<p>DD fell in love with Clemson and their bioengineering program. She was invited to compete for their National Scholar full-ride scholarship, but just learned today that she did not get it. They offered some merit aid, but Clemson would still be out of range for us financially. </p>
<p>Our state university offered her some merit (not nearly as much as bama) but she was not sure she wanted to major in engineering at the time she applied, so put biochemistry as her first choice, and the biomedical engineering program there has very limited seats, not likely she could transfer into the major, and the program is new and not nearly as developed as Clemson’s.</p>
<p>I would like to bring her to bama for a visit after she gets over her Clemson disappointment-crushed at the moment- 
I am worried that we have not made enrollment or housing deposit at bama yet. What kind of housing situation would she be looking at now? Are there awful dorms/locations which she would end up in? She also did not apply to engineering at bama, went with biochemistry. Not sure about bio-engineering at bama - it appears to be more of just a concentration of chemical engineering?</p>
<p>She is still waiting to hear from several schools, but not sure about merit aid.She may qualify for some need-based aid, if available, but like most families, our EFC is 2 -3X what we can actually afford without selling our home and belongings! We also have a sophomore in HS, so we have to be mindful of not getting in over our heads and not having any funds left for her college expenses. Of course merit aid is much more attractive and predictable. </p>
<p>She was also accepted by UNC Chapel Hill, but knew that it was a financial long shot from the get go, so is not disappointed. Was also accepted by Villanova, but it will probably end up being out of range for us financially also, since she did not get invited to compete for their big scholarship. Got offered full-tuition by George Mason, but is not in love with the campus (an up and coming school that is transitioning from being more commuter to being more residential).</p>
<p>We are lucky that DD has some good options, but it is definitely an uphill battle to get a child to consider them when they are not high on their list. Even though we had many discussions about our financial reality well in advance of visits and applying, and DD understands our limitations, it is hard to overcome these feelings of disappointment. I hope I can get her to seriously consider bama!</p>
<p>mamag2855 call UA housing and ask if she puts in the housing application and her deposit, can she still get honor’s housing or what kind of on campus housing? Before Feb 1 has online room selection starting May 1.</p>
<p>Look at the earlier posts on this thread re contacting the honors people and some of the other parent and student comments.</p>
<p>MamaG</p>
<p>It is not likely too late to get good housing. Bama is opening a new dorm this year which will relieve last year’s issue.</p>
<p>It’s even likely that she can get an honors dorm.</p>
<p>If your D loved Clemson, then she’ll like Bama. It’s VERY similar except that Tuscaloosa isn’t as rural. My older son loved Clemson, but when we visited Bama, he realized the similarity in feel. </p>
<p>As for eng’g or bio or whatever…</p>
<p>When you visit, I would have her tour eng’g and speak to someone there about how she can include more of the bio aspect. My son was ChemE but did a Bio minor so he had a lot of bio, too. Frankly, ChemE is much more marketable than BioE. </p>
<p>What is her career goal? </p>
<p>If she does want to do eng’g, then she needs to change her major before she starts college. Did you know that she’ll get an add’l $2500 per year if she does some aspect of eng’g? </p>
<p>First, as an attorney, you must have retained an incompetent divorce attorney if your settlement agreement did not mandate that he pay for all (or at least half) of your D’s college tuition, especially since it sounds like he has considerable assets. That said, my S also has a wide range of options: U South Carolina, Florida State, UC Boulder, UNH, for example. After posting on this site and asking about the atmosphere for NE students and just reading the enthusiasm from parents about U Alabama, my S will be visiting next month. He is excited. All of the colleges your D got acceptance are fine schools, although UC - Chappell Hill is hard to pass up. I think the difference at U Alabama is the passion both students and parents have for the school. It’s a subtle distinction, but I would bet that U Alabama students are some of the happiest students you will find anywhere. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Thanks for the advice. DD not entirely sure of career choice, but Physical Therapy and Physician’s Assistant keep popping up on her list. Clemson’s bioengineering program got her excited about a possible engineering career track (research on assistive devices), but would also have been great for a PT/PA track.</p>
<p>From other threads it seems as though bama has good pre-med career advising. Would they help DD get clinical hours/advising needed if she decides on a PT/PA track?</p>