<p>Rutgers isn’t unknown. Which is to say that even I have heard of it, even before I started coming here and researching schools high on this us news list which I had never heard of before. (I had heard of the high school list and how wonky it was, rating on how many APs a student takes, not how many they pass… but nevermind…)</p>
<p>Anyhow. I would add into your thought process thinking through whether you would want to take a gap year in order to get high merit aid at some schools, like Alabama, to save the money for grad school, under the fairly well accepted rationale that for grad schools, high grades at a good school are better than mid level/lower grades at an ivy league school, anyhow… or to get a different college list together you could more realistically afford, if you really decide you want to go in a different direction. As they are noting in another thread on here (check out one called something like ‘did I really cost myself tens of thousands of dollars?’) only freshmen get the really big tuition deals on merit awards. If you take a gap year and actually use it to improve your resume you would also be better positioned for other colleges that give merit aid. Note, I am not suggesting you SHOULD take a gap year, I actually think Rutgers is a decent school, always have. However, if YOU are concerned, you should look into all options before you foreclose some by ‘having too many credits’ or no longer entering as a freshman.</p>
<p>I was actually surprised at how good Alabama seems from looking into it. I had never heard of it, from the west coast, and honestly, if I were my sons, I’d be seriously considering it (unfortunately it looks like the ‘wrong one’ of them might have gotten the scholarship so I don’t know if that is going to happen, but it depends on where the other one gets in at this point, likely.) Amongst other things, they seem VERY accommodating to honors students in terms of career help, you name it. And they are far more highly rated than I would have thought for a school I hadn’t heard of, but that only shows what can happen in a generation when you aren’t paying attention to college rankings. And they seem to have plenty of money from being the flagship of their state forever, while other state universities have been cutting to the point of requiring students to have an entrepreneurial nature to get an education. But while theirs is the richest package (full tuition and fees at Tuscaloosa, the one I’d consider, although you might get free room and board as well at one of the others) it is not the only merit money college around. For your own peace of mind I would suggest thinking through the options so whichever way you decide to go, you don’t feel later as if you missed out on considering an opportunity.</p>