<p>Wow, this thread has blown up. I originally applied to Bama thinking I would only go there if I decided on pre-med, which is still a long shot. Now I’m thinking I could even go there for business. My parents won’t help much, but I’m sure they’ll cosign loans if I really need them to. How much can I take out w/o them having to do that?</p>
<p>You can take the Stafford loan without a cosigner. For a dependent student the maximum for that is $5500 for a freshman, $6500 for a sophomore, $7500 for 3rd year and up with an aggregate maximum of $31,000.</p>
<p>jrt, You say your parents won’t help but will you qualify for financial aid? Have you tried the calculators?</p>
<p>My parents make around or just over 6 figures. I don’t think I’ll get any money from UM. If I did, it would likely be insignificant. My parents had to pay their own way and think I’ll be better off and take college more seriously because I’ll be paying for almost every cent.</p>
<p>If that’s all of it (that they think you will take college more seriously), perhaps you can negotiate a deal with them-- that you use your savings to pay all of the first year and, after that, that they pay half as long as you keep a certain gpa and stay out of trouble. Of course, that only works if that’s a possibility for them. I realize in some areas of the country and in some families (which may have unusual expenses), a 6-figure income doesn’t allow for much college money.</p>
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<p>My apologies. I tend to get pretty passionate when talking about education and student’s futures.</p>
<p>I have 4 younger siblings. My parents are very religious and are paying 35k for four years of HS for each of us. They have no money to give me.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean blown up in a bad way. I never thought this would get to 5 pages.</p>
<p>I looked at the business week rankings again. UA is not in the top 100 for 2009. That was a 2007 list.</p>
<p>This has been such an interesting thread to read. I have a few thoughts. Given the uncertain state of the economy, and the fact that we have no idea what American business, or specifically, investment banking, will look like in 4 years, I think it’s very risky to assume that OP will graduate from UMich and just glide into some IB job with a stratospheric salary that will make $100K in debt seem trivial. And even that scenario assumes he will achieve good grades in college–what if he’s in the bottom third of his class? I’m also concerned that OP will find another major that captures his interest, or perhaps a specialty within the business school that doesn’t hold out the promise of insanely high compensation–it would be a shame if he had to stay in a field he doesn’t love because he is burdened with debt. Finally, I’ll mention that after 30 years in the corporate world at several different companies, I’ve encountered very few senior executives who graduated from top colleges or grad schools. Those with real talent and leadership qualities managed to find their way to the top regardless of their schooling. (Note that I graduated from an Ivy law school, so there’s no sour grapes at work here.)</p>
<p>A confession: I’ve worked with many investment bankers over the years, and as a result don’t think very highly of the field. We paid the big firms absurd fees for what always turned out to questionable or simply bad advice, and the default mode on the part of the IB’ers was to simply support the CEO’s desires, no matter how unworthy, so the firm would be retained again. And when advice turned out to be bad, there were always a dozen ways they managed to deflect blame. (Maybe that’s a course in B school?) Meanwhile the first and second year lackeys led lives of quiet desperation, working around the clock, at the beck and call of imperious senior vp’s, with no personal lives, looking wan and haggard, comforted only by their ridiculous paychecks. And investment banks have certainly been a net detriment to our nation in recent years, led particularly by all those Ivy grads. So it’s not a profession I would encourage my children, or OP, to enter, unless their desire for money trumped everything. The reverence for the field that is often found on CC is depressing.</p>
<p>jrt, your comment about your parents being religious & paying $35k for school is interesting. My daughter went to a top-notch parochial prep school. I was shocked at how many parents considered paying for school important … until college came around. Suddenly, they didn’t even want to pay the equivalent of a year of high school tuition for a year at college. I didn’t get it then, and I don’t get it now.</p>
<p>I would hope your parents will at least give you the same amount they paid for a year of high school tuition toward a year of college tuition. I don’t know which school you attend, but I know that the going rate for parochial in the greater Detroit area is $7500-10,000 for one year in high school. That would go a long way toward your tuition. You could try to get some local scholarships. You can work in the summer & save. You would still need more than the $5500 in Stafford loans for freshman year to make ends meet, though. Only you can decide if it’s worth it to borrow a private loan if it comes to that.</p>
<p>After freshman year, you can live with friends off campus. That would really reduce your costs, as long as you don’t mind living with a bunch of kids in a house that’s probably not as nice as the one you grew up in! :)</p>
<p>My parents don’t have ANY $ to give. Living with others in Ann Arbor is not much cheaper than living in the dorms either. AA is really expensive.</p>
<p>My D has several friends who live in AA & find it a lot cheaper than the dorms.</p>
<p>If your parents can’t give you any money, you really need to concentrate on finding some less expensive alternatives … or try to find a lender who will lend you the amount of money you need, if that is the choice you make. That’s the bottom line.</p>
<p>There aren’t any cheap houses in AA that anybody could actually live in. The rent isn’t as expensive as the dorms, but you still have to buy food for every meal. After everything, it’s about as expensive as in the dorms.</p>
<p>You and your parents could check the possibility of purchasing a home near campus. Rent out the rooms to other students to pay for the mortgage. Then sell the home upon graduation.</p>
<p>It would at least be worth investigating.</p>
<p>*I originally applied to Bama thinking I would only go there if I decided on pre-med, which is still a long shot. Now I’m thinking I could even go there for business. *</p>
<p>I don’t know why Culverhouse got bumped out for 2009 Business Week. Weird. It’s probably some temporary odd thing.</p>
<p>But, for those who think Bama graduates can’t go anywhere big in finance…I guess someone needs to tell the head of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that he better quit his job because he’s a Bama MBA graduate. 
Prior to being named Chief Executive, he worked for Merril Lynch and JP Morgan. UA Alumnus and Chief Exec of The Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Charles Li, visits CBA Charles Li, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, paid a visit to the UA campus on Monday and shared his insight on the global economy, and relations between China and the United States.<br>
[UA</a> alumnus shares insight on global economy | TuscaloosaNews.com | The Tuscaloosa News | Tuscaloosa, AL](<a href=“http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20091013/NEWS/910129955/1007?Title=UA-alumnus-shares-insight-on-global-economy]UA”>http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20091013/NEWS/910129955/1007?Title=UA-alumnus-shares-insight-on-global-economy)</p>
<p>The Culverhouse undergraduate program is ranked among the top 3-4 percent of public business programs by U.S. News and World Report. The latest rankings place Culverhouse at No. 29 among public institutions. </p>
<p>TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Two specialty programs offered by The University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration are ranked in the top 15 nationally by BusinessWeek magazine. The operations management program comes in at No. 12, followed by the corporate strategy program at No. 14.</p>
<p>The Culverhouse School of Accountancy is ranked as 15th in the nation among public institutions by U.S. News and World Report, placing the program among the nation’s elite. Public Accounting Report ranks the school of accountancy graduate program No. 15 and the undergraduate program No. 14. </p>
<p>Forbes magazine recently ranked The University of Alabama’s Manderson Graduate School of Business 31st among public M.B.A. programs nationwide. This ranking places the program in the top 10 percent nationally.</p>