My (class of 2015 NM Scholar) daughter and I visited both in 2015. We found the people at UA incredibly welcoming, and enthusiastic about having dd at their school. The UA campus visit, for a NM scholar anyway, feels like a very strong recruiting visit. Everyone there – staff and students alike – seem happy, welcoming, enthused, full of ideas for you, etc. They do a great job selling the benefits of being at UA.
We just didn’t “feel the love” at U KY. Th U KY visit wasn’t as well done (UA is amazing in that) and they just didn’t sell the school as well as the U A folks do.
This is my second NM go round with my class of 2017 son (NMSF officially as of yet, pending probable NMF notification in February). Again, I encouraged my kid to consider U KY (it’s closer to home, has plenty to offer) . . . but I couldn’t even get enthused enough to cajole him into completing the U KY application or scheduling a visit . . . He’s going to UA, for sure. He’d visited some since his sister goes there, and then his official campus visit a few months ago sealed the deal. Big sis has been very happy there, the two of them are great friends, and we know even more about all the great offerings at U Al . . .
FWIW, I think the lower (3.0 for the vast majority of the money) GPA requirement at UA (and they are quite flexible in how they enforce the relatively low GPA requirement, too – they don’t just cancel your $$ the first time you dip below 3.0) is a HUGE positive.
I personally had a full-tuition++ NM scholarship back in the dark ages, and keeping that 3.5 was really tough when I wanted to take 18 credits of hard science classes. I actually dropped a senior level honors seminar during my 2nd semester Freshman year because I had a B in it and I couldn’t risk the GPA drop for an elective . . . Most of the kids I knew who were on that scholarship took just 12 credits each term with plenty of gym credits (really). The $$ wasn’t AS big a deal back then since in the 80s/90s things weren’t so crazy cost wise and my family could afford the full cost when needed. Today, though, losing the scholarship $$ would likely necessitate dropping out for a lot of kids, so, to me, I would NOT send my kid to a school we couldn’t easily afford w/o the $$ if they had high/strict GPA requirements. It’s just a level of stress that unnecessarily makes life miserable, IMHO.
The 5th year of tuition $$ at UA is actually really sweet. My older dd will be doing her BS (2 majors – computer science and math) along with a MS (computer science) – all comfortably doable in 10 semesters. That’s pretty dang awesome.
Then again, U KY is really a “full ride” for 4 years, whereas U AL is more of a “mostly ride” for 5. If true zero cost for undergrad is your top priority, then U KY is the way to go.
I do think both schools are worth serious consideration. But, so far, our heart’s been in Alabama.