Me, my daughter and the University of Alabama (and other schools that she did not attend)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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<p>eusriso: Do you belong to a credit union? If so, check and see if you can transfer money from your/daughter’s account to Alabama Credit Union. I am a teacher, and my boys have credit union accounts (as do I). We’ve been able to transfer money from our local bank to their accounts with no trouble.</p>

<p>As for books, you can save a lot on books if you really shop the heck out of them! My sons give me their schedules each semester, and I really look for the best prices for him. We often go the used route, although sometimes, you do better with rentals. So have your daughter start looking for the best prices.</p>

<p>As for fees, few schools cover those totals. So always estimate on the high side. Also, engineering/science fees are higher because of the labs. </p>

<p>Once your daughter is at Bama, tell her to look for more scholarship opportunities.I cannot say that enough! My older son, who is a Bama grad, listened. He applied for all sorts of things, and he landed a huge, prestigious scholarship that also carried an internship with NOAA. That scholarship offset other expenses his final two years of college. His best friend, an engineering major, won a Hollings, Goldwater and Mitchell – lots of money and opportunities. But, there are smaller scholarships, too, that will offset expenses. My younger son already has gotten this lecture – he did lots of local apps when in high school, and he has enough extra money to cover his room for nearly two years. We pay for food, fees and books, as well as travel home.</p>

<p>Startup for college is always an expense. We are going through that with my younger son, who will attend UA in Huntsville. Things do get better in future years, because you do not need to purchase new linens and blankets, dishes, pots and pans, certain cleaning items, etc. Fortunately, I have been trading e-mails with two of his roommates’ moms, so we can coordinate what the boys need/want. Who needs three vacuums?</p>

<p>One question is: Does she really need her car at UA? My son went four years without one. He also will not have one when he is at UVA Law. You can save a boatload of money on insurance if she leaves her car at home – we saved about $1800 a year. My younger son also will not have a car. My kids always had roommates with cars or they walked (keeps that Freshman 15 off). There are plenty of kids who will have cars and are willing to give someone a ride to the store/airport. Just chip in for the gas. </p>

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<p>Aeromom, OP’s daughter got an additional $4K in Direct Student Loans because OP was denied the PLUS (parent loans). That is something available to any student at $4K for freshman and sophomore years, and $5K for junior and senior years when a parent is denied PLUS.</p>

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<p>It seems I have caused some confusion about costs. So I am going to do three posts - one for costs, one for scholarships and a summary post.</p>

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<p>Costs - for 2014 - 2015 out of state from UA website. This is one semester.</p>

<p>Tuition1 $12,475.00
College/Course Fees2 400.00
Dining Dollars Account3 325.00
Meal Plan4 1,633.00<br>
Residential Hall Room5 4,400.00
Parking Decal6 320.00
Books and Supplies 600.00
Totals7 $20,153.00 </p>

<p>The College/Course fees are estimated ($400.00).</p>

<p>Below are my daughter’s fees for one semester:</p>

<p>$66.50 A & S FACIL./TECH COLLEGE FEE
$70.00 ARTS & SCIENCE COLLEGE FEE
$30.00 C & BA COLLEGE FEE (UG)
$17.25 C&BA FACIL./TECH COLLEGE FEE
$40.00 CHEMISTRY COURSE FEE
$9.50 EDUC FACIL./TECH COLLEGE FEE
$10.00 EDUCATION COLLEGE FEE
$62.50 ENGINEER FACIL./TECH COLL FEE
$50.00 ENGINEERING COLLEGE FEE
$28.50 A & S FACIL./TECH COLLEGE FEE
$30.00 ARTS & SCIENCE COLLEGE FEE
$38.00 A & S FACIL./TECH COLLEGE FEE</p>

<p>Total = 452.25 for fees.</p>

<p>Below are books - </p>

<p>89.60
132.00
10.00
140.00
43.95
80.00
22.75
95.00</p>

<h2>141.35</h2>

<p>654.65 Total</p>

<p>For the books I chose Binders if a hard copy was available. This does not include any optional material and one engineering class did not have the books available yet (no pricing). The total was not as bad as it seemed but the missing class is a big unknown.</p>

<p>Some things you need to know. UA has different dorm options some more expensive some cheaper (significantly cheaper). </p>

<p>If you attend Bama days you have to pay and you have to pay $120 for registration. </p>

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<p>So below is what my daughter got in scholarships and loans for one semester:</p>

<p>2750.00 Fed Direct Unsub Loan
2000.00 Fed Direct Additional Unsub (this was made available because I did not qualify for Plus loans)
1250.00 Engineering Scholarship (through UA)
12475.00 Presidential Scholarship 2014 (through UA)</p>

<h2> 1250.00 Local Virginia Scholarship</h2>

<p>19725.00 Total Package</p>

<p>In the fine print they subtracted $50.00 for loan fees.</p>

<p>Also you pay a $200 Freshmen Fee and a $275 room deposit upfront which gets applied to your bill. </p>

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<p>Great idea. S1 had a similar road toward OU. Sounds like both schools have similar (competing) programs with stacking and such.</p>

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<p>DS has rented his books from Amazon every semester. A fraction of the cost, and he can buy it at the end if he wants to keep. He has not kept any. He will save a couple thousand dollars over his four years compared to buying.</p>

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<p>So now for the math - </p>

<p>$20,153.00 - One semester total cost estimated by UA for out of state.</p>

<p>$19,725.00 - One semester Total Package of Scholarships and loans.</p>

<h2>$ 475.00 - Paid upfront for freshman and housing fee.</h2>

<p>$20,200.00 - Total Money Available</p>

<p>Based off these figures my daughter should get back $47.00. Reality is she will get back a little bit more because she will not pay for the $300.00 parking decal (no car). As noted in a prior message the fees are a little higher and the books are a little higher than what UA estimated.</p>

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<p>It’s really good that UA lets kids stack scholarships! Eusriso, I hope your D can find more scholarships while at UA to eat into the loans.
Congrats on having a such a smart, hardworking kid!</p>

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<p>We looked at renting books but it seems that most of the engineering books are published by UA and not available through third party vendors like Amazon. My wife who recently completed college did save $$$$$ as Chardo mentioned through Amazon.</p>

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<p>Yes I am in a Credit Union. I will check on the direct transfer. Thanks!</p>

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<p>Eusriso, my son is in electrical engineering. All of his books have been on Amazon.</p>

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<p>Hi AeroMom. UA originally offered $5500 in subsidized Federal Loans. When I was not approved for the direct loan they offered an additional $4000 in Federal loans. I mentioned a $7000 gap - this was not correct - I had my math wrong. If you look at the later posts I have posted actual numbers which should make things clear. At the end of the day the scholarships that UA offer are generous for students with decent grades, especially in Engineering. In my situation (bad financial history)and my daughters situation (top student but not top elite in the nation) UA financially is a great choice. They have a beautiful campus and good dorms. Soon we will see if they have a good education and a good college experience :). My daughter will start August 7th for the Sorority rush. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused with the $7,000 figure.</p>

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<p>Getting ‘back’ $47 when some of it is loans means you (she) is paying interest on that $47. May not seem like much, but adjusting the amount of the loans downward may help. </p>

<p>We have a very similar situation and are trying to keep that loan number to little or nothing. (the only thing I don’t like about the whole ‘scholarshp’ thing is that it assumes the 5500 in loans every year.)</p>

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<p>Hi Chardo,</p>

<p>I will check again and post some of the ISBN numbers - maybe you can show me something I am missing.</p>

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<p>Sororities can be expensive. Hopefully you have figured out how to cover those costs as well. Best of luck to your daughter. Seems like she made a great decision. </p>

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<h1>30 btw a lot of credit unions have small scholarships your kid might be eligible to apply to</h1>

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<p>Obviously, for some families, every dollar saved is very important and they will want to compare the costs of textbooks from the various outlets. It’s worth noting, however, that profits from The Supe (the UA bookstore) go back into the university and (according to what we were told at Bama Bound) help fund all those generous scholarships!</p>

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<p><a href=“Get University of Alabama Textbooks Online At Great Prices And Wide Selection | University of Alabama Supply Store”>http://www.universitysupplystore.com/a_2_2011_8.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Wow, your D needed a lot of books! How many courses is she taking? My D typically takes 18 credits (6 courses) per semester and her books are usually around $250. Based on the fees your D is paying, it looks like most of her classes are outside of the College of Engineering for the fall semester - are you sure you can’t find less expensive books? </p>

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<p>^ I make a sizable “donation” every time I’m on campus. My house has more Bama shirts and hats than anyone in NY.</p>