<p>@MommaJ
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I’d also venture to say that living in the Deep South would be quite an adjustment for a Mass. resident.
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<p>lol…attending UA would not be an adjustment for a Mass resident. Alabama is not “Deep South” school, whatever that implies. I am from California, and I can tell you that there is nothing to “adjust to” at Bama.</p>
<p>Well, maybe it would be an adjustment if the student would find it shocking to be around friendly people, to attend a gorgeous school, and to live in a more moderate climate, but I think the adjustment would take, like, 2 minutes. lol</p>
<p>The student is saying that he won’t get any aid, and needs a less expensive school than UMass. He didn’t say that the school has to be better than UMass…he’s fine with something of equal strength…and when comparing flagships, PARTICULARLY for engineering, most will be rather similar…they’re state schools…we’re not talking about Cal Tech and MIT. Flagships typically have very good engineering…their states have a vested interest in having strong engineering. And Bama has an amazing new Science and Engineering Complex and the state is home to the second largest research park in the nation: Cummings Research Park.</p>
<p>as for being “heavily sports and Greek oriented”…</p>
<p>Sports are an after hours activity that students can choose to participate in…or not. Sports are also just one of 100s activities offered. Sports are not part of the academic life. They’re not part of the classroom. </p>
<p>That said, there are a number of students who come to Bama having no interest at all in sports, that is fine. But, there are students, like my older son who arrived with no sports interests, but attended a game and “caught the fever,” something that I never thought would happen (he’s the quiet, shy, head-always-in-a-book, brainy type). </p>
<p>Most students are not part of the Greek system, and that is even more so in regards to engineering students - especially male engineering students. Frankly, most engineering students either don’t have the time for Greek Life or their personalities are often such that they’re not interested in Greek Life. Neither of my kids participated in Greek LIfe, yet both had active social lives, participating in other activities. Both had challenging majors (Math and ChemE), and didn’t have time for Greek Life, but that’s fine…very few of the other students in their majors were Greek. The vast majority of males in the Greek system are business majors or similar, and the B-school is on the opposite side of campus from the College of Engineering. </p>
<p>I am not saying that any particular school would be a great fit for every student, but this student’s alternative is UMass, which wouldn’t be a fit for all students, either. Again, they’re big state schools… Someone desiring an intimate LAC wouldn’t like either school. </p>
<p>Anyway, assuming that the OP is telling the truth that he’ll get NO AID, and he can’t afford the cost of UMass (which is an acceptable school for him), then Alabama would be a good alternative because his net cost would be less than $15k per year. The net cost could even be significantly less if he chose standard doubles housing. </p>