<p>…she was admitted to her first choice school awhile back, as well. Both of these colleges are out of state, at least 2,000 miles away. All of her other apps, so far, are in CA and with the exception of one, she won’t know back until April. So, we don’t even know if she’ll be going to her first choice. It depends on how much financial aid/scholarships she’ll get. She already received a $36,000 ($9,000 a year) automatic scholarship. But that only puts a medium sized dent in the OOS cost of this public school. Also, we’ll be visiting there in the spring. I’ll also be curious to see what schools accept her in California. Ideally, that would be OUR first choice, to choose a school a bit closer to home…one that doesn’t involve costly plane flights or having her so far away from her family and hometown friends.</p>
<p>So, we shall see! At least she’s got two acceptances so far. YES!</p>
<p>Congrats to your D for her two acceptances! I think her $9k is to Indiana, right? That a nice scholarship. Indiana is a fine school. I have a niece and nephew that went to Indiana and when the nephew got married a few years ago, he had the Indiana fight song played when he and his bride left the church. LOL Now, that is school pride! (Of course, my H would say, “Go Boilermakers,” since he’s a Purdue undergrad. LOL)</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the IU $9k scholarship does not increase even as tuition increases each year. The Bama 2/3 scholarship will increase as tuition increases. Plus, UI’s OOS tuition is $23,800 (minus $9k) , while Bama’s is $19,200 (minus $12,800). If your concern is paying for plane fares, etc, the difference in what you’ll be paying in tuition is significant.</p>
<p>If you can swing either one of them, choose the one your daughter likes the most. Airfare is pretty cheap in the long run, Indiana may cost a little more than Birmingham, but figure $1,000-$1,500 on travel per year. The distance takes some getting used to, but with all the technology these days, it’s really easy to stay in touch. Granted some people don’t deal with distances well and this has to be considered. Travel will only become a big cost when everybody in the family wants to go see the college multiple times a year. Indiana is a great school from what I’ve heard and I think your D would do well at either school.</p>
<p>^^^
I agree with the $1000-1500 for annual “home to school” travel (not including if and when parents travel, too.)</p>
<p>And, I agree that if all choices are affordable, then go with the favorite! I thought that the OP was a bit concerned about money and IU would require $30k+ per year out of pocket.</p>
<p>I guess it would have made more sense if I had written that since Indiana’s OOS COA is $37,700 (minus $9,000) and Alabama’s OOS COA is $31,000 (minus $12,800), things like “home to school” travel and study abroad become more affordable when the COA balance after scholarships is $18,200 rather than $28,700. </p>
<p>I know that if my kids’ college costs had us stretched to the maximum then agreeing to $10,000+ study abroad trips and other college “extras” would be unlikely. However, if a student has no intention of ever doing a study abroad, etc, then my point may be moot. :)</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, the OP’s D wants a traditional-looking campus (she has an image in her mind that Calif schools don’t seem to meet). I hope the OP’s D can get a chance to visit Alabama, so that she can see how much it can offer. </p>
<p>I may be confusing the OP with another parent who was concerned about cost (completely possible, since I do confuse people sometimes LOL). If I’m mixed up, then my posts are irrelevant. :)</p>
<p>I still haven’t gotten a letter and I was admitted for Fall 2010 like 2 weeks ago (I called when the site was being weird and told me that I was awaiting approval for Summer 2010)… Oh well, I just got into FSU and they might be offering me some scholarship money and honor’s admission next week, so I’ll probably stay in-state. </p>
<p>That’s weird that you haven’t gotten a letter yet. You should at least have your area rep look into that. Have you rec’d any scholarship info, since you’ll likely be a NA Finalist? Wouldn’t you also get Engineering money? I’m thinking that you’d probably have a complete free ride with the NAF, engineering, and fed grant money. </p>
<p>I’m trying to remember, will you get getting free tuition from FSU? Will you be getting anything more than that? :)</p>
<p>I’m getting all of my tuition paid for at FSU with the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, and I’ll get some first-gen grants on top of the pell grant because of my EFC of 0. From FSU I should be getting at least $2k a year for undergrad. Oh and I’m getting a couple of other local and international scholarships (at least $10,000 total).</p>
<p>I don’t need health insurance, and I might not get a meal plan, so I’m looking at anywhere from $5,500-$9,500 that I’d have to pay per year (I calculated it a bit differently since my housing is a little more than what they have listed) and around $18,000 total for the 3 years. There’s a good chance all of that I have covered in a single scholarship I’m working on, and I guess whatever is left over comes directly to me. I’ll have an on campus job too, just in case.</p>
<p>But, have you rec’d any scholarship info from UA at all? Don’t let that go…follow up with your formal acceptance… you never know what UA will give you in addition to your scholarships. You should still get all fed aid, etc, in addition to the big scholarship.</p>
<p>And, yes, I’m pretty confident that you will make finalist!! :)</p>
<p>Nope. They haven’t sent me anything at all. I just get an occasional email from something I applied for telling me that they see that I’ve been accepted and will begin to process my scholarship or honors application. =/</p>
<p>That is so odd. You really should send your area rep an email telling him/her that you haven’t rec’d any formal confirmation of your acceptance.</p>
<p>My daughter got a large envelope with a letter of acceptance inside, as well as an official certificate with the school’s official logo. A bumper sticker and a couple of other papers. Later she got a regular size envelope with the UA Scholar scholarship. They didn’t mention anything about it being 2/3rds tuition (signifying it would increase as tuition does.) Instead, it said $12,800 a year or $6,400 a semester. Oh, how I wish it were closer!!</p>
<hr>
<p>quote:</p>
<p>Nope. They haven’t sent me anything at all. I just get an occasional email from something I applied for telling me that they see that I’ve been accepted and will begin to process my scholarship or honors application. =/</p>
<p>*They didn’t mention anything about it being 2/3rds tuition (signifying it would increase as tuition does.) *</p>
<p>The same thing happened with both of my sons’ scholarships. I emailed the scholarship office, and got an email back assuring me that the scholarships would increase as tuition increased. Of course, I’ve saved those emails. Haven’t had any problem yet! </p>
<p>I would copy/paste the website’s scholarship info onto an email and simply ask for clarification. It will just make things clearer for you to have it in writing. email <a href=“mailto:carolyn.rogers@ua.edu”>carolyn.rogers@ua.edu</a> As you can see below, the UA website indicates that it’s 2/3 for 4 years, so there would be no wiggle room for UA to claim differently, but it’s good to get the firm statement from them for your records. </p>
<p>UA Scholar
An out-of-state first time freshman student who meets the December 1st scholarship priority deadline, has a 30-31 ACT or 1330-1390 SAT score and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a UA Scholar and will receive 2/3 tuition for four years.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone needs to worry about Alabama’s scholarships being inflation-proof. My son received his OOS scholarship letter the other day and it specifically stated that the dollar value would match any increases in tuition over the 4-year term of the scholarship. On the other hand, he didn’t get a bumper sticker in his envelope :(</p>
<p>We didn’t get bumper stickers in acceptances, either. But, we got some odd stuff at Bama Bound…pencils, pens, lanyard, bumper sticker, paper pads, magnets, etc.</p>
At least she’s got two acceptances so far. YES!</p>
I have a niece and nephew that went to Indiana and when the nephew got married a few years ago, he had the Indiana fight song played when he and his bride left the church. LOL