Appreciate any advice. She received no money from Bama and it is pricey at 48k.
Arizona offered 5k but still 42K. Any thoughts? I know both are great college experiences.
Thank you!
No other less expensive choices? From the prices, it looks like she is not a resident of either Arizona or Alabama, and does not qualify for the large scholarships at Alabama.
Frosh or transfer?
Intended major?
Will she get out with no debt? These schools are very pricey out of state. If you are full pay with no debt at the end then go with the one she is most comfortable at. Go for academic fit and social fit.
Is an in-state university at half the cost out of question? I was once an employee of the University of Arizona and while I loved Tucson and the desert life, it’s not for everyone. The school’s fine as I’m sure University of Alabama is, as well. Let her choose depending on her academic and extracurricular interests.
If she doesn’t have a strong preference, you might save money on transportation if you choose the school that’s closer to home.
Arizona. No way is Alabama worth that much. Really, neither school is. But you get a better deal at Arizona.
'Zona does have some departments that are very highly ranked.
But why these two at full-pay?
Hasn’t the May 1st deadline passed to commit? Did she get off a wait list?
You may get better advice if you post your question directly to the Alabama and Arizona forums. Don’t know about the Arizona forum, but chances are that most of the parents and students who post in the Alabama forum are not monitoring this forum.
And when you post there, be a little more specific about what your daughter is looking for, what her interests are, what her anticipated major is, etc.
Thank you. She really wants a big college experience. Doesn’t have the GPA for a UC school. Full fare because her GPA not high enough for scholarship money I guess. AZ is closer but you still have to fly to Phoenix and catch shuttle.
Thanks for that advice. I will. Nursing is her interest.
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Bama and it is pricey at 48k.
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Bama doesnt’ have to be that expensive. Bama’s COA includes the cost of the priciest dorms. If your DD choose a standard double, the cost goes down by about $4k. And also, only the first year requires the pricey meal plan. After freshman year, that cost can go down a LOT.
Also, if your DD is going to pledge, then that pricey meal plan for freshman year is heavily reduced.
@mom2collegekids Is UA out-of-state merit-aid available to upperclassmen if they were not eligible as a freshman, or does that window close after freshman application?
OP you have to be very careful with nursing major. Does she want to truly finish that BSN nursing degree and will she focus on that instead of the big school experience? Also if she wants to do sorority, the time (distraction) and expense of that.
Is DD just finishing HS junior year? Can try to get ACT/SAT scores early HS senior year for scholarship consideration if HS GPA (weighted or unweighted) is 3.5 or better.
I say this as someone who has a BSN, and my DD just finished BSN. DD would not have been able to maintain the academics at UA to get into the junior level nursing program because the competition is fierce, so high UA GPA snaps up the slots - and DD would have had scholarship money at UA with her ACT score and GPA. She went to a larger nursing school program with scholarship (UABirmingham, the largest nursing program in the state) which has a nursing scholars program for HS seniors that apply early enough to that program (have to check, but in the past it has been Dec 1). Nursing scholars get into junior year nursing program as long as they have the minimum required (UAB GPA, and UAB sciences GPA).
Cannot see funding big school experience w/o truly pursuing career goals.
I’m guessing m2ck was nettled by the wholesale dismissal of the schools actually involved in the thread, which may have come off as arrogant.
@bodangles I wasn’t saying they were bad, just overpriced lol. Neither of them are worth the full freight they charge, but at least OP got a scholarship at UArizona
Do you really want to pay $160,000+ for a nursing degree? There are no schools instate where she could go?
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Do you really want to pay $160,000+ for a nursing degree? There are no schools instate where she could go?
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If the OP was from a state other than Calif, there would likely be instate options. Unfortunately, in Calif, the publics have impacted BSN programs …it’s been that way for over 35 years. Even the CC RN programs are impacted.
There are some privates in Calif, but the cost would be similar or more than their current option…and w/o the big college experience that the DD wants.
Again, the Bama COA is easy to bring down.
Thank you everyone! Really appreciate the thoughtful responses. BTW, what does DD and OP stand for?
mom2collegekids nailed it about California colleges for nursing. Expensive and impacted. But I also want my daughter to have a great college experience that she is seeking. I know both schools offer that. Thank you for mentioning possibility of cost of AL coming down depending upon dorm and eating at sorority. All of these factors help in the decision!
DD = darling daughter DS = Darling Son
OP = Original Poster…so that’s you. It can also mean Original Post, meaning the first post of the thread.