<p>You know the old saying “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” The students who get these scholarships which include state of the art housing with security are truly lucky.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t complain if someone paid my housing costs for four years!</p>
<p>I gotta agree with Mike on this. I don’t think some realize how fortunate they are. </p>
<p>Now I know you have all worked hard to get the grades and test scores to get you these scholarships. But not many schools give what UA gives. Be grateful instead of wishing for more. </p>
<p>Anyone who wants to swap their scholarship that only includes roughing it in honors housing with lil bro who will be paying roughly $38,000 this year out of pocket with a nice off campus apartment is welcome to do so :-)</p>
<p>And as I said above. I do know you earned your scholarship. And I do know lil bro is paying out of pocket because he didn’t earn his. </p>
<p>But all of you including my lil bro should be grateful for what you’re getting and the opportunity you have. A top notch education on a beautiful campus. Not to mention getting to watch The Crimson Tide on the football field and basketball court for 4 years.</p>
<p>I’d gladly take a housing scholarship, especially since it does cover all residence halls and the Bluff.</p>
<p>The issue I’m seeing is that recipients of the housing scholarship and laptop feel that they can get more for their money if the university just gave them cash instead of a one size fits most package. The question that arises is who has the better bargaining power for housing and the laptop, the UA or the student? </p>
<p>UA could definitely put a cash value on the housing and laptop portions of the major scholarships; it already does with the tuition portion of scholarships. As an OOS student, one can directly enroll at a foreign university, including most of the universities where UA has an exchange agreement, pay tuition directly to the foreign university, and be refunded $1000+ in unused scholarship funds compared to doing one of UA’s exchange programs where the full value of ones scholarship is used to pay UA which in turn pays the foreign university. In this case, the OOS student definitely has better bargaining power than UA.</p>
<p>UA likely gets a discount on on-campus housing and certainly does on the laptops. It is reasonable to ask why UA doesn’t give each student the option of taking the discounted price in cash to use on whatever they want and given a discount on on-campus housing so that the housing scholarship can still cover the cost of the least expensive rooms in each building.</p>
<p>Students are VERY lucky to get any scholarships at all and I’m honored to be able to attend UA in a scholarship as without it, I’d be commuting by bus to my local state school 75 minutes away and likely not getting the full “college experience.”</p>
<p>While I’m with the “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” crowd, there probably is a win-win here somewhere, where UA gives the upperclass NMFs a discounted cash amount to use off-campus and frees up much needed dorm space for someone who wants to be there. If the dorms weren’t oversubscribed it would be a different issue.</p>
<p>I can see Bama offering some deals for upperclassmen with the NMF scholarship as long as it works well for Bama.</p>
<p>I remember when Bama first started offering these kids the Bluffs option. They offered it to a limited number (the number that Bama needed to get out of campus housing). </p>
<p>Bama generally has about 400 upperclass students with housing scholarships (not counting those with athletic housing scholarships). If they needed most/all of those kids out of campus housing, they would figure something out. By offering The Bluff, they can control how many can make THAT choice (don’t know what that number is). If Bama has 50-75 beds at The Bluff, then that’s the number of housing scholarship students it needs to be off-campus (I don’t know the number of beds Bama has at The Bluff).</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen scholarship athletes at The Bluff, so I’m not sure how many of them exist as well.</p>
<p>Until Bama is fine with all/near all upperclass housing scholarship holders being off-campus, I don’t think it’s going to offer the money. Maybe to seniors only or something that is more controlled.</p>
<p>I’m just grateful we’re getting what we’re getting. It is so much better than the deals (or, rather, lack thereof) offered at the other schools that accepted DS. No comparison.</p>
<p>I lived on-campus all four years at my little Hippie U. (New College of Florida). I lucked out with great roommates and had a blast. It didn’t kill me to live on-campus, so I assume it won’t kill DS, either. :)</p>
<p>MikeW et al, the full ride Howard offered me (like tuition + room and board + fees + books, plus they waived all the deposits) had the policy on the housing scholarship that it could be used as a stipend if you had a good enough reason to get an exemption.</p>
<p>Anyway, I was just thinking about it because at the moment there’s a bit of housing crunch (I read some stuff in the Crimson White about upperclassmen being forced off campus and all that because freshmen are required to live on campus) and those with the scholarship are never required to move. It seems like it would maybe free up some space for kids who do want to stay on campus.</p>
<p>That said, if I didn’t have the housing scholarship, I probably would’ve tried really hard for an exemption. The honors dorms are quite expensive, especially since being a freshman on campus also requires a meal plan which is also quite expensive. I don’t really care that much though… the dorms were, frankly, influential in my choosing a school. Plus I don’t expect having time for a job what with CBH and my awkward schedule, and there’s no way my parents could (or would) pay for an apartment considering that my housing “is already paid for.” So if I feel like moving it really is the Bluff or bust. (NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT THAT, THE APARTMENTS LOOK REALLY NICE.)</p>
<p>So, yeah, I don’t think anyone’s whining about their dorms being paid for…</p>
<p>^ what he said</p>
<p>I didn’t live on campus when I was in school last century and one thing I’ve learned from DS is that they have FUN in the dorms! Intramurrals, games, holiday festivities, the RAs are great, getting together to cook, the computer-connected laundry, etc… etc…</p>
<p>So, don’t just think of the dorm as a place to sleep but another opportunity to interact with folks from different places and make friends…</p>
<p>^^^You are so right, the dorms are much more than a place to hang your hat. There are common areas, the suites, the full kitchens, the full laundry area, the outside courtyards, the BBQ’s, the pool, the volleyball court (last two, not at each dorm) but can be used by all. Think of the residence housing as a new experience and explore all the possibilities.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can beat the convenience of on-campus housing, not to mention that for the boys, there are tons of opportunities to meet girls. “Ummm excuse me, but how do you bake these cookies…?” :)</p>
<p>Some dorms are fun. Some are not. For the most part, people in Riverside just did their best to ignore each other.</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>Well, since I’m sure you’re not in touch with all Riverside’s residents (living in 3 different halls), and since I know that my son made many friends while he was in Riverside, I can only say that sometimes it can just depend on the person and his personality.</p>
<p>Since our new area rep provided us with info about others going to Bama as frosh this year (a record number for New Mexico, I may add!), we were able to have dinner with another couple and their DD, who has the same juicy NMS scholarship package my DS has been blessed with. After exchanging several stories about colleges they’d visited and considered over the past year, DS said “Have you realized that every story we’ve told for the last twenty minutes has ended with the phrase ‘But, compared to what Bama offered us…’. Let’s just agree that no one else compared to ‘what Bama offered us’.” </p>
<p>The best part was that they weren’t really just comparing $$'s… they both really appreciated the Honors College, the professors they’d met, the beauty and friendliness of the campus - and, of course, the lovely dorms. In fact, DS’s comment while we walked through them on our tour was “I could live HERE… and they would pay for it?”.</p>
<p>Believe me, gratitude at their opportunities was at the top of both NMS minds at my dinner table Friday night… and their parents certainly felt the same:-)</p>
<p>NMxCloudFX – how is your DS? I remember you said he had been ill recently. I hope he is feeling muy better!</p>
<p>I also hope my DS can get to know yours, although they are at different dorms and in totally different majors. Your DS seems like such a stand-up guy!</p>
<p>DS is doing well - the extra week at home has been a good thing, although he was disappointed at missing OA.</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind words about DS:-) He enjoyed his phone call with your son, and I’m sure they’ll see each other there.</p>
<p>I am very interested in the NMF housing offered at Bama. Looking online at the quad housing, it includes 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms- is that correct? I am assuming you can use either of the 2 bathrooms if the other one is occupied? My dd loves the fact she’d have her own room- something she might not get with other scholarship offers. Does the scholarship include a meal plan too? It really is an amazing scholarship in our eyes.</p>
<p>i think the kids stick mainly to their own bathroom. i suppose you could ask to use the one that is not “yours” though.</p>
<p>The scholarship does not include the meal plan. You do have to have at least the silver plan or higher.</p>
<p>If you are an engineering major with the appropriate stats, you can expect to receive an additional scholarship of $2500 per year. Last year, the amount just about covered son’s silver meal plan as a freshman. This year, with the increase in the cost of the silver plan, the out-of-pocket meal cost (in conjunction with the engineering scholarship) would be $200 per year.</p>