New Automatic Merit Scholarships for U of Alabama

<p>Parent56... </p>

<p>From AL PACT website:</p>

<p>Q: Can the contract be used if the beneficiary chooses a private or out-of-state college/university?</p>

<p>A: Yes. The benefits paid would be based on a weighted average of Alabama public undergraduate tuition and qualified fees at the four-year institutions. The amount paid is based on the number of hours taken since the average is computed per semester hour. For example, currently the rate is $151.85 per semester hour ($101.23 per quarter hour) and $73.92 per semester ($49.28 per quarter) for fees. If your beneficiary takes 16 hours, the amount paid will be $2,503.52 (16 times $151.85) + $73.92 minus a processing fee of $25.00 resulting in a payment of $2,478.52. </p>

<p>(So, for one year of 32 hours, the payment would be about $5000 from one's PACT for an OOS school - Right????). </p>

<p>This rate changes on January 1st of each year to reflect the previous year’s increases.</p>

<p>I can imagine that the rate was $100/hr when your older son went to NY. I realize that it still isn't a whole lot more... But, is your younger son only considering Ivies??? (My son went thru such a period, too, but we just had to get him to understand the "realities of life." He goes to UA and loves it there.</p>

<h2>NotreDameAL >>> There is a reason for minimum standards (SAT scores, grades, etc) at all colleges and universities. If a student cannot provide proof of those minimums, how in the world are they going to be successful in coursework and graduate from that college? <<<</h2>

<p>YES! Because it has been demonstrated that when students with lower stats are admitted to higher ranking schools, they are far more likely to do much poorly (and even drop out), then their counterparts who attended colleges with lower stats requirements. </p>

<p>Those that PUSH for lower achieving students (frequently from lower incomes) to be accepted into the top ranked schools out of some desire to "level the playing field" are not around to "pick up the pieces" when these kids are often the lowest achievers in their classes (how's that for self-esteem) and often end up dropping out.</p>

<p>our problem was, our older son went to a dramatic academy and credit hours were minimal. ie he didnt take english,math, science etc. it worked out to be about $1200 per year could be used and as it was a 2 year school, that was $2400 on an investment of 6K. and as i mentioned once touched, couldnt be transferred. So his case was a little different. It worked out much better for us to transfer without touching it.</p>

<p>This son has always known ivy's were off the table (again a pet peeve for me... no merit offered by them.... personally i think an outstanding student should have an opportunity at these schools based on merit as well as financial status of parent...and i do understand the argument that all students who apply have merit based on the level of students who apply but heck some funds could be allocated...if you can give grants for financial...give grants for merit) But it's schools like Vandy and Duke and JHU that he had wanted to consider.... He knows he can apply and as selective as they are what his chances could be, but the merit aid chances are so limited that they may not be feasible for us.
He has visited UAB and liked their Science and Technology Honors program, he already would qualify for a full ride at UA and possibly even (although tough competition) may qualify for UA Fellow program. He would have lots of friends at either school. It is just that his dream hadnt been instate. He will apply for out of state and merit but he knows that finances will rule and he will apply in state (he just doesnt want to discuss it right now)</p>

<p>JL--glad your son is enjoying UofA. Our own student turned down this very same program! He is happy at his chosen school, but has several friends at UofA in Honors and taking advantage of the scholarship program. My only concern with the school is how large is Dr. Witt and the Board going to let enrollment become? Housing ultimately is going to pose huge issues as dorms can only be built so fast. And with the economy as it is, I imagine there will be more hometown Alabama folks taking advantage of the University and all that it offers. I do laud the University tho for its aggressive approach to trying to recruit the best and brightest. I too agree that if a kid works hard thru HS, why not be rewarded with a merit scholarship with no strings attached (finance). It's interesting that the other state schools (Auburn, etc.) offer almost nothing in terms of trying to attract those bright students (at least they didn't when our student was applying to schools). Alabama was the only state school that recruited him heavily and he never even sent in an application. Perhaps the other state schools offer the same type of program, but they sure don't advertise it!</p>

<p>Notre Dame. ( I love your screenname!).....</p>

<p>As you can see from the below statement, Dr. Witt's planned growth plan is grow the school to 28,000 students (undergrads, grad school, law school, etc). The school has steadily been building new residence halls to accomodate its needs since freshman are required to live on campus. There is another residence hall currently being built which will add more housing for freshmen only. Dr. Witt has been very firm that building the necessary infrastructure (housing, dining venues, classrooms, etc) all occur while the school grows. He has also insisted that the current guidelines for Honors college remain the same - he wouldn't raise "stat levels" for membership - even though those classes cost the uni a lot of money (limiting to 15 students). It's a very well thought out "planned growth". After all, there is no point to enrolling more students if there aren't classrooms, dorms, and dining areas for them to use.</p>

<p>As president of The University of Alabama, Dr. Robert E. Witt has committed the University to an ambitious plan for growth and achievement. His goals include increasing enrollment to 28,000 students by 2010 and stimulating significant growth in research in support of economic expansion for the state and nation.</p>

<p>parent >>>> our problem was, our older son went to a dramatic academy and credit hours were minimal. ie he didnt take english,math, science etc. it worked out to be about $1200 per year could be used and as it was a 2 year school, that was $2400 on an investment of 6K. and as i mentioned once touched, couldnt be transferred. So his case was a little different. It worked out much better for us to transfer without touching it.</p>

<p>This son has always known ivy's were off the table (again a pet peeve for me... no merit offered by them.... personally i think an outstanding student should have an opportunity at these schools based on merit as well as financial status of parent...and i do understand the argument that all students who apply have merit based on the level of students who apply but heck some funds could be allocated...if you can give grants for financial...give grants for merit) But it's schools like Vandy and Duke and JHU that he had wanted to consider.... He knows he can apply and as selective as they are what his chances could be, but the merit aid chances are so limited that they may not be feasible for us.
He has visited UAB and liked their Science and Technology Honors program, he already would qualify for a full ride at UA and possibly even (although tough competition) may qualify for UA Fellow program. He would have lots of friends at either school. It is just that his dream hadnt been instate. He will apply for out of state and merit but he knows that finances will rule and he will apply in state (he just doesnt want to discuss it right now) <<<<</p>

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<p>Ahh... I understand the situation with older s and PACT situation with his schooling. Good thing you transferred the money to younger s.</p>

<p>I can understand your son's desire to go oos. Have you visited the threads that list privates that give a lot of merit money? </p>

<p>Since your son has high stats, has he considered Washington and Lee? Its Johnson scholarship (which your son would likely qualify) provides free tuition, free room, free board for all 4 years. It is awarded to nearly 10% of the incoming freshman. Your son sounds like he would be in the top 10% of the incoming freshman class, right?.</p>

<p>Look at Rice, too for good merit aid for high-caliber students. If he likes Duke, he might like Rice (which is a little more quirky and a little less preppy than Duke.)</p>

<p>lol anxiousmom and jl50ish..you poor guys get to be my surrogate for college discussion today! I told him while we are on a breather, i would pull together a list of other schools that offer merit (cc has been great at helping me locate school that could be possibilities and anxiousmom, Rice is on that list..great school..actually know some parents who had children go there and love it.. i have requested info from wash& lee also) then when he is ready he can look at those, sort through any he might be interested in and then, we can discuss those. as he is a junior we have time, but as he goes to a school 6 1/2 hours away for hs it may happen in school breaks. He's not in the mood for it to be over the phone LOL. Talking to teenagers by phone is a trial anyway.</p>

<p>Parent.... since he is a junior, he may qualify for NMF - you'll have a pretty good idea once you get his scores back in a couple of months (AL has been lower for the last 2 years - 209 - so if he gets higher than 211, he'll likely make it. The cutoff was 212 when my son made NMF in 2007) If he makes NMF, then he will have some other oos offers. Fordham in NY, gives full tuition scholarships to NMF.</p>

<p>You have time to look - even tho he goes to school 6 1/2 hours away (wow!) In Mobile??? There is always Spring break to visit some schools. Plus, many college websites have some sophisticated video "campus tours" to help you decide.</p>

<p>yep, he got 200 on the psat in sophmore year (school has them take it as practice and he did no prep) his math and writing scores were great only got 2 wrong each section but critical reading will be his weakest area....always has been a slower reader. He told me wednesday he felt good about math/writing but reading had no idea.
yes goes to school in Mobile (ASMS) and we are way up almost at TN border. Hard decision to let him go but he loves the school and thrives there.</p>

<p>Thanks, JL50ish for explaining about the diversity at Alabama. </p>

<p>Btw, I emailed UofAL admissions & asked whether the gpa utilized to assess scholarships was weighted or unweighted. The admission person who answered told me it's "the one on the student's HS transcript." Our HS includes both weighted & unweighted. Would you happen to have any info on this, by chance? Son would make the scholarship/honors cut-off w/weighted but not unweighted.</p>

<p>parent56.... </p>

<p>He has an excellent chance of making NM - he only has to improve his score about 13 points to ensure meeting the "cut off" (in case it "jumps" next year). That is entirely "do-able."</p>

<p>If your son is a "slow reader" then he may be doing something called, "sub-vocalization." When he reads, he may be silently "pronouncing" each word in his head (that is a big time waster). To improve his reading speed, tell him to read while constantly gliding his finger under the words to force him to move more quickly across the page. This will force him to stop "lingering" on each word as he "pronounces it in his head." (after he gets the "hang of it," he won't have to do the finger gliding anymore. "Faster readers" do not "form" each word in their heads as they read - Slower readers do that (I had to cure one of my kids from doing that, and his score improved.)</p>

<p>BTW... one of the SAT prep books talks about subvocalization in the section that deals with improving the CR score.</p>

<p>jolynne.... >>>>Thanks, JL50ish for explaining about the diversity at Alabama.
Btw, I emailed UofAL admissions & asked whether the gpa utilized to assess scholarships was weighted or unweighted. The admission person who answered told me it's "the one on the student's HS transcript." Our HS includes both weighted & unweighted. Would you happen to have any info on this, by chance? Son would make the scholarship/honors cut-off w/weighted but not unweighted. <<<<<</p>

<p>It is true that UA uses whatever GPA is on the student's transcripts (UA does not "refigure" GPA based on some internal standards, nor do they exclude PE or religion classes that many other schools do.) </p>

<p>Since your child's school includes both weighted and unweighted, I would call and ask to speak to Carolyn Rogers at Scholarships. She will be able to tell you if UA just uses the higher score (I would bet that they do). </p>

<p>Also, if your son's first semester grades for senior year will increase his overall unweighted GPA, ask if it will be acceptable for you to have those stats sent once they are available (if the school only accepts unweighted GPA's). Frankly, since schools like to report the "highest stats" for its incoming freshmen, I bet they'll take that higher GPA...</p>

<p>What is your son's unweighted GPA? I think a 3.5 is needed for (non NMF) merit scholarships, but don't know if that is weighted or unweighted.</p>

<p>I've forgotten.... is your son also a NMF? If so, I don't think GPA is a requirement. I checked the website and a GPA req't is not listed for NMF scholarship.</p>

<p>Ahhh..... just found this on the UA website --- so you're fine...</p>

<p>For entering freshman, when GPA is reviewed for scholarships, will a weighted or unweighted GPA be considered?
If both are listed on the official high school transcript, the highest one will be reviewed. </p>

<p>Highest one is taken..... just what I guessed :) Yeah!!!</p>

<p>you nailed it. that is what he does. i got him some prep books but i honestly dont know how much studying he did....got a mumbled reply anytime i asked if he was studying. Unfortunately i'm not convinced he did very much...even knowing that it was really just one section he needed to work on. He got it in his head that he improved his ACT score by 4 points from grade 9 to early in grade 10 with no studying...so in his mind 200 to approx 209 wouldnt be a problem) so i think he may have had a flaky 16 yo old moment, where they know best. Of course we were never like that LOL! oh well, whatever he gets on the psat is what he gets and we work with that, the test was wednesday so its over now. i've got my fingers crossed for him.</p>

<p>jolynne...</p>

<p>Your son should also apply to the UHP program (honors college) - easily done online. With his stats he will automatically be admitted. Honors students get priority registration (a big help), get to take honors classes (which are smaller), and get to be in one of the honors residence halls (each student has a private rooms in a 4 bedroom/2 bath suite).</p>

<p>parent <<< so in his mind 200 to approx 209 wouldnt be a problem <<<</p>

<p>For "peace of mind," I would not want my child to be "aiming" for a PSAT score that is exactly what the previous year's cut-off was. When my son received his PSAT score in January '06, he had a 214 (which was 2 points higher than the previous year's cutoff). Well, we know that cut-off scores can jump 1 - 4 points up or down in any year. And, at that time, Alabama's cutoff had been steadily on the uprise. </p>

<p>So.... we "sweated it out" for 9 months to find out if he made the cut-off (found out in Sept 06 - beginning of senior year.) Lucky for us, it remained at 212 for the 2007 contest. (It dropped the next year.) We all would have "rested more easily" during Jan - Sept 06 if he had scored a little higher - which would have pretty much ensured that he would make the cutoff. Believe me.... no one wants their child to miss the "cut-off" by ONE point!!! That is something that can haunt a person for quite a bit.</p>

<p>So... have your son work on eliminating his "subvocalization" issues. Usually, once the problem is identified and the person is made aware of it, he can correct it himself - IF HE WANTS TO..... Besides.... he needs to correct the problem anyway so that his SATs and ACTs will be their best!!</p>

<p>those were almost my exact words..."please study... you would hate to miss NMF by one point! " and "with the schools you want to consider or any others that offer merit aid, NMF may be a deciding factor" but....as i said i am not convinced that he did. and i was still aiming for about the 212 to be safer than 209.
congrats to your son by the way..</p>

<p>Correct me if I am wrong. Alabama seems to have much easier admissions standards than other state flagship universities. ie Florida schools. Seems to me that there are not enough high caliber students applying to UA. Therefore, they are giving away very generous merit awards to highly qualified students. UA is a well respected school and we are also considering it. I just have to convince my daughter that it's ok to leave Florida.</p>

<p>Many flagship schools is smaller states, particularly those who consider themselves to have two flagship schools, offer merit money to out of state students. For many, it's the difference in being able to attend the school while the school raises the overall smarts of its student body. From what I remember from last year, Auburn, University of Arizona, LSU, and a number of non-coastal states west of the Mississippi have similar scholarships.</p>

<p>navarre... >>> Correct me if I am wrong. Alabama seems to have much easier admissions standards than other state flagship universities. ie Florida schools. Seems to me that there are not enough high caliber students applying to UA. Therefore, they are giving away very generous merit awards to highly qualified students. UA is a well respected school and we are also considering it. I just have to convince my daughter that it's ok to leave Florida. <<<</p>

<p>Florida (18 million) has a much larger population than Alabama (4.6 million), yet UF is only 62% larger than UA (32,000 undergrad students vs 20,000 undergrad students). So Florida has about 4 times the population that Alabama has, but only admits a much smaller percentage of its population to its flagship school! Therefore, UFlorida is able to limit admission to more of the "cream of the crop."</p>

<p>UA knows that it can't just "grow" the school and be able to hire the best profs, if it doesn't increase the stats of its student population. Think about it... it is easier to attract Ivy league (and similar) educated profs if the profs know that they will be teaching academically strong students. Believe me, few top profs would choose to move to Alabama if they thought they'd only have ACT 25 students in their classes. </p>

<p>Try to talk your D into doing a campus visit. I would STRONLY advise doing one on a day that the campus is "in session" (and not on a Friday when many kids have very light schedules). If you go on a day that class is in session, then your child will get a better "feel" for what the campus would be like if she went there (Visiting any campus when classes aren't in session can be like visiting a cemetary! LOL). Plus, when classes are in session, a kid can see all the eating venues (a biggie to many). Ask or email the VERY NICE people in the University Honors Program if she can "sit in" a few classes. My son "sat in" on an UHP "Arts and Parody" class (even thought that isn't his "thing," and he loved the clsss so much that he is taking the class now to fulfill his "Fine Arts" requirement. ( I can look up some honors classes' meeting times for you if you'd like.)</p>

<p>I would suggest visiting on a Monday. ASAP, sign up online for 2 or 3 campus tours (then check to see if D can "sit in" some classes, and then cancel the unneeded tours that conflict with classes (travel on Sunday, visit school in am, then leave mid-late afternoon.) There are many inexpensive but very clean motels nearby (also some pricey ones if that is what you'd like - the Sheraton Four Points (recently renamed Hotel Capstone) is right on campus)</p>