<p>Payingforcollege: “I’m a little bit perplexed that anyone would find it offensive that some families might articulate the higher ranking of the other school as one of the criteria that might lead to that decision.”</p>
<p>I am glad you are not offended, but I’ll clarify exactly what offends me so that you won’t be perplexed. What I find offensive is the tone and delivery of statements insinuating that their child was willing to lower their standards to attend the UA only because of a scholarship and the implication that any student who isn’t NMF had no opportunity to attend what they consider a more prestigious school. I fully understand that the NMF package draws many to consider the UA just as the Presidential scholarship does. It is a great reason to look at the UA and would turn my head, too. There is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing the UA for the scholarship if it is also a good fit. I don’t think it is good idea to attend it if it isn’t or to attend it with the attitude that it isn’t a great school. I am also not knocking the PSAT, just putting it into perspective as I see it that the huge differences in qualifying scores mean a student in another state may in fact have a higher PSAT, SAT, ACT, GPA, etc. and NOT be a NMF. Add to that the lower NA scores and you may understand why I take issue with the entitlement attitude of some of the posts on various threads. When posters go from full out ROLL TIDE to making such statements I am offended. Where is the gratitude? You cannot have something taken away that you have yet to be awarded. I understand the aspect of anticipation and disappointment, but it is offensive to me to blame the UA and to imply others had no better choice. My D certainly had choices as did many others on this board. We have no regrets and are extremely grateful for the opportunity. I am very happy for those like Malani’s son who have the NMF package, but I also see an issue with higher stats kids receiving less money to attend Bama as Sniner mentioned. There is quite a difference among the state cutoffs for NMF.</p>
<p>I will also add to my respose that I understand that the change in the scholarship package may be a reason to keep looking at other schools and may sway some to attend elsewhere. I have no issue with anyone making that statement. I understand the financial implications of the change and the real impact on families; however, I am not aware of anyone who actually officially qualifies for the scholarship at this point or has written confirmation from the UA guaranteeing this package. I’m also not aware of any posting on the website which listed it for freshmen entering in the fall of 2013. Does it stink if you were anticipating it? Yes, it really does and I can empathize. Should the UA have handled this differently for those who visited? Perhaps, but scholarships are not finalized until late July or early August and most recruiters will tell families that when asked. I’m sure there was no intent to mislead anyone. I don’t see any intent to bait and switch or any responsibility to honor something that was not guaranteed for those entering 2013-2014. Alabama’s application opens earlier than most. Maybe that should change??? I simply think it is unfair to blame the UA for changing something that has yet to be awarded at this point in the application process. The UA is very generous to provide this opportunity as well as other academic scholarships and deserves gratitude. These comments remind me of a childhood book series about giving a mouse a cookie or giving a moose a muffin.</p>
<p>Bamagirls…I read the NY Times article. I am also aware of several women and groups of women who do this “for a living”. And yes…at Alabama girls come into recruitment “prepped” by consultants…I know this for a fact. i could go on and on and on about the “getting ready for recruitment at a competitive recruitment school” process. I DO talk and consult (for free) to hundreds of girls and their mothers who are preparing for recruitment not only at Alabama but at colleges across the US. I actually have a website and blog about the process…it’s called Sorority Girl 101.com. Todays post happens to deal with the NY Times article from yesterday. I for one would be happy to join the ranks of Malani, M2CK, and who ever else wanted to put together a “go to” group (although it is kind of like CC…if all incoming parents knew where to find us)…and my husband would “LOVE” the added income…LOL!! I think you will see more “media” coverage of this subject. I can’t comment more about it (let’s just say I might be “consulting” in a different way???) but stay tuned…more is still to come.</p>
<p>Go, Ahpimommy! By the way, I noticed quite a few of your young ladies shopping around town this weekend with their boyfriends…couldn’t miss the Tuskwear and other signature Bama must haves. I couldn’t help but wonder if your daughter made it over to shop.</p>
<p>Best wishes and consider me your personal referral service even though my D didn’t rush. Roll Tide, Ahpimommy!</p>
<p>Thanks so very much…I am excited! I love the blog. My DD was in Atlanta this weekend taking in a Braves game and doing a little shopping herself :). She picked up a few cute things but am not sure from exactly where (we shopped here for a new car!!). My biggest concern and main goal is not to create "Stepford PNMs but rather confident, prepared young women. Record numbers again this year…it will be a very interesting recruitment week…thank you again so very much for you support and kind words! Roll Tide!!!</p>
<p>I also would like to point out that there are many opportunities for our bright young students once they are attending Bama. There are research opportunities, scholarships that are department/national/international, study abroad opportunities, summer/break educational and service trips, volunteer and mentoring opportunities which are also available. Some of these are at no cost…some require payment.
The point is that the job does not stop with their high school stats, your student enters college with those, but to really experience the most that the university offers, the student must continue to pursue every educational and non-curricular option that there is, squeezing every experience out of their four years so that they leave this university (or any other) having had an enriched college education. </p>
<p>Yes, I truly understand the financial implications of the “new” scholarship offers to families but when choosing a college, consider other factors as well. Will my student excel here, will they be happy, will they be well educated, is this university a good fit for my student?? My student’s answer to all these questions was an emphatic YES. If the money situation pans out to be the same for The University of Alabama and some other “higher ranked” college, consider all the variables, not just the reputation or rank of the colleges.</p>
<p>I don’t know for sure, or really think that this has any bearing on the decision to change the NMF scholarship at UA, but there have been rumors for a few years that CB was going to revamp the NMF program all together. There were many different reasons for the revamp. I am just wondering if this may be a pro-active move on UA’s part to be ahead of that change. </p>
<p>Again, just specualtion on my part, but another thought to throw out there.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to imply that he wouldn’t have made the cutoff in other states, just that I think the NMF process measures students prematurely and artificially denies deserving recipients of recognition merely because of where they reside. My son scored even higher on the SAT than the PSAT, but I’ve seen cases where students decline after taking the PSAT yet get the award over students with superior SAT scores. </p>
<p>I understand the NM folks’ rationale for their system. I just don’t particularly agree with it.</p>
<p>In our case, since S is our first born we didn’t even know there was recognition associated with the PSAT - our fault, for sure…but partly the high schools fault for never communicating this. My son did fairly well on PSAT but didn’t really take it as seriously as he should have (in retrospect.)</p>
<p>The bottom line is that no college even Alabama – gives scholarship money with eleemosynary intent. Every dollar that is awarded is for a specific business purpose among them to attract students that the university deems desirable for purposes of marketing the school to other students, to improve rankings and/or to improve the overall profile and environment of the school in academics, athletics or the arts. While I agree with the idea that people should be grateful for their blessings, Alabama really isnt setting out to confer a gift upon any of its scholarship recipients. </p>
<p>Regardless of whether the scholarship recipient is a recipient of the NMF, NA, Presidential, UA, Capstone, Collegiate, Alumni, departmental , athletic or artistic scholarship each of these students brings to Alabama a quality that Alabama wants for its business purposes. (And Alabama does a masterful job of using its scholarship recipients for its business purposes. As a parent, my favorite pieces of college mail of all time - and the only ones that will survive past the college application years – have been the two brochures, one focused on out of state NMFs and one focused on musicians, that featured pictures of my D1 marketing Alabama to high achieving students like her.)</p>
<p>In re-reading this thread and others on this board about similar subjects, I really couldnt find any suggestion that any poster thought that any student who isn’t NMF had no opportunity to attend what they consider a more prestigious school. Roughly 32,000 students per year score in the Presidential scholar range on the ACT and about 65,000 per year score in the Presidential scholar range on the SAT. Most of them dont choose Alabama just as most of the 15,000 NMFs dont choose Alabama. I would warrant that for most of the Presidential Scholar candidates who dont choose Alabama, the reason that they dont choose Alabama is that the full tuition Presidential scholarship doesnt outweigh the other great options that they have. </p>
<p>The several hundred Presidential Scholars and NMFs that do choose Alabama from among all their great options each year will find a wealth of opportunity awaits them. Most will be highly satisfied with their choice. However, the bottom line is that the college decision is a business decision on both the institutional side and also on the student side and people who are seeking to make the best decision for their own family shouldnt be derided as ungrateful merely because they are considering and weighing all the options open to them.</p>
<p>Thank you for your perspective although it is much different than mine. We will simply have to agree to disagree on the tone and intent of some of the posts on this thread and a few others.:)</p>
<p>I understand that the scholarships are not “gifts” so to speak, but they do merit gratitude since they provide opportunities for an education without financial constraints that most other schools do not. I guess we shall see if this makes a difference since many other high stats students will continue to flock to the UA. It remains a very attractive scholarship in my opinion.</p>
<p>LOL…I thought at first that word was some sort of crazy auto-correct error or mistyping on the cell phone. Continued reading and realized it was probably a real word…but didn’t take the time to look it up. :)</p>
<p>Here are some quotes from earlier in the thread:</p>
<p>“I checked and the flyers did still specify 12-13 school year however we were on campus 2 weeks ago and 4 years was discussed as being part of the offering.”</p>
<p>“When I asked at our visit in April the dean indicated that the NMF package for 2013-2014 was set.”</p>
<p>“We visited just the last week of May and were given a summary of NMF scholarship that included 4 years in an Honors Dorm and we were given a tour of said dorm.”</p>
<p>As someone whose son has benefitted from the generous NMF scholarship and from many of the other great opportunities provided by UA and as someone who reread all of the posts in this thread, in my view everyone who has posted in this thread expressing disappointment has done so without implying any undue sense of entitlement. In this regard, the quotes above from some of the posts indicate that several of the people posting here made the effort to travel to Tuscaloosa to visit UA and were told to their face that the NMF scholarship for 2013 would include 4 years of housing, with one of the people getting confirmation from a dean at UA. The administrators and staff that I have dealt with at UA would know that an apology is owed these people for the unintentionally misleading information that was provided, and they wouldn’t hide behind excuses that “it wasn’t in writing”, or that “you didn’t read our fine print disclaimer”, or that “there really is no promise of performance until your student is confirmed as a NMF.” From a legal standpoint some of those excuses may be valid, but from an interpersonal standpoint, none of them are satisfactory in my view.</p>
<p>Thanks for your opinion as well. I’m not going to cut and paste from all of the threads because I don’t feel the need to defend my statements, but we can disagree as well.:)</p>
<p>Off topic but I don’t want to leave a false impression. As I’ve noted on previous threads discussing where Alabama can take a talented student, the fabulous experience that I had as a full ride recipient at Alabama gave me the confidence that it would be okay to turn down Yale Law for a “lesser” law school that offered me full tuition, housing and lots of perks in terms of meeting and interacting with the judiciary. I had a fabulous law school experience, met my wonderful husband, clerked for a federal judge, took a Big Law job, and then gave it all up (unhampered by any educational debt) to settle down to raise four fabulous kids who I hope will follow in my footsteps at Alabama.</p>
<p>^ You have touched on one of my favourite topics: educational debt. It’s one thing to go into debt to fund education; but it’s quite another to have to deal with the fallout when that debt leads (forces?) you to make certain decisions later in life as a result. Being unhampered by debt upon graduation takes a LOT of pressure off kids - to explore and try new things that they possibly would not otherwise do if they needed to pay off huge student loans. I had a friend who took on huge debt to pay for school, only to find that that particular profession wasn’t everything they wanted/expected, yet they had to continue down that path in order to pay for their earlier decision. </p>
<p>Freedom from debt = freedom to make choices/decisions that others hampered by debt can’t make. </p>
<p>The best advice a professional college planner told our family was to have a budget UPFRONT and fully discuss with your student (before you even start to go on any college visits! how many of us actually did this?!) and then stick to it - do not let scholarship offers and other perks emotionally cloud your bottom line. If you do this (budget discussion with your family), anything that is offered off the cost of attendance of those schools (that you can afford) that you don’t have to pay, should be celebrated.
Others, please don’t begrudge UA for eliminating anything, regardless of the reason(s) for their decision.</p>
<p>OK, what’s going on here? Prior to today I’d never seen the word “eleemosynary.” So I see it here on CC and not more than 15 minutes ago I passed a truck on the freeway that had the words “Frear Eleemosynary Trust” printed on its side. </p>
<p>I think the message of the day is let’s all be charitable. :)</p>
Roll Tide, Ahpimommy!</p>