OSU vs Alabama Vs PSU

College Search & Selection
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<p>I posted a similar topic a few months ago, but I feel that I have enough information to warrant a new post. TL;DR version at bottom.</p>

<p>I've been accepted to all of the above schools, for Computer Science at Alabama and Undecided at PSU and OSU. I plan to major in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or accounting. </p>

<p>I've been accepted into the Honors College at Alabama with a 2/3 tuition scholarship, along with the last third being covered by the college of engineering as long as I stay in engineering. I've been accepted into the Scholars Program at Ohio State with the National Buckeye Scholarship, so the cost of attending OSU will be close to the cost of attending PSU. My family has $80000ish in my college fund and earn enough money to pay off anything that my fund won't cover, and any remaining money left over will either to towards graduate school or to my sister's education. </p>

<p>Penn State has a large number of my friends attending, and has strong programs in both business and engineering. The campus is huge and beautiful, the football games are incredibly fun to attend, and the school has an amazing social scene. Though UP is a great college town, it wouldn’t provide the internship or coop opportunities that I could likely find in Columbus, and there wouldn’t be as many opportunities to see popular musicians. I would have to start in the summer session, which I would be fine with if I didn’t have to leave most of my friends behind and it didn’t disrupt my shadowing at a local research complex. The dorms are horrid, and the food in the cafeteria wasn’t very good, and it didn’t seem to have a huge number of restaurants close to the dorms. I’m not sure if I can deal with another winter as brutal as this current one. I’m also concerned about how hard it would be for me to get involved in research, as I wouldn’t be in any special programs.
Ohio State seems to have programs comparable to Penn State in Engineering and Business. Though the campus is smaller, it is easily walkable, pretty nice, and has better dining options than Penn State. None of my friends will be attending OSU, though I have family living in the area if anything major happens. Columbus is an awesome city with its amazing food, pro sports teams, and with its opportunities to hear live music. The scholars program I intend to join (mount) will hopefully help me to continue developing my leadership skills. The social scene is (according to my cousin) great, and the sports teams are good in pretty much every sport I care about. The dorms at Ohio State aren’t amazing, though the dorm where I plan to stay is a bit nicer than PSU’s dorms. Again, the winters will suck, and I’m unsure if I want to deal with it.
Alabama has by far my favorite campus. A few of my friends plan on attending, though the school is really far away from anyone in my family, which would be terrible if anything happened to anyone in my family or myself. The dorms are really nice, the on campus dining is great, and the off campus dining is also pretty good (particularly because I love southern style barbeque). I also believe that it would be interesting to live in the south for a few years, which my scholarship gives me a great opportunity to do. The weather is also much warmer than it would be in University Park or Columbus. The football team and baseball teams are great, though I will really miss playing hockey. The social scene is, apparently, primarily based around the Greek system, which is fine with me as I intend to join a fraternity, though I fear that I would regret not joining as a freshman and that I could potentially feel I made a wrong choice if I rushed first semester. Very few bands play in either Birmingham or Tuscaloosa, so I would have limited opportunities to see live bands. The school also isn’t as well known for business or engineering as either PSU or OSU, though the accounting program is ranked similarly to both above schools. I would not have a car, which would make it difficult to get to off campus stores that aren’t within walking distance (i.e. gamestop). </p>

<p>Pretty much everyone I asked has either said I would fit in better at either of the Big 10 schools than I would at Alabama, though I feel like it would be interesting to be engaged in a different culture than the one I was raised in. I would likely have some adjustment issues when moving far away, though I feel that these “issues” would help me to mature. I also am unsure of the employment opportunities for people with degrees from these schools in a state like Texas.
Long Story short, I’ve been accepted to Alabama, Penn State and Ohio State. I’m unsure whether I should choose the school that would be the cheapest, give me some interesting educational opportunities and would let me experience a new culture, a more expensive school I can afford where I would fit in better, be close to my friends, and would have a degree from a more prestigious school, or finally go to a city I love where I would fit in, be close to family, get a degree from an equally prestigious school, and have most of the same opportunities I would get at the first school. Any advice or opinions would be appreciated.</p>

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<p>Well of course it is; it’s gorgeous! lol (and wait til you see it in the spring! The tulips and hardwood trees blooming! If you visited in the Fall, then you saw the beautiful colors of the autumn leaves.)</p>

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<p>Yes, that’s always a concern when you go to school a few states away. However, with the Free Tuition PLUS 2500 per year, you can afford to fly home if needed.</p>

<p><<<<< The dorms are really nice, the on campus dining is great, and the off campus dining is also pretty good (particularly because I love southern style barbeque). I also believe that it would be interesting to live in the south for a few years, which my scholarship gives me a great opportunity to do. The weather is also much warmer than it would be in University Park or Columbus. <<<<</p>

<p>Oh yes, campus living is very nice and off-campus dining choices are huge. The weather is definitely warmer although Tuscaloosa does have a few cold days so a hoodie will be needed. </p>

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<p>Can you clarify. Do you PLAY hockey? Bama does have a club hockey team if that’s what interests you. They call themselves the Frozen Tide. and the team is VERY good! Of course you can watch them play as well.
<a href=“http://urec.sa.ua.edu/schockey.cfm”>http://urec.sa.ua.edu/schockey.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>So do you plan of rushing as a frosh or not? If not, that’s fine. However, I recommend that you attend Outdoor Action or Alabama Action which is a great way to meet new friends. it’s the week before school starts. </p>

<p><<<<Very few bands play in either Birmingham or Tuscaloosa, so I would have limited opportunities to see live bands. <<<<</p>

<p>While it’s not like big-city offerings, Tuscaloosa does have a new Outdoor Amphitheater that is starting to attract more national talent. That said, it’s not hard to find live music in Tuscaloosa and certainly available in B’ham. The south is big on music. And of course if you like more sophisticated music, the performances by those in the School of Music are amazing. </p>

<p><<<the school=“” also=“” isn’t=“” as=“” well=“” known=“” for=“” business=“” or=“” engineering=“” either=“” psu=“” osu,=“” though=“” the=“” accounting=“” program=“” is=“” ranked=“” similarly=“” to=“” both=“” above=“” schools.=“”>>></the></p>

<p>Bama has a very fine B-school and Col of Eng’g. Attending Bama would not hold you back career-wise. Bama’s CoE was quite small for so long that its graduates mostly stayed in the region. Now that it’s 4000+ students strong and has fabulous new facilities (900,000 sq ft of new STEM space), it will become more well-known nationally. Of course, all of its programs are ABET accredited, including Comp Sci.</p>

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<p>The Crimson Ride takes students to Midtown Village every weekend (and GameStop is there). That said, nearly every car-less student will have a couple of friends with cars, so tagging along with them is a common thing to do at other times. </p>

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<p>Right now, it seems that your real choice is between OSU and Alabama. In the end, it’ll depend on really personal preference. Living in another part of the country for college can be a great experience and at 18 it’s time for you to leave your family (if only to better come back later :p). However your highlights of OSU/Columbus show you really liked it too. This really isn’t a decision we can make for you…</p>

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<p>Does the University of Alabama offer research/internship opportunities? Does OSU Columbus have? Would it be easy to find research opportunities at either schools? I’m a graduating senior and I’m in OP’s situation (without the Penn State option). </p>

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<p>@honors2regular - Alabama has the emerging scholars program (<a href=“http://emergingscholars.ua.edu/”>http://emergingscholars.ua.edu/&lt;/a&gt;), and there are other ways to get involved in research for students not in that program. At Ohio State, it seems like you would need to find a faculty member who needs assistance on their research project and join them, but with how huge of a school OSU is and how much research is done, I imagine it wouldn’t be too difficult to get involved in research, especially if you’re in the scholars or honors programs.</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids - I do play hockey, but with how large the average hockey bag is and with how little time I will have between schoolwork and my social life(especially if I join a fraternity), it would be very difficult for me to continue playing hockey if I attend Alabama. At OSU, I could keep my bag at my uncle’s house and participate in intramural or pickup hockey(which would be significantly less time consuming than playing for a school or club team). I also don’t know if I would be good enough to actually make the team or get decent playing time if I made it anyways (judging from the skill level of kids I know who currently play club hockey)</p>

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<p>A teammate of my son’s is a freshman at Bama and playing club hockey. There were over 80 kids at the tryout! This young man played travel hockey his whole life and his dad has coached our HS team for 7 years. </p>

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<p>I was not admitted to the honors/scholars program @ OSU. How do I increase my chances of finding research opportunities @OSU? </p>

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<p>"“Does the University of Alabama offer research/internship opportunities?”"</p>

<p>Of course there are research opps!</p>

<p>As for internships, colleges don’t “offer” internships, the regional companies do. And, yes, since Alabama is home to the second largest research park in the nation, there are many internship and co-op opportunities. </p>

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<p>"" I do play hockey, but with how large the average hockey bag is and with how little time I will have between schoolwork and my social life(especially if I join a fraternity), it would be very difficult for me to continue playing hockey if I attend Alabama.""</p>

<p>How large is the hockey bag? Maybe the team keeps their bags in a provided area? Why not contact them and ask? They would have the same issue, so maybe the school provides a solution? I don’t know if you were considering the Super Suites, but you’d have your own room. Also, some of the super suites have storage rooms for you to put large items.</p>

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<p>From OSU’s UG Research website:

<a href=“http://www.undergraduateresearch.osu.edu/getstarted/involved.html”>http://www.undergraduateresearch.osu.edu/getstarted/involved.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
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<p>Keep in mind that Ohio State is a major research university whose R&D expenditures totaled $937 million in 2013<em>. By contrast, the University of Alabama brought in $26.5 million in research in 2013</em>*. If a student can find projects to work on at Alabama they will have no trouble finding research opportunities at OSU. </p>

<p><em><a href=“http://research.osu.edu/osu-research/profile/”>http://research.osu.edu/osu-research/profile/&lt;/a&gt;
*</em><a href=“http://osp.ua.edu/site/ResearchReports/13ThirdQtrExpByDepartmentResearchComparison.pdf”>http://osp.ua.edu/site/ResearchReports/13ThirdQtrExpByDepartmentResearchComparison.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>“Keep in mind that Ohio State is a major research university whose R&D expenditures totaled $937 million in 2013<em>. By contrast, the University of Alabama brought in $26.5 million in research in 2013</em>*”</p>

<p>What a humongous difference!</p>

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<p>This would be a question best addressed to each office of admissions, honors college, and dept.chair for the subjects you’re interested in: how many undergraduates are currently helping professors on their research? How many undergraduates are currently working on their own research? How many undergraduates have presented or published their own research in the past year or so? How many of the students involved in research at any level are freshmen? </p>

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<p>I think that UA data my be to date for 3rd quarter and is probably a little low.</p>

<p>According to this data (based upon data from the NSF), UA did $53,633,000 in R & D for fiscal 2011. In looking at UA’s internal documents, it looks like it may be up to $70,000,000 or so now. </p>

<p><a href=“PATENTING BY U.S. COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, CY 1969-2012 - Total R&D Expenditures, FY2011, Top 250 Institutions”>http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/univ/r_and_d/r_d_nsf_2012.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Either way you slice it, OSU is a research behemoth (#14 or so).</p>

<p>Availability of research varies so much by department. Many departments that receive very little external funding may actually provide better research opportunities than those that do receive external funding.</p>

<p>For example, there are lots of opportunities in geography to do unfunded research. I will have some students doing a research project next year…analyzing home insurance claims data and building quality on a spatial level.</p>

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<p>Haystack, I’ve seen that report, but it doesn’t match up to the three institutions I’m most familiar with, Emory University, UC Irvine, and the University of Oklahoma. I could be missing something, but I’m wondering how the disparities between R&D expenditures published by the institutions and the USPTO came about. </p>

<p>My aim in linking the institutional reports was to show the OP that getting research experience should be extremely easy at OSU. </p>

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<p>The NSF has specific rules about what constitutes R & D expenditures (the patent office report is based upon this data).</p>

<p>This is the NSF data. Institutions may report, internally, a different number than this but the NSF data is the ‘official’ source of research funding data.</p>

<p><a href=“NSF – NCSES Academic Institution Profiles – Rankings by total R&D expenditures”>https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site%3Bjsessionid=7293FD045FE19557D58302EAEF5DB038?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Emory reported 552,707,000 for FY2012. What do their internal documents say?</p>

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<p>@Brianz - DS is a freshmen at Bama. It was far from his top choice, but given the money and opportunities it was the best decision for our family. We are all impressed with the ease of getting involved as a freshmen for research. He is busy and certainly has freak outs as an Engineering student, but he has also found time for a club sport that takes 20 hours and up a week + Emerging Scholars + STEM MBA.</p>

<p>Music scene – the music scene is the aspect he hates most. Impossible to see live music if under 19. And what there is available is limited in genre. The plus is that many Bama students play, so you can find others to jam with. </p>

<p>Club sports are VERY costly at Bama. The school cut funding to clubs to $50/semester, so the participants are fitting the full bill and doing plenty of fund raisers. The ice rink is quite far (near Birmingham). The club sports, or course, do not receive the same perks as NCAA athletes as far as missing class.</p>

<p>If hockey is your method to exercise, you’ll find plenty of other opportunities at Bama. If hockey is your method to de-stress, I’d lean toward OSU.</p>

<p>As far as “fit”, my NMF, extremely liberal, Mid-Atlantic, urban loving kid has fit in quite fine academically and socially at Bama.</p>

<p>Both Bama and OSU will offer you more opportunities in research as an underclassmen vs PSU unless you got into Schreyer. Both Bama and OSU seem less stressful and have much in terms of support vs PSU. We are in state for PSU and our family did not find the cost vs Bama with scholarship to be worth our money.</p>

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<p>Forgot to add - Bama has a new Engineering “mini” class (5 weeks 1 credit) in the Fall 2014 for research. They really are doing all possible to increase opportunities early.</p>

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<p>^ must be just hockey, a very expensive sport. My DS is co-president of club volleyball, and UA has paid for everything (tournament and ref costs, travel, hotels, uniforms, etc.). Admittedly this is not the norm at most schools, but most schools are not flush with cash like Alabama.</p>

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<p>Chardo - I’d be interested in learning more about the volleyball. Bama dropped men’s club crew to $50 for this semester.</p>

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<p>those are some nice opportunities to have. sounds like you have quite a bit of interest in doing something to set yourself apart from yourself and your friends. Alabama could be one place to do that. They are plenty strong in engineering and they have a new engineering building (did mom2 mention that?), IIRC. As far as being far away from home when something bad happens, it won’t matter where you are when that happens. It’s still gonna suck. Even if you get home, you’re still going to have to go back to school after a couple days anyway and it’ll be as if you never went home. You’ll still have just yourself and your worries whether you’re in UP or Tuscaloosa. </p>