My DD is trying to make a final decision and is struggling. She likes both OU and Alabama.
we are from Oklahoma. She has scholarships at both… the net cost are very close and would say it is a wash… with bama being slightly more due to misc travel cost.
She has been accepted to Honors at both and plans to major in PR/journalism with an interest to go to law school after undergrad. We think both the OU Gaylord school and the Bama College of Communications (PR) are great from what we have research and experienced during visits.
She will do greek rush and has visited both. She goes back and forth and likes both alot. – she is normally very decisive, but has been struggling with this decision to the point that it is stressing her out.
My wife is an Alabama alumni. I am an OU alumni. She loves sports … both have great sports and are the same color!
I think i am basically asking for advice on how to get her to decide one of these great options. Any advice on what discussion or questions I might ask her or encourage her to ask herself?
Any advantage on going to your state flagship vs another states flagship (other than cost… since that has been equalized) ?
She has two wonderful options and literally cannot go wrong! I wonder if distance from home is a consideration for her. Another factor to consider is who from her high school are going to OU, and whether she sees it as a positive or negative to have high school friends at college. Perhaps she should flip a coin and see if she feels disappointed with the result. And if she can relax about the decision knowing that she has already made a wonderful decision and she has a fabulous college experience waiting for her at either place. Good luck to her and let us know what she decides!
Yes, your state flagship cost will be less if for any reason (knock on wood) the student loses their scholarship.
If that’s not a worry, just choose based on something like weather?
Flip a coin. Then, after that, let her think on it for 48 hrs.
If I were her, my choice would be Bama due to the diversity of geographic regions the students come from. And, also as a parent of a Bama grad, I can attest to the fact the Big Review book did not exaggerate that the University " Runs like Butter"
Shopping & restaurants are right next to OU’s campus. Bama has little cluster of businesses nearby, and a busy highway with many businesses not far away, but none of this is as close, nice, or convenient as OU’s business district.
OU close to a big city (OC) vs Bama not particularly close to Birmingham.
Interesting options. Alabama has about 30,000 undergraduate students while Oklahoma has about 20,000 undergrads.
Alabama reports 40% of its students are from in state, while Oklahoma reports 67%.
To me, the real issue is how much does your daughter want to grow ?
Exploring a different region of the country should be beneficial to your daughter. Also, it might be of interest to your daughter to take Spring Break on the beautiful Gulf Coast beaches of Alabama & Florida.
Atlanta, Georgia is home to hundreds of potential employers. Not much, however, in Birmingham, Alabama.
I am somewhat familiar with both as my D19 applied to both. We are out of state for both. For D19 Bama was about 8-10K cheaper if I remember correctly. I just think it is ridiculous that OU in state and Bama OOS is the same cost. OU is messing around too much. But it would have been similar for my D19. UIUC in state would have been more expensive for my D19 than Bama OOS. Actually Bama is turning into IL-South.
I grew up in OK, so I will always say OU over Bama.
She’ll probably grow more moving to a new state and making friends that come from all over the US.
However if she is hesitant about leaving home she may feel more comfortable at OU.
Does your daughter have the NMF scholarship? If yes, it includes a 5th year of tuition that could be used for law school or other graduate work and their law school is a top 25 if I’m remembering correctly. That would probably sway a decision in my house.
my D16 went out of state to a small LAC. She had some health troubles; and a boyfriend break up; and it was really hard trying to figure out Dr.'s - and a shoulder to lean on being 8+ hrs away. She transferred after 1.5 yrs to our state midwest flagship 1 hour away. She’s happier; being near home and we are able to help and attend all sorts of things with her being closer. It’s costing us more because she did not receive any transfer scholarships like she was originally offered from state school.
I guess that’s my point: ask about potential transfer scholarships.
Thank you for all the input, no my dd does not have the NMF scholarship at OU and yes I agree we are very surprised that an OOS flagship will cost the same than our in-state flagship.
University of Arkansas has now come back into her decision process… it too will cost the same as OU and Bama for us and she is also accepted to the Honors school there. She was impressed with the Honors school at Arkansas and a recent visit to that campus went well. We are going to Tuscaloosa on Tuesday for a second visit… in hopes of finalizing our decision by the end of next week!
again, thanks for all the input it is very helpful.