Parents resent the though of me applying to Alabama - how to change their mind?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Well, with the numerous banners advertising the university and the actual CD I received in the mail about their honors program, I decided to take a look, and ended up being pleasantly surprised by the options available. Not only am I already qualified for full tuition by my stats (4.0 UW GPA, 34 ACT), but I also saw the University Fellows Experience which I may consider applying for as a safety to have a potential full ride. Even with just the Presidential scholarship, U of A would be cheaper than any in-state options. Is there anything that anyone knows about this UFE program, such as if it provides a lot of support and how tightly knit of a scholarship community it is? </p>

<p>But anyways, my main point - I suggested the thought to my parents and my mom especially hated the idea, not only because of the distance but because she felt it had subpar academics compared to what I could end up at. My approach is that since I plan to go on to med school, it would probably be best to save as much as possible during the undergrad years. Yes, I originally had sights set on some expensive privates, but now I really at least want to apply to a school like Alabama as a guaranteed safety net. </p>

<p>Parents do not want me to because they feel like if Im gonna rely on a safety it should be UVA, despite the higher pricetag. Can anyone comment on this? Am I right in thinking that going to a school offering so much guaranteed aid could end up being a good option for a debt averse pre-med? Will going to U of A hurt my chances of going to top med schools, even with a high GPA and MCAT plus ECs? I really don't know why they're so opposed to me applying, it completely boggles my mind that a school with a maximum cost of $10,000 per year which is in the top 100 national universities turns them off so much.</p>

<p>And also, I'm not trying to portray them in a bad light or anything, they've been quite supportive. I just want to know if going to U of A on a pretty generous offer is legitimate for pre meds, just so I'm not fighting a lost cause.</p>

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<p>You are absolutely correct in pursuing schools that range from the obvious safety you describe here to the “reach for the moon” schools. In this context, safety is not only academic but financial. </p>

<p>When it comes to next May, you can line up with your admissions and your financial aid/scholarship packages and make the right decision. This is not the moment to debate what your parents think. Your job is to apply to the schools you think might work for you next year.</p>

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<p>Isn’t COA of Alabama with Presidential Scholarship about $15,000 per year?</p>

<p>Anyway, you might as well apply there, and also apply to the in-state schools (presumably UVa, VT, W&M, ?) to see what they come up with for scholarships and aid. Better to have Alabama with Presidential Scholarship as an additional safety in case your in-state schools’ net cost would require too much in the way of loans.</p>

<p>Some super-reach schools are pretty generous with financial aid for the few whom they do admit. Obviously, they would not be suitable for safety purposes, but it you do get in, attending may not be as expensive as the full list price may imply.</p>

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<p>Will going to U of A hurt my chances of going to top med schools, even with a high GPA and MCAT plus ECs?</p>

<p>Absolutely not. Bama pre-meds have a high acceptance rate to med schools…including the top SOMs. I personally know two 2011 Bama grads, both with high MCATs, who received their White Coats last month at Harvard and Columbia. There are others, of course, but these two I personally know.</p>

<p>The Director of Pre-health Advising has mentioned many times that a Bama pre-med with at least a 29 MCAT and a 3.6 GPA (cum and science) has over an 80% chance of acceptance to an American MD med school (not a DO, not a Caribbean). Furthermore, the acceptance rate for OOS pre-meds at Bama is even higher…over 85%. Naturally, those with higher stats enjoy an even higher acceptance rate. </p>

<p>Bama does do Committee Letters, which many publics don’t do because of the expense.</p>

<p>BTW…the national acceptance rate is around 50%.</p>

<p>I suggest that you and your family tour Bama and find out the facts for yourself. The savings will help immensely when you’re in med school.</p>

<p>My son is pre-med at Bama. He did accept that Presidential Scholarship. He takes him MCAT next spring and will be applying to med schools next summer. We promised him that since he took this scholarship we would help pay for med school as well. </p>

<p>I strongly suggest that you visit. Your parents will be pleasantly surprised. :)</p>

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<p>You sound like a very practical, reasonable person. I don’t really know what advice to give you though. Apply to both, and some privates, and see what happens. Could you persuade them to go on a visit to U of A with you? Maybe that could change their minds.</p>

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<p>Your parents want you to go to higher-priced UVA… They are completely able and willing to pay for it? If so, then it would be the better choice, unless there’s something very specific UA has that you need.</p>

<p>If, however, cost is an issue, and they would have trouble paying for UVA, ask what’s so bad about UA being your safety? Many are averse to “Alabama,” given images of deep south ignorance and racism, but this is a university, so it can’t be that bad.</p>

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<p>

The nationwide admit rate for a 29+ MCAT and 3.6+ GPA is 81.5%. </p>

<p>

Keep in mind that many students change their mind about pre-med. Did you know that only half of those taking the MCAT apply to medical school? That’s not even counting all those who dropped out prior to that point (quite a few!). </p>

<p>UVA is a great school with a fine reputation. It’s very strong across the board in a number of fields – Alabama is a good university that’s up and coming, but it does not yet have the same level of faculty and reputation of UVA. I am not saying I necessarily recommend UVA over Alabama, mind you, particularly for a pre-med student, but I do not think it is an easy decision. </p>

<p>I agree with ucbalumnus; apply to your in-state options as well as Alabama and compare packages in the spring.</p>

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<p>Wow, did not expect such an enormous amount of responses. Thanks to all for the help.</p>

<p>@xiggi I know it’s not the moment to try and make them think highly of it, but I just hope they don’t become so opposed to it that they don’t let me apply. Hopefully, that won’t be the case.</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus COA for an out of stater would be around $12,000 if you want to factor in personal expenses and such, since the room and board is only $8,000 and a year and Presidential covers full tuition. And my best bet for a super generous private would be Vanderbilt, which I plan on applying to as my reach school.</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids That’s amazing, I really never would have expected something from a school like Alabama. Committee letters are certainly a plus as well, makes it quite a good value for premed IMO.</p>

<p>@cellist yes, I’m know for being that way hahah. Honestly, I think when app time comes and I really let them know that U of A is simply a financial safety at the moment, I don’t think they’ll object to at least an application. I basically plan on applying to Vandy and maybe Hopkins for privates, although I know Hopkins is quite stingy with aid compared to Vanderbilt.</p>

<p>@DolorousEdd cost isn’t an issue, they’ve saved up in a 529 plan so they could pay for the 1st year at UVA already and payment beyond that wouldn’t be a problem. However, I would like to graduate as debtless as possible with the best possible education, and since I’d get no merit or need aid at UVA, U of A is automatically going to be cheaper no matter what I do. I would apply to the University Fellows program, and unless that offers something revolutionary then Alabama would pretty much remain at safety status.</p>

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<p>@warblersrule yeah, I’ve heard quite a few stories about prospective pre meds who drop the track. honestly, depending on where I get reasonable aid from, I might consider an BME major so that I could fulfill the premed requirements while also having better job prospects than a biology major if I don’t end up following through with the med school track. Understandably, many schools don’t offer such a program, so it all comes down to where I get offered the best deal. I do know a couple good friends from my high school going to UVA for biomed engineering, so it must have a decent program in that respect.</p>

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<p>[Estimated</a> Semester Budget](<a href=“http://cost.ua.edu/undergraduate-budget.html]Estimated”>http://cost.ua.edu/undergraduate-budget.html) says that per semester total cost is $17,825; if you subtract $10,950 tuition as a Presidential Scholar, remaining costs are $6,875 per semester, or $13,750 per year. If you are in Virginia, throw in some extra as a buffer for travel costs and the like.</p>

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<p>So will they pay the extra cost to ensure that you won’t have more debt by going to Virginia over Alabama if Virginia is more expensive?</p>

<p>Note that most pre-meds do not get admitted to any medical school (this counts those who do not apply because their GPA or MCAT is obviously too low). Note also that biomedical engineering as a major tends to have worse job and career prospects than most other engineering majors, but better than biology majors. You do not have to major in biology or biomedical engineering to do pre-med.</p>

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<p>OP</p>

<p>Time and education is what it took for me. Before I found these boards I never would have thought Bama was a good school for my kid. I thought of it as football, heavy Greek and far too deep south for my mid-Atlantic way of life. The number of parents and students from these boards who talked highly of the Honors Options and the nice visit reports are what changed my mind.</p>

<p>Apply. Give your parents the CD. Have them read the visit reports.</p>

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<p>Honestly if UVA is only a few grand more its a no-brainer. I think your parents are right.</p>

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<p>Of course, better to apply to both and compare financial aid later after it is known.</p>

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<p>*Honestly if UVA is only a few grand more its a no-brainer. I think your parents are right. *</p>

<p>I think it depends on how you define “a few grand more.” </p>

<p>The difference is more than a “few grand”. With both schools you’d pay room, board, books, fees, misc, personal expenses. With Bama, you wouldn’t pay tuition, with UVA you would pay tuition.</p>

<p>So, with Virginia, you’d have to pay tuition (currently $11,576)…that’s not just “a few grand more” by any definition that I can think of…especially when you multiply that by 4…about $46,000 plus any future tuition increases.</p>

<p>You have to compare apples with apples…you can’t compare all the costs of Bama (full COA) with just tuition, R&B at UVA. That’s ridiculous. For Bama you might have greater transportation costs. I say “might” because sometimes those who attend their instate schools rack up a lot of gas expenses by coming home more often. And, they need to keep their car insurance at full amount. </p>

<p>*The nationwide admit rate for a 29+ MCAT and 3.6+ GPA is 81.5%. *</p>

<p>Which proves that a pre-med at Bama is not hurt by attending Bama. The OP was concerned about that. ** *Will going to U of A hurt my chances of going to top med schools, even with a high GPA and MCAT plus ECs? *
**
His concern was if he has a high GPA and MCAT, would he be hurt by attending Bama…absolutely not. His concern seemed to state that a person would need a high MCAT/GPA to even have a chance at acceptance (to overcome attending Bama…lol)</p>

<p>I will email the director and ask what the % is for high GPA and high MCAT. I suspect it’s very high…like 100% or close to it. I don’t know of any high stats pre-meds who didn’t get acceptances. One thing I have noticed is that Bama pre-meds don’t seem to apply to the 15-25 med schools that others do. They tend to apply to like 8-15. Their apps seem more carefully targeted. </p>

<p>And my best bet for a super generous private would be Vanderbilt, which I plan on applying to as my reach school.</p>

<p>Vandy is ONLY generous to those who are determined to have need. It doesn’t sound like your family has much/any need. My sister pays full freight at Vandy…and she has TWO kids in college…the other at a NE elite…also full-freight there. So, when you hear the words “generous with financial aid,” that doesn’t mean to EVERYONE…no way.</p>

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<p>I’m sorry, but how is UVA a safety for anyone?</p>

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<p>UVa, like any flagship, is a safety when you are instate and at the 75th percentile of selectivity for the student body…</p>

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<p>@aajjc technically i mean financial safety…but i know people from my school who got in with lower stats than me and weren’t URMs. UVA seems to have a strong preference for in-staters, so I suppose it could be a kind of low safety for VA residents with good stats.</p>

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<p>Just throwing in another point to consider…the likely situation of the cost of tuition at UVA to increase 8,9, maybe even 10% each of the next four years…There was an article in the Richmond paper just this morning about tuition hikes. </p>

<p>[Tuition</a> increases average 7.9% as affordability declines | Richmond Times-Dispatch](<a href=“http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/local-news/2011/aug/02/tdmain01-tuition-increases-average-79-percent-as-a-ar-1211756/]Tuition”>http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/local-news/2011/aug/02/tdmain01-tuition-increases-average-79-percent-as-a-ar-1211756/)</p>

<p>It doesn’t look like there will be any decreases seen in the near future, especially with the state’s appropriation to higher education being lower (51%) than it was in fiscal 2006. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t have a problem with applying to UA and seeing what transpires. I will also go out on a further limb and say that after visiting both schools (and others) you may get a real feel for where you could see yourself as an undergrad personality wise. Good luck to you this year!</p>

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<p>You really just need to get your parents to visit Bama with you.</p>

<p>BTW…are you a likely NMF? If so, then you’d get a lot more merit money.</p>

<p>If you decide to visit Bama, this is what you need to do…</p>

<p>set up a campus tour time online…try for the early morning one.
[Campus</a> Visits - Undergraduate Admissions - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://gobama.ua.edu/visits/]Campus”>Visit)</p>

<p>send an email to Allison Verhine in the Honors College and include: </p>

<p>tour time and date
student name & contact info
test scores and GPA
(if a likely NMF, indicate so)
intended major
professional interests (pre-med, etc)
interest in Computer Based Honors program and/or University Fellows Program (if desired)</p>

<p>Also, include any thing else that interests you about the school…such as meeting with the Pre-Health Advising Director, touring the new Science and Engineering Complex and Shelby Hall. </p>

<p>Allison will arrange the rest of the day…meeting with dept heads, honors faculty, touring honors dorms, etc.</p>

<p>Allison Verhine - Honor College Recruitment Coordinator
269 Nott Hall
205-348-5534
<a href=“mailto:allison.verhine@ua.edu”>allison.verhine@ua.edu</a></p>

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<p>@KandKsmom: thanks for the info and well wishes! I did hear about that actually, so it definitely is something to consider</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids: 99% chance I won’t be, VA is a pretty competitive state for that, like among top 10 states if I’m not mistaken. I will be a commended student for sure though, I already got a letter about that. And thanks for the detailed info! Seems like your child at Bama must love it for you to make such a push for it. You’d certainly make for a great unofficial recruiter for the school hahah</p>