I’m currently deciding between UN (Lincoln) and UA (Tuscaloosa) and I’m having some trouble. I don’t know what I want to major in yet, so I can’t base my decision off of the relative strengths of any specific program. Lincoln will be a few thousand more annually. The two schools are comparable in terms of distance from home. I felt like I ‘belonged’ a little more at Nebraska, but Alabama was by far a more beautiful campus and I’m sure I’d be able to find my niche at either school. I’m also not planning on rushing and wondering how these schools measure up in terms of how hard it is to have a social life without going Greek.
Basically I’m torn between two schools I really loved when I visited and I don’t know where to go. Any input or advice is appreciated!! Thanks!
If your family can comfortably afford the price difference (no loans, no financial hardship) then choose the school you feel more comfortable at. If money is a factor, it go to Alabama.
I know that you’re undecided for your major, but which way do you lean? Humanities? Sciences? Eng’g/comp Sci, Business? Nursing? Pre-Health (MD, PA, etc)?
BTW…if you’re considering eng’g/CS, then you need to name that at Bama soon so you can also get the add’l $2500 per year.
What scholarships have you been awarded from each school?
Sounds like you have two great choices. I would look closely at the net cost to your family and factor in things like travel, housing, etc., over the course of four years. Is one harder to get to and from where you live?
Bama has a lot of out-of-state students. Not sure about Nebraska. Does that matter to you? How about weather? One will be very hot and humid part of the school year; the other quite cold. How does that compare to what you’re used to?
Nebraska is appreciable smaller than Bama and also has more men than women. (Bama is the complete opposite.) Does that matter to you?
Ideally, you’ll get the opportunity to visit each one more time before you must decide. Either way, it doesn’t sound like you can make a bad decision. Trust your instincts.
<<<Some of the ones I’m considering are chemical engineering, biological engineering (or biology/chem/biochem), actuarial science, statistics, or possibly business. I’m also really interested in English and writing but my parents are concerned about my earning potential after graduation if that’s what I study<<
Well, if you’re considering ChemE, then on MyBama, you need to update your major to Eng’g so that you’ll get the extra 2500 per year. You can’t get that if you declare later. You can always change your mind later.
How many AP credits do you have? If you have a good number, you can include additional English classes, perhaps a minor in English.
I’ve read a lot of student accounts that say that Greek life dominates the social scene at Alabama. Don’t know about Nebraska. Worth considering if you’re not planning on joining a sorority though.
@mom2collegekids I got the Presidential scholarship from UA and the George Beadle scholarship from UNL. I’m not sure exactly how many credits this will translate to but I expect to graduate with passing grades on 9 AP exams. The thing is, only one of those classes was an English one so I am not sure if that will really matter in terms of making an English minor more doable?
Thank you everyone!!! Definitely gave me more things to think about.
One of my kids narrowed it down to these two universities, and ended up in Lincoln. After visiting each place and doing much research, here some of the things that swayed things that way:
-Nebraska was far more generous with AP credits.
-Nebraska had higher % of students living on campus…staying on campus for entire time there seems to be fairly easy.
-Alabama’s beautiful campus is huge and spread out…some of those wonderful new dorms are quite a hike from some of the academic buildings. For a state flagship, Nebraska is amazingly compact, due to not having a huge enrollment to begin with, dividing it up on two campuses, and having the majority of academic buildings in a relatively small area. My kid is not the type to enjoy a 20-minute hike to class, and far preferred the convenience of Nebraska’s compact City Campus.
-From what we saw of Tuscaloosa, there appeared to be 3 main areas of stores and restaurants: the small cluster just west of campus, the long gaudy string of stores and fast food places on the road that leads from the freeway to the campus, and the sort of dull downtown-ish area west of the campus. For a student who wasn’t going to have a car, those 3 areas didn’t look very inviting compared to downtown Lincoln being right across the street from Nebraska’s City Campus.
-Greek scene at Bama seemed to take itself a little too seriously.
-An analysis of the weather at each school revealed that Tuscaloosa isn’t as warm as most Northerners think it is, and Lincoln isn’t nearly as cold and snowy as some other Midwestern cities.
-Nebraska’s dry campus and frats were appreciated by parents. The students certainly drink their share, but they have to work a little harder to get to get to the booze (off campus).
We were also pleasantly surprised how easy and cheap sports tickets were at Nebraska…I think a season ticket to football, men’s basketball, AND women’s volleyball (a big sport at Nebraska) was somewhere around $250. Of course they aren’t winning any football national championships there any more, so maybe you get what you pay for.
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Nebraska was far more generous with AP credits.
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far more generous??? how so?
edited to add…I just looked over both schools’ AP Credits. NOT TRUE that Nebraska is far generous. In fact in a few areas, Nebraska is much worse (ie higher score needed for credit or less credits awarded.)
I just added up how many credits I’ll get from both schools assuming I get all 4s on the exams I’m taking this year and it came out to 51 credits from Alabama and 41 from Nebraska. Even if I can only use some of those credits toward my degree it looks like at least for me Alabama would be an easier school to double-major at. Is this correct or am I missing something?
Alabama is very generous with AP credit, which is why people were surprised Nebraska was being more generous!
However, you really only need about 30 credits to double major easily. WIth 51 AP credits, you could double major and add a minor - CS+ Art + ?
