@mommdc thank so for recommendations. I live in Pittsburg so I never saw Temple and I was already accepted to Pitt but not expecting scholarships.
I’m from PA.
My oldest is a current student at Bama. It has been a great experience, but, if you go Greek, I think both schools would come out at the same costs.
Go with your gut. Whatever school YOU Personally can get the most out of your education (in and out of the classroom) will be the one with the most value. I’d have a different opinion if your family couldn’t afford the cost difference or if you were looking at a cost difference of $14,000/yr vs$4,000.
@Longhaul is yours a boy or girl at Bama and are they Greek? Not that it matters I am just curious if that is how you know about costs.
I went to Alabama (decades ago). My daughter is starting her search so we are also looking at Alabama. Roll Tide Roll. I will say that I am biased. I love Alabama - you will receive an awesome education, if you apply yourself. They also have an Honors College. You will not go wrong with a great college tradition. The greek life is huge - but fun and the sorority houses are amazing. I vote for ALABAMA.
LOL, I believe it is THE University of Alabama as well!
If you’re still undecided after all this, then go to whoever wins the national title - it’s looking like a Buckeye-Tide final 
Go to OSU.
@soyunchico , it is my son that attends Bama. He did not go Greek. He had no interest and we had no money. He has friends that are Greek. In addition to dues, there is money spent on clothes, date dances, etc.
Alabama, as a state, has the largest Greek presence in the country.
This link is from 2014 with details of Greek Life:
IFC per semester fees:
New Member avg $3452
Living in House avg: $4610
Living out of house avg: 2409
https://issuu.com/alabamapanhellenic/docs/bama_bound_2014_-men__4.pptx
@Longhaul and not going greek hasn’t had an effect on his social life? I don’t really car every Tom go Greek but for some reason it seems imperative to college life there.
@soyunchico my son is also at Bama and we are from PA. He had Temple or Bama as affordable choices and went with UA.
Had no interest in Greek life and it has not been a factor at all. I think more girls tend to go Greek than guys, so that might be a part of it, but even with that, there are thousands of students there
When he did dorm selection I made sure he had roommates that didn’t plan on going Greek. He is in honors housing, so lots of engineering students there, and often that major is time consuming enough without adding all the Greek nonsense.
DS was one of the limited sophomores who got on campus housing, but I would have been perfectly fine if he moved off campus. There are tons of off campus housing available and lots of price ranges. The school has shuttles to many of them, so a car isn’t needed.
There are more choices for dorming at Bama than just crappy traditional or expensive suites. Don’t know them off hand but I know we looked into them and there were other options. 
Our biggest issue is travel. We spend around $2K per year. That includes move in, move out, and major school breaks. Once he moves off campus, he can just leave his stuff in his apartment and just fly home. He can also stay for spring break, so I expect those costs to come down.
Not being Greek has had no impact on his social life BUT
- My son participated in a club sport his first year. He really made a core group of friends from this.
and - He doesn’t care for big parties. He feels his Greek friends spend “too much” time at required functions. Just not his thing.
I want to emphasis that he DOES have friends that are Greek. He went expecting Greeks to not socialize outside of the Greek system.
as @laralei stated, the travel costs are not cheap. Factor in summer storage, too.