<p>aeromom…I dont think that is why that question is asked. PRs are treated as domestic students, so they dont have to show full funding (minus merit) like true intls do. </p>
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<p>That is a good question, but it applies to domestic students as well. Many will not consider the south. Many Intls are NE and west-coast focused, because their countries/parents are impressed with those schools.</p>
<p>And, they arent attending for free. Intls with the Presidential have to show that they have about $18k per year to put towards college, in order to be ACCEPTED! (room, board, fees, insurance, personal expenses, international and domestic travel). Many can’t show that. Many want full aid.</p>
<p>However, if as time goes on, too many intls apply, the Bama will tighten up…just like they would if too many domestics applied for the Presidential. </p>
<p>@australianjunior it is very interesting how people in a certain geographic area can have many preconceptions about what is prestigious and what is not. They may base opinions on what they have seen and what they know in their area alone. Or think that colleges are similar to what parents experienced maybe 20 - 30 years ago. </p>
<p>Sometimes too there are delays in perception changes because it takes a while for people to realize a college has improved in certain areas, or not picking up on regional/state changes important for them to see to believe.</p>
<p>UA has one of the top 10 beautiful campuses in the US. Many OOS scholarship families come to UA Scholars Day because they want to evaluate personally and thoroughly.</p>
<p>I know a family that will not visit UA because eng major son only interested in ‘the north’ or Stanford. If he doesn’t get OOS waived to his ‘first choice OOS public school’, he may be paying over $30K a year more for his degree - and they don’t have that kind of money to throw around. IMHO his stats are not high enough for admission to Stanford, and I think her realizes this is a big reach both for admission and affordability.</p>
<p>@SOSConcern That doesn’t sound good. I’ve seen quite a bit about Engineering scholarships and UA has a large Engineering school, so it would definitely be worth checking out for them, pity some people aren’t open minded enough. I’m sure any student has desired a top college in their college search, but in the end, it’s about where you will be happy and receive a solid education, and UA seems like a great school for a great many, but nonetheless, it’s probably not for everyone. However, they should check it out since he may like it, so it’s a pity they don’t want to.</p>
<p>Here’s a description of what is offered to students in the various categories for those (like me!) who might be getting confused by all the terms: </p>
<p>As an international student, the reason is clear: many are very ignorant about “good schools”.</p>
<p>There are many but not all int student who live in west or east states, and they mostly look up to Ivy league or other schools with similar levels. Based on my experience, unless it’s like UVa, UC schools or NYU, many international students
think state schools are jokes…such stereotype is particularly stronger among Asians. Go to states like NY or New jersey. You will many students who dont know any colleges but ivy league levels schools. It sounds too much generalizing, but this is based on my experience. I also used to be like that until I actually started to learn about how unique each college in USA is…I didn’t even know what liberal art college was until like June last year. Now I don’t want to make Asian students look bad, but many(again, not all!) asian int kids will just shout “IVY LEAGUE” whenever you ask them: where are you applying? This is because the concept of the university in home countries and that of the USA is really different. For example, in Korea, state universities are 'worthless to consider" unless its UC schools or NYU or UVa.</p>
<p>Besides, even non southern Americans view Southerns states with stereotypes. Then what would an international kid, who has no knowledge about USA, think about South? Most of the time they will absorb stereotypes as well, and will shun away from southern America. (besides unless they are white, int kids will be even more afraid because of the history…)</p>
<p>I think that if U of Alabama becomes much more selective in admission and becomes more prestigious(not that I want it to be necessarily) I think BAMA will be much stricter in scholarship and limit it to permanent residents or citizens…this is just my opinion.</p>
<p>@paul2752, NYU is a private university and has never been considered “elite” for its undergraduate programs either. A lot of folks–both here in the US and overseas—seem to conflate “New York” and “elite.” Columbia, yes; NYU, no. NYU is good school (with a handful of exceptional programs) in a great (and very expensive) location. </p>
<p>Stereotypes usually exist for a reason, but an educated person looks beyond stereotypes and makes an informed decision for himself. IMHO anyone who bases as an important a decision as where you’ll spend four years to get an undergraduate degree on nebulous things like “prestige” and “what the neighbors think” probably isn’t exceptional in any way either.</p>
<p>I know NYU isn’t an elite school. I was trying to give you an example. I know ‘what the neighbors think’ and ‘prestige’
are common in the US, except such factors affect much more strongly among int kids particularly Asians.</p>
<p>Another reason, I think, that int kids don’t apply to UA is they simply don’t know UA exists. Unless they are fluent enough in English AND know how to search good schools for them(which I didn’t do well…) they won’t probably find the good schools for them well. Even I didn’t know about UA until my friend told me about automatic full tuition last November. </p>
<p>Also, the location of UA is a reason too. I think. Many int people still think there are good schools only in states like California or Eastern universities…they don’t really know that unlike other countries, USA has great schools literally all over the most states. I don’t know about the other countries like India or others, but for example in Asia, all the good schools are concentrated in metropolitan or capital area, and colleges in rural/sub urban areas are significantly inferior(in academic, funds, resource, everything) to those in urban area… </p>
<p>I am a foreign, non-resident, and I received the Presidential Scholarship. It is open to internationals. </p>
<p>Still, I believe there arent that many foreigners applying for this scholarship.</p>
<p>Someone asked why UA isn’t flooded with foreigners. </p>
<p>In Singapore, where I completed high school, only a handful of US public universities (like Berkeley, UCLA, and UIUC) are considered “good schools.”</p>
<p>My friends who had the stats for the presidential were admitted by Harvard, Brown, Vanderbilt and Colgate and Bard college (real life examples). And they all received awards at least equal, if not better than UA. I myself got admitted into Grinnell and Case Western. I wouldn’t have settled for UA had I not read posts on CC. </p>
<p>^
Because initially I thought my girlfriend would attend Bama with me. (In the end, she didn’t, and I’m sad.) </p>
<p>Well, that aside, I still think Bama is a good school. Not outstanding maybe, but good nonetheless. I think I have chances at rigorous academics and research opportunities. And I would be a big fish here.</p>
<p>That is not to say Bama is necessarily ‘better’ than other schools. It’s just that the school and its alumni’s parents gave me very good impressions. Bama looks like a caring and nurturing environment, in which I can focus and work hard. It’s about what I do in college and not the college name afterall. (Well actually it would be nicer if UA had a bit more reputation )</p>
)</p>