Hi everyone! I’ve been accepted into The University of Alabama’s honors college as a Nursing major. However, I’m honestly more interested in UGA because it’s in-state, both my parents went there, and I have the HOPE scholarship. Although I was granted the Presidential Scholarship at UA, it is beginning to cover much less tuition than it used to (even last year!). I would be paying around $4,000, while at UGA I would be paying $1,500.
My intended major is Nursing, and UA has an incredible nursing program with an on-campus hospital. At UGA, I would have to decide what other subject I’m interested in. I’m nervous to follow a college based on major because what if I end up changing it and then regret my college decision? At UA, I would also have substantially smaller class sizes because of the honors college, even though UGA is already academically rigorous without necessarily being in the honors college.
Basically, I’m trying to decide whether UA is worth the cumulative $7,000+ more so that I’m studying Nursing and be in the honors college. At both colleges, the campuses are beautiful, the people are nice, and the college town is a right fit. I’m really torn, and I would really LOVE your help in deciding what to decide! (Honestly, I probably wouldn’t be asking this if UA kept the Pres Scholarship as full-tuition. It really stinks.)
While the Presidential Scholarship is still terrific, the new value is about $22,000 less than last year is you figure a tuition increase of $1,000 a year ($4,000 + $5,000 + $6,000 + $7,000). My son has been accepted and is now trying to decide of where to go because of the change too. If you think you want to be a nurse and the program is much better, I would recommend you go to UA.
Most of the classes you take at UA will not be through the honors college. So the substantially smaller class sizes you might be expecting will be only in a handful of classes. The honors college seminars typically have 15 students, but you don’t take many of those. There are departmental honors classes, but they’re not necessarily small. Often they’re smaller than the standard class, but not always. That said, my daughter found that many of her classes (regular, not honors) had fewer than 25 or 30 students. There were a few with 100+, but for such a big school her classes were not huge. I might be inclined to choose UA for the nursing program, but I would not choose it because of the smaller class sizes in the Honors College.
I have a child at both schools. My daughter attended Bama when the Presidential was a full ride and it also extended to her MBA. My son received the Presidential (full ride) last year, but opted for UGA. Both are great schools! The biggest concern I see is that UGA doesn’t have a nursing program. All of my daughter’s friends, who attended UGA initially, had to transfer for nursing school. Good luck with your decision. My children are very happy with their choices!
In case anybody in the future pops in here looking to compare the two schools, I just want to point out that UA’s Presidential Scholarship was never a full ride. It was full tuition.
@lelale7673, curious what you ended up deciding on. Have you made a final decision?