Hi everyone!
As the title suggests, i received full ride from University of Alabama and also I am a Stamps Scholar recipient at UofSC.
Even with Stamps from South Carolina I still have to pay around $8000/year(OOS) and looks like at Alabama only miscellaneous fees.
I am interested in Computer Science and having hard time deciding between the two.
Any advice will be appreciated. Thank you so much in advance!
bama, it has good sports for the benefit asw
Are those two options the “finalists” from the list you had posted earlier at
Are you sure you would still have to pay 8K/year at South Carolina with Stamps?
If so, how problematic would those 8K/year be to your family? (your earlier post suggested they might not be since you mentioned a budget of 35K/year).
In term of ranking, for Computer Science, Alabama and South Carolina are equivalent.
Did you get to visit their respective Honors College?
Stamps gets you in a select group and gives you some perks, though. Are you comparing tuition+R&B in both cases? That is, apples to apples?
I am finally deciding between Alabama and UofSC. Yes, I still have to pay around $8000 for uofsc even with Stamps. Paying $8000 is not a problem for my parents.
Initially I received full tuition plus 1 year room and board from Alabama, but today I received email from them saying that I received the Presidential National Housing Scholarship that have been awarded by The University of Alabama. This scholarship covers the full cost of undergraduate on-campus UA housing at the regular room rate.
Now I am more confused between the two schools.
Yes, Stamps Scholars gets additional $10,000 enrichment stipend from Uofsc(for undergraduate research and study abroad)
They give you $22,000 cash award plus instate tuition rate. Which I am not complaining though.
South Carolina charges extra departmental fees which is really high for College of Engineering and Computing($3000).
It’s a good problem to have.
Is the scholarship at Alabama valid for four years or five years?
The reason I am asking is that if you look at job postings in the engineering or computer science field, you will see that the minimum qualifications are often worded as something like “Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science or related fields. Master’s preferred.”
If the scholarship at Alabama is valid for five years, that would help you getting closer to such Master.
Does that amount at Alabama cover board? I know that the NMF award does not.
Scholarship from Alabama is for four years not five. I also got the email about their STEM path to MBA in five years which is really interesting.
You may want to save the MBA bullet for later but you could get another masters.
Anyway, no one can decide for you. You have to decide whether the perks of the Stamps (including membership) is worth the extra cost and perk of the 5th year at Bama.
I am not NMF, but the email says four years of free Housing nothing about Boarding though.
Looks like I have to pay for boarding 
Thank you!
Looks like a meal plan would cost you in the order of 5K/year, isn’t it?
http://bamadining.ua.edu/freshman-dining-program/
That narrows the gap.
Yes! That’s right 
Then the best option is pretty clear, isn’t it?
Go GameCocks! Thank You!
Congratulations!
(I was going to say Stamps, because that’s one step above a university’s honors college in terms of connections, advantages, etc + the USC Honors college is better overall.)
Thank you!