Ranked 103 on US News and they give out Presidential Scholarships to those who have a 32-36 ACT, 1450-1600 new SAT and at least a 3.5 GPA.
Especially for those of you who live in states with poor flagships (Arkansas, Wyoming, Rhode Island, New York), why go to your lowly state school when you have good stats and can go to Alabama for free.
Presidential Scholar
A student with a 32-36 ACT, 1400-1600 old SAT score or 1450-1600 new SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive the value of tuition, or $107,800 over four years ($26,950 per year). Students graduating with remaining tuition scholarship semester(s) may utilize these monies toward graduate school and/or law school study at UA.
I’m not doing a commercial. It’s just that Alabama is nationally known and is among the only nationally ranked schools that gives out so many full ride scholarships. If you are determined to succeed, why pay more. If you go to Alabama, you can socialize with your fellow Presidential Scholar peers, who are probably smarter than the average kids at most “more prestigious” state schools.
I think every intelligent student applying for colleges for whom affordability is even a concern should know about Alabama.
NYS schools are fine, but other than a full ride at Stony Brook, Buffalo, or Binghamton, there is no deal that is as good as Alabama, at least for smart kids.
Alabama presidential scholarship still leaves housing and travel costs (money and time). SUNY total cost is about $10k more before any aid. For many New Yorkers, Alabama is not worth the difference. It’s also not the ideal fit for everyone.
@Chardo For many New Yorker’s, it is the right fit! I would not send one of my NY kids to a SUNY over BAMA! Many people have opinions of UA, but have never stepped foot on the campus!
It really comes down to personal preference. Some people may prefer UA to say SUNY schools, others may prefer the smaller SUNY schools. There is no right or wrong.
But I think virtually everyone on CC regularly is well away of UA’s scholarships.
NY also has many students who don’t really want to venture outside their comfort zone, right or wrong, and prefer to stay with a known quantity. Also many ethnic students who, right or wrong, prefer to go where their peers go.
Fair enough. But it’s a useful option to consider for most people who are smart and do well on tests. Trying out a new culture is an awesome experience!
Per post #2 and #4, @Chardo would you be willing to update us all here on your student who I presume has graduated now from UA? With hindsight, what worked…what didn’t?
And…
Want to go to a public university
Have a poor in state option
Want to go OOS
Care about rankings - but only for football
Want a large school
Want to be in Tuscaloosa
And want to study a major UA offers
That would be the target for the free ride. Most kids don’t fit that profile.
I took my daughter to visit Bama and am very glad we spent the time and money to do so. She had been strongly encouraged to apply for their elite scholarship and I did not want her visiting on a day when they’d pull out all the stops to impress her. Everyone we met was extremely polite but everything else went downhill. She’s a STEM kid and her goal is a funded PhD. Had she been a pre-med/dental student then I think this could’ve been a good fit. To share one example of how this went badly, the science prof we met with could not speak to the dual major she was interested in and could not name any schools where his students had been accepted for REU’s. It was one red flag after another. It’s a beautiful campus, everyone was very kind and courteous, but I’m so glad we went on a non-traditional visit day, it was an eye-opener.
@aeromom Sure. Didn’t know if frontpage or jeepgirl realized, but I have in fact been to Alabama many times. Most recently in May for my son’s graduation. I’m quite familiar with NY kids choosing Alabama over SUNY.
What worked? He had front row seats for two national championships, sat courtside for most basketball games, was captain of men’s club volleyball, was practice player for women’s varsity (making him official NCAA athlete), made friends for life including his still-current girlfriend. He obviously had fun. Still managed to graduate summa cum laude, landed two internships, and got 5 job offers from major companies, ultimately choosing Boeing. One of the job offers was from a company he never even applied to. His professor tipped off a friend at a big company in Huntsville, said you have to talk to this kid. He ended up very impressed with the company, and they offered him his choice of departments on the spot. He really didn’t want to work in Huntsville, though. They told him to take his time. When he ultimately chose Boeing and called to tell them, they said ok, call us if it doesn’t work out, we’ll be here. Typical Alabama kindness.
I would say everything worked. Even the little things. Weeks before graduation, he was informed that due to the way certain credits are applied, he would be literally a half credit short of graduating. After a little panic, he got the right people involved and they figured out a way to reclassify something to fix the problem. Administration was very responsive. We had an issue with a bill from health services. We called, expecting a fight like a New Yorker, and they couldn’t have been nicer fixing it. Not all schools are like that.
@x793n28 sorry you had that odd experience. However, I wouldn’t necessarily expect any random science prof to know which REU’s his students were accepted to. I doubt my STEM (math, Chemical engineering, premed) kids ever told their profs which REUs they went to.
I think people have to realize that one hand doesn’t always know what’s going on with the other hand at universities. Kids don’t always “report back” their news. I wouldn’t expect many profs to be able to “speak to the dual majors” my child was interested in.
I also doubt that my younger son’s profs know which med schools accepted him. He thanked the very few that wrote his LORs, and he did tell THEM who accepted him, but whether they remember…who knows!!!
My older son was accepted to every fully-funded PhD program he applied to…but really only the dean and a couple profs at Bama knew that.
That said, Bama isn’t for everyone. No school is.
@Chardo 's first posts seemed to suggest that his son didn’t like Bama, but I know that’s not true.