Total=40800 + books, travel, miscellaneous expenses (will all vary depending on your daughter). They give a rough estimate of 47322 per year.
Now subtract whatever amounts she qualifies for from the automatic scholarship website to find your total cost per year. http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/
Why did she apply to Bama? Why do you think she’d be better off at a SUNY?
I can understand why a NY student would want to apply to Bama. NY SUNYs don’t have the tradition, etc, that Bama does. SUNYs don’t have the big Div I sports to watch and cheer for. There are many NY students at Bama. It sounds like you don’t realize that.
I think if you visited Bama you’d easily see why a SUNY would be less-enticing than Bama.
that said, what are her stats? Does she qualify for any merit scholarships? If not, does her dad have a budget for how much he’ll spend?
Going to an instate school could have advantages if you don’t want to be far from home, qualify for state grants, which would bring cost down.
If you pay full price for a SUNY, that could be about $20,000, but getting free tuition at Bama would leave a cost of less than that.
Some students might not be in top 10% of high school to be able to receive STEM scholarship at SUNY, but would have the stats to get free tuition at Bama.
@ClarinetDad16 I would say for a NY kid, SUNY is the “safe” choice. Everyone in the area knows the schools. You won’t get strange looks when asked what school you attend. Kids will be almost entirely with others from NY and NJ, just like them. They will probably have some (or many) kids from their own high school there. For some, that’s a comfort. The schools are very good academically (particularly Binghamton, Buffalo, Stony Brook, Albany, and Geneseo) and respected by employers and grad schools. For a kid that doesn’t want to venture outside their comfort zone, mentally or physically, SUNY has very appealing choices at a value price.
@MichiganGeorgia, I think it’s as simple as a lot of the “moms of kids” at UA originally LEARNED ABOUT the scholarship opportunities here on CC and are simply passing along the info to other CC families.
Look, to each his own, okay? There’s really no reason to generalize or stereotype the UA families who contribute to CC. Nobody here is being financially compensated. In fact, UA is pretty much in the dark as to how much “boostering” UA parents do here. (I actually met a Big Cheese in the admissions office two years ago, and he didn’t have a CLUE who @mom2collegekids was or that she personally is probably responsible for hundreds of happy UA students via CC.)
Most of us are simply trying to share the same kindnesses that were shown to us, whether we learned about UA through a happy Bama parent or an unaffiliated parent who directed us to the Bama forums. UA is not going to be every scholarship-eligible student’s first choice. So what? Does that mean they shouldn’t apply? What do they have to lose besides the $75 application fee to have at least one affordable, automatic-admission school in the bag? Honestly, that’s all I thought the OP was trying to share. Now that his post has been relocated here to the UA forum, we’re pretty much preaching to the choir.
Personally, I think SUNY Geneseo would have been a fine fit for my son, IF I could have gotten him to apply. But I couldn’t. He applied to UA because I told him he had to apply to one other school that would be an affordable alternative to our flagship, Penn State (another school that would have been a fine fit), because I wanted him to have CHOICES. In the end, he’s been happy with engineering, but he easily could have majored in math at Geneseo or one of elite LACs he applied to, or Penn State. He chose UA specifically because it had more of that “liberal arts” feel than PSU at half the price for our in-state PA family. He has no regrets. Is it a perfect school or the right place for everyone? Of course not. But its value for many families is undeniable.
For those who accepted the UA offer, to my knowledge, most have been more than glad that they did. We may disagree about all kinds of things (religion, politics, etc.), but the one thing that unites many of us is our gratitude and love for the school. Most of us also now have parent friends who are paying $40k a year (without loans) to send their kids out of state to Bama. You’ll rarely see those folks on CC because their kids were never pursuing an “elite” school and they weren’t concerned with the price tag. I wouldn’t dare suggest to them that they’re silly for spending all that money.
One other thing: Unlike Temple (a school I recommend to folks with high-stats students all the time), UA can actually AFFORD all those big scholarships. Temple has gotten themselves into financial trouble because of the huge influx of high-stats applicants (many of whom I suspect learned about the school here on CC), and the automatic scholarships have been discontinued. It’s still a great option if you want to go into a competitive process to get one, but it’s not the same offer as Bama’s anymore.
Have to respond to something @Jpgranier said up-thread about an employer maybe not thinking an engineering student who is in STEM MBA is as ‘serious’ in engineering. Almost half of the Million Dollar Band students (including DD) are engineering majors - would employers think this EC would make them less of a enthusiastic engineer? The STEM MBA class is 1.5 hours/semester. The rest is done summer between jr/sr year; and for SU/FA/SP after the student completes UG degree.
The engineering courses are the same for the students that do the engineering plus the STEM MBA and the students that do not.
More education, especially business education in addition to engineering, is usually valued by employers. That in combination with some engineering work experience - via internship or co-op or other, and that is super attractive to employers for a new college grad.
Also, JPG, if you do attend UA and are in the STEM MBA, hang in it long enough to get into an internship or co-op job, and then decide. DD kept saying she wanted to drop it until after her last summer internship - she finally was seeing the merit of the MBA. If you enjoy the classes and do well in them, hang to give yourself the fuller perspective. You don’t want to look back and say “I wish I had stayed in…”
As others on this thread have said, for a student that qualifies for a Presidential Scholarship at UA, at least apply and visit. It does give a financial safety for many. Some of the other schools that may be a student fit may not come through with the scholarship level needed; some families may be able to afford other options. And for some, UAB or UAH may be a fit - the scholarship level will be there too.
For students considering UA engineering, here is something that was just posted (this is a program outside of all the other on campus recruiting activity):
The College of Engineering and the Capstone Engineering Society will be hosting NASA Days at UA on November 9-10. Additionally, we have invited industry partners (Dynetics, Jacobs Engineering, LINC Research, Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Teledyne-Brown, Cummings Aerospace, and United Launch Alliance) to participate; many are UA alumni. We are expecting 15-20 NASA representatives and 15-20 industry partners.
This is a great opportunity for our students to learn about the numerous opportunities available with NASA and our industry partners, to explore future career possibilities, and to network with industry leaders. There will be exhibits, panel discussions, technical sessions, a student career fair, speed mentoring, and a Disruptive Tuned Mass Technology demonstration. Also, there will be a media presence for the NASA Address and signing of the Space Act Agreement. The attached document has the details of all of the events and their locations.
We will be promoting the event to students via social media and through their Crimson accounts.
@SOSConcern Thanks for the advice! I have come to the conclusion that prestige matters much more in your MBA than your undergrad. I’d be more than willing, and happy, to receive an engineering degree, but I would want an MBA from a prestigious school. I would go into the STEM MBA program (already applied), but I would not complete it. I think the experience of introductory business courses would be very important, but that will all be for training me for an MBA from a more prestigious program.
Side note: Is it A MBA or AN MBA??? AN sounds better, but of course, it doesn’t make grammatical sense unless an describes administration?
@Chardo I guess I was thinking why would you’d say an MBA, but you’d say a masters of business administration. I guess it’s because M is pronounced ‘em’
Here is a challenge to lure NY kids to Tuscaloosa:
Correct me if I am wrong:
Bama is far from the airport in Birmingham (expensive Uber + adds time)
Flights from NY only directly go out from LGA (infrequent, airport under construction)
Flights from anywhere else in area require transfer
Expensive flight
Door to door its a long trip from NY to Bama
Thus it is not easy or cheap for kids from ny to get home for breaks or parents to visit.
That’s tough for many parents. Especially if it’s much easier to get to many other cities nationwide with cheaper, more frequent direct flights for other schools closer to the airport…
Birmingham is an easy hour’s drive from Tuscaloosa. Whatever the flights cost, the engineering scholarship more than covers it; never mind the full tuition.
How is flying to Tuscaloosa from New York any worse than flying to all kinds of cities that are the homes of great colleges and universities? Sure, if you’re limiting your student to schools within a four hours’ driving distance, Bama is a no-go. So are all MOST schools.
Prestige for MBA matters for some opportunities - but if one has a great internship (like my DD did) - it is a global corporation. So she has her foot in the door already.
IMHO if you JPG do go to UA, stay in STEM MBA as long as you can. You may get a great co-op or intern opportunity that will get hour foot in the door to some fabulous opportunities if you shine in Eng and in business. Plus you will complete it much earlier! One extra year VS two…
Also prepare oneself to be well-rounded social and many other areas. Climbing the ladder in any corporation - keeping the eye on quality work, group efforts, etc rather than solo star - maybe call it using the golden rule in the workplace.
I’m grateful for the info on their auto merit money. I spotted something on this just in time to be sure I visited their booth at the college fair we attended this fall. I showed our sophomore AL and Dayton’s merit money. AL is definitely worth a visit.
I’ve seen the drag college debt can have on your life. Investigating how to get to get that first degree without debt is worth the time and consideration.
Discounting all the great schools that are an easy drive from the NY metro…
Direct flights make life so much easier than having to take two flights. And an hour drive from the airport. Most people that have done it strongly prefer direct flight schools.
Think about it the West Coast could be quicker and cheaper than getting to Tuscaloosa.
Quicker (Direct) flights with great colleges include Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, St Louis, Nashville, Raleigh, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Columbus, Dallas, Austin,