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OP, since you received an Elite scholarship, I assume that means you were admitted to University Fellows. Is that something that would benefit your long-term plans? Is UMN offering anything comparable?
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@LucieTheLakie He didn’t get Academic Elite, he got the Presidential Elite. I know it’s confusing. The Presidential Elite award isn’t listed, and it’s given to students who have perfect/near perfect stats.
I don’t think he’s in UFE.
He should write a very grateful and polite letter to Mrs. Siegel and ask if Bama can meet/exceed the UMinn offer…but he would need to include, in detail, what that offer is (preferably include an attacted photocopy to the email).
Yes, sometimes students want to experience a different part of the country; different weather, etc…even if cost ends up being the same or about the same… And, it’s not always all about academics. The student is spending 4 years at his chosen school. He may have a check list of a few items that he wants.
“Why would the OP want Bama to match an offer from a school that is recognized as academically superior?”
I don’t think they are so many leagues apart academically that a student couldn’t justify making a choice based on lifestyle or culture. Minnesota isn’t Carnegie Mellon or even Illinois when it comes to CS, and Alabama isn’t Whoville State.
I’d pick Minnesota in a hot minute, but most college students aren’t me.
^^agree. There are plenty of valid reasons to pick UA or UMN. I like to suggestion to politely inquire as to whether UA can match (or come close to matching) the offer.
Any chance u will get bachelor’s in less than 4 years?..I’m pretty sure the Bama scholarships are good for 4 years, & if u graduate in fewer than 4 yrs it can be used for grad school there.
Minnesota comes in at #29. Alabama is not rated. They are leagues apart when it comes to reputation rankings for CS. Graduate schools rankings do matter, even for undergraduate programs. Let’s not give the OP poor advise by indicating that the two schools are close enough academically that it won’t make much of a difference where he/she attends. UA for little or no money is a good deal. For the same money as compared to UM, hardly.
Well, d’oh. But the OP, like many IL students with UIUC-level stats, is comparing “FREE EDUCATION” options.
Both schools have their upsides and downsides. It may be an easy choice for YOU (who probably wouldn’t consider EITHER school good enough), but the OP was seeking feedback on the two options. NOBODY here said UA was a slam-dunk choice.
This is what I used for the Fortune 1000 counts. Those companies may have a presence near Huntsville, but they are not HQed there. Search by state name to check.
A similar list of Fortune 500 shows one Fortune 500 company HQed in Alabama, 10 in MN.
Given the unemployment rate as well, I am just saying that the comment that Alabama has a stronger economy is incorrect.
And really – unemployment rates aren’t relevant for college grads? That is silly. Tell it to our kids who graduated into the teeth of the recession in 2008. They are very relevant. But… rah, rah Alabama! Because it can do no wrong!
Except he isn’t SURE he wants to study CS or get a degree from UMN’s science & engineering college, which his scholarship requires. That’s part of his dilemma in his original post.
And even if he ends up sticking with CS at Bama, a student of his caliber would likely do just fine post-graduation. Plenty do every year. It’s not like it’s a death sentence career-wise.
Again, I agree, for CS, UMN seems like the safer choice. But if there weren’t other considerations for the OP, he never would have posted here to begin with.
This isn’t one of those situations where a student from NC is trying to decide between UVA and UNC-CH (or vice versa). There are more variables in play and the costs out of pocket are fairly close.
Who actually claimed that, @intparent? Seriously, for all this concern about excessive Bama boosterism on CC, there doesn’t seem to be any reservation about making a lot of truly mean-spirited accusations about folks who are honestly just trying to help.
You guys are acting like this is a choice between MIT and DeVry Institute. Do you really think there are things that the Minn. faculty knows and teaches at the undergrad level that would baffle the Bama faculty?
Both schools are below mind boggling and way above adequate.
I don’t get the fascination with where a company is headquartered. Most companies’ jobs are not at the HQ. None of the major aerospace and defense companies are headquartered in AL, But they have thousands of jobs in Huntsville. Same for Mercedes, whose only North American plant is in AL.
Many IT and CS related jobs are located near corporate headquarters for large companies, though. Obviously some aren’t, but it is very common for those jobs to be in suburbs in the HQ city. The OP hasn’t said where he wants to live after graduation, but the MN economy is varied and resilient (also did better in the recession than AL, unemployment peaked at 8% in MN and 12% in AL).
Nobody has asked this, since the MN scholarship requires majoring in computer engineering and requires a 3.0 to keep scholarship, did you ask what the average GPA is in that major?
They aren’t mere gophers, they are GOLDEN gophers. US.News ranks golden gophers #57 in rodentology. Regular gophers weren’t ranked at all. So apparently they barely know how to gnaw and burrow.