When and how to start process

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

<p>My oldest daughter wants to attend UA – she is finishing up her junior year in state this year. She took the ACT as a sophmore and made a 28, and just retook it this year, and will probably retake it if needed. She has a 4.0 GPA.</p>

<p>We already have a full tuition available if we attend an Alabama public university (Alabama GI Scholarship) – but I would like to get enough additional to pay for room and board if possible – hopefully $6-10k per year or more.</p>

<p>The two younger daughters will be following close behind, so my hope is to rent/buy something they can all stay in – I know about the freshman policy, but have been told that they would waive that because of family in Tuscaloosa plus the number of incoming freshman.</p>

<p>Daughters are also very interested in trying out for the dance team.</p>

<p>Any information would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Gene</p>

2

<p>First of all, no matter what, I would have my child live on campus at least for the first year. It’s not like she’s grown up in T-town and knows a bunch of kids in the area. Kids who went to school in T-town do commute, but they already have ties to the campus and other students who will be attending the school.</p>

<p>If you simply buy a small house for your kids to live in from Day One, they will miss out on many of the opportunities to make new friends and bond with their school. </p>

<p>Secondly…
So…to get more of college paid for…</p>

<p>Have your D take the ACT again…and also take the SAT. It’s actually easier (in my opinion) to get more money with the SAT because only the M+CR is counted (so you really only have to practice those 2 sections). However, sign up for both exams this spring, pay the extra for the detailed score reports, and use those results to go over any weaknesses in the summer. Not all test dates offer these extra score reports so check. I think that the June SAT doesn’t offer the score report, so check.</p>

<p>then, of course, have your D retest again in the fall. The last SAT test used for scholarships is Nov…but note that the last ACT that is uses is in Oct. So, also sign up for those early fall SAT and ACT tests.</p>

<p>Since your D is instate, if she gets an ACT 30 (or equivalent SAT), she will get a full tuition scholarship. That will mean that your GI bill money can go towards housing (or vice versa)</p>

<p>Your D can also take out up to a $5500 student loan to cover anything else that is not covered. She probably wouldn’t need to take out that much if she gets the full tuition scholarship. </p>

<p>right now, with an ACT 28, your D has a scholarship for $3500 per year. That’s almost enough for housing in a traditional dorm.</p>

<p>to get a full tuition scholarship, she needs…</p>

<p>Presidential Scholar
An in-state first-time freshman student who meets the December 1st scholarship priority deadline, has a 30-36 ACT or 1330-1600 SAT score and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive the value of in-state tuition for four years. </p>

<p>Dont’ worry that she already has tuition w/ the GI Bill, Bama will just credit their scholarship as a dollar amount to your D’s acct…so it can go towards school costs. Currently, tuition is about $8600 per year (the scholarship increases as cost increases)</p>

3

<p>The part about being able to use one of the scholarship amounts for room and board is most reassuring. </p>

<p>We’ve gone over the dorm thing with our D (actually all 3 of our D’s) and they assure us they really want to live off campus – as a matter of fact we are thinking about going ahead and purchasing a 3 bedroom garden home about 10 minutes away – and 75% of the inabitants of the neighborhood are students or former students.</p>

<p>We agree that their is much to be gained by living at least the first year in the dorms. We plan on getting the meal plan and having them spend most of their time on campus - also there is several students from their school already there and they know people locally from the many visits with family in Tuscaloosa. Grandma and Grandpa plus Aunt and Uncle would be 5 to 10 mins from this garden home, so there are pluses and minuses. </p>

<p>The girls plan on being heavily involved with on-campus ministries and already are recieving Facebook messages from Campus Ministries. </p>

<p>Our biggest hurdle was funding 3 room and board outputs – and the dorms I’m sure my daughters would be most interested in was $6K+ per year – about what a years worth of payments for a 3 bedroom garden home will be. Of course by the time you multiply it to $18K per year for 3 and the garden home sounds very appealing.</p>

<p>We are progressing forward with D taking ACT, and should know what her latest score is soon – would we need to still take a SAT if she makes 30 or above on this latest try?</p>

<p>Do we need to start any kind of corrospondence with the university – apply or anything like that this early?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

4

<p>*We are progressing forward with D taking ACT, and should know what her latest score is soon – would we need to still take a SAT if she makes 30 or above on this latest try?
*</p>

<p>On one hand, I would say no…however, at this point we don’t know if Bama will raise any scholarship req’ts for next year’s app season. Also, a higher score might result in some other scholarships added in. </p>

<p>What will your D’s major be in.</p>

<p>You need to check with Bama about their rules for off-campus living as a frosh. I’m under the impression that a parent (or similar adult) must live in the home with the student as well. I don’t think having relatives living elsewhere in town counts. But, check to make sure.</p>

5

<p>My D keeps going back and forth – one minute she wants to go into medical, the next law, and the next be a teacher. I’m trying to gently nudge her to a MIS/Business degree of some kind unless she is absolutely sure as she can always build upon that degree later.</p>

<p>I’ve heard Bama has a good MIS degree.</p>

<p>We huddled again today and will go ahead and schedule both the ACT and SAT as you suggested – more opportunity the better.</p>

<p>I guess I should contact Bama this week and start seeing what we can do to at least get her name out there – she would be willing to commit to attending Bama right away, really has never been another school in the picture for any of our daughters.</p>

6

<p>What timing – going through the mail, University of Alabama has sent our D an invitation for a special informational reception at the Renissance Hotel and Spa in Montgomery, Alabama on 29 Mar. Will have to write down as many questions as we can think of before that time.</p>

7

<p>mom2collegekids wrote:
“On one hand, I would say no…however, at this point we don’t know if Bama will raise any scholarship req’ts for next year’s app season. Also, a higher score might result in some other scholarships added in.” </p>

<p>Scores were posted this morning and she got a 31 – will let her decide if she wants to try to go higher – so right now she has a 4.0 and a 31 – maybe I let her relax rest of 11th grade and as a senior and prep for college.</p>

8

<p>If your daughter is interested in either the UFE or CBH program, I would suggest that she take the ACT again. She would be competing against some very high stat students. Any edge that she would have, such as a higher ACT, might be beneficial. However, There are many high stat students who choose not to apply because they are not interested in these programs. Any student can have a very rewarding and fulfilling college career at UA without being in these programs. Just putting “food for thought” out there.</p>

9

<p>*Scores were posted this morning and she got a 31 – will let her decide if she wants to try to go higher – so right now she has a 4.0 and a 31 – maybe I let her relax rest of 11th grade and as a senior and prep for college. *</p>

<p>congrats! If the scholarships don’t change, she’ll have full tuition (which can go towards housing costss since she already has tuition from GI.)</p>

<p>Yes, if your D wants to apply for UFE and/or CBH, she may want to test again. </p>

<p>And, yes, for consideration for more money, she should test again. </p>

<p>What will her major be?</p>

10

<p>robotbldmom wrote: interested in either the UFE or CBH program,</p>

<p>We don’t know enough to say either way, will have to look into that and ask her</p>

<p>mom2collegekids wrote: What will her major be? </p>

<p>We think she is leaning toward MIS major with minor in Management – but that could change quickly and many times between now and then</p>

<p>If weI understand correctly from UA web page – we can now just wait (and she does want to retest) and everything has to be sumbitted prior to next Dec? Guess we should look into non UA scholarships if she can use them for supplies and such.</p>

11

<p>BamaAF, Congratulations to your D for her new high ACT score! I too recommend she retest (sooner than later). I say sooner because your D is already on an upward trend.<br>
I encouraged our boys to get their testing done before their senior year due to AP courses, athletics and stress in general. </p>

<p>My youngest had a 31 on the ACT at the end of his Sophomore year. He committed to taking one practice test section each night, for two weeks before the Fall ACT. His efforts paid off! He scored 34 which secured the Presidents Scholarship. She has nothing to loose.</p>

12

<p>*If weI understand correctly from UA web page – we can now just wait (and she does want to retest) and everything has to be sumbitted prior to next Dec? Guess we should look into non UA scholarships if she can use them for supplies and such. *</p>

<p>After the end of junior year, you can have transcripts and scores sent. Then in July, Bama will put up the application. I would do it then to get it out of the way. If your D tests again in the fall and does better, then just send those scores as well. Those would be used for other scholarship considerations.</p>

<p>The average scores for CBH students is about an ACT 33. This year, the average may be higher since the stats of the finalists were very high. However, that shouldn’t discourage anyone from applying. </p>

<p>*mom2collegekids wrote: What will her major be? </p>

<p>We think she is leaning toward MIS major with minor in Management – but that could change quickly and many times between now and then
*</p>

<p>Very good. The B-school has some additional scholarships, but I don’t know how they award them to incoming frosh. It might be easier to get one as a continuing student.</p>

<p>Anyway, congrats!!!</p>

<p>Since your D is instate, her ACT 31 gets her the Presidential as long as scholarships do not change (hopefully, they won’t!!!)</p>