Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Money. My DS's friend chose it over Virginia Tech for Engineering. He's OOS for both, Alabama gave him $28K per year, VT gave him nothing.

There are probably 20 other schools ranked much higher that would have provided $$$s to bring the COA lower than Alabama (based on the above, this means the kid is paying $30k out of pocket).

It’s fine if there were other things bf s the kid wanted, but apparently didn’t do his homework on what other schools would offer.

Alabama is BY FAR the most generous school in the country in terms of non need-based merit for VERY high achieving kids (think perfect SAT, NMF types).

Clearly they are trying very hard to get the average IQ up in the school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Great way for average kids to get merit scholarship in a rah rah school where critical thinking and intellectual debates are not necessarily part of the daily environment.

Average kids do not qualify for big merit at Alabama. Look at the chart on their website.

The big money at Bama ($24k off a nominal tuition of $34k) starts with an SAT score of 1360. That’s 91st percentile for all SAT takers, but the distribution of SAT scores in the DMV is much higher. For example 26% of white kids and 40% of Asian kids attending school in DC proper scored 1400+. So yeah, Alabama gives big merit to kids who, here in DCUM-land, are very much in the thick part of the bell curve.

Alabama $60k-ish / year COA. So $24k off gets you to mid-$30k which is the similar to state flagships if you're in state.

And is someone with a 1360 going to get into UVA? VT? UMD? I don't think it's a slam dunk...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Great way for average kids to get merit scholarship in a rah rah school where critical thinking and intellectual debates are not necessarily part of the daily environment.

Average kids do not qualify for big merit at Alabama. Look at the chart on their website.

The big money at Bama ($24k off a nominal tuition of $34k) starts with an SAT score of 1360. That’s 91st percentile for all SAT takers, but the distribution of SAT scores in the DMV is much higher. For example 26% of white kids and 40% of Asian kids attending school in DC proper scored 1400+. So yeah, Alabama gives big merit to kids who, here in DCUM-land, are very much in the thick part of the bell curve.

Alabama $60k-ish / year COA. So $24k off gets you to mid-$30k which is the similar to state flagships if you're in state.

Mid-30k is a lot cheaper than going in-state to UVA.

UVA in state is $40k/year COA.
in the same ballpark

Know a lot of kids with 1360s getting into UVA from NoVa, do you? The fact is UVA doesn’t want those kids and Bama welcomes them, and at a lower cost to boot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Great way for average kids to get merit scholarship in a rah rah school where critical thinking and intellectual debates are not necessarily part of the daily environment.

Average kids do not qualify for big merit at Alabama. Look at the chart on their website.

The big money at Bama ($24k off a nominal tuition of $34k) starts with an SAT score of 1360. That’s 91st percentile for all SAT takers, but the distribution of SAT scores in the DMV is much higher. For example 26% of white kids and 40% of Asian kids attending school in DC proper scored 1400+. So yeah, Alabama gives big merit to kids who, here in DCUM-land, are very much in the thick part of the bell curve.

Alabama $60k-ish / year COA. So $24k off gets you to mid-$30k which is the similar to state flagships if you're in state.

Mid-30k is a lot cheaper than going in-state to UVA.

UVA in state is $40k/year COA.
in the same ballpark

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Great way for average kids to get merit scholarship in a rah rah school where critical thinking and intellectual debates are not necessarily part of the daily environment.

Average kids do not qualify for big merit at Alabama. Look at the chart on their website.

The big money at Bama ($24k off a nominal tuition of $34k) starts with an SAT score of 1360. That’s 91st percentile for all SAT takers, but the distribution of SAT scores in the DMV is much higher. For example 26% of white kids and 40% of Asian kids attending school in DC proper scored 1400+. So yeah, Alabama gives big merit to kids who, here in DCUM-land, are very much in the thick part of the bell curve.

Alabama $60k-ish / year COA. So $24k off gets you to mid-$30k which is the similar to state flagships if you're in state.

Mid-30k is a lot cheaper than going in-state to UVA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Great way for average kids to get merit scholarship in a rah rah school where critical thinking and intellectual debates are not necessarily part of the daily environment.

Average kids do not qualify for big merit at Alabama. Look at the chart on their website.

The big money at Bama ($24k off a nominal tuition of $34k) starts with an SAT score of 1360. That’s 91st percentile for all SAT takers, but the distribution of SAT scores in the DMV is much higher. For example 26% of white kids and 40% of Asian kids attending school in DC proper scored 1400+. So yeah, Alabama gives big merit to kids who, here in DCUM-land, are very much in the thick part of the bell curve.

Alabama $60k-ish / year COA. So $24k off gets you to mid-$30k which is the similar to state flagships if you're in state.

Yes, you have to look at total cost of attendance, not the amount of the scholarship.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Great way for average kids to get merit scholarship in a rah rah school where critical thinking and intellectual debates are not necessarily part of the daily environment.

Average kids do not qualify for big merit at Alabama. Look at the chart on their website.

The big money at Bama ($24k off a nominal tuition of $34k) starts with an SAT score of 1360. That’s 91st percentile for all SAT takers, but the distribution of SAT scores in the DMV is much higher. For example 26% of white kids and 40% of Asian kids attending school in DC proper scored 1400+. So yeah, Alabama gives big merit to kids who, here in DCUM-land, are very much in the thick part of the bell curve.

Alabama $60k-ish / year COA. So $24k off gets you to mid-$30k which is the similar to state flagships if you're in state.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Great way for average kids to get merit scholarship in a rah rah school where critical thinking and intellectual debates are not necessarily part of the daily environment.

Average kids do not qualify for big merit at Alabama. Look at the chart on their website.

The big money at Bama ($24k off a nominal tuition of $34k) starts with an SAT score of 1360. That’s 91st percentile for all SAT takers, but the distribution of SAT scores in the DMV is much higher. For example 26% of white kids and 40% of Asian kids attending school in DC proper scored 1400+. So yeah, Alabama gives big merit to kids who, here in DCUM-land, are very much in the thick part of the bell curve.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Money. My DS's friend chose it over Virginia Tech for Engineering. He's OOS for both, Alabama gave him $28K per year, VT gave him nothing.

There are probably 20 other schools ranked much higher that would have provided $$$s to bring the COA lower than Alabama (based on the above, this means the kid is paying $30k out of pocket).

It’s fine if there were other things bf s the kid wanted, but apparently didn’t do his homework on what other schools would offer.

Alabama is BY FAR the most generous school in the country in terms of non need-based merit for VERY high achieving kids (think perfect SAT, NMF types).

PP said their kid received aid to bring the COA down to $30k/year. By default, he was not NMF or a 1600 SAT.

My kid with a 1400 SAT was provided aid at UGA to bring COA down to $30k/year. His buddy attending South Carolina with similar stats was provided in-state tuition, so assume that would bring COA down fairly low. Another kid attending Oregon with like 1300 SATs received a merit scholarship bringing the cost down to only like $20k/year.

I would be curious what those schools would offer for 1600 SAT kids.

My kid (NMF, 1550 SAT) was offered about 10k at UGA. Offered full tuition at a few big flagship southern schools. Offered zero at our state flagship (although did get admitted/its a tough admit). Offered $1,500 year at T10 (we don't qualify for any need based aid).
Offered full ride at Alabama. We'll be out travel costs and that's about it at the end of 4 years. They also let you use the full amount of your tuition scholarship towards any study abroad. It is extremely generous and they are very flexible/accommodating.

Pretty much all big state schools are the same in terms of quality (with like 3 or 4 exceptions). If the price is good and your kid wants to party, why not?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Money. My DS's friend chose it over Virginia Tech for Engineering. He's OOS for both, Alabama gave him $28K per year, VT gave him nothing.

There are probably 20 other schools ranked much higher that would have provided $$$s to bring the COA lower than Alabama (based on the above, this means the kid is paying $30k out of pocket).

It’s fine if there were other things bf s the kid wanted, but apparently didn’t do his homework on what other schools would offer.

Alabama is BY FAR the most generous school in the country in terms of non need-based merit for VERY high achieving kids (think perfect SAT, NMF types).

PP said their kid received aid to bring the COA down to $30k/year. By default, he was not NMF or a 1600 SAT.

My kid with a 1400 SAT was provided aid at UGA to bring COA down to $30k/year. His buddy attending South Carolina with similar stats was provided in-state tuition, so assume that would bring COA down fairly low. Another kid attending Oregon with like 1300 SATs received a merit scholarship bringing the cost down to only like $20k/year.

I would be curious what those schools would offer for 1600 SAT kids.

Hard to believe….

only strange dcum parents care about rankings. kids want to have a good time and great weather.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Great way for average kids to get merit scholarship in a rah rah school where critical thinking and intellectual debates are not necessarily part of the daily environment.

Average kids do not qualify for big merit at Alabama. Look at the chart on their website.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously why are people looking or choosing OOS Alabama? It’s one of the lowest ranked schools and keeps declining. What am I missing?

Money. My DS's friend chose it over Virginia Tech for Engineering. He's OOS for both, Alabama gave him $28K per year, VT gave him nothing.

There are probably 20 other schools ranked much higher that would have provided $$$s to bring the COA lower than Alabama (based on the above, this means the kid is paying $30k out of pocket).

It’s fine if there were other things bf s the kid wanted, but apparently didn’t do his homework on what other schools would offer.

Alabama is BY FAR the most generous school in the country in terms of non need-based merit for VERY high achieving kids (think perfect SAT, NMF types).