Alabama vs Auburn National Merit scholarship

navarre1 · 10-24-2009, 08:26 PM

This is the way I see it

Auburn--full tuition 15 credit hours a semester..OOS pays in state tuition after 15 hours
Alabama- full tuition 16 credit hours a semester--OOS pays OOS tuition after 16 hours
TOSS UP

Auburn--$4000 for study abroad
Alabama-$2000 for study abroad
Winner AUBURN

Auburn--Annual stipend $1000-$2000 per year
Alabama-Annual stipend $1000 per year
For my family it is a tie..for those who are financially disadvantaged Auburn wins

Auburn--$1500 technology allowance
Alabama-Free laptop computer
For us Auburn wins

Auburn--$4400 housing allowance
Alabama-regular room rate in any building
For us Alabama wins

What scholarship is better? I'm not so sure.

SEA_tide · 10-24-2009, 10:11 PM

A little known fact about study abroad and scholarships at Alabama. If the student goes on a non-UA study abroad or is even a visiting student at another US school, Alabama will give the full dollar value of tuition (not housing though) in a check to be used towards the expenses. For OOS students, that is $19,200 a year at 2009-2010 rates, if Auburn does this and full tuition scholarship recipients do receive instate tuition, the amount would be a lot less. Concerning credit hours, 15 is standard, but I know many departments allow/require 16 or 17 in certain semesters (rarely 18). Did you get confirmation from Auburn about instate tuition?

mom2collegekids · 10-24-2009, 11:00 PM

Since Auburn charges each student a $250 "student fee" each semester, and charges for that 16th credit each semester, I wouldn't consider their tuition scholarship "a toss up" with Alabama - both of those costs could cost an extra $500 a semester. (However, both UA and AU are charging "course fees" )

I know that my kids have taken at least 16 credits every semester except one semester, so that extra cost would show up all the time for me.
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Sea Tide is right about the nice bennie that UA OOS scholarship students get for travel abroad. An OOS student who travels during a semester gets to use the $2000 PLUS his OOS big rate towards the travel costs.

And...of course...altho this thread is a NMF comparison...if your child can get a "stacked" department annual scholarship on top of the NMF scholarship, that can also make a difference.

Montegut · 10-24-2009, 11:03 PM

Navarre, thanks for the comparison.

I know we're all concerned about money and getting the best deal, but it's great to have two schools offering great packages, where we can let our kids pick their best fit and not have to worry about who's giving them the most money.

mom2collegekids · 10-25-2009, 01:09 AM

^^^

This is true...but maybe in Navarre's child's case, they view the schools as relatively equal for their child, so they're also considering the financial side to see if there are any "surprise" expenses that they hadn't considered.

navarre1 · 10-25-2009, 08:40 AM

mom2collegekids

I need call Auburn and ask them about the Sudent Fee. Once I verify that this is not covered, I will add it to the comparison.

Sea_tide
I am not 100% on the Auburn in state tuition. It looks black and white from the Auburn registrar web page, but I have been know to interpret things wrong. lol. I'll call Auburn about this as well.

uaprophet · 10-25-2009, 09:56 AM

The free laptops UA gives are top of the line. When I came here they were valued at $1600, so UA slightly wins on that one.

Of course with the rapidly advancing technology, computers become obsolete by the end of the month lol.

Also, for the annual stipend, if a National Merit student receives the one time $2500 or a corporate sponsorship, then the student will not receive the $1K/yr from UA. Check this for Auburn.

mom2collegekids · 10-25-2009, 10:05 AM

^^^

True about the high value of UA laptops...when DS got his, UA was very happy to have negotiated such a high qualify laptop (at the time), which includes a 3 year warranty. When son's laptop had a minor problem, Dell sent a rep to son's dorm to fix it. no charge.

Son's laptop is from the business line, not from the cheaper home line.

Re...NMF scholarship cash

It's the same for Auburn. No one is allowed to accept more than one "official" NMF scholarship. UA and AU consider the cash as the "official" NMF scholarship, so you forgo that portion if you accept a corporate one (like my son did).

navarre1 · 10-25-2009, 12:29 PM

So if my company gives a scholarship that is not related to the NMF, can we still get the annual stipend?

MikeWozowski · 10-25-2009, 02:19 PM

i think in nmost cases people can afford **some** of the college expense. in some cases, not, but then maybe those people are more taken care of by need base aid.

if my DD were to qualify for a 2/3 or full tuition at either school (no NMF here, that's for sure) then i would let her choose the one she wanted to go to more.

i find it a little odd here the way people want to compare scholarship dollars to the penny.

i will try to do my homework to see if there are hidden costs, but for the most part, any full tuition scholarship would be an awesome gift!!

navarre1 · 10-25-2009, 02:51 PM

Mike

A little odd I am. Thanks!

MikeWozowski · 10-25-2009, 05:04 PM

i didn't mean you so much, mom. you are usually pointing out the positives and know lots of good "perks". yay for that! didn't mean to offend. : ( especially since i was going to ask you to help me find some departmental scholarship $$ for my DD. : )

do you not agree that the scholarships UA offers are an awesome deal, and that if one is fortunate enough to receive a nice one, that some of these side items are kind of ... not that big a deal?

MikeWozowski · 10-25-2009, 05:05 PM

oh and one more thing i meant to ask here ... the study abroad scholarships you are talking about here ... are those available for non NMF scholarship recipients as well??

i am off to look that up ...

parent56 · 10-25-2009, 05:11 PM

for non nmf

auburn actually still gave my son full tuition, 4K study abroad and tech allowance(spirit of Auburn presidential scholarship) UA is full tuition but no mention of study abroad or tech/new computer. and UAB is full ride (tuition room and board)

mom2collegekids · 10-25-2009, 07:19 PM

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Re: Alabama vs Auburn National Merit scholarship

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So if my company gives a scholarship that is not related to the NMF, can we still get the annual stipend?
<<<<<

Yes....as long as they are not part of NMC competition.

My hubby's company participates with NMC, so son could only accept one. So, he took the company one ($2500 per year), and then took UA's NMF minus their $1k.