After initially deciding against Alabama, now I'm considering it again

CE527M
Thu, 26 Mar 2015 21:04:00 +0000

I’m a high school senior currently deciding between Missouri and Alabama (planning on double majoring in journalism and polisci). I’m in a somewhat unique situation in that after visiting both schools, I decided on Missouri way back in December. I’ve paid my enrollment fee, signed up for orientation, etc. for Mizzou.

But today I got a letter saying I qualify for an additional scholarship at Alabama, with the total amount for all scholarships earned totaling almost $50k. I haven’t even applied for the FASFA for Alabama, so that’s just Bama’s merit scholarships, not even federal stuff. And then there’s Missouri. I was given about $24k in aid, including federal aid and loans, but that leaves my family with $20k left to pay. Our EFC was nowhere near that high, so I feel really guilty about going to Mizzou (and now even moreso knowing I’ll be in little, if any, debt at Bama). My parents say not to worry, that it’s fine, etc., but I still worry.

So that being said, now Bama’s back in contention, even though I’ve committed to Mizzou. Luckily, the enrollment fee for Mizzou is refundable until May, so that’s good. But I’d just like some advice in sorting through this. I know Alabama has a pretty good journalism school, but Mizzou slightly has the edge. In addition, when visiting, I just felt slightly more at home at Missouri than Bama. So I really love Missouri, but Alabama has the edge with money. I just really need some advice on what to do.

A couple other questions:

1. Is it even possible to switch to Bama if I want to at this point?

2. Is everyone else a lot farther along than I am in the process? e.g., has everyone already signed up for housing, etc?

3. I got into the honors college, so that's a plus. I'd really like honors housing, but I know it fills up fast...is there any chance that there are any rooms left anywhere in the suites?

4. I just added Bama to the FASFA (don't know why I didn't do that before, just in case something like this happened). I know the priority date was March 1, but is it possible to still get anything at this point or not?

Just looking for some general advice. Apologies for the long post, but this is sudden and I’m just trying to sort it out, because going to school for free is a lot better than paying $20k a year. Also, please don’t think I’m only considering Bama because of the money; I really do like it, I just like Missouri a little better.