<p>I was just talking with my neighbor- she has a Junior- and she is in top 5 of class of a VERY competitive HS- we are in Alabama- anyway she was at Nat’l honor society yesterday and talked to a friend who told her that if she wanted to get in somewhere that is hard to get into- such as Vandy, UVA , UNC - You need to Apply ED - but her husband said he wasn’t going to pay that kind of money when she can get the same kind of education at Alabama honors for a full ride- I don’t agree- seriuosly doubt the education is the same- he also thinks she can get just as good a job coming from Alabama as the others- give me your thoughts</p>
<p>Sorry–I’m with the honors program unless the girl receives VERY substantial financial aid at some extremely prestigious school. No way would I spend out of state tuition for UNC, etc.</p>
<p>I agree with EMM1- barring major scholarships/aid, the honors program is probably the better deal. However, it does depend on the student’s preference- some want the big school rah-rah environment, some want a smaller school so they know classmates better. If a student is adamantly opposed to going to a large school, it might be worth paying more to appease them.</p>
<p>I’d agree with the husband a lot less if the schools on the list had nothing in common with Alabama. If the student’s dream school is Reed or Barnard, well, Alabama doesn’t offer anything like that experience. You might be miserable there. But concerning Vandy, UNC, UVA, he’s got a point. If those are your dream schools, you can find a lot to love at Alabama.</p>
<p>Forgot to even mention the idea that ED is everything at these schools. It really isn’t. It might help for a student that’s borderline stat-wise, but lots of other factors can do that also, and it’s unclear whether ED really makes a huge difference for unhooked students anyway. And if there isn’t a clear favorite, or if finances are an issue, or if there’s a chance that the student will change her mind, ED is NOT the way to go. It sounds like finances are an issue here and the student doesn’t have her heart set on one particular school anyway, so I recommend against ED in this case. Applying to such schools RD (or EA) is still fine, but the student should be aware that cost is an issue.</p>
<p>It is obviously wrong that you HAVE to apply ED to get into those schools. The wast majority of accepted students are accepted RD.</p>
<p>The education is not the same at every school, but whether it is worth the money only the family who pays can decide.</p>
<p>maybe he thinks going to the same size state school is about the same education-My D wants to go to a smaller OOS LAC school and I think it’s different b/c you are in a class with 20 students instead of hundreds- and it’s not a huge campus- we still are not sure but the money if definitely better in stae but my friends who have kids at Alabama say they end up paying around $20,000 /year which includes, tuition, R& B, and greek fees- so if we can go somewhere for 30,000 I’d be happy…</p>
<p>I thought she would be eligible for a “full ride” at Alabama.</p>
<p>In any event, unless she is eligible for substantial aid (either merit or need-based), LACs will typically cost a lot more than 30k. However, depending on the school, a student of her caliber might very well get considerable merit aid.</p>
<p>I was actually talking about my D who says she wants to go to a smaller LAC- I am hoping she will get about $15,000 in merit aid</p>
<p>You don’t have to apply ED, but it’s good to do some research on that subject. There’s plenty of information on this board.</p>
<p>We didn’t know until this year, but sometimes the privates end up costing less than the state school after merit and need-based aid is awarded. Maybe your husband isn’t aware of this either. Why not try to find several good fits for your daughter, including Alabama, and see how it plays out?</p>
<p>I am in NY and was under the impression that applying to private schools was going to be a bad idea due to cost, so I forced my dtr to apply to Geneseo and New Paltz as a safety net. we applied to 7 private schools, 3 all women colleges. After the financial aid came in with college grants factored in (I don’t think they were merit, since getting accepted was the academic consideration(only excelling students were accepted, ie Reed, Fla Honors college, etc.) we found out that private colleges would actually cost less than state colleges, even with oos tuition. State colleges offered less grants/scholarships. In the end, we chose a private school in MA. We are still paying less than 10k a year and next year is the senior yr. The school we chose has attempted to keep tuition increase to a bare minimum 3-4% a year. Hofstra told us tuition goes up 6% no matter what. A small college in MA offers in state tuition to students from VT,CT and NY. There are little known colleges, off the beaten path, mentioned in the best value for your money reports that should be looked into. MCLA was one such school, very affordable oos, but we got instate cost plus a scholarship that would have left 2-3k to pay. My dtr wanted the all women school with the more beautiful campus, great reputation and superb aid. I now advocate for private, need blind admission with need based aid as a very good choice for many.</p>