Out of State? You CAN have a successful recruitment at Alabama

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by TriDeltaSallie

I had not heard that before. I'm a lifelong resident of this state and have zero intention of leaving. I love West Michigan and can't imagine living elsewhere. Well, maybe the northwest corner of the state except the winters are too long. But a year round cottage up near Suttons Bay or Omena would be nice.

I'm a 6th generation West Michigander! I agree with you, but the winters are less and less fun the older I get.

Somebody in this thread might be able to guess which state is #1, because somebody who's posted is from there. Anybody want to guess?

[Bamamom16]

As the mom of an OOS Bama student, many of the students I know that end up there are not kids who didn't get into UGA, but are high achieving students who don't want to go to UGA. The scholarships my daughter was given (based on GPA & test scores) made OOS comparable, and as she was raised by Alabama alums, we told her we would rather her be happy with her selection over the fours years, than to settle for UGA (which she visited, but never really liked). There was a recent article about the increase in OOS students (in Forbes, I think) which credited the football program for some of the uptick, but the campus is beautiful, and Dr. Witt certainly increased the focus on academics. The Law School was recently rated as one of the best in the nation and Alabama has many other outstanding programs as well.

[SFDCgirl]

Bamamom16 and Titchou - ugh ugh ugh. I totally did not mean my post to sound that way. This is why I stay away from online communities.

I love Alabama, the state, the school. I was trying to say that out of state students would pay for the SEC and Alabama experience (as in pay out of state tuition) because it was WORTH IT. And the point is, if you have a product/experience that people will pay a premium for, it makes sense to go after that buyer.

But, to what both of you have pointed out to me-- they have also gone to great lengths to retain and recruit top students. I have always been impressed with the students I have interviewed for jobs and internships from Alabama. I just have to tease them about sharing some of the National Championships with the rest of us.

I hope there's no hard feelings--- I didn't intend for my comments to sound the way they were interpreted.

[Titchou]

No personal offense taken.

[AXIDplace4me]

We had a lot of out of state students because paying out of state tuition at an SEC school is still cheaper than some state schools up north.

[TriDeltaC]

when is rush at U Michigan? Spring? (sorry for continuing the randomhijack!)

[Sciencewoman]

September

[TriDeltaC]

thanks! I think a friend's (biological) little sister is going through!

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

Even putting the sorority business aside for a moment, I'm just interested in the fact that Alabama is attracting so many out-of-state students. I know my daughter received about 10-15 admissions PR items from them during her college search window.

It's all about the automatic scholarships. If you have a 32 on the ACT and above a certain GPA (3.75 maybe? Don't remember off hand), you have an automatic free ride. HaloStar considered it, for a minute, until he talked to my brother who discouraged it. He thinks my son would have a very hard time fitting in there.

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

Many students want to stay in Michigan, but the job market is not strong. It depends on the field. Michigan is #2 in the country when it comes to "native born" residents. People want to stay, but often they have to leave. And very few people are moving here. There used to be a saying during the early 80s recession, "last one out of Michigan, turn off the lights!"

That being said, the University of Michigan attracts many out-of-state students, and Michigan is not generous with student aid. They don't have to be. They lure in the full payers.

We've heard that here too. When we had our statewide luncheon in Michigan last spring, I had the collegiate seniors sign in with their contact information and where they expected to be after graduation. There were seniors from 8 of our 9 chapters in the state present. Only about 20% of those who signed in expected to remain in state after graduation. This defeated my purpose of obtaining this information to give to our alumnae chapters and clubs!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by AGDee

It's all about the automatic scholarships. If you have a 32 on the ACT and above a certain GPA (3.75 maybe? Don't remember off hand), you have an automatic free ride. HaloStar considered it, for a minute, until he talked to my brother who discouraged it. He thinks my son would have a very hard time fitting in there.

I know a fair amount of people who went south from my neck of the woods and transferred to a northern school within a year.

[clemsongirl]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

I know a fair amount of people who went south from my neck of the woods and transferred to a northern school within a year.

This happened several times to kids in my graduating class! They would go to big southern state schools like Alabama, Florida, etc. and then for one reason or another (usually finances) come home to my in-state school for this upcoming academic year. I'm actually the farthest south student left in my 350+ person class.

[HQWest]

Originally Posted by clemsongirl

This happened several times to kids in my graduating class! They would go to big southern state schools like Alabama, Florida, etc. and then for one reason or another (usually finances) come home to my in-state school for this upcoming academic year. I'm actually the farthest south student left in my 350+ person class.

Many of these scholarships are also tied to maintaining a certain GPA. If you start with a class that is all coming in with a 32 ACT and a 3.8 GPA and tell them they have to maintain a 3.5 to keep their scholarship, it doesn't take very long to realize not everyone will be returning the next year.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by AGDee

This defeated my purpose of obtaining this information to give to our alumnae chapters and clubs!

I bet we got some of them in the Chicago JC. I haven't been really active recently but last I was, about a third of them went to Michigan schools, and another third from Indiana. The rest of us were from everywhere.

[rosebud8056]

[QUOTE=AGDee;2232264]It's all about the automatic scholarships. If you have a 32 on the ACT and above a certain GPA (3.75 maybe? Don't remember off hand), you have an automatic free ride. HaloStar considered it, for a minute, until he talked to my brother who discouraged it. He thinks my son would have a very hard time fitting in there.



my daughter's friend had a 33 on the ACT and had a 5.35 out of 5.0 GPA but only got her tuition covered. I wonder if they only give out a certain number of free ride scholarships because I was surprised this girl didn't get one! I did a few sponsorship letters for girls and was surprised that a majority of them had a 30 or better on the ACT and killer GPA's! University of Illinois is not that much cheaper than Alabama so it makes going out of state a little easier to compare.

[PinkPaisley]

As far as the GPA/Scholarship situation at UA goes- it really is a great opportunity for many academically minded students! My daughter was recruited pretty hard by UA, however she really felt it would put her under extreme pressure to try and maintain that GPA at a school like Bama with her chosen major. (too many FUN social distractions!!)
We do live in the south, and I graduated from a SEC school so it made sense, but she felt she didn't really want the pressure. (she did accept a very similar situation at a smaller university- where she felt she could be academically successful without so many distractions!)

I love the fact that UA is becoming more demographically diverse! I love the southern traditions- but I think some great OOS students can only improve things! I also am excited for ALL of the young ladies who had a wonderful recruitment at Bama and AU-- especially my daughters friends! (several AGD, KD, Phi Mu, DG, Zeta, and ADPi pledges!)