Indiana-Bloomington $$$ VS. Alabama $$$ Forum

[JakeL]

OK, I'm curious about what others out there think about this. At this point, I have widdled my prospective schools list down to these two, primarily because they would both be close to free to attend tuition wise and I want to add as little as possible to my UG debt of 25K. Still waiting for many other schools to get back to me, but I consider this a final four type matchup. Probably worth noting that I would be an outsider at both schools as I'm from a different region of the country, but culture differences will not be a problem for me. I have yet to visit Bloomington, but intend to should I not get a better offer from a peer school come March(very unlikely). My perception is that Indiana has more limited job opportunities-is this correct? I know neither school has any national reach, but does one reach farther than the other? It is my impression that these schools are basically peers, in that they are fairly regional. What do you all think between these two options? Mainly just looking for TLSers' perceptions of each school and if i'm missing something obvious about either school.

Coming out of the Mid-West Bracket we have Indiana University-Bloomington.
+Higher ranked
+Apparently has very high quality of living

Coming out of the South Bracket we have Alabama
+Had an awesome visit
+Family/network in Birmingam and Atlanta (potentially easier to get interviews...)

[bk1]

Where would you rather live?

Also, Alabama might be better jobwise if that network you have can actually help you land jobs. Take a hard look at it and determine if that is actually true and not just your hope.

[tarakit]

Between these two, I would say it would come down to which area of the country you wanted to practice in. If you have no interest practicing in the Midwest, don't go to Indiana. If you have no interest in practicing in the Southeast, then don't go to Alabama. I know that they probably do have some reach outside of their regions (I've heard UA does decently in D.C.), but most students will end up in the region of the school I would think.

I visited Alabama too, and that was at least the impression I got. It does do very very well in placing in the Southeast though.

In other words, I would not attend either of these schools if you would not be comfortable living and working in the region the school places in.

[Grizz]

Higher ranking doesn't matter. Leaning toward Bama bc of the network, but really, pick a region you want to be in, and there you go.