<p>Does anyone know anything about the quality of Alabama’s engineering program? I’m considering Alabama and Clemson, and the Clemson scholarship leaves me paying much more out of pocket than does the Alabama scholarship. Alabama is not ranked in US News for engineering, and I haven’t been able to find any other opinions on the quality of the programs. Any information at all is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>You might want to peruse the “Engineering Majors” page.</p>
<p>I know they’re not extremely highly ranked… I met with Mr Greg Singleton, the Director of Engineering Student Services, and the number he threw out was something like 80 or 82. </p>
<p>But after looking at their program and Texas A&M’s(number 9 in the nation I believe, at least for Mechanical), I didnt see a whole lot of difference in courses or layout. I’m starting to think that ranking has a lot to do with name recognition, the fame of the professors, and number of students more than actual quality of education. I’m fairly convinced that a student from Bama and a student from A&M or Clemson would know basically the same things after 4 years.</p>
<p>Alabama’s program is very good though, if not extremely highly ranked. Like any large university, they’ve got all the resources you’d expect, and even a building dedicated to student-made projects. I found the Bama Engineering site fairly helpful if you want to see specifics: [College</a> of Engineering - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://www.eng.ua.edu/]College”>http://www.eng.ua.edu/)</p>
<p>What are you looking for in a program, exactly?</p>
<p>With the new engineering buildings and generous scholarships, prospective engineers are really looking into UA. I’ll echo StAuggy in saying that college rankings don’t mean very much. Yes, there are schools that might offer you a better education in engineering than UA, but they may even be lower ranked than UA. I’m a huge proponent in choosing a school where you will thrive Until about 18 months ago, UA wasn’t on my radar at all and now I can’t imagine choosing a different school. Yes, UA’s engineering programs are pretty good. If you haven’t already done so, come down, visit campus, and tour the engineering facilities. </p>
<p>I cannot stress enough the relative unimportance of rankings. Look at the pros and cons of each school and pick whichever one you can afford and best meets your needs. As a reminder, no school is perfect. Choose the best school for you. Overall, I think either school would be a great choice.</p>
<p>Rankings are rather important when it comes to searching for jobs. The higher the ranking, the more big names from outside its region a school can interact with through its career center. Through UA’s career center, you’ll get connections with all the big names from the southeast, but you’ll be hard pressed to to get your foot in the door at a national that doesn’t have an established relationship with the school. Bottom line is that rankings are a rough reflection of prestige and NOT totally meaningless. You’d be naive to think otherwise.</p>
<p>My son was able to get an engineering internship the first summer with the US Army. He did that for 2 summers. This summer he’ll do one for a major, national aerospace company.</p>
<p>I would wager, though, that this aerospace company, like the US Army, has a major presence in Huntsville.</p>
<p>^^^I’d guess so too. Concerning ranking, it is important when searching for employers in that they should know of your school and know that you got a quality education so that they feel comfortable in hiring you. For those wanting to work outside the southeast, keep in contact with companies you are interested in and consider the possibility of working in the southeast for a company and later transferring to another part of the country.</p>
<p>Consider checking our the career center and see what companies actively recruit engineers on campus. Career center should also be able to provide you with info aboutnew hires, etc. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Well, when you consider that the state of Alabama has the second largest research park in the United States, it’s rather obvious that engineers educated here can get jobs, co-ops, and internships. </p>
<p>Of course, once a person has his “foot in the door,” with a co-op, internship, or full-time job, it’s not hard to get a job elsewhere in the country. The problem with that is that other areas of the country aren’t hiring/growing like Alabama still is.</p>
<p>But that said, having worked for two different defense contractors in LA, I know that they also hire Alabama and Auburn grads…I know that because I worked with them. </p>
<p>My brother is a VP for DirectTV in LA. He has several Alabama engineering grads working for him. My other brother is a director at Canon USA in Orange County, Calif. He also has Alabama engineering & comp sci grads working for him. </p>
<p>Cummings Research Park - “With more than 220 companies active in more than 40 separate technology fields,” it’s not that hard to get a high-tech job after graduation. BTW…20 of those companies are Fortune 500 companies. </p>
<p>[Huntsville</a> Alabama USA - Cummings Research Park](<a href=“http://www.huntsvillealabamausa.com/new_exp/ed_assistance/ind_parks/crp.html]Huntsville”>http://www.huntsvillealabamausa.com/new_exp/ed_assistance/ind_parks/crp.html)</p>
<p>According to Senator Shelby, when all phases of the Science and Engineering Complex are completed, UA will have facilities that are unmatched anywhere, including schools like MIT. That may be a little self serving, but the complex is an additional 900,000 plus square feet of research labs, classrooms, etc. for UA sciences. The final two phases of the complex will be devoted mostly to UA Engineering. The third phase has just begun and will be finished by Fall 2011. UA’s facilities will be at least the equal of Auburn, and with those new facilities, UA will be able to attract more prestigious faculty members, and greater numbers of the top students. So in the long run, UA Engineering will advance in prestige. How soon will we see it? A good question, but the increase in numbers of students and National Merit Scholars choosing UA Engineering demonstrates its improved reputation.</p>
<p>According to Senator Shelby, when all phases of the Science and Engineering Complex are completed, UA will have facilities that are unmatched anywhere, including schools like MIT.</p>
<p>I have heard the same thing. That when the Shelby S&E Complex is complete it will one of the best in the nation. Right now, half of the complex is complete and in use. </p>
<p>The third phase has just begun and will be finished by Fall 2011.</p>
<p>That is good news for the incoming class of 2010. That means that they will have 3 years in those buildings, as well as Phase I & II. Not being in the Phase III during the first year isn’t really relevant since much of the first year is spent taking Calc, Physics, etc, classes.</p>
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<p>It depends on what those students who were lured here with those scholarships do when they are out in the real world. The will provide impressions to others about what kind of school Alabama is. If it is positive one, then the prestige of the school will increase.</p>
<p>My S is considering UA. Other than the fact that it is far from home, my concern is while they are spending money actively recruiting high level students and building facilities, can they attract (and more importantly keep) high quality professors? What is the retention rate of their engineering professors? (not really a question that can be answered… just a concern…). We are OOS but he will likely qualify for full scholarship (4.15w/SATs in May however all indications are 1400+).
We have two great state schools (UVa & VT) however neither are ‘safe’, nor are they inexpensive.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I think you should contact the below people and ask what they’re doing and who they’re hiring/keeping. :)</p>
<p>If you do contact them, let us know what they tell you. Both men are very good about responding, so don’t fear contacting them. </p>
<p>Dr. Kevin Whitaker,
Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the College of Engineering
<a href=“mailto:kwhitaker@eng.ua.edu”>kwhitaker@eng.ua.edu</a> </p>
<p>David Cordes, PhD<br>
<a href=“mailto:cordes@cs.ua.edu”>cordes@cs.ua.edu</a>
Professor and Department Head, Department of Computer Science
Director, Freshman Engineering Program
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0290</p>
<p>m2ck-Thank you for the contact information. After my son has his sat scores from May I will certainly certainly contact both gentlemen. In my experience, once you have SAT scores you are taken more seriously. Before that you are just ‘kicking tires’.
I will certainly let you know what I find.
I want my son to have a wonderful education, however I am not concerned that it be at the #1 or #2 school in the nation. Education is much more than rankings. I also believe that it is foolish to go into deep debt on your undergrad. Save the loans for your graduate work… or better yet, go to work for a few years, prove your worth and let your employer pay for your graduate degree!
Peace.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Yes, let us know how it goes. </p>
<p>I, too, am curious as to what their vision is for Alabama Engineering. It’s obvious that they have some plan in place with all the growth, new buildings, scholarships, etc.</p>
<p>If you can, also ask them about their new facilities…how those facilities are better than what they had before, how those new facilities may be better or similar to what the better engineering schools have. </p>
<p>I’d love to know what their answers would be. :)</p>
<p>Blueiguana, as a fellow Virginia resident, there is another thing that you may want to keep in mind in regards to UVA and VT. While they are excellent schools (my son has good friends and I have former students at the two), merit money is not something one sees too often. That was a huge concern for my son, who turned down two VA schools (among others) to attend Alabama.</p>
<p>The good senator needs to take a tour of the Naval Academy. For example, Bama has one ancient sub-sonic wind tunnel: USNA has 4 pristine ones. The materials labs are fully stocked. They have a low powered accelerator in the physics labs.</p>
<p>Not to say the new Shelby complex isnt nice it certainly is. Yes, self-serving is a good description. But alter all, self promotion is taught the first week in Politics 101.</p>
<p>I would like to see a better listing of what Shelby Complex has in it, and what is coming in the future. </p>
<p>I’d like to know how it will compare with what other fine engineering schools have. I’ve heard some say that when the 4 phases are complete, it will have what the top schools have. But, I don’t know what that means.</p>