I’m a junior in high school right now and I’ve visited a bunch of southern schools in the past few months including Clemson, Auburn, UT Knoxville (where my older brother will attend in the fall), FSU, UF, UGA, Bama, and Ole Miss. I really fell head over heels for Clemson but recently visited Bama and loved it too (especially since I know I won’t have to pay tuition thanks to my ACT score). I live in Missouri so all of these schools are out of state for me. My GPA is and has always been a 4.0 throughout high school & I got a 33 on my ACT. My parents are paying for my schooling and cost isn’t too much of an issue, but the cheaper the better obviously. I know I want to major in some type of engineering - possibly computer or electrical. Engineering rank isn’t necessarily going to make or break my decision since I’ll be a minority anyways as a female. I’d also really like to join a sorority. I just wanted to see if anyone could give me any feedback on Clemson or Bama (or any of the other schools listed above), whether you personally go/went there or have kids who attend, and your experiences with them! Doesn’t necessarily have to be about engineering either - just interested in student life on campus 
Since you like them both, apply to both and see where things land. Most likely your Alabama offer will be very good, but Clemson might be too. Keep an open mind and weigh all the options.
As the old saying goes, it is just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one, so look for the rich man. Fall in love with the school that shows you the love back in scholarships.
The first college my older son visited was Clemson and he loved it. I knew that Clemson has a very high OOS tuition rate, and their merit isn’t great (even tho my son had high stats and was a NMF), so we wanted to find something similar.
We visited Alabama, knowing that it had large scholarships and my son was happy to see that it had a lot of same “feel” as Clemson, but with a better city, Tuscaloosa. So, he went to Alabama and loved it. He was a math major.
My younger son also went to Alabama and loved it. He was a Chemical Engineering major. By the time he went, Alabama was fully expanding its Engineering with a new huge Science and Engineering Complex…over 1 million square feet of new STEM space. The facilities are amazing.
When you visited Bama, did you tour any of the new buildings in the Engineering Complex?
If you want to know more about Bama, check out the [University of Alabama](University of Alabama - College Confidential Forums) forum here on CC - I think every question imaginable has already been asked and answered there . . . and you’ll find plenty of people happy to help you!
I have friends with students at both, the students all are very happy (the one at Alabama is in Engineering coming from out of state and has loved it and had great summer jobs in engineering). My advice would be to not worry about it now. Apply, see the merit packages, return for the admitted students days (or early for an overnight if possible but given where you live that may not be realistic) and then decide. You are already ahead of the game if finding two great programs for which I would think you will be qualified that will likely be affordable given that your parents will pay. For you, it may come down to which is more affordable and/or which, upon returning, you really click with. You are doing very well with your planning!
@mom2collegekids , unfortunately I did not tour the engineering complex on my visit. However, since I just went down there with my dad, we are planning to make another trip down soon to show the rest of my family the campus as well. I’ll look into getting a specific engineering tour! I was also wondering, what residence hall(s) did your sons stay in?
Arrange your tour through the Honors College, not through Admissions - and let them know you’re interested in visiting the College of Engineering. They’ll set it up for you.
FYI, there are several threads in the Bama forum at the moment just about residence halls!
Let me know when you’re going next time and I can help you set up a fabulous eng’g tour.
My sons were in Riverside (which was honors when S1 went), and Ridgecrest South (which is honors now).
You can take the UA web tour right now. Chapter 6 is the engineering part.
You may be interested in a one week UA SITE (Student Introduction to Engineering) offered three different times for rising HS juniors and seniors. My DD attended this and it helped her determine her field of study - and she is a current sophomore at UA. Eng/CS is all covered. You can look at UA web site and do a search for SITE for the link. Applications may be currently taken - don’t know if all the spots are filled already. UA doesn’t really advertise this program because it always fills up.