I was wondering is there any catch to the Presidential Scholarship at UA? For example, do you have to live in AL after graduation for a certain period of time? It looks too good to be true. According to the UA website all you need is a ACT comp of 32 or higher and at least a 3.5 GPA. That’s it? It’s hard to believe you can get free a ride just based on an ACT score and a B+ GPA. I’m a Michigan resident and my odds at being admitted to University of Michigan’s engineering school is slim to none. It is looking like I will have to go to Wisconsin or Purdue paying full out-of-state tuition (scholarships at those schools are for exceptional students, which I’m not). My ACT comp is 34 and my GPA is 3.62… My extracurricular activities are: 3 years varsity lacrosse, 3 years Computer Science club and president of Bodybuilders Club. Thank you for your time.
There’s no catch. UA is simply trying to attract a higher caliber student. If you are engineering, I think they will give you an additional $2500 stipend, as well. You do have to maintain a 3.0 gap to maintain your scholarship, but I’m not sure of the requirement for the engineering stipend.
Ha, nice. Thanks for the super quick reply! Do you know what the starting salaries are for Alabama graduates in engineering and job placement rates? Or could you point me in the direction where I can find these stats. There is nothing on the UA website. I’m trying to make a comparison with other schools…
Are you going to apply? Free tuition plus 2500 per year is a good deal.
Companies do NOT pay engineers different salaries based on where they graduated. Comparing salaries won’t really tell you anything.
If you have an eng’g degree from Alabama and a company hires you, the company will pay you the SAME salary as what they pay a UMich grad, a Purdue grad, a CSULB grad, or wherever.
Eng’g salaries are regional. The more expensive the area is where the company is, the higher the salary. Cost of living drives the salaries.
@dadinator: Thank you for digging that up for me. I really appreciate you taking the time to do that!
@mom2collegekids: I’ll probably apply but not sure if I’ll enroll. I really wish I could get into Michigan; it’s been a childhood dream for me. Dinner was a bit awkward today since I brought up attending Alabama. Mom and Dad are not exactly excited about me considering Alabama. Both of my parents are practicing engineers, therefore name brand engineering schools are what they consider to be acceptable. Mom made it clear cost isn’t an issue, which is surprising since they are very frugal people (think Costco and Hondas). Mom said “get your butt into the best school you can and we will pay for it regardless the cost”. Although she is open to visiting Alabama since we are going to the Atlanta area for a family thing in October. The engineering salary point you brought up is true for basic engineering positions, but does Alabama attract companies like Google, McKinsey, Apple, Boston Consulting Group, Qualcomm etc… to campus? The average starting salary for a Google software engineer is about $104,000 (low end). From what I understand those top tier companies only actively recruit from a select set of institutions. Can you land a job like that with a degree from Alabama?
And yes, most people who came to UA from out-of-state didn’t come because it was their childhood dream. It’s hard to wrap your head around, but Alabama is (mostly) free AND offers a fantastic education to its students. The school has put lots of money into its academic programs in the past ten years and it really feels like a school that’s on the rise (and already pretty great!!).
I would recommend looking into the “What schools did your child pass on thread,” since it might give you a good idea of how people (many of whom began dreaming of going to places like Mich, Purdue, and others) end up realizing that Alabama is the perfect place for them. Then, set up a visit and check out the engineering facilities and the Honors College research program and STEM-MBA. Just last January I gave a tour to a family friend from California whose dad is an engineer at Texas Instruments. Because of the research opportunities, STEM-MBA, and the friendliness of the campus, he is enrolled as a freshman engineer this fall.
And more and more UA graduates are going to top name companies and guess where they are recruiting now? Oh and look at all the business parks popping up in AL. Google is building a facility in North Alabama. I drove by the sign a few weeks ago announcing their arrival.
Make sure you go through the Honors college to set up your visit, they will take care of your day and make it tailored to your interests–as will the engineering school.
Be careful if you come visit…it only takes about 20 minutes on campus, meeting just a few people to fall in love with the place–its physical plant, its people and its culture.
We are from Michigan and my son is currently enrolled at Alabama and loving it, if he was not there he would be at Michigan. He said they other day he was SO glad he was at UA instead of Michigan and we are too!
Your GPA is on the low side for Michigan but they look at what high school you attended and various other factors so I certainly wouldn’t rule it out.
Yes, the “big” companies recruit at certain schools and Michigan is one of them. No guarantee that you will be one of the kids who lands a job at one of these companies as you need to be at the top of your class to be considered. My best friend’s son landed a job at Microsoft and the pay was fabulous, but the cost of living in Seattle is sky high too.Other kids I know who graduated from Michigan’s engineering school have landed jobs at large, medium, and small companies.
Total cost for our son to be at UA is $5500 for the year!! It’s easy to say that cost doesn’t matter until the checks need to be sent. I was with a group of parents after Friday night football and the topic of college costs came up-everyone was complaining about how much they were spending and about having to write tuition checks so close together in August and December. Having a couple of kids in school at the same time is a real drain on the finances.
I would definitely visit with your parents and apply. If you would like to talk to my son, PM me and I can get him in touch with you.
@riverbirch Totally agreed about saying cost doesn’t matter until you have to pay. I was not as diligent with DS1 and allowed him to go to IU and in theatre no less. That was a big mistake. I gave a certain amount, he got Stafford loans and still had to work while in school. Too expensive.
DD1 did all of her analysis on her own and ended up going to UM-TC. With my amount she still took out Stafford loans to pay for school. Better the second time around at least.
DD2 and DS2 are now applying, twins, and my wife and I are pushing hard for them to seriously consider UA. DS2 gets it because he sees the debt the older two racked up and he does not want that. He qualifies for the Presidential Scholarship. DD2 is dragging her feet so not sure there.
All I can say is that if you can go to school on low $s and no loans, you would be crazy not to take that deal. I am an engineer and I will tell you the laws of chemistry, physics, and calculus do not change by where you learn it. That is for sure.
One other point, after your first job in engineering, no one is going to care where you went to undergrad because it is what you have DONE that counts.
@AJ2020 Where did your parents get their engineering degrees from?
@spring179 How did you find that page from the career.ua.edu site? I’d like my son to attend, but other than your direct link, all I can find is the calendar of events from the main career.ua.edu page. But that just has the meeting time/location, whereas your direct link has alot more info.
AJ2020, Yes, UA wants to recruit a higher caliber of students, and it has succeeded. 25% or more of all UA freshman now have an ACT of 32 or higher. More than 36% have an ACT of 30 or higher. And UA has a much larger freshman class than many other schools, so that is a lot of really smart kids. UA also has a greater percentage of students on the low end, relative to other major schools, but if you plan on a STEM major, you will be around very smart students in most of your classes at UA.
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DD2 and DS2 are now applying, twins, and my wife and I are pushing hard for them to seriously consider UA. DS2 gets it because he sees the debt the older two racked up and he does not want that. He qualifies for the Presidential Scholarship. DD2 is dragging her feet so not sure there.
Yes, visit with both of them and act like you’re just there for your son. Let her assess the school on her own, without anybody pressuring her. Ideally, you’ll combine the visit with one to a school she’s interested in, like Ole Miss perhaps?
mom2collegekids I understand the necessity of visiting but there is more to the story with DD2.
The big sticking point with DD2 is that she wants BioMed Eng. I have stated that I have heard from several sources on CC that she really would need an MS to get a good job. She does not want to hear that.
She applied to UA last night and surely will get accepted. We had her apply so that when the reality hits her that she will have to take out loans to go to UM-TC she may reconsider her choice of engineering path.
If she is determined to get BS in BioMed Eng, that is her choice and she will have to live with the financial consequences.
