My oldest is a rising senior and will be applying as a computer engineering major. His stats are OOS (TX), w4.07, uw 3.32, SAT 1260 (math 670, reading 590), ACT 25, top 28% at rigorous suburban HS, 7 APs, math through CalcBC, 4 yrs of Chinese, 4 yrs football, 2 yrs band, 2 yrs Chinese National honor society. I remember reading something about Alabama being more lenient at the beginning of the app cycle. Is this still the case, and should he apply now? He didn’t study much for those test sittings, but is studying this summer to retake in the fall to be eligible for scholarships.
If he’s planning to apply I don’t think there’s any reason not to go ahead and do it now. Pretty sure you can submit new test scores later for scholarship purposes.
Yes, might as well apply now and submit new test scores later in 2017.
Thanks for the replies. I just don’t want him getting rejected for admission to the university if his scores are not high enough yet for engineering.
how selective is engineering application?
It is easy to get confused between admissions application and scholarship applications.
The UA admissions application is the same for all majors, even undecided.
The UA engineering merit scholarship application is ‘automatic’, meaning if you meet the criteria, you get that scholarship.
There are other, ‘competitive’ scholarships, and some of those are highly selective.
@annamom, there’s just one application for all students. I don’t believe the admissions standards vary between colleges either.
thanks
I do not think they will reject him while there are still testing dates out there. And, as far as I know, admission standards don’t vary between the colleges. I can’t think of any reason to put off applying.
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just don’t want him getting rejected for admission to the university if his scores are not high enough yet for engineering.
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At Bama, a student doesn’t apply to a dept…he applies to the university
Bama never rejects someone for test scores unless all the testing dates have passed and their score still isn’t high enough. If someone were to apply now, with say a 900 total, Bama would just wait on their app and see if they’re retesting. That’s pretty typical for Rolling Admissions schools.
Either way, your son’s scores are high enough for admission. He’ll need to retest for top merit.
^^ @mom2collegekids, students apply to a specific college though, right?
I’m having trouble remembering, but I thought my son got the engineering scholarship at the same time he got the Presidential.
Doesn’t matter for admissions, but it streamlines the scholarship process if your child is applying for engineering.
@mom2collegekids did you mean that engineering is not more selective ?
@woodsmom5 and @annamom - students at UA get accepted by admissions - and they can declare any UG degree they wish. A student that does not have the aptitude for eng/cs changes out of the major quickly. Confirming that test scores for UA for scholarship are accepted through Dec test date - but need to check if this is also the case this year. DD received initial scholarship letter, but when her ACT score improved by the Dec deadline, UA sent a new scholarship letter.
If a student has high enough statistics for the automatic engineering scholarship and the student thinks they have an interest in engineering or computer science, they should declare a major in eng/cs. Once a student changes major off of that, the eng scholarship would drop off. Have known a student to change away from eng/cs and then change back but scholarship was lost and not recoverable.
DD had her best ACT test on that last Dec opportunity - which was fantastic for hitting the scholarships. This DD will graduate with eng degree from UA in May 2018. She has retained both the Presidential and Engineering Scholarships.
I know students who were unwilling to put any effort into test taking skills, and would say “I just am not good at these standardized tests.” Both DDs raised their ACT scores for better scholarships within UA system (one attended UAB for nursing and graduated in 2016). The UAB DD’s one point rise in ACT meant $12,000 in scholarship money (increase in scholarship by $3K/year). We as parents said “yes you are going to retake the test and use the test tutor help”.
As you can see from UA scholarship information, the ACT/SAT test score is a key element. UA DD worked hard to improve her score, and IMHO the ACT is where students can move the needle. One improves on their strong subjects, as well as work to improve on the lower score areas. Overcoming any issues like test timing (make sure to finish each section) and learning how not to make test taking mistakes. Test tutor went over practice test sections with DD and they would look at what was missed and why. Having a good feel for the questions. We purposely lightened up DD’s fall of HS senior year for the purpose of gaining more with the UA scholarships.
Some students do have an easier time with the standardized tests - but a bright, hard working student with aptitude and interest in a field can achieve a STEM UG degree - and a key time financially is gaining the merit scholarships.
Some of the students who have had their own natural ability carry them through HS w/o much effort do have to put the effort in/study skills in at college - so with the freedoms at college, they have to have the internal motivation to kick up their efforts as a student.
@SOSConcern thanks for the detailed explanation… DD already has the stat for Presidential Scholar as a rising senior Slightly above 3.5 and the needed ACT…hence I think she has no problem be admitted to UA the college, but my concern will be if she were to declare eng/cs, will her chance of acceptance be lowered as the pool of applicant be more competitive? will they admit her to UA but not eng/cs ? I understand they look at the GPA till junior, but what if her GPA in senior drop below the 3.5, will they rescind the scholarship?
If she has the stats for Presidential Scholar, she will be admitted to the University and any major within. The admissions standards for engineering are no different than those for the University as a whole. There are some majors (such as nursing) where getting admitted into upper division is quite difficult, but that’s a different issue. Senior year grades will not matter for the Presidential.
Great. Thanks.
DD attended UA SITE program the summer before her HS senior year, and she decided from seeing all the areas of eng and cs, she was most interested in civil (and architectural). She first declared civil,then declared architectural, then decided she could double major and finish on time, so she ended up doing that.
Some students declare engineering and then decide after a semester or two what they want to study.