Hello, everyone,
My son is a high school junior, and we’re looking at colleges now. UAH interests him due to their co-op and internship programs… and the automatic scholarships. According to the chart on the UAH scholarship page, his current scores (1420, GPA 4.0) would fall under Charger Distinction for 100% tuition. However, when I run the NPC with those scores, it’s coming back with Charger Distinction but for less than half tuition (8996). We’re OOS.
Does anyone know if the scholarship amounts are going to be decreased for next year, perhaps? Or if the NPC is just being extra cautious?
It’s a long drive to visit (11+ hours), and if the money won’t be there then we really can’t make that time commitment. Of course we’re hoping his SAT scores next round will be higher (and GPA maintained lol), but if he were to qualify for 100% tuition that would still work for us.
Call the admissions office, I found the people there very knowledgeable and able to answer the scholarship questions. We too are OOS, my DD will be attending Fall 2018 Under the Charger Excellence - Honestly, I never ran the NPC, we just looked a their charts and when her letter of acceptance arrived it also stated her Tuition and housing were 100% paid.
We visited the campus last month (its beautiful), they are very generous with their scholarships and will clarify the details for you. There was nothing mentioned about the fall of 2019 as their focus is on 2018. I know “Bama” reduced their top scholarship recently as it used to include 100% tuition, now its a fixed dollar amount, still very generous but not as generous as the package at UAH.
My DD is very excited, she loved the UAH dorms, they are amazing!
I’ll probably wait till Spring to call - like you said, right now they’re concentrating on the 2018 admits and the Dec 15 deadlines. The budgets probably won’t be set for the 2019 applicants until then.
I re-did the NPC with 2018 grad date, and it still showed the lower amount so I think the NPC is probably just off.
Thanks for the feedback on the campus - I think we’ll probably plan a visit over the summer, since the tours are only on weekdays and we already have our spring break trip heading into the NE states. We looked at the dorm photos and they did look good - which ones did you tour?
I know at the Discovery Day we attended, the finance person spoke a lot about the scholarships. They will reevaluate for updated tests scores etc, they make an effort to give the students the most money that they can. Full Tuition scholarships I was told are just that, 100% of tuition regardless of in or out of state, what it does not cover is fee’s. Their scholarships have a lot of transparency, there really were no “hidden” catches that we could identify, it was all pretty straight forward.
I believe we toured the North Hall but was told that all the rooms are pretty much the same. DD will be spending her first year at Frank Franz Hall which is the Honors College Dorm. The new residence halls are currently under construction and are in the middle of campus. I was told the new facilities will be for the upper classes but that was not confirmed. Since DD’s scholarship includes housing, she will be spending her years in the dorms, I am sure she will get to know them well, she is looking forward to the new complex as well.
My DD is currently on a gap year. Given all the roommate drama her friends are having at a variety of schools across the country, both elite and state flagship, I am very thankful for the suite style living that UAH offers to all students. They have privacy if they want it along with a lot of amenities not often found in dorm rooms including a living/lounge and kitchenette area, semi private bath and their own sink. The facilities appeared clean, modern and well functioning.
DD and I flew, its about a 13 hour drive from Central TX so we flew into Birmingham and rented a car. To move her to school we will most likely drive but all options are still being considered.
Hi, @parent2one . The calculator for UAH is off. I can also confirm that when DS’s letter came it did spell out the Charger Distinction award as full tuition for 8 semesters and also the total dollars awarded.
As for campus tours, you may want to call them. We’ve visited twice and I’ve got to say that they have been amazing accommodating our schedules each time.
Good luck. Just like SnowflakeDogMom, we are really impressed with UAH and that’s probably where DS will attend in the fall.
Thanks, @“Garden Mom” - it’s good to hear that the online calc is off!
I did an online reservation for the campus tour and put in the request to also meet with Engineering and Honors College if possible. It’s coming up in a couple of weeks - I’m excited! I might call them before we leave on our college tour trip and see if they can fit that stuff in.
I hope he likes the campus, and I think he will based on the online “tour” and other pics, etc I’ve seen.
IMO the online tour does not do the campus justice - the online tour to me made the campus look like an office complex but when you actually arrive and walk into the heart of the campus (where one cannot drive) you see a beautiful quad with lots of different foliage as well as variety in architecture. The area where the freshman dorms are had lots of trees, walking paths etc.
The campus while not huge, does not feel like a high school, its big enough that it feels “large” without being overwhelmingly large.
I’m excited for DD to attend orientation to get her impressions when:
She is alone and not with Mom/Dad
Staying on Campus in a dorm room for 2 nights
Traveling solo to/from
Meeting fellow Honor students, advisers etc.