Engineering at UA

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>First off, I want to thank you for reading my post and for everybody’s comments and suggestions in advance.</p>

<p>I’m a senior in high school from Washington state. I have not visited UA yet, but plan to do so either on Capstone Scholars day or University day. What’s the difference between visiting on these days? I’ve been invited to Capstone Scholars day but I am not quite sure which day I should visit on with my parents. It’s quite a long plane ride from Washington state.</p>

<p>I plan on majoring in either aerospace or mechanical engineering. </p>

<ol>
<li>How are the engineering facilities in UA? What are the opportunities for internships and research like?</li>
<li>The University of Washington has a great engineering program and it is only a few minutes from my home, thus my parents are persuading me to go to U of Washington for its better engineering program and because Seattle is home to Boeing, thus more employment opportunities.</li>
<li>I’ve always been a fan of bama, roll tide! But right now I know very little about the campus and engineering program. I’m very interested in going to school at UA and intent on visiting.</li>
</ol>

<p>Thank you once again for your help.</p>

2

<p>do you have the stats for scholarships?</p>

3

<p>Yeah, the scholarships UA offers are absolutely amazing!</p>

<p>I received the 2/3rd tuition + 1/3 +2500 by choosing an engineering major.</p>

4

<p>i think capstone scholars day would be better, but, honestly, coming on a day that is neither of these events would be better. you could have a visit personally designed for you.</p>

<p>the engr facilities are pretty great. someone else will know more about this than i do, though. my daughter is in ChemE. she knows more about it than i do, obviously.</p>

<p>your chance to do research is GREAT. i think most kids who make an effort can probably find a research spot.</p>

<p>idk about internships, because we do not have any experience with that. i do know that if you keep your grades up and get involved in some things so you have a decent resume, people will take notice of your resume. if you want to end up working back in your hometown, you may have to do more legwork to find a job there. some of the employers that recruit there will be recruiting for the southeast, but not all. the career center will help you, but idk how helpful they will be in finding jobs in other parts of the country. i am not saying they can’t or don’t. i am just saying i don’t know.</p>

<p>would you live on campus if you went to UW?</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the information!</p>

<p>By chance, do you know how or who I should contact to personalize a visit?</p>

<p>If I went to UW i would live on campus. How is UA’s campus? Is it necessary to have a car to get around?</p>

6

<p>the UA campus is awesome! when kids visit, even ones who don’t think they want to go there, they love it! the weather is great most of the time (but HOT when fall semester starts!)</p>

<p>lots of kids do not have cars. my daughter has one, but doesn’t really use it much. you can easily get by without one as long as you have friends to bum a ride from now and then. even without, you can walk to the grocery store if you have to.</p>

<p>to set up a personalized visit, i think you talk to allison at the honors college. </p>

<p>Allison Verhine
Associate Coordinator
269 Nott Hall
205-348-5534</p>

<p><a href=“mailto:allison.verhine@ua.edu”>allison.verhine@ua.edu</a></p>

<p>is cost an issue to you or your parents? do you know what the difference in cost would be for UW vs. UA for you? do you want to go to school far away? do your parents not want you to?</p>

7

<p>Speedy, I sent you PM (from a diff thread/question) - let me know if you got that, and we can talk further about the aero program specifically. I am so excited for you! I love to hear it when students are researching different schools and programs and campuses when it comes to Aero-Eng’g. Reminds me of a couple short years ago, going through the same process w/ S, and I would be happy to pass along any info to help you find the right fit for you. FIT is the most important thing that will determine your success in the field that you choose. Only a visit to different campuses will cement your decision.</p>

8

<p>As I posted in the other thread, I am from the same area as you and asked many of teh same questions when I applied to UA 4 years ago. </p>

<p>UA is located in Tuscaloosa. While Tuscaloosa is an hour away from Birmingham, there are a lot fewer people in the surrounding areas. If you can picture Mt. Vernon, WA and Burlington, WA with Wazzu located in the immediate area, Tuscaloosa is a lot like that, but without the tulips. </p>

<p>Many of the engineering facilities are brand new thanks to both federal funding and private donations. As UA is one of the few universities actively hiring new faculty, it can attract very high quality faculty. In the past 20 years, Alabama has seen a large increase in the amount of companies opening factories within the state, particularly in the automotive industry, but also the new Airbus/EADS factory near Mobile. </p>

<p>UA students get internships and jobs throughout the US and sometimes internationally, including many jobs in the Seattle area. The last time I checked, Boeing has operations in 35 states, Alabama being one of the major ones, so it is very familiar with UA grads. I will likely be returning to the West Coast after a graduation, pending the results of several promising job applications.</p>

<p>As university that is rising in popularity, UA is heavily investing in its students, faculty, and facilities to help boost its reputation. Class sizes are almost always much smaller than you will see at the UDub (the maximum class size at UA is 250 and even then students who come in with a lot of college credit will rarely be in those courses) and you will get all the classes you need to graduate in 4 years unless you do a drastic major change. People at UA will also go out of their way to help you succeed.</p>

<p>In my case, it was cheaper to attend UA with a scholarship than it was to commute to the UDub. UA also has a much larger fan base. I’ve lost count of the Roll Tides I’ve gotten throughout the US. I’ve also noticed that, at least in Washington, people that used to live in the south will come up to me and start a conversation, usually mentioning how surprised and proud they are that I chose to attend the University of Alabama. </p>

<p>In case your family and friends are concerned, you won’t come back with a Southern accent, with the noticeable exception of saying y’all because it’s an extremely useful term.</p>

<p>In High School, one of my EC’s involved meeting a lot of very important people in the aerospace and defense contracting industries. Almost all of them mentioned that the most important thing is to do great in school, get some good internships, and know how to communicate professionally.</p>

<p>It’s also worth mentioning that there are a lot of very attractive girls at UA. :slight_smile: Strangely though, a recent review only rated our female student body an A in attractiveness, while they rated the male student body an A+. Another article placed UA in the top 5 of most attractive student bodies (no pun intended).</p>

9

<p>Thanks so much for the help Mike! I am definitely going to talk to Allison.</p>

<p>Ahh you’re making me so excited to go down to campus! :)</p>

<p>In-state tuition costs would not be an issue. But really, anything over in-state tuition would be a problem. My parents can afford UW which is in-state and UA would be awesome because of the tuition scholarship.</p>

<p>I would love to go out of state, specifically away from the Pacific Northwest for a change. I’ve lived here my entire life! </p>

<p>My parents do not mind so much that I am going to a college far away, but more so that I would be going to the college that fits me, my interests, and future opportunities the best.</p>

<p>Also, I love sports!</p>

10

<p>SEA_tide! Yay a fellow Washingtonian! </p>

<p>Thank you for connecting UA in ‘Washington terms,’ it really helped me picture the campus! </p>

<p>What was your major and how was your overall experience at UA? </p>

<p>Campus/school wise, how is it different from UW or WSU (if you have been to these campuses too)?</p>

<p>I just have not visited any out of state colleges so I am not too familiar with schools in other states.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

11

<p>* I have not visited UA yet, but plan to do so either on Capstone Scholars day or University day. What’s the difference between visiting on these days*</p>

<p>Important!!!</p>

<p>If you’re a senior, then attending a UDays after Jan 1st is NOT a good idea. Those UDays are set up for juniors…they go over the app process, scholarships, etc. That info will NOT apply to a current senior who has already applied, been accepted, and has met the Dec 1st deadline for scholarships for seniors.</p>

<p>choose one below:</p>

<p>1) Set up campus tour and contact the Honors College (Allison and Susan) and tell them that you’ll be on campus the Friday BEFORE CSDay. Give Al and Susan your info by email…include your campus tour time, major, stats, etc… Arrive Thursday night before CSDay. On Friday, Al and Susan will have your day set up. BE SURE to set up campus tour on Friday NOW…those limited seats book up FAST.</p>

<p>2) Visit campus another time, set up tour, and contact Allison and Susan.</p>

12

<p>Hi Speedy, </p>

<p>Please check out the following link for some pictures of the new Science and Enginnering complex, the new South Engineering Research Center, Shelby Hall, and the construction on phase four of this new development and the quadrangle at the center of these new buildings. [Fall</a> 2012 - Capstone Engineer - The College of Engineering - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://eng.ua.edu/news/capstone-engineer/fall2012/]Fall”>http://eng.ua.edu/news/capstone-engineer/fall2012/) There are many other threads here where we have posted pictures of the new Engineering buildings at UA. They are even more impressive in person. Senator Shelby was able to get federal funding for almost 1,000,000 new square footage in science and engineering space at UA. UA Engineering is not ranked as highly as the administration would like, but it is definitely on the way up, and since the last five or so years, there has been a huge increase in the enrollment of engineers on campus each fall. [Buildings</a> - The College of Engineering - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://eng.ua.edu/buildings/]Buildings”>Facilities – College of Engineering | The University of Alabama) for more pics. But you really need to come see them for yourself.</p>

13

<p>I would attend Capstone Day, our first visit to campus. It focused a lot on the Honors College, and you will meet other Honors kids that day. But I do agree with mom, to arrive a day or two earlier and do the campus tour on Friday. Also try to get a tour of the Engineering complex. The new buildings are amazing!</p>

<p>Congratulations on your fine achievements and wishing you much luck on your college decision.</p>

<p>BTW, we’ve been to Washington State and love it. Have even been to Burlington and Mt. Vernon, then on to Anacortes and Whidbey Island. Gorgeous!</p>

14

<p>I’m a Finance, Economics, and Mathematics triple major who is also earning a master’s in Applied Economics and Data Mining through the University Scholars program. I am competing with engineers for a lot of jobs I’m applying for, some of which include engineer in the title. :)</p>

<p>I’ve really enjoyed my time at UA and couldn’t have picked a better school for myself. No place or person is perfect, but I liked what UA had/has to offer and loved the friendliness and school spirit of everyone on campus. </p>

<p>I’ve never visited Wazzu, but know that UA is often viewed as having a similar social culture. UA definitely rivals the UDub in campus beauty, but definitely beats the UDub in tradition and school spirit; UA has the second highest amount of licensed merchandise sales of any school (UT Austin is #1.) Campus has a more traditional layout and most every building is of the same architectural style despite some buildings being 150 years old and some being 5 months old. I’m convinced that it rains more in Tuscaloosa than it does in Seattle, but it rains all at once in Tuscaloosa versus the relatively constant drizzle of Seattle.</p>

<p>While UA isn’t as Southern as many people make it out to be, it still has a different culture than schools you’ll see on the West Coast and even other parts what people call the South. The State of Alabama is proudly “the Heart of Dixie” and as a result people are generally extremely friendly and polite. </p>

<p>Are you interested in joining a fraternity? I encourage all students to consider Greek life, but recognize that Greek life at Alabama is different from what you’ll see in other regions of the country.</p>

15

<p>

</p>

<p>In what way?</p>

16

<p>Some schools have very low-key Greek Life, but it’s not really a regional thing. It’s not as if Greek life is one way everywhere else, but another way at Alabama. </p>

<p>My nieces and nephews are Greek in Calif schools and other states’ schools and their Greek life is very similar to what it is here.</p>