My daughter finally decided today to go to Alabama in the fall.
Engineering career opportunities at University of Alabama vs University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Decision made eight days early…Roll Tide!!
Congratulations on a careful decision and welcome. I hope she will be happy. Our student is even happier than we ever would have hoped and has had really great experiences and opportunities.
Congratulations on your daughter’s decision!
One year ago this week, my son chose UA over Penn State (and its reputation for being a darling of employers) and has no regrets whatsoever. In three weeks, he’ll begin his engineering co-op with a Fortune 1000 company. No regrets on this end!
Hi @LucieTheLakie, when did your son interview for coop positions? Was that in the fall or spring or both? I was not sure when freshmen started to interview for coop positions.
A few freshmen actually interviewed for co-op positions in the fall (Oct.- first semester on campus), many started this spring (around March 1), and some will interview this coming fall as a first semester soph. The interviews this spring were for those who wished to begin a co-op in Summer 2015 or Fall 2015 (depending on the employer). // I suspect that any freshman who interviewed during their first semester came in with a lot of credits already under their belt.
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They have tutors that will attend the classes and take notes. The private tutoring is just $4 an hour and you can also become a tutor if you excel in the classes.
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Is tutor pay subsidized so that tutors actually make more than $4/hour?
Are these for core classes? I think I am missing the point of a tutor attending the student’s class (along side the student?) and then taking notes for the student.
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I would think the tutor would already have mastery of a subject
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I have a host of other concerns related to college being a time that a young adult shows the world they can process information on their own and they are self sufficient in learning new concepts, learning to ask pertinent questions after trying to solve problems on their own, …
For the $4 per hour tutoring, that was at Iowa State. I have an older daughter at Iowa State. I think the tutors make $10 an hour, so it is subsidized. This could be a group study or one on one. These are just the main core classes. It is not to take notes for the student. This could also help with students that could not attend a class for some reason. My daughter took advantage of this a couple of times. Not exactly sure why she used it, but my guess was there may have been a topic that she needed extra help with or review or maybe just had some questions.
In case you are interested, you can find out more: http://www.dso.iastate.edu/asc/tutoring/faq
@joecollege373, I think my son learned about the specifics of the co-op program last fall, but he didn’t interview until spring. He will be working Summer 2015, Spring 2016, and Fall 2016.
FWIW, he did not come into UA with any credits.
@LucieTheLakie, thanks for the update. Seems like a great program. I know my daughter wants to do travel abroad also, so it will be interesting to fit everything in.
Did you join the FB parents page? Ask them specifically about juggling all those things. It seems like there are kids who are able to do so, but I’m guessing they come in with a lot of credits or have a fifth year through the NMF scholarship. Good luck!
"They have tutors that will attend the classes and take notes. The private tutoring is just $4 an hour and you can also become a tutor if you excel in the classes.
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Is tutor pay subsidized so that tutors actually make more than $4/hour?
Are these for core classes? I think I am missing the point of a tutor attending the student’s class (along side the student?) and then taking notes for the student.
-
I would think the tutor would already have mastery of a subject
-
I have a host of other concerns related to college being a time that a young adult shows the world they can process information on their own and they are self sufficient in learning new concepts, learning to ask pertinent questions after trying to solve problems on their own, … "
THAT to me sounds like the Supplemental Instruction (SI) program. I work as both a history tutor AND an SI. What the difference is for tutoring a student comes into the Learning Center (I attend Texas Tech University, but am looking at UA for Grad school) and says they need help for X history class & I proceed to help them with it. With the SI program I actually SIT in the specific class, usually a core class, & I take notes & hear exactly what the professor is teaching & HOW he is approaching the subject. After the class, twice a week, I hold a session where we go over the material again in a more interactive setting & catered specifically to THAT class. Many universities now have these SI programs available usually with classes that students struggle with. I don’t get many for history, but then this is the first time they do history here (in the college I was at before transferring I would have anywhere from 4-18 students), I’m the first & only history tutor here. But for other subjects, like physics, Calc, Trig etc most of the STEM type classes they have that available & it’s free of charge to the students. Anyways, I just thought I’d share. However, I get paid $10 an hour for this. In addition, I’ve gotten to know the history faculty very well & have a good rapport with them. I also get to mention this when applying for $cholarship$ so there is more than just the hourly pay. In addition, I’m a history geek so I absolutely LOVE to talk about history.
Like I previously stated I’m looking into UA & Ole Miss for graduate history.
I find it interesting that Iowa State charges $4 per hour for tutoring when UA has similar options available for free.
I’ve been in a few classes which had note takers. Federal law requires UA to provide note takers for students who register with the Office of Disability Services and qualify for such services. UA firsts asks students taking the class to share their notes with the person (sometimes via instructor) in return for a small stipend, otherwise it will pay someone to come and take notes.
More and more instructors seem to be providing detailed notes and printed PowerPoint slides to all students to help them study. Some courses will have upperclassmen or grad students lead study sessions if the instructor is unable.
You have to pay? At Tech it’s free & I get paid $10.
My son is a civil engineering major with a Spanish minor (the environmental and civil programs overlap for the first 2 years). One program your daughter might want to look into, since she’s interested in helping people, is ‘Engineers without Borders’ (it’s no longer called Engineers without Borders, they’ve changed the name and I’d have to look up the new name), but they take an annual trip to South America to complete a project to help the community.
My son began his college career with outdoor action (and all the honor’s action programs - outdoor action, Alabama action, and black belt action are highly recommended, but she’d need to apply ASAP), then after his first year he went to Ecuador with Alabama Action Abroad (a 10 day trip) and returned to work an internship, in Illinois (which is not our home state, he spent the summer with relatives while he worked) that we located on the internet, after his 2nd year he returned to Ecuador as a student leader with Alabama Action Abroad, then began his fall semester of his 3rd year in his first co-op work session right in Tuscaloosa. He’s now the student director for the Alabama Action Abroad program and helped prepare the budget and travel for the students that will be travelling this year and will start his 2nd co-op rotation this summer. Next summer (2016), he may travel to Spain with the UA in Spain program to complete the final 2 courses for his minor.
My son did start with a ‘few’ credits (I believe it was right around 30) mainly from dual credits, but is just a slightly above average student and has struggled with more than a few classes, but was still able to juggle what to us are our priorities - for him travelling abroad and using his Spanish skills and for me making sure he gets practical work experience in his field to put on his resume.
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You have to pay? At Tech it's free ...
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Free?? or included with tuition?
It’s interesting on college tours to notice which guides have been trained not to use the word “free” when discussing services and facilities available to registered students.
Good point, it’s included in the tuition. I didn’t mean to come across sounding like a liberal when I used the word free.
^^^Ouch, I hope that was tongue-in-cheek. “Liberal” is not synonymous with “moocher” for what it’s worth!
I didn’t mean moocher, it’s just they tend to say something is “free” or “affordable” when we all know someone has to pay for it. I had a professor at a the college I was at prior to transferring who kept harping about making college education free to the students (he was a big statist). After I had had enough in one of his lectures I asked, “will you be donating your time?” The class burst out laughing & he quickly changed the subject. It was obvious it would not be teaching for “free.”
I used free as in the student doesn’t pay, but of course the student has already paid for that service.