HELP! University Of Alabama or Tennessee?

jrcsmom · February 10, 2014, 4:37pm

As noted in my previous post I instructed son to speak with both the chapter president of ASCE and the dean of the college of civil engineering. I would happily help any other departments that would care to pay me as a consultant (MBA, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business). But frankly my son is 20 years old and is at a school with substantial resources, at some point this is not my responsibility. I’m not really a helicopter parent, I just play one on internet forums.

(And isn’t “since the college has sharply grown, the graduating classes have been much smaller” an oxymoron? If the college has sharply grown and there are more incoming students, what are happening to them if the graduating classes are much smaller???)

mom2collegekids · February 10, 2014, 4:43pm

“t some point this is not my responsibility. I’m not really a helicopter parent, I just play one on internet forums.”

Then you have to accept that some things that you’re hearing from a 20 year old, may not be that accurate.

I remember when a poster on this forum posted that Alabama didn’t have volleyball as an intramural sport. I almost broke out laughing because it was preposterous. But, that’s what their student told them…and the parent just believed.

Since my kids got such fabulously generous scholarships from Bama, I don’t feel the need to get paid to bring an issue to their attention.

MikeWozowski · February 10, 2014, 4:56pm

FYI

here is the list of companies/jobs that crimson careers brings up as qualified schedules (for companies scheduled to interview on campus) if you are listed as a ChE major.

Schlumberger - field engineer
Quorum Business Solutions - consultant
Kohl’s - store management
W.W. Grainger - sales rep
Aldi - district manager

here is the list of companies that will be at the technical career fair that indicate they are looking for ChEs specifically.

Ascend Performance Materials CHE,CE,ECE,ME FT,IN 
Baxter Healthcare, Inc. CHE,ECE,IE,ME FT 
Georgia-Pacific LLC CHE,CE,ECE,IE,ME,MTE FT,IN 
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company CHE,ECE,ME FT,IN 
Honda Manufacturing of Alabama CHE,ECE,IE,ME FT 
KBR CHE,CE,ECE,ME FT, PT, IN 
Momentive Specialty Chemicals, Inc. ACCT,ECON,FI,MKT,MBA,OM,CHE FT,IN 
Quorum Business Solutions CHE,CS,ECE,ME FT 
Shaw Industries CHE,ECE,IE,ME FT 
Southern Company CHE,CE,ECE,ME IN 
Yates Constructors ACCT,CHE,ECE,ME,MTE FT,IN

here is a list of companies at the technical career fair that will accept either all majors or all engineering majors.

ADTRAN, Inc. All Majors FT, PT, IN
Balfour Beatty Construction All Engineering Majors IN
Boeing-Huntsville All Engineering Majors FT,IN
Greenway Medical Technologies All Majors FT
Hoar Construction, LLC All Engineering Majors FT,IN
ITT Corporation All Engineering Majors FT
Johnson Controls Inc. All Engineering Majors FT,IN
MGA Research Corporation All Engineering Majors FT
Navy Recruiting District - Atlanta All Majors FT
nou Systems Inc. All Engineering Majors,MATH,PH FT
PACCAR Engine Company All Engineering Majors FT, PT, IN
PepsiCo All Engineering Majors FT,IN
Pratt & Whitney All Engineering Majors FT
Provare Technology, Inc. All Engineering Majors,MIS,MBA FT
Quincy Compressor All Engineering Majors,ACCT,ECON,FI,GBA,MGT,MKT,MBA,OM FT,IN
Rehau Inc. All Engineering Majors FT, PT, IN
RockTenn All Majors FT,IN 
Schlumberger All Engineering Majors FT,IN 
TAW All Arts & Sciences Majors,All Business Majors,All Engineering Majors FT 
U.S. Department of State All C & IS Majors,All ENGR Majors FT 
US Pipe & Foundry All Business Majors,All C & IS Majors,All Engineering Majors FT 
Verizon Wireless All Majors FT,IN 
Volkert & Associates, Inc. All Majors FT, PT, IN 
Vulcan Materials Company All Business Majors,All Engineering Majors,GEO,APR FT 
Yates Constructors All Engineering Majors FT

** this list does not take into account any companies that will be attending the general career fair that will accept any major.

mom2collegekids · February 10, 2014, 4:57pm

Feb 20th Eng’g Job Fair at Bama

ADTRAN, Inc. All Majors FT, PT, IN
Alabama Department of Transportation CE FT
American Buildings Company MIS,CS FT
Ampirical Solutions CE,ECE,ME FT,IN
ArcelorMittal ME,MTE FT
Archer Western CE IN
Ascend Performance Materials CHE,CE,ECE,ME FT,IN
AT&T TCF,CS,ECE,IE,ME FT,IN
Atlanta Spirit CE,ECE,ME FT,IN
Atlas RFID Solutions MIS,OM,COMM,CE,CS FT
Balfour Beatty Construction All Engineering Majors IN
Baxter Healthcare, Inc. CHE,ECE,IE,ME FT
BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC GBA,MGT,MIS,MBA,OM,CE,CS,ECE,IE,ME IN
Boeing-Huntsville All Engineering Majors FT,IN
Cardinal Solutions MIS,CS FT
CDG Engineers and Associates CE FT
CGI ACCT,ECON,FI,MGT,MIS,MBA,CS FT,IN
Chick-fil-A MATH,MGT,MIS,CS,IE FT
CTS, Inc. MIS FT,IN
D R Horton CE FT,IN
Faurecia IE,ME,MTE FT,IN
General Motors Corporation (GM) CS FT
Georgia-Pacific LLC CHE,CE,ECE,IE,ME,MTE FT,IN
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company CHE,ECE,ME FT,IN
Gray Construction CE,ECE,ME FT,IN
Greenway Medical Technologies All Majors FT
Hewlett Packard GBA,MGT,MIS,MKT,MBA,OM,CS,ECE,IE,ME FT,IN
HITT Contracting CE FT
Hoar Construction, LLC All Engineering Majors FT,IN
Home Depot MIS,CS FT,IN
Honda Manufacturing of Alabama CHE,ECE,IE,ME FT
Insuresoft, LLC MIS,CS FT
Intergraph Corporation MIS,CS,ME FT,IN
ITT Corporation All Engineering Majors FT
Johnson Controls Inc. All Engineering Majors FT,IN
KBR CHE,CE,ECE,ME FT, PT, IN
Lowe’s Companies Inc MIS FT
Mercedes Benz ECE,IE,ME FT, PT, IN
MGA Research Corporation All Engineering Majors FT
MOBIS Alabama ECE,ME FT, PT, IN
Momentive Specialty Chemicals, Inc. ACCT,ECON,FI,MKT,MBA,OM,CHE FT,IN
Mueller Industries ECE,ME FT
NACCO Materials Handling Group ACCT,FI,GBA,ECE,IE,ME,MTE FT,IN
Navy Recruiting District - Atlanta All Majors FT
NCR Corporation CS,ECE,IE FT,IN
Nemak Alabama ECE,IE,ME,MTE IN
Neptune Technology Group CS,ECE,ME FT
Northrop Grumman Corporation CS,ECE,IE,ME,MTE FT,IN
nou Systems Inc. All Engineering Majors,MATH,PH FT
Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa, Inc. OM,CS,ECE,ME,MTE IN
OLDSuccessEHS CE,ECE,ME FT,IN
PACCAR Engine Company All Engineering Majors FT, PT, IN
PepsiCo All Engineering Majors FT,IN
Power South Energy Cooperative ECE FT
Pratt & Whitney All Engineering Majors FT
Provare Technology, Inc. All Engineering Majors,MIS,MBA FT
Quincy Compressor All Engineering Majors,ACCT,ECON,FI,GBA,MGT,MKT,MBA,OM FT,IN
Quorum Business Solutions CHE,CS,ECE,ME FT
Rehau Inc. All Engineering Majors FT, PT, IN
Rehrig Pacific Company IE,ME FT, PT, IN
Revere Control Systems ECE FT
RFMS, Inc. (Resource & Financial Management Systems, Inc) CS FT
Robins & Morton CE,ECE,ME FT,IN
RockTenn All Majors FT,IN
Safe Systems, Inc. MIS,CS FT,IN
Schlumberger Technology Corporation All Engineering Majors FT,IN
Shaw Industries CHE,ECE,IE,ME FT
Southern Company CHE,CE,ECE,ME IN
SSAB, NAD ECE,ME,MTE IN
TAW All Arts & Sciences Majors,All Business Majors,All Engineering Majors FT
Thyssenkrupp ECE,ME,MTE FT
Thyssenkrupp Steel USA ECE,ME,MTE FT
U.S. Department of State All C & IS Majors,All Engineering Majors FT
UA Staff Jobs MATH,MIS,CS FT
US Pipe & Foundry All Business Majors,All C & IS Majors,All Engineering Majors FT
Verizon Wireless All Majors FT,IN
Volkert & Associates, Inc. All Majors FT, PT, IN
Vulcan Materials Company All Business Majors,All Engineering Majors,GEO,APR FT
Warner Robins Air Logistics Center AEM,CS,ECE,IE,ME FT,IN
Wise Alloys LLC ACCT,CHE,ECE,ME,MTE FT,IN
Yates Constructors All Engineering Majors FT
Yates Constructors All Engineering Majors FT, PT, IN

jrcsmom · February 10, 2014, 5:16pm

BTW -

Per the UA factbook (<a href=“http://oira.ua.edu/d/sites/all/files/reports_archive/Factbook/1213_factbook.pdf”>http://oira.ua.edu/d/sites/all/files/reports_archive/Factbook/1213_factbook.pdf</a>) (p108)

Engineering undergraduate degrees awarded

02-03: 216
03-04: 203
04-05: 220
05-06: 208
06-07: 214
07-08: 220
08-09: 257
09-10: 313
10-11: 333
11-12: 359

The number of engineering degrees awarded may not be growing at the same rate as incoming students, but has grown from 216 in 2003 to 359 in 2012.

I have spoken to other parents from this site that share my concerns. It is not just the word of a single 20 year old. Several of those parents have also posted here about their concerns about finding future employment and their inability to secure internships when they have strong students who have worked at it.

I toured more than 10 colleges with my son before he went to Bama. Many of them in the top 10 in their field. All of them said in engineering it is ESSENTIAL students have work experience. They spoke of the companies they had relationships with. They spoke of the % of students that graduated with work experience. They talked about the efforts they took to finding and placing students in work experiences. I toured Bama and asked the prof about internships, after a LONG pause I was told, quote, “internships? some students with personal connections are able to get one.”

Once again as I noted, I instructed son to bring the issue to the attention of his department and even volunteered my time and energy to assist them as it would have a direct impact on my son. As for bringing an issue to their attention - I can email the career center and tell them in my belief they are failing our students, but I’m not certain that is going to bring about change. As for expending my time and energy to help where it does not have a direct impact on my son, I do have a full time job, volunteer for 3 organizations, have a home - with 3 pets to maintain…at some point UA is paying a staff to run their career center and not me.

Mom2aphysicsgeek · February 10, 2014, 5:38pm

I couldn’t just copy and paste the list, but here is an article discussing the top 50 chemical companies. I would like to see those companies recruiting grads.
<a href=“http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/83/pdf/8329globaltop50.pdf”>http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/83/pdf/8329globaltop50.pdf</a>

Bigdaddy88 · February 10, 2014, 5:48pm

Jrcsmom, I’m following this thread as an interested observer. My D is not a STEM major. May I ask what factors persuaded your family to choose UA? Seems like you knew beforehand that Work experience was going to be critical and the UA was lacking in that department. There must have been something compelling. Obviously, your son had great stats if you were touring top ten schools.

Atlanta68 · February 10, 2014, 5:54pm

To the person who suggested that Auburn is THE engineering college in the state, how does that square with the fact that UA now gets Engineering students with higher ACT scores than does Auburn? See below.

<a href=“https://oira.auburn.edu/factbook/enrollment/newstudents/atmoefb.aspx”>https://oira.auburn.edu/factbook/enrollment/newstudents/atmoefb.aspx</a>

<a href=“Announcements for 7/22/2010 - The Crimson White”>Announcements for 7/22/2010 - The Crimson White;

The avg. ACT for UA’s freshman engineering class was 29.2, while that for Auburn was only 28.5

Mom2aphysicsgeek · February 10, 2014, 5:57pm

To the OP, I found this on UTK’s site so that you can compare the list of recruiting companies. I would make contact with companies listed on both school’s websites and talk to people in the HR depts directly.
<a href=“http://www.coop.utk.edu/pdfs/epp_annual_report_2013.pdf”>http://www.coop.utk.edu/pdfs/epp_annual_report_2013.pdf</a>

mom2collegekids · February 10, 2014, 6:28pm

The below is why some of these concerns are baseless. The below is why such a high % of Bama’s eng’g grads have well-paid jobs after graduation.

This is a list of companies that came to the Fall semester’s Eng’g Fair

94 3M Company CE, EE, ME, IE, OM, FT
39 ACIPCO (American Cast Iron Pipe Co.) EE, CHE, ME, CE, IE, MTE Bachelors FT
34 ADTRAN EE, CS, CS (GR) Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
60 Alabama Department of Environmental MGT CHE, ME, BY, CE, ES, CH, GEO, MS, PH, MSBY, MSCG Bachelors FT
33 Alabama Department of Transportation CE Bachelors, Masters FT
6 Altec Industries EE, ME, IE, CS, MIS Bachelors FT,IN
87 American Buildings Company CS, MIS Bachelors FT
77 Archer Western ME, CE, CCE Bachelors FT,IN
58 Ascend Performance Materials EE, CHE, ME, EVEG Bachelors FT,IN
66 AT&T EE, ME, IE, CS, MTLS, CS (GR) Bachelors, Masters FT
99 Atlas OM, MIS FT
68 Axiall Corporation EE, CHE, ME, IE, CH Bachelors FT,IN
55 Baxter Healthcare 
EE, CHE, ME, BY, EVEG, IE, MTE, ES, ESM, BCH, BCBY, BCCH, BCMB, BYBC, CH, MBY, PH
Bachelors FT
32 Bentley Systems CS, MIS, CS (GR) Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
22 BMW College of C&BA, College of ENG Bachelors IN
23 Boeing-Huntsville EE, ME, AE, CE, IE, CS, CS (GR), AEM Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
71 CDG Engineers and Associates CE Bachelors FT
27 Cerner Corporation CS, MIS, CS (GR) Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
24 CGI CS, MIS, CS (GR) FT
36 Chevron EE, CE, ME, CE FT
46 Computer Technology Solutions CS, MIS Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
88 Daxko All Majors FT,IN
96 DENSO Manufacturing College of ENG Bachelors FT
5 
Dept of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)
College of A&S, College of ENG FT
48 DIA/Missile and Space Intelligence Center EE, ME, AE, PH, AEM 
Bachelors, Doctorate, Masters
FT
79 Eastman Chemical Company EE, CHE, ME Bachelors FT
14 Eaton Aerospace IE FT
45 Enercon Services EE, ME, CE Bachelors FT,IN
15 ExxonMobil Corporation EE, CHE, ME, CE, MTE, MTLS, CCE Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
31 Fast Enterprises CS Bachelors FT,IN
64 Faurecia ME, IE Bachelors FT
42 FedEx Services CS, MIS, CS (GR) 
Bachelors, Doctorate, Masters, MBA
IN
80 Fluid Engineering ME, CE, IE Bachelors FT
29 
General Motors - Georgia IT Innovation Center
CS, MIS, CS (GR) Bachelors, Masters FT
8 Georgia-Pacific EE, CHE, ME, CE, IE Bachelors FT,IN
67 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company College of ENG Bachelors FT,IN
43 Gray Construction EE, ME, CE, CCE 
Bachelors, Doctorate, JD, Masters, MBA
IN
12 Halliburton College of ENG MA, BCH, CH, GEO, PH Bachelors FT
21 Hargrove Engineers + Constructors All Majors Bachelors FT
28 Hewlett Packard EE, ME, MGT, MKT, OM, CS, MIS, MS, CIS, CS (GR) Bachelors, Masters, MBA FT,IN
84 Hoar Construction ME, CE, CCE FT
57 Home Depot - IT CS, MIS Bachelors FT,IN
25 Honda Manufacturing of Alabama EE, ME, FIN, GB, OM, AE, MTE, MIS, AC, FI (GR) Bachelors, Masters FT
61 Hyundai Motor Manufacturing EE, ME, IE, MS Bachelors FT,IN
30 Insuresoft EE, CS, MIS, CS (GR) Bachelors FT,IN
50 Intergraph Corporation EE, ME, FIN, CS, MIS, AC, MA, CS (GR) Bachelors, Masters, MBA FT,IN
11 International Paper EE, CHE, ME, EVEG Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
74 Jack Henry & Associates All Majors Bachelors FT
52 Johnson Controls College of ENG Bachelors FT
89 Kamtek College of ENG Masters FT
47 KBR EE, CHE, ME, CE, IE, CCE FT
49 M+W Group EE, CE, ME, CE, CS, CCE Bachelors FT
26 MasterBrand Cabinets All Majors Bachelors, Masters, MBA FT
4 Mercedes Benz EE, ME, OM, IE, CS, MIS Bachelors, Masters FT
54 Michelin North America College of ENG Bachelors FT,IN
7 Microsoft EE, ME, CS, CIS 
Bachelors, Doctorate, Masters
FT,IN
9 MOBIS Alabama 
EE, ME, MGT, FIN, MKT, GB, OM, EVEG, IE, CS, MGT - GR, MBA, EHSM
Bachelors, Masters, MBA FT
81 Mohawk Industries College of ENG Bachelors FT
53 Murphy Exploration and Production College of ENG Bachelors FT,IN
18 NACCO Materials Handling Group All Majors Bachelors FT,IN
41 Navy Recruiting District - Atlanta All Majors Bachelors FT
44 Nemak Alabama EE, ME, IE, MTE, ESM Bachelors FT,IN
1 Neptune Technology Group EE, ME, MGT, MKT, IE, CS, MIS, CS (GR) Bachelors FT
13 Nissan North America All Majors
Bachelors, Doctorate, Masters, MBA
IN
59 Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa EE, ME, OM, MTE Bachelors, Masters IN
90 Olin Chlor Alkali Products EE, CHE, ME Bachelors, Masters FT
70 Pelican Energy Consultants EE, CHE, ME, IE FT
19 PepsiCo EE, CHE, ME, MGT, OM, IE, MTLS FT,IN
17 PolyOne Corporation CE, MS Bachelors FT
83 Power South Energy Cooperative EE Bachelors FT
40 PricewaterhouseCoopers MIS, AC Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
91 Provare Technology College of ENG, MBA - BA, MIS 
Bachelors, Doctorate, Masters, MBA
FT
16 Quorum Business Solutions MIS, OM, CS Bachelors, Masters, MBA FT
2 Regions Bank CS, CS (GR) Bachelors FT
85 Rehau College of C&BA, College of ENG Bachelors FT,IN
95 Rehrig Pacific Company ME, IE Bachelors FT,IN
62 Revere Control Systems EE Bachelors FT
97 Robins & Morton College of ENG Bachelors FT,IN
75 RockTenn CHE, ME, IE FT, IN
76 Safe Systems CS, MIS Bachelors FT,IN
51 Savannah River Nuclear Solutions College of ENG Bachelors FT
37 Schlumberger Technology Corporation EE, CHE, ME, AE, CE, IE, AEM Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
92 Severstal Columbus EE, ME, MTML Bachelors FT,IN
20 Shaw Industries EE, CHE, ME, IE Bachelors FT,IN
69 SKF USA ME Bachelors FT
63 Sonoco Products Company EE, CHE, ME, CE, IE, MTE, ESM, MTLS, CCE Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
38 Southern Company EE, CHE, ME, CE Bachelors IN
65 Success EHS EE, MGT, CS, MIS FT
72 Tate & Lyle, Ingredients Americas College of ENG Bachelors FT
3 Trinity Industries College of C&BA, College of ENG IN
78 ThyssenKrupp IT MIS, CS IN
56 U. S. Pipe & Foundry EE, ME, CE, EVEG, IE, CS, CIS Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
35 U.S. Steel EE, ME, OM, MTML Bachelors FT,IN
93 UA Staff Jobs CS, MIS, MA, CS (GR) Bachelors, Masters FT
98 URS Corporation EE, CHE, ME, CE, CCE FT,IN
82 Verizon Communication EE, ME, CS, MIS, CIS, CS (GR) 
Bachelors, Doctorate, Masters, MBA
FT,IN
100 Vesuvius USA ME, MTE, MTLS 
Bachelors, Doctorate, Masters
FT
73 Warner Robins Air Logistics Center EE, ME, AE, IE, CS, CS (GR), AEM Bachelors, Masters FT,IN
10 Wise Alloys 
EE, CE, ME, MGT, GB, OM, CE, EE, IE,MTML, CS, MIS, MS, CS (GR)
Bachelors, Doctorate, JD, Masters
FT
86 Yates College of ENG Bachelors FT

Chardo · February 10, 2014, 9:05pm

“Businesses aren’t just going to call Bama and say hey, we want to travel across the country and come there to recruit your students and want to know when is convenient. Bama has to form relationships and recruit businesses the same as they do students. What makes no sense to me is they have an established network of recruiters across the country, why are they not utilizing them to attract businesses as well as students?”

UA recently promoted their successful NY recruiter to a new position, Director of Alumni and Organizational Relationship Development for the Honors College. His job is to recruit and build relationships with employers to hire UA students. It will take some time to bear fruit, but UA is addressing this problem.

Chardo · February 10, 2014, 9:07pm

“I remember when a poster on this forum posted that Alabama didn’t have volleyball as an intramural sport. I almost broke out laughing because it was preposterous. But, that’s what their student told them…and the parent just believed.”

As parent of the UA intramural volleyball champion, I laughed too.

Nrajagopal123 · February 10, 2014, 9:50pm

soooooooooo…this topic has really blown up since the last time I visited.

Frankly, I thought I would get a clearer sense of Alabama vs. UTK. But I’m as confused as ever. There seems to be two narratives taking place:

1) Alabama is growing rapidly, but job placement/internships are difficult to get because of Alabama’s poor connection with the private sector.

2) Alabama is growing rapidly, there are plenty of jobs/internships and opportunities.

C’mon people. Can reality be seen is such diverging ways? It seems the parents who currently have students at Alabama seem to get the sense that their child will struggle to find work and opportunities while in school and when graduating. Others seem to believe the complete opposite.

Personally…I think its somewhere in between. I doubt Alabama has the same number of companies visiting it as Michigan, Georgia Tech, or Texas A&M…but I also think they are rapidly trying to grow and attract the private sector.

Hopefully by the time I graduate (2018) Alabama’s career center will be able to keep up with the growth of the rest of the college.

Thanks everybody for all your input.

Mom2aphysicsgeek · February 10, 2014, 9:53pm

OP, here are a couple of links that might interest you.

This is a link discussing universities and employment.
<a href=“University Graduate Career Surveys - Career Opportunities & Internships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html</a>

This link shows the companies recruiting at VA Tech this past fall. <a href=“Engineering Expo | Student Engineers' Council | Virginia Tech”>Engineering Expo | Student Engineers' Council | Virginia Tech;
Many of them are the same companies as mom2collegekids posted. There are a few of the big chemical companies missing from the UA list compared to the VT list, but more of an overlap than when I looked just at the spring list for UA.

mom2collegekids · February 10, 2014, 9:54pm

" What makes no sense to me is they have an established network of recruiters across the country, why are they not utilizing them to attract businesses as well as students?“”

That’s a fine idea. Why not suggest that to the CoE Dean and to Amanda Ingram, who is the Ass’t Director of Operations at the UA Career Center. She promptly responds to emails. This morning, she provided me the lists of companies who attended last fall’s eng’g job fair and the ones who are coming to the spring job fair. She WANTS to address any concerns. SHE ASKED for questions.
<a href=“mailto:aingram@sa.ua.edu”>aingram@sa.ua.edu</a> 205-348-3091

Folks, if you have an idea, please bring it to the attention of the people who can put the idea into motion. CC members don’t have the power to affect change.

dixiedelight · February 10, 2014, 11:13pm

Nrajagopal123, I recently graduated from UA with an engineering degree so I feel that I can provide the most accurate information. There were a lot of companies at the career fair. A lot more showed up than was listed. A person that worked at the career center told me it was the most companies they had ever had and that they literally had to turn down a couple of last minute companies because of fire code limitations in the Bryant conference center. My friends in engineering got jobs. I got a job. I know one guy that got 12 interviews from attending the career fair. I know some universities have better career fairs, but I do believe alabama is catching up. It’s not desolate like some posters have made it out to be. Ultimately though, finding a job will be your responsibility. Alabama will provide the opportunities for you to capitalize on IMO. I am sorry some of you and your children have had bad experiences. I received a great education and had a great time. I’m sure Tennessee is a great school as we’ll and that both would pretty much provide the same career outlook.

I actually did interview for a job in Tennessee. I asked one of the interviewers at lunch if they interviewed Tennessee grads since it was close to Knoxville. They said no because Tennessee gave a more research focused engineering education whereas they had found Bama grads to have had a more hands on and practical approach. Take it fwiw.

Chardo · February 10, 2014, 11:52pm

^ Dixie, did you have any internships? If so, were they through a career fair or your own efforts?

Chardo · February 11, 2014, 1:15am

Just heard that DS was named treasurer of the UA chapter of IEEE. That should help with networking, I would think.

NROTCgrad · February 11, 2014, 3:42am

"The avg. ACT for UA’s freshman engineering class was 29.2, while that for Auburn was only 28.5 "

Okay, I am going to confess that I had not kept up with 'Bama’s growth in engineering. Obviously they have spent a ton of effort expanding the school over the past ten years. Very impressive. Still, the difference between a 29.2 ACT and 28.5 is not exactly wide (less than 3 percentage points) and certainly can easily change quickly. Bama changed it quickly. So might Auburn.

Numbers that might be equally important include 'Bama having 120 engineering faculty members compared to Auburn’s 150 to 175 (tenure and non-tenure). Student to engineering faculty ratio at Auburn is 34.5 to Bama’s 37.3. Slightly more attention from faculty at Auburn? Maybe, maybe not.

I reject outright, however, the notion that additional degree programs are irrelevant to students who would not be interested in them. Until students get to college they rarely know for sure what they are interested in. After all, data consistently shows that 75%-85% of college student changed their majors at least once. Offering a wide diversity of majors makes it far more likely that students can find a major to fit their interests. Second, such diversity offers the opportunity for taking electives in a field outside of your actual major. These are not inconsequential.

Similarly, offering biological engineering degrees does, in fact, indicate a likeliness of being “cutting edge.” First, biomedical engineering, biomolecular engineering, and biosystems engineering are very new fields. period. Second, Bill Gates has said that if he were in college today he would not study computers but bio-engineering. This because bio-tech is likely where the next big technological breakthroughs (and big money) will come.

In sum, 'Bama has made amazing strides in the past ten years, obviously. However, it still offers almost nothing that cannot also be had at Auburn or UTK… but both of those schools offer programs that are currently beyond the scope of Tuscaloosa. This might change. Yet, this is the situation as it stands today.

rlpak14 · February 11, 2014, 5:32am

People, you have gone away from the original question posed by the author of this thread. If you want to argue which engineering program is the best between UA, UTK, Auburn and any of the other engineering programs, it should be done on a separate thread.

Please try to respond to the thread of helping decide whether OP should go to UTK or UA.

OP, I think academically and prospective employment opportunities, going to either UTK or UA will get you where you want. However, as I posted earlier, it will cost less to attend UA than UTK by about $5K/year which is a significant amount of savings. UA has a better campus environment and currently a better football program and overall college experience. I don’t know if you received acceptance into UTK honors program, but you are eligible for UA honors benefits which includes housing in the newer honors dorms.

Based upon the above, I would attend UA if I had the choice between UTK and UA. Hope this helps.

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