I just want to say that I was thankful to find this thread. I have a junior daughter who is looking at UA because of the guaranteed scholarship $. She thinks she might want to eventually be a vet, but has to do something for undergrad, and we are encouraging her to pursue a major that is marketable and gives her other options if she changes her mind or doesn’t get into vet school (1 in 10 chance of admission…). Also, to minimize overall debt, she knows she needs to save as much of our $ as possible during her undergrad so that it is available to her for vet school; doing that either means big scholarships out of state or scholarships + in-state. So UA’s scholarship + others via DH’s work make going somewhere besides our instate school an option. She’s loving her AP Chem, Physics and Calc classes this year, and is thinking engineering might be for her. My biggest concerns with UA are (1) the distance (we’re in MD), (2) the potential “culture shock” in going from MD to AL, and (3) the prevalence of Greek life. (2) and (3) are sort of tied together … at this point she has no interest at all in joining a sorority and tends to have a negative view of the stereotypical “sorority sister”. So, I worry a bit about whether she will like UA if pretty much everyone joins a sorority. It’s too bad they don’t have a LLC for female engineers, but perhaps living in the honors housing would help… She’s said she’ll go wherever the cost of attendance is cheapest; I’ve cautioned her that while wanting to save $ is a good thing, if the school is not a good fit (doesn’t have to be perfect, but has to be at least okay), then going to the lowest COA school is not necessarily the best decision overall.
But, it sounds like it is at the very least worth a visit…
@ailnsh1 Just wanted to share that my ds and his friends (lots are female) are all non-Greek. He doesn’t find being non-Greek an issue.
Thanks, that’s good to know.
Ailnsh1: We live in Virginia, but our sons were born in Maryland. Both boys attend or have attended school in Alabama. Neither ever felt homesick. My older son is a 2013 Bama grad. He loved the school, the academics, the athletics (three times, the football team won the national title), the extracurriculars (he was president of six different organizations, including his fraternity). A National Merit kid, he entered Alabama with 65 credits, thanks to AP and dual enrollment, and he was able to double major and double minor. He would tell you to take a trip and see the campus. Set up an appointment with the Honors College. Go visit the engineering school – it is very sweet. My son’s best friend from Bama is now in her PhD program in engineering at Stanford – all expenses paid, too. They just spent the past few days together at the Cotton Bowl. Meanwhile, my son is in his second year at UVA Law. He has lots and lots of Bama friends with very impressive post-grad credentials. (My younger son is in his second year at UAH – also an incredible school).
@momreads - Thanks for that info. Yes, it seems worth a visit. Curious about your son’s experience at UAH. If we drive down there we might as well see both schools. I get the impression just from online info that it is mostly a commuter school without much campus life (sort of like UMBC is compared to U of MD College Park). But its scholarship offer for out of state engineering students is even sweeter than UA’s, so we’ll visit in person…
Ailinsh1: My younger son really likes UAH. He is not an engineering major, much to the disappointment of his girlfriend’s dad, who is one of NASA’s top engineers (in other words, my son knows his math). The only thing that my son misses is college football, but he loves the UAH ice hockey team. He finds the academics very challenging, but the opportunities that the school offers are wonderful - he already has interviewed for internships and will do so again this spring. He also loves the City of Huntsville. There is a lot to do, and it is about 100 miles from either Nashville or Birmingham.
@ailinsh1 UA and UAH are not at all similar. UAH is a small school. My dd really liked the campus when she visited and UAH really pushes their connections with local businesses for internships and that appealed to her as well. It is going to depend on the individual as to which sort of campus appeals to the student. My dd also really likes UA, but I think the smaller atmosphere of UAH appeals to her personality more. Unfortunately neither are a good enough match for her major, so both are not options for her. (I wish they were b/c it would make next yr’s applications a lot easier!)
Hello! Just wanted to share highlights of our experience with you. My daughter, a sophomore ME from central PA, has LOVED her experience at UA so far.
1: Distance - No problem at all. She has come home whenever she wants. We have used the Southwest credit card bonus points to purchase her tickets. We have a son at UA also, and they have driven home a few times. Honestly, she has only come home for the long breaks (Winter and Spring). She didn’t even come home for the summer break between freshman and sophomore year. Instead, she worked as an orientation assistant and lifeguard on campus.
2/3: She did not go Greek, but has plenty of friends and activities to keep her busy. Her friends come from all over the US, and she has never experienced any culture shock. She has participated in COE theatre and intramurals. She worked as a Freshman Advisor and eventually a Resident Assistant this past semester.
This semester? Well… She is co-oping with Alaska Airlines in Seattle! What a great opportunity she has BECAUSE SHE IS A STUDENT AT UA! 
Contact me for more info, if you’d like.
@ailinsh1 - we visted UA and UAH in the same weekend, so we had a contemporaneous comparison of the two schools.
UAH is a smaller school, but the campus is fairly big and spread out (surprisingly). We saw many bicycles. The honors dorm - Frank Franz - is very nice and similar to the suite style dorms at UA. Dr. Wilkerson runs the honors college and they are trying to grow that program and make it a great opportunity. They had a lovely honors college dinner the weekend we went there for Discovery Days. The city of Huntsville seemed nice with lots of shopping. The Space and Rocket Museum is great too.
UAH is an up-and-comer imho, though I sense there is still a little bit of a commuting element to the school (which is not bad per se). They are trying to raise their stats and I think they had their highest average ACT scores with their class last fall. One thing I noted is that our son would need 128 hours to graduate (if I’m remembering correctly) compared to 120 at UA. Also, our son’s intended major - computer science - is not in the college of engineering like it is at UA (a con imho). All that being said, I wouldn’t be sorry if he went to UAH. UAH is a great option for certain students. UAH is a great value too, with their scholarships.
UA is everything you would expect from a top SEC football school, and then some. The campus is beautiful with lots of little details that show “the love.” One particular thing I noticed, and we were there on a Monday when class was in session, is that I never saw a student with another college’s sweatshirt on. Everyone seems hard-core UA. We met with a professor in the CS department who was impressive and helpful. The honors dorm is beautiful. Everything was very organized. Our “cons” with UA are 1) is it too Greek; 2) our son is not into the football atmosphere; 3) is there a bias against southern schools?. But we have felt reassured that UA is big enough for everyone to find his/her “tribe.” As far as bias we’ll have to let our son’s education speak for itself, down the road, if he goes to UA. We are so appreciative of the scholarship opportunities at both schools.
Feel free to PM me if you want more info. It was helpful to see the schools close together.
Another parent of a happy UA non-Greek engineering student from a Mid-Atlantic state ¶ chiming in. I wonder if your DD might want to visit UAB, as well, since she’s pre-vet, given that UAB (due to the presence of the Medical School, I gather) has a lot of health-related majors? All three UA schools offer some unique opportunities and great scholarships.
FWIW, whenever I mention my son attends “Alabama” to folks with medical backgrounds, they always assume I mean “UAB.” Maybe they think they’re one and the same?
My son had no interest in the other campuses, so we only visited Tuscaloosa. He has at least one friend at Bama who is pre-vet. (I think her mother is a veterinarian.)
http://prehealth.ua.edu/current-students/pre-health-professions/pre-veterinary/
Sorry, haven’t read all the posts, but I believe Auburn has a veterinary school. I know they have a raptor rehab center, because I’m going to attend a conference with a presentation by them this month. Since many students are living off campus at Bama now, coinsider Auburn as an option. The lack of student housing was a turn off for us when visiting colleges when comparing Bama to Auburn, as son lived in dorms his entire time at Bama because he was NMF. I don’t believe that package is available any longer at Bama, so that shouldn’t be a factor in your decision. I felt Auburn had more of a small school feel than Bama, if you’re looking for a smaller school with an appropriate major. LSU also has a wonderful veterinary school.
This may have been self evident to everyone else but my daughter found a way to save on books bought from the UA bookstore. Just order the books before the semester starts and have them shipped to your home. As long as you live outside of Alabama - no sales tax. From a 3rd party web site -
Alabama Sales Tax Rate
4.00%
2016 Alabama state sales tax
Exact tax amount may vary for different items
The Alabama state sales tax rate is 4%, and the average AL sales tax after local surtaxes is 8.91%
That’s good if you are returning by car but books which weigh quite a bit, could cost you to pay for another bag on a flight. in addition, the student must remember to pack those books or you will be paying shipping charges
Well dropped my daughter off at UA, got her stuff out of storage and got everything in the room. We were there on Saturday at 5 (earliest check on time) and had no problems with parking. Her room key was missing. Not a big deal because she has a suite key to lock outside door. Met a couple of her suite mates and they seemed nice. She is still in honors housing but a different dorm, (one of the Ridgecrest dorms but not the same as last semester on campus). She had not signed up for a meal plan yet so she was eating in the dorm (grrrrr). All in all no drama, no major events.
I stayed at the Country Inn & Suites Tuscaloosa, clean and relatively inexpensive - $75 a night.
We did look at a few apartments on Sunday. One of her Sorority sisters was in a nice a complex relatively close to the campus and there sales office was open on Sunday so we did a tour. The place was first class but relatively expensive to me (maybe not for Tuscaloosa). Looking at mid 700’s to upper 900’s depending on size and number of bedrooms. My daughter found another one of her sorority sisters that would not be living in the same complex over the summer (actually not coming back to that apt complex) which is perfect if my daughter can negotiate the right price - $600 or less. Apartments are furnished.
So the next steps is for my daughter to get through this semester with good grades and to work out the housing/job situation/financial aid/classes for the summer semesters. She wants to do another internship in the fall, we will see how that goes.
Only worry for me is that she is taking more upper level classes, hope she can keep the GPA up. As I mentioned in a very early post one of the downside to AP or Clep credits is that you do not get a GPA grade that applies to your college GPA - no easy classes to pad your GPA.