These schools are offering nice scholarship packages for out of state students. My son really liked Colorado School of Mines and Colorado State but even after initial merit scholarship based on ACT and GPA, they are still too expensive. We live in Ks but he is not interested in K-St, KU, or Pitt ST. We did visit Wichita St. He also did not like Missouri S & T.
University of Arkansas
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
University of Alabama
We are heading to those schools next month. Any thoughts on which might be a good choice for mechanical engineering and overall college experience?
UA has a strong ME program. They have a Co-op agreement with Mercedes Benz (whose US plant at Vance AL is about 20 miles from Tuscaloosa).
You also might want to look at UA Huntsville which has connections to NASA and Redstone Arsenal for internships.
i have heard that UA was a good ME school and their scholarships were very good.UAH sounded more like a commuter school and not very eye appealing but good merit scholarships. Any idea how UA compares to Ole Miss and State? I had heard that MS ST is known for their engineering. Thks
UA has brand new science and engineering facilities that are amazing and state of the art. Bama’s eng’g would be better than Ole Miss. MSU has long been an “eng’g school” but I don’t know how updated their facilities are. While I do like MSU, the surroundings seems to be too rural and not nearly as sophisticated as UA.
Have you contacted Bama’s honors college to set up an honors tour? If not, do so as soon as you can. First set up a campus tour, then let the HC know the date and time…
Set up your tour first: http://tour.ua.edu/
The tour is a mix of walking and riding in a small bus, so each tour is strictly limited to the number of seats on that small bus.
then send an email to the HC
In the email to the below listed people, include:
Student’s name and contact info
Date and time of the Campus tour that you’ve reserved.
GPA and test scores (include likely NMSF if applicable)
Likely majors
Career interests (including med, law, etc)
Anything particular that you want to see. If you have an interest in seeing the new Science and Engineering Complex, the TV or radio stations, the B-school or what-have-you, let them know.
Honors Recruitment
Susan Alley
270 Nott Hall
205-348-5599
susan.alley@ua.edu
Kayla Fields
kdfields1@ua.edu
They will arrange the rest of the day…meeting with faculty, honors people, touring honors dorms, etc.
Sometimes mail goes to their SPAM folders, so call them if you haven’t heard back within a few business days. They do an excellent job and work very hard.
MSU is an underrated university, but I would take M2CK’s advice and investigate 'Bama. Oxford MS is probably a bit more “urbane” than Starkville MS, given that Oxford and U Mississippi are closer to Memphis than Starkville is. Incidentally, the large energy companies (think ExxonMobile etc., recruit engineers from MSU).
Thanks for the advice. Yes, the honors program is on the list as well. Ole Miss is 8 hours away, MSU 10, and UA about 11. Ole Miss will start out giving about $22,000, MSU $18,000 and pay for cost of room for 1st yr, UA $25,000 plus $2500 for engineering. My son would also be eligible for other scholarships from each school. UAH would be full ride. U of Arkansas would pay $11,000 plus eligible for other scholarships. So we’ll visit all in July. Thks!
What are your son’s stats? Is he a likely NMSF?
does UAH have a “full ride” anymore for non-NMFs?
I know that with a 34+ ACT or a 1490+ M+CR, a student gets tuition plus housing (not meals, books, or fees)
If I could add a suggestion, if you aren’t dead set on those schools specifically and are willing to drive another couple hours, Auburn has one of the best Mechanical Engineering schools in the SEC, and the entire region. Alabama will offer better scholarships yes, but if you can make Auburn work financially, academically and ranking wise it is a much better option than UA (top 50 vs 102) Auburn is also in the SEC and the main difference in the schools are the campus itself (Bama is more urban while Auburn is greener and more spread out) and social scene (Bama is more party and Greek-centric than Auburn, but both are neither Greek dominated or completely free of the system.) In other words, if the campus and atmosphere fit, the financials work out, and a couple extra hours of driving won’t kill you, I would HIGHLY suggest taking a look at Auburn.
His ACT is a 34 and GPA 3.92 and ranked right at 11%. Full ride at UAH.
Thanks for the advice on Auburn. It might be worth a look but scholarship package does not look as inticing.
Let’s be clear that UAH is NOT in the SEC. UA Tuscaloosa is the SEC school.
You’re very welcome, and with that ACT and GPA he is eligible for 16k annually + a one time 1k technology stipend, as well as some of the elite scholarships that the university offers, although those are competitive rather than automatic.
Yes. I think all knew that but if not, now they do. Thks
It’s interesting how each school is different in their automatic scholarships. Thanks again. Sometimes you wonder if there are too many choices and we all just don’t get overwhelmed - lol. I couldimagine what our kids think.
Can you provide the link that shows that it’s a full ride at UAH? I’m only seeing tuition and housing.
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Auburn work financially, academically and ranking wise it is a much better option than UA (
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Oh good heavens, academically Auburn is not a “better option”. And rankings wise is negligible when it comes to eng’g anyway. University-wise Bama is higher ranked, but again, not enough to be a huge deal. Rankings for eng’g are rather meaningless.
I’m not sure what rankings you’re looking at. It looks like you’re look at rankings for grad school, AU is not “top 50” (it’s 68).
OP was looking for undergrad engineering advice, and I provided information based on these rankings http://best-engineering-colleges.com/auburn-university
Auburn is ranked around 50 (53rd in 2013) in US News rankings of **Undergraduate Engineering programs/b. Others ranked 53rd were Boston University, Colorado School of Mines and Drexel University. UA wasn’t ranked in the top 75. These rankings are based solely on a survey of engineering deans and senior faculty at all accredited programs.
Auburn still has a stronger reputation in engineering, and that’s something that doesn’t change overnight.
Thanks for the help. It’s greatly appreciated by all.
Arkansas has a strong engineering program. We are from TX so lots of instate options for us but Arkansas will probably be son’s top pick. Fayetteville is a very nice town. Check it out this summer.