<p>No, I wouldn’t say we’ve cooled to UAB. However, son was admitted as a prebiomedical engineering major, not a biomedical engineering major. He also has to apply for the honors program, including teacher recommendations and essays for each program he hopes to get in. The biomedical engineering GPA requirements are very high, and if there are freshman weedout courses, he’s not guaranteed admission.</p>
<p>So, the fact that with Alabama, he would have automatic admission to an honors program, plus free tuition, room, board, spending money, and basically be on the same page as UAB if he doesn’t get into the BME program, it seems to make sense to at least apply to UA as a backup plan if son does not get a good scholarship or admittance into the honors program or the biomedical engineering program. </p>
<p>Even then, I’m still not liking the rigorous requirements for the BME program. I know schools like Hopkins are very selective in their BME program admissions, but I wouldn’t expect the same for a state school. Being able to study BME is pretty much a deal breaker for son, but he’s not the one paying the bill. It would be nice, after paying years of tuition for private school, and having it pay off in him becoming a National Merit Semifinalist, for us to get a little in return.</p>
<p>Sorry for the rant, but just got back from the only state school in Louisiana with BME, where he would get a pretty good financial package just based on his stats, but it has less than impressive academics and facilities and little help in career placement. So, if it comes down to a choice based just on the numbers, I’d go for Bama over the state school. Son would have the freedom of being away from home, and would be able to get a degree he could get a job in, and not leave his parents in mountains of debt.</p>
<p>Hopefully, all will go well with UAB, and even better, his top choice will give him a great scholarship. But we won’t know any of those things until long after application deadlines have passed for Bama, so I feel very strongly that we should apply to Bama, whether son wants to go or not.</p>