@lots2do Yes triplets! They are juniors now. We just put two through college, one graduated last spring and one will graduate this May.
The UAH deadline has not passed, so you are welcome to apply there. Great school. Awesome internships/co-ops. My younger son attends UAH, and he has several engineering friends who already have landed great jobs once they graduate. My older son attended Alabama. His former roommate was a chemE/political science major. He just landed a very nice consulting job in Washington, D.C. One of his fraternity brothers did a co-op in Kansas City, and that firm later hired him. He is currently working in Canada. Another friend is getting her PhD in engineering at Stanford, all expenses paid. There are plenty of opportunities at both schools.
I certainly do not know your pocketbook. If the $ difference is not a big deal, then I’d let your son go by ‘fit’. Many years ago, my son earned @10,000 each summer. He covered all his books, social life, etc. from his summer internships.
I only wish our flagship was as strong inSTEM as yours is.
This would be interesting to see how many full tuition scholarships public schools give out. How many full tuition scholardships does Temple give? In a letter from University of Pittsburgh they said they got over 30,000 applications and less than 2% were offered full tuition, so about 600.
OP - Whose decision was it to apply to UA? I’m wondering is your son is interested in UA?
We are still in the decision phase exactly as you are. Comparing that NMF “full ride” (ok not exactly, just one year room/board included among other things) to tier one engineering schools that will offer nothing at all. I’ve talked to many, many people inside and outside of UA as well as top folks at MIT, Stanford, CO School of Mines…and some others…you should see my notebook! Anyway, I applaud a very smart person at UA saying, hey look, why can’t we apply the same principals our football program uses to our engineering program. Let’s recruit top students to fill that engineering program using money FROM our successful football program and let’s build it to one of the best in the nation. Is it at the top yet? No. Has it moved well past the ground floor? Yes it has. And it will continue to grow and grow. Right now it’s doing very well…of course not on the level with Purdue, Rice and then MIT, Caltech, Stanford and other top tier but it continues to move up.
Would you like to be in on it as it grows?
Remember when GT had a 70% acceptance rate? You see the steps they’ve done to make themselves a top engineering program? There are plenty of students who have now WILLINGLY foregone MIT to attend GT. For EA this year I think the acceptance rate was 34% or around there. Sure some of it has to do with them joining the Common App…but GT has come up with a plan to grow their engineering program. That’s another school we are looking at that is doing great things in the research fields and has a very strong coop program.
My son hasn’t made his decision yet, but we have talked to enough UA graduates in both research and out in the field of engineering who are doing VERY well…I don’t think it’s an accident. And these are recent graduates in the last five years…something is afoot at UA, and it may very well be something my son wants to be a part of.
Another thing to consider, do you want to be an average student where everyone is like you (think Stanford and MIT and of course Caltech) or do you want to be someone special such as in an exclusive Honors College with top professors.
Another thing that crossed my mind. If you go to an elite school and are one of many, many where you are nothing special at all…what happens if you freeze and can’t cut the rigorous workload? Sure there are study sessions and extra help and many top tier do have 95-99% retention rates from freshman to sophomore year…but let’s say your child has a brain freeze and fails. At those tops schools, he is out of there. At least at the lower tier schools you can fall back to not only another career in a host of different areas (that is if comparing UA to technology heavy schools like MIT, Caltech and GT), but he can still “fall back” to the “average population” and probably still recover. Anyway, as a mom, that makes me feel better even though in my heart I don’t think my over achieving son would do that but you know with life’s stresses and moments stranger things have happened.
My dad summed it up by saying, “Sure don’t we all want a Lamborghini but if someone offered me a free Porsche, I’d probably take it”…ha ha my dad and cars.
Anyway, my two cents…
And if I’m not mistaken USC is trying something similar as UA.
57 percent male at Purdue. 43 percent male at Alabama. You don’t have to be an engineering student to understand that kind of math.
Presumably the OP’s son doesn’t like football, either.
If I’m not mistaken, the Alabama free tuition offer is for 4 years, and if you happen to finish your degree in less than 4 years due to AP credits or whatever, you can carry over the free tuition to grad school there. That’s a pretty good deal.
@Rdtsmith, in general, the big publics are still more sink-or-swim with big weedout classes and less hand-holding.
I’m not sure what benefit being able to fall in with an average population gains you (plus which, PU would have average populations outside it’s ranked engineering programs as well).
The top students will do well anywhere, but I’d rather be in the bottom quarter of an elite than average at an average school.
If you graduate in the bottom 10% at Harvard, what are you?
A Harvard grad (and alum).
Alabama is a relatively poor state with below average high schools and consequently below average test scores. The school and state made a decision to draw high achieving OOS high school students by offering an excellent merit aid package in the hope that these OOS students will stay in-state after graduating. It is the kind of investment in education that should be applauded. Other state schools in the south, like Auburn, Ole Miss, LSU and Oklahoma have similar programs, although none is as aggressive as Alabama in promoting it. This is the same strategy Alabama used to lure Mercedes-Benz, and that proved to be tremendously beneficial to the state.
It is a marked contrast to state schools in Michigan, Illinois and California that view OOS or foreign students primarily as sources of revenue to support in-state students.
As for being in the bottom quarter of an elite rather than average at an average school, it depends on the cost. Four years tuition, room board and fees at Harvard costs more that $260,000 in after tax dollars, so the question is whether a Harvard degree is worth more than a degree from the University of Alabama plus $260,000. For some people, particularly those in high pay fields, Harvard is the obvious choice. However, I think most would be better off starting their careers with a hounds tooth hat and the money in their pocket.
To the original poster, I would ask your child where they envision living and working after graduation. If it is in the Midwest, go to Purdue. Otherwise, save the cash and roll tide. If nothing else, they will likely enjoy more pleasurable Saturday afternoons in the fall.
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my husband attended Purdue and has family members that have attended recently. My son is at Alabama.
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I can make a similar claim. My H went to Purdue for undergrad, and both sons graduated from Alabama.
@Zinhead, true. I was considering the argument that having an average crowd to fall back on was some sort of benefit on its own (so holding other variables, like cost, the same).
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57 percent male at Purdue. 43 percent male at Alabama.
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46% male at Alabama. But the odds are still good for males! 
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If I'm not mistaken, the Alabama free tuition offer is for 4 years, and if you happen to finish your degree in less than 4 years due to AP credits or whatever, you can carry over the free tuition to grad school there. That's a pretty good deal.
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This is true.
@Zinhead
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Alabama is a relatively poor state with below average high schools and consequently below average test scores
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The state of Alabama does not have below average ACT or SAT scores. If it did, its PSAT cutoff for NMSF would be low…but it’s not. It’s similar or higher than a number of other states that you likely think are just fine. Like many states, Bama’s rural and inner-city schools struggle…but their city and suburban schools are very good.
That said, unfortunately, everywhere in this country, the average test scores for AA student is sadly very low. I think the national ACT average is 17. So, certainly states that have a high AA population will have their averages affected by this.
One reason for the UA, UAH, UAB, and Auburn merit scholarships is that the state is a rather low-populated state for its geographical size…yet it is a growing high-tech state. To answer the need for more engineers, the univs are expanding their Colleges of Engineering. The state simply cannot yet provide enough high stats warm bodies in the engineering seats to provide enough employees for those high tech jobs…
There is a reason that the federal gov’t approved all those earmarks to build new univ engineering bldgs in the state of Alabama…and UA was the biggest recipient…building over 900,000 square feet of eng’g new space .
“There is a reason that the federal gov’t approved all those earmarks to build new univ engineering bldgs in the state of Alabama”
AL has powerful Congress critters good at bringing home the pork?
The OP wants to know the cost benefit of Purdue, not Harvard. 10 years after graduation, I doubt they’ll be any significant difference in milage from Purdue v Bama.
Y’all make good points, as does the OP. And I understand UA trying to improve but why the lower GPA for co op program (a 2.0 is all that’s needed whereas higher tiered schools have at least a 3.0 if not higher)? I would think quality over quantity would help improve the program also. So why lower standards? Was the OPs son going to play football? Not quite a reason to chose an engineering school…
And why woud a Purdue grad necessarily stay in the Midwest? They are a nationally ranked school with large companies from all over attending their career fairs and co ops whereas UA has a small list comparatively with mostly in state companies.
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And I understand UA trying to improve but why the lower GPA for co op program (a 2.0 is all that’s needed whereas higher tiered schools have at least a 3.0 if not higher)?
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That is an odd question. If there are companies willing to accept someone with a GPA lower than a 3.0 for a co op, why is that a negative for Alabama? Alabama probably has more URMs, and it’s no surprise that URMs often have lower GPAs, so why would the school demand that students have at least a 3.0 for an internship, if it knows companies that will accept some with sub 3.0?
And, frankly, I think any “higher tiered school” that set that as a firm req’t should rethink that. It’s not unusual for an eng’g student to have a sub 3.0 gpa, particularly if a URM…so setting that threshold would be really stupid.