I meet the requirements for the University of Alabama full automatic scholarship + $2,500 for engineering majors, but I do not know if I should go to U of A or Purdue. I am instate for Purdue. I don’t have any acceptance letter to either school, but I believe that I will be accepted to both. If I get accepted where do you think I should attend?
P.s I posted on the Purdue thread but o want to hear your opinions
We’re also from Indiana. Purdue’s a great school and there were a lot of things I liked about it. My son’s final choice was between Purdue and Bama.
It was a tough decision and there were a lot of factors involved, including the fact that 2 of my son’s close friends from high school were going to Purdue.
Although we were instate for Purdue, they didn’t offer my son any merit aid making Bama about half the total cost.
In the end, my S chose to go to Bama. During the visit they made him feel wanted at Bama, Purdue’s attitude seemed more that we should be grateful that they were going to let him attend. He also wanted to be farther from home and take some time to experience something outside the midwest.
He’s had lots of great opportunities during his time at Bama including going to Ecuador twice with the Alabama Action Abroad program and later being the student director of the program, he also was able to get an internship after his freshman year, and later completed a co-op so will graduate with more than a year of work experience in his field.
You cant really go wrong with either choice, but if you haven’t visited Bama, book a tour through the honors college before making a final decision.
Have you visited Bama?
What are your parents saying about how much they’ll pay each year for college?
Many students who are awarded full tuition plus eng’g scholarship find that Bama is a lot less expensive than their instate option.
@thatone1 , I sent you a PM (private message).
@jrcsmom is exactly right. Here is precisely what both universities said on our tours and in our meetings: Purdue said “You should feel lucky that we chose you”; UA said “We are so lucky you chose us!” It is subtle difference in words; huge difference in attitude and culture.
I can recommend students use two databases to look at schools side by side and compare apples with apples. The first is College Navigator: http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/. The second is ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) http://profiles.asee.org/. Purdue is an order of magnitude larger than UA in many areas. You can see actual numbers of attendees and degrees conferred, by year on the ASEE profiles.
Go where you are most comfortable and feel you will excel. I’m very biased, but don’t get hung up on the name or reputation would be my main advice. Good luck with your decision.
UA is a great school and we are happy two of our sons chose to go there. Purdue is a great school too… we might have considered it if we were instate. Definitely take a tour of both. If money has to be considered, write down expected costs and compare. The only downsides of going to UA rather than instate is it is harder to go home, and definitely more costly (we figure it is $1500-$2000 to get our student to/from our WI home each year) and that it is harder to get an internship close to home during the summer. Weather and football are definitely better at UA. Good luck and roll tide.
If you have time (and I believe you do, OP), do each university’s summer week of engineering.
Purdue’s is called STEP https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/InfoFor/Honors/STEP
UA’s is called SITE. http://site.eng.ua.edu/.
This will do two things for you: it will cement whether engineering is for you, especially the branch you have chosen…and it will give you a direct, personal experience as to whether you can see yourself in their respective program and at each school. They can be ‘pricey’ on the surface, but the programs will 100% give you a thumbs up or a thumbs down, which could save you $10000s in the long run.
Regarding travel home/travel expenses -
Being from the southern part of the state (not far from Bloomington) we have found it much easier and cost effective for son to have a car for trips home.
It’s about a 7 hour drive for us, which really isn’t bad and only costs us about $60-80 in gas round trip. If you’re from the Indianapolis area 65 is a straight shot all the way to Birmingham, which is only about 60 miles from Tuscaloosa.
For us flying never made sense, it was an hour from campus to the Birmingham airport and then another hour from the Indy airport to our house + flight time (and there are no direct flights).
Of course then you have to consider the costs of having a car including the insurance and parking pass, but for us it was the better option.
I agree with the above. My H’s family lives in Hammond Indiana, (upper left of state), which is near Chicago. Flying is often just too expensive when we can drive there in 9-10 hours…going straight up I65.
@mom2collegekids @jrcsmom thanks for the ideas!!!
We visited both. Purdue was impressive. Their “community and engineering” program was fascinating and D definitely thought it was something she wanted to do. Admission into your specific major though is competitive from what we have learned since the visit so that is something to factor in as well.
The UA engineering program is just as dynamic and involved in the community it seems. Their facilities equally as impressive.
D left with more of a feeling that UA was a place where she could make her home for four years. The campus seemed homier and the students we met seemed just as involved as the Purdue engineering students we met.
I’m from outside Indianapolis and was deciding between IU Bloomington, Purdue, and UA. I have siblings at IU, Purdue, and Florida and they helped me decide what would be the best fit. My brother at Purdue enjoys it there but my brother at Florida absolutely loves it which really made the decision for me. I’ll be attending UA!
I would never willingly go back to Midwestern winters (LOL), but I will say that there is something to going to college a little closer to home - doesn’t have to be right next door either.
I left the south to go to college, and I’m not very connected with my alma mater at all really. It’s too far, too hard to get games, events, etc.
Purdue engineering is excellent; if you make it through that program relatively successfully you should have great recruiting opportunities. That being said, UA is a wonderful campus with great college spirit and they have put big $$$ into their engineering facilities.
Just keep thinking about it, running the numbers, etc. There is no right or wrong answer imho.