Quick comparisons between UA, UAB, UAH?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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<p>I’ve been mostly looking at UA’s website, but if I’m looking at that I should look at all three, right?</p>

<p>For the kid who wants to do Engineering, and is looking for merit scholarships and study abroad opportunities, how do I compare/contrast UA, UAH, UAB? (cost of attendance & engineering dept opportunities)</p>

<p>It seems like UA has great study abroad opportunities for Honors, and she would get full tuition plus $2500 for engineering.</p>

<p>I don’t know much about the other two campuses…</p>

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<p>@scholarme, you have to look at the scholarship opportunities at each school individually to compare, just as you would for, say UCSD, UCLA, UC Berkeley. </p>

<p>Have you checked out this thread? I just added scholarship links there for the three schools.</p>

<p><a href=“Should we create a separate subforum or pinned thread for UAB and/or UAH? - University of Alabama - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1668976-should-we-create-a-separate-subforum-or-pinned-thread-for-uab-and-or-uah-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thanks Lucie, I was just looking at that this minute. :)</p>

<p>How about in terms of the experience - how would taking engineering (honors) at these 3 campuses be different?</p>

<p>Sorry to be so clueless - we’ve never been to Alabama.</p>

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<p>Hopefully, some of the locals will comment, but in our case (coming from PA), we never looked at either UAB or UAH since we were only interested in a “flagship” experience with a wide range of majors and students and didn’t want our son at a school with a heavy predominance of in-staters or commuters. There are some OOS families who’ve chosen those schools because of the tremendous opportunities their kids were offered, however. </p>

<p>UAB, from what I gather, is a more urban experience; UAH is more of a commuter campus, I believe, but might be worth giving a serious look if your DD is interested in aerospace engineering.</p>

<p>This is an old thread, so keep that in mind, but it might be helpful: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/764031-university-of-alabama-huntsville.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/764031-university-of-alabama-huntsville.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You’re not clueless at all. Many here had similar questions (all good ones) when we were at your stage of the process!</p>

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<p>That’s very helpful! We are in PA also.</p>

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<p>Alabama, the flagship, is mostly a residential university and has many OOS students.</p>

<p>UAB and UAH are fine schools, but they have more commuting students and far less OOS students. This can affect the campus activities. </p>

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<p>Do the tours. S1 toured Auburn and UA with DW. After he made his decision to go to OU, we had to pull them out of school for a family trip and drove through Birmingham. We stopped at UAB so the day out would not count for attendance (college visit). They thought UAB was awful from a visit standpoint. Ugly campus in their opinions.</p>

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<p>UAB does not have the beauty that Bama has. UAB is an urban campus and reminds me more of CSU’s in Calif. </p>

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<p>UAB, or University of Alabama at Birmingham, as mom2collegekids said, is an urban campus in downtown Birmingham. The school really commands the south side of downtown. Lots of slums in the area before UAB began taking over and clearing them out (40 year ago). UAB is in the same area as Children’s Hospital and UAB Hospital. Excellent healthcare, so there is a big emphasis on health careers - MDs, surgeons, physical therapists and nursing, and everything in that field. It has growing engineering and theatre deparments. While there are a few dorms, most students live off campus, and many are from the Birmingham area. Fraternities have off-campus houses. Sororities have suites in a Panhellenic dorm. UAB has football and basketball teams and some other sports as well. </p>

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<p>UAH, or University of Alabama in Huntsville, (note the change of article “at” to “in” - nobody seems to know why) is a 4-year university in Huntsville, in far North Alabama. It is a stone’s throw from Redstone Arsenal, an Army installation, and Marshall Space Flight Center, and began as an idea of the space pioneer Wernher von Braun, who worked with his team at Marshall developing the rockets that too men to the moon. UAH is the one with the excellent aerospace engineering program. It is a source of personnel for many of the private and government missile R & D programs at Redstone. UAB actually has a facility in Huntsville, next to Huntsville Hospital, that supplements some of its programs (family medicine is one). </p>

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<p>Other “Universities of Alabama” are University of North Alabama in Florence, University of West Alabama in Livingston, AL, down the road from Tuscaloosa; University of South Alabama in Mobile. While UA (NEVER UAT!!), UAB and UAB are in an umbrella arrangement, all are operated independently.</p>

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<p>For UA System, UA is the largest, UAB next as # of undergrads, and UAH the smallest. UAB (in the largest city) is the largest employer in the state with the medical facilities in and out of B’ham. The UAB stuff in Huntsville use to be under UAH and UAH sold it/transferred it to UAB to focus the UAH University mission more.</p>

<p>If your student wants ‘flagship’ experience UA (or Auburn - however our family favors the UA System) provides that experience. UAB and UAH have some strengths and some characteristics that make it attractive for students beyond the commuter students. I have one student at UA and one at UAB. UAH would have been ‘commuter school’ for us, and not desirable to either DD. However we know some very bright students that like UAH, live in the dorm, but could easily commute to their parents’ home.</p>

<p>I consider UA System and AU ‘first tier’, and perhaps also USA (University of South AL). Troy University is also upward bound. There are many other fine colleges/universities in AL.</p>

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<p>Hi all! On behalf of the UAH Admissions Office, I’d like to introduce myself and make myself available for any questions you may have about UAH. My name is Jen Barry, and I’m an Assistant Director at UAH. I saw it mentioned that some of you are from PA, and I am actually from PA and moved to Huntsville last May to work for UAH. I understand how important the college decision is, especially when your student is attending a school far from home.</p>

<p>UAH is located in Huntsville, which is in northern Alabama and also is known as the Rocket City. UAH offers six academic colleges: Business, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Nursing, Science, and Honors. It sounds like Engineering is what the student is most interested in, and we have 8 different Engineering majors available to your student. In addition to a strong academic curriculum, our campus is located within Cummings Research Park which has 287 businesses – many of which your student could explore for co-ops, internships, and even a job after graduation. If research is more of what your student is interested in, UAH is a Tier 1 research university and has great options available for students to pursue research while an undergraduate student.</p>

<p>Our students come from 40 states and 72 countries. UAH offers over 120 student clubs and organizations, Greek life, and on-campus housing. Campus housing is suite-style, so students will have their own bedroom and will only share a bathroom with one other person, and that’s as a freshman! If your student is an athlete, we have 15 Division II athletic teams and our ice hockey team is Division I and the only one in the South! </p>

<p>As far as scholarship information, we have two scholarship types: merit tuition scholarships and departmental scholarships. Merit Tuition Scholarships begin at a 25 ACT/1130 SAT (critical reading and math) and a 3.0 weighted GPA. There is a scholarship matrix on our website here: <a href=“http://www.uah.edu/financial-aid/aid/scholarships/new-freshmen/merit-scholarships”>http://www.uah.edu/financial-aid/aid/scholarships/new-freshmen/merit-scholarships&lt;/a&gt;. UAH also offers departmental scholarships that open August 1 (this Friday!) and has a priority deadline of December 1.</p>

<p>Study abroad is available through the academic colleges, and we will work with students to see how study abroad fits in with their major.</p>

<p>I hope this answers a few questions, and I’m happy to continue to field questions through this thread. You can also contact me directly at 256-824-2829 if you’d like to ask more specific questions that pertain to your circumstances. I hope you will check UAH out and see what we have to offer!</p>

<p>Regardless of where your student decides to attend, all admissions officers hope that students find the school that is the right fit for that student. Enjoy the process and seek advice from admissions officers at the colleges where your students are applying. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Welcome, Jen, and thank you for making yourself available to prospective families!</p>

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<p>@UAHAdmissions‌ - Hi!
I was wondering if the scholarship matrix referred to weighted gpa, thanks for clearing that up.</p>

<p>Are there any info sessions / visits planned for the PA (Philly metro) area?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Jen, we just got back from orientation at UAH, and my younger son is excited about attending the school. He will major in math and economics and run on the track/cross country teams. He will be living with three teammates, two from the Huntsville area and one from Ohio. He has his own bedroom and shares a bath with one teammate – just like the suites at Bama. During his orientation, he also met basketball and ice hockey recruits, and they will live on his floor this year.</p>

<p>I had never seen UAH until orientation, and I was quite impressed with the campus. Spent plenty of time in the new Charger Union building, and it is lovely. Ate at the Charger Cafe – the food is excellent, and we are not saying that because schools tend to roll out the red carpet when parents are around, My husband and son toured UAH in January, on a regular school day – nothing special. They had lunch there, and it was outstanding. My son is looking forward to Fried Chicken Wednesdays. There are several eating venues on campus, and my son is glad that some are open late, because he has classes in the evening.</p>

<p>Got to see the Shelby science/math building, and it is very nice. Cannot say enough good things about the advising team he worked with, but he also got lots of help with registration from the orientation leaders who were math/science majors.</p>

<p>Lots of parking, which is great when you are from out of town and need to stop at athletics, Alabama Credit Union and several other places on campus. </p>

<p>The student orientation fair for clubs, groups and Greek life offered lots of opportunities. My son is interested in Greek life, but he also visited with the recreation center people, the various church groups and others. </p>

<p>My son was glad to hear that UAH runs buses from 5 to 11 p.m. Fridays so kids who do not have cars can go to Walmart, Target and various restaurants in town. But, there are enough students with cars if you need a ride – just like Bama.</p>

<p>My older son is a Bama grad, and he is happy that his kid brother found, what seems to be, the right fit. He wanted to run at the collegiate level, but his times were just off what he needed for Bama. UAH will give him the chance to run, along great academic options.</p>

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<p>UAH has a nice campus…lots of green-space, some water features, and well-kept buildings. Bridge Street, an outdoor lifestyle mall, is very close-by. The airport is also very close-by (UAB also has an airport very close-by). </p>

<p>UAH is known for engineering (STEM), business, nursing, and maybe a few other majors. </p>

<p>UAB is known for science/medical related majors/careers, since the UA med school is on campus. When I walk around UAB (son attends the med school there), it reminds me less of a school and more of a metro-area that has an extensive hospital network. When people mention other campuses that seem to lack a “traditional campus setting”, that would be UAB…however there have been some recent attempts to add more green-space. </p>

<p>Both UAB and UAB are mostly commuter/suitcase schools, which was one of the purposes of their existence…giving locals an opportunity to go to college.</p>

<p>I would hesitate sending my OOS student to one of these schools unless they had some kind of EC that would provide outside activities. Goldie Hawn’s son attended UAH for hockey. I think an OOS student who doesnt have some kind of connection might find him/herself a bit lonely on weekends. </p>

<p>Both schools are serious schools with strong academics. These aren’t CCs, they are serious univs. </p>

<p>Re: The med school. Yes, the med school is The University of Alabama School of Medicine, a very well-ranked med school. The main campus is at the UAB campus. However, there is a smaller “branch campus” in Tuscaloosa (for MS3 and MS4 study), which also provide shadowing experiences for pre-meds at Bama. (Supposedly, Dr. Witt wants to expand the Tuscaloosa SOM campus…which I think is a good thing.). </p>

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<p>Another note about UAH – if your student is interested in Earth Science/Atmospheric Science, definitely check them out. We too are local, and had no idea the caliber of UAH until my DD & her friends started their hunt. Several of my DD friends are at UAH, and have had a very positive experience. (As for us, my DD ended up in Tuscaloosa – an invite to CBHP sealed the deal :-))</p>

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<p>@scholarme I’ll be at the Philadelphia National College Fair at the Convention Center on Sunday, October 26th from 11:00-3:00pm, and I’d love to meet you and your students to put a face to the name! I hope you’ll attend the fair to learn more about UAH and other great universities in the country.</p>

<p>@momreads So glad you had such a positive experience during Orientation! Friday Chicken Wednesdays are definitely a highlight of my week, in addition to the absolutely delicious macaroni and cheese! I’m glad your son was able to find his fit – and to be able to have his extracurricular interest of track and field while at a strong academic institution. All Admissions professionals can hope for is that students find their right fit!</p>

<p>@clkmom Our Earth System Science program is awesome! We’re under construction on a new building for Atmospheric Science students and you can actually watch the construction here: <a href=“http://nsstc.uah.edu/ats/ats_swirll.html”>http://nsstc.uah.edu/ats/ats_swirll.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>We have over 120 events within the first 9 days of the student moving in to campus that allow in-state and out-of-state students to learn more about what’s available on campus and have some fun getting to know other students. You can view them here: <a href=“http://www.uah.edu/student-life/special-events/week-of-welcome/schedule-of-events”>http://www.uah.edu/student-life/special-events/week-of-welcome/schedule-of-events&lt;/a&gt;. I agree that it’s important for out of state students to get involved and get involved early, but that would be true of any university. </p>

<p>Charger Union opened in January 2014. We’re under construction on the Nursing Building and the SWIRLL building. We will soon start construction on a new Welcome Center as well. It’s an exciting time to be a UAH student, and I encourage you and your students to check us out! </p>

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<p>UAHAdmssions: Just wanted to add that my son got an e-mail the other day from the College of Business,informing him that APstat credit is now accepted, and he was given it for his May score. So he starts UAH with 56 credits. Lots of options will be available to him.</p>