<p>@momreads That’s great!!! You must be so proud – good for him for taking advantage of opportunities in high school that will give him a big jump start for college!</p>
<p>@UAHAdmissions I am confused about the UAH deadlines for applying if an incoming freshman wants to be considered for merit scholarships.
On the website it says:
<a href=“http://www.uah.edu/admissions/apply/app-instructions/overview#freshman”>http://www.uah.edu/admissions/apply/app-instructions/overview#freshman</a></p>
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<p>Is that June 1 2014 or June 1 2015?
This year seems incredibly early and next year seems very late…</p>
<p>^^^
UAH does have a late date for scholarship consideration. I recommended UAH for a Florida girl who last spring had no affordable acceptances (eng’g major). Told her to call UAH. She did and UAH said that they would accept her and award her the stated merit. It was a lifesaver for her. </p>
<p>^^Thanks! I was scratching my head thinking we’d already missed their deadline.
I’m guessing most kids apply in the fall, though, right?</p>
<p>The gap may have closed since the 1980’s when I worked for UAH in their awesome Cooperative Education Program, but at that time, Michigan students told me it was cheaper for them to come to UAH as out of state students than attend an in-state Michigan state college. I know certain states have really upped their in-state tuition, so it is helpful especially for merit students to explore what is available OOS. Their academic opportunities at a cost-effective price tag is worth exploring. I am very pro-UA System schools, and a lot of the positive message has been shared on this thread.</p>
<p>Another factor is there is high tech and job growth in AL - B’ham, Huntsville, Mobile. Economy pretty healthy.</p>
<p>Hello! I went to UAB and work at UAB (University of Alabama in Birmingham) Hospital who is also the largest employer in the state of Alabama and my DD is starting her sophomore year at UA (Tuscaloosa) although she could have attended UAB for half price, had a much better scholarship and also where she has a job (in the summer and on school breaks) in Research but she wanted to “go away” to college and Rushed and very active in her sorority, church groups and various clubs and honor societies (she is a pre-nursing major)and has kept her GPA up where it needs to be and has made a ton of new friends from all over the country, that being said I can tell you that a lot of students at UAB are from OOS and out of the country, UAB is an Urban school the campus is blocks/miles big containing the University, The Medical Center etc. There is Greek life here but it is not anything like UA (but not many places are), there are many clubs and things to get involved in at both UAB and UA. I would definitely come down for a visit you actually could do tours (most likely) of UAB one day, UA one day and UAH another day (Bham and Huntsville have airports, Bham being the largest) UAB is about 45-50 minutes from UA and UAH is about 2 hours (I guessing, I’ve only been there a few times) from Bham. I hope that helps but I would also add, if it were my child I would probably choose UA or UAB but it just depends on what your child is looking for in a college experience. Happy Hunting and ROLL TIDE! </p>
<p>Hi @scholarme! Many students apply in the fall of their senior year for admissions consideration for the following Fall. We are rolling admissions, which means that students could still apply now, be admitted, receive scholarship (if eligible for merit scholarship), and start classes on August 20th. However, that’s not the most advised option as there is a lot to accomplish between applying and beginning classes.</p>
<p>I recommend for students to apply in the fall of their senior year and apply for the departmental scholarships by December 1st to be considered for the priority deadline.</p>
<p>My son weighed both UAH and UA, and both offered awesome scholarships and would have been great choices. There were two reasons he did not ultimately choose UAH:</p>
<p>1) He found that UAH seemed to be a dream school for engineers who know 100% they want to pursue engineering and work for one of the awesome companies just across the street. My husband is an engineer in defense and my son found that UAH reminded him very much of the complex where my husband works. My husband probably would have chosen UAH at my son’s age.</p>
<p>My son had plans to pursue the double major in Physics and EE at Alabama (originally just Physics but was persuaded to pursue the double, mostly for scholarship and potential for expanded job opportunities) along with the STEM MBA option, but was never 100% committed to the idea of being an “engineer.” He received that awesome additional Engineering scholarship, but last week at orientation, he decided, in his heart of hearts, that he did not want to pursue engineering and he gave up the scholarship - which hurt me more than it hurt him 
So, for that reason, UA was definitely the best choice for him.</p>
<p>2) Being an out of state student with no family in the area meant that having a residential campus experience was going to be very important to him. When he visited UAH, his tour guide was great, but he was also in his late 20s and most of the people he met were older students. Not that he would not benefit from being around older students, but they would, obviously, be more independent, perhaps less likely to be around campus, etc. He did notice that the school was building a new student center, and when I read news at the website, they definitely seem to be working hard to build an on-campus community. In a few years, that will probably come to fruition, but that would be too late for him. Definitely seemed more of a commuter campus, which would work wonderfully if he was from the area, but coming from out of state, not so much (something he may have been willing to over look if he wanted to pursue engineering exclusively.)</p>
<p>He met with some great professors and administrators at UAH and really appreciated that they are very committed to helping students graduate in 4 years. His registration for classes may have gone more smoothly than it did at UA last week, where he was unable to get a single honors general ed class (good thing he came in with so many credits, I guess, but it was disappointing nonetheless.) UAH is smaller, and that might be an advantage, but also their intense focus on getting the engineering students on track to graduate in 4 years max. Plus the connections to the industry just across the street.</p>
<p>Another difference among the 3 schools - Greek life is HUGE at UA…the biggest sorority rush in the nation, the biggest fraternity and sorority houses in the nation, 1/3rd of campus is greek. But at UAH and UAB, not so much. Both DO have fraternities and sororities that are very active. But many students aren’t even aware that they’re there. </p>
<p>UA students are traditional - 18 to 22 years old, many don’t work, some work part-time, parents are paying.
UAH and UAB students are typically older. Most work part-time, many work full time, many are paying all their own bills. It’s not unusual for a student to stay out a semester to work. However, I’d bet a higher percentage of UAB and UAH freshmen actually graduate.</p>
<p>The Greek thing is a possible concern for the kid - I don’t think she wants to be in a sorority.
Do kids not in Greek do ok at UAH socially?</p>
<p>^^^
Frankly, for UAH, if you want a social life related to campus, you almost need to rush…unless you have some other tie to the school (play a sport, etc). The school is mostly a commuter/suitcase school so for students to have an "after school life"related to their campus, they pretty much need to rush. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids thanks! I actually typoed my question - I meant to ask if kids at UA (Tuscaloosa) do ok socially if they are not in a sorority/fraternity?</p>
<p>Certainly. Most kids at UA are not Greek, and since it is a residential campus, there are many other things to do. Neither of my kids were Greek and they had very active social lives. </p>
<p>These things become more of an issue at campuses that are largely commuter/suitcase. In those cases, students are mostly local or in-state and often go home daily or on weekends…so unless the OOS student has some other distraction (participates in a sport, etc), he may have to resort to pledging in order to have a group to hang out with after school hours. Greek houses do serve that purpose very well at suitcase/commuter schools. </p>
<p>When I lived in Calif and was in college, many of the UC’s and CSU’s were like this. Many were largely commuter/suitcase schools so students who wanted a college-related social life had to pledge Houses to provide themselves with weekend activities. </p>
<p>I have heard a reason many students leave/transfer from a university after their 1st year is precisely because too many of the ‘locals’ leave and the campus is kind of dead on weekends and holidays. Most non-local students want to attend somewhere where the students are vested all the time, not just during the week, i.e., the university might be fine, but the social life isn’t ideal. It is wise to check into these things when considering a college. </p>
<p>^^
With frosh classes now well over 55% OOS at Bama, that isn’t an issue at UA (and, of course most instaters arent going home on weekends either.). It might have been a few years ago, but now the campus is pretty active throughout the school year. I know this from how booked my rentals are year-round and how hard it has become to get hotel rooms even during non-football times. </p>
<p>surely some students (not many) do leave, as that happens everywhere. Some flunk out, some cant afford to continue, some don’t adjust well being away from home (depression is sometimes dx’d at this age)</p>
<p>The key thing is for the student to be happy at their school choice so they can do well with their studies. A consideration may be if a student changes their major, that the school can also accommodate the new major.</p>
<p>A parent has to listen carefully and have the insight to be supportive of good decisions by their student when their is a choice between several different sized schools with clearly different school overall and perhaps departmental culture.</p>
<p>Sometimes a student doesn’t want to go to a ‘commuter school’ but it is financially feasible for the family. Sometimes a student will work harder to ‘go away’ to college - work harder both with academics and with earning money to go away.</p>
<p>Being thorough in the review of choices and giving enough time through HS to look at schools and also have the grades and testing in place for various choices.</p>