Hey everyone, I’m looking at schools a bit and wondered if anyone had some advice. I know for sure I’m going to be an engineering major and really want to go to school in the south. I prefer the bigger school feel, and am looking for a good engineering program. Additionally, since anywhere down south would be out of state, I’m preferably looking for the most affordable/bang for your buck schools available. One of my favorite schools is University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa ) but it is quite pricey. Any advice is appreciated.
Might you qualify for Alabama’s generous scholarships?
What’s your budget?
And what are your GPA and test scores?
Awhile ago you posted and mentioned that you dont yet have test scores. Have you tested?
GPA Wise, I have 4.1 or 4.2-ish on a weighted scale, with every class I’m taking (minus gym and a general reqs) being honors and AP classes. ACT wise, I got a 28 cumulative, but I might go for another try. Also I noticed that for the Alabama scholarships, they only want the average af reading and math ACT so that might change it. As for a budget, that’s pretty hard estimate, but most of the schools my parents suggest are around 30k but they expect scholarship money.
Oops I misread the UA website, it’s composite ACT or SAT math and reading.
Well, with your current 28 ACT, you may get full tuition at Tuskegee, Howard, Florida A&M, (full ride) Prairie View A&M (but some of these have GPA threshold of 3.5 or so in unweighted GPA). Raise it to 30 and you get Alabama - Huntsville (and upgrades to full ride at some of the previous). Raise it to 32 and you get Alabama - Tuscaloosa and Louisiana Tech.
The SAT is another way to get extra chances to hit scholarship thresholds.
Are you currently a junior, and what is your home state? With test prep, you may be able to raise your ACT some.
That is where budget comes into play on what you can consider.
I am currently a junior, but the end of our school year is fast approaching. My home state is Illinois.
Start signing up for SAT and ACT test dates. Do practice tests to see what specific things you need to prep to improve your score to increase the number of schools that will offer scholarships to you. If Alabama is your first choice, here is the scholarships-for-stats table for engineering majors: http://eng.ua.edu/undergraduate/scholarships/ . The thresholds are:
28 ACT (what you have now): $5,500 per year
29 ACT or 1290 SAT CR+M: 50% tuition + $1,500 per year
30 ACT or 1330 SAT CR+M: 67% tuition + $2,500 per year
32 ACT or 1400 SAT CR+M: 100% tuition + $2,500 per year
What is your unweighted GPA? You should definitely retake the ACT, as an engineer you are going to need a higher score than average if you want to go to the top engineering schools like UIUC, Georgia Tech, etc. You could get close to a full ride (at least for tuition) at UA and some others.
I’m not sure of unweighted GPA as I don’t have a transcript handy for past grades to calculate it. I did read on the UA admission site though that they will use weighted GPA if that’s what you provide.
Some of the other schools use unweighted GPA for the scholarships.
Do not consider the Louisiana public schools. Slightly colder weather is a small price to pay for the comfort of knowing that your institution will remain open throughout the school year.
Practice the ACT and the SAT …and retest. Take BOTH tests…you might do better on the SAT.
Okay, thanks for the advice, and the weather isn’t that big of a deal to me hahah, us Chicagoans are pretty resilient to the cold.
What about Southern Illinois at Carbondale? Its engineering programs are ABET accredited, and Carbondale is south of Lexington, KY in terms of latitude. You also would be in-state.
Also look into UA-Huntsville. They have good engineering program, and there is NASA in Huntsville!
Here’s another thought…university of Louisville and Western Kentucky are great degrees as we’ll, but do you want to eventually live and work in he south or go back home?