Well I’m not sure if the tour has sealed the deal for my child but I love it here. I found the tour itself very organized and informative. Lunch at Lakeside dining with an honors ambassador student was great. The food was actually quite good and the three students I brought on tour utilized that time to ask more questions about the social aspects of campus life and the Greek system. I found the honors information session very repetitive of what I had already learned online, but then again, I spend ALOT of time on a colleges website before visiting. We did get to meet with a chemical engineering professor which was a nice touch however he could really only speak about the field specifically and really couldn’t answer admissions or program specifics type questions. What sold me was the friendliness of everyone here. I LOVE that everyone says yes ma’am , no sir, y’all and we had more than a few different students stop to show us where we needed to go when they saw us looking at a map. Students made eye contact when you walked by and said hello. Also, we saw a lot of kids running, playing Frisbee and hanging out in the quad which gave the impression that UA seems like a very active and fit campus (and when comparing the 4 schools we toured the last few days, the three boys seem to think the girls were the hottest here). Since my son is a cross country runner, he liked the park and river behind the residential halls with running paths. I can see my son here over some of the other big schools we looked at (U of I, Ohio state, university of Pittsburgh ) my son, however, is still a bit caught up on the prestige issue and wanting to go to a big name engineering school. Time will tell. I appreciate all of you who post on this site. Your input has been invaluable and spot on. Also, a big thanks to @mom2collegekids for the condo rental. If you need a place to stay close to campus, send her a message.
Thank YOU for taking the time to give us your impressions from your visit…this is always helpful to others.
It’s a magical place, UA. Roll Tide!
@perch1024 . Thanks for the feedback. We had exactly the same experience when we visited Bama and it really had an immediate impact on my sons college favorites list.
Re the prestige issue. We spent a long time surfing the web trying to find any evidence that links university prestige to career success. (Despite what many Ivy students and Alumni’s have insisted the only real impact I can find is to the level of student loan debt) If you come across anything to prove me wrong then please let me know but for the time being my son has decided that he is more than happy to settle for the ‘prestige’ of attending Bama
I completely agree with you Britchick1. Right now, Bama is number one on his list. But for a high achieving kid, they have it in their head that they should be going to an ivy. . I see all the reasons to chose Bama, but I’m mom so what do I know:-) He’ll see it too come next fall and spring when financial award letters come rolling in and reality sets in.
Thanks for the update, happy to hear that it was a successful visit and that you loved The University of Alabama. Roll Tide!!
Thank you for the update, I will be taking my son back to bama before the May 1 matriculation date for the exact same reasons. He has the big scholarships in front of him, but the prestige thing is holding him up a bit. I really feel the visit will put that to rest as prestige is not worth substantial debt when he can go to Bama for free tuition. Roll Tide!!!
Just to chime in, I graduated from Iowa State and have been working in industry since 1982. I have worked with engineers from UM, UIUC, UW, Northern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University, OSU, etc.
There has been no discernible difference between any of them education wise. Work ethic is a different story. That is not a function of what school you went to. In fact, some of the harder workers come from lower ranked schools and work to advance.
Prestige of the Engineering school has VERY LITTLE impact to me (I hire engineers) or to anyone else who does hiring. In fact, when I have someone apply from an Ivy League, MIT, Stanford, etc., I question why they are applying to our industry, Truck Design/Manufacturing. Thought the same when I worked in Construction/Agricultural vehicles Design/Manufacturing.
Someone from an ABET accredited program with good hands-on experience is much more appreciated. Hands-on = machining class, SolidWorks, Has done/built projects, Co-op experience (especially on Mfg floor), etc.