<p>These are two of my son's FREE choices, which puts them high on the list for next fall. He may choose a school that offers free tuition (pay for room and board) instead, but these two free schools have GREAT potential to be the place for him! :)</p>
<p>He wants to major in mechanical engineering, have plenty of research opportunities as an undergrad, study abroad, and go to a pretty great grad school. He's interested in a lot of liberal arts courses as well, and hopes to take them in a smaller, honors-type setting. He wants to participate in some form of community service. He is a very high-achiever, but he's very laid back. A laid back, cooperative environment where students are eager to learn would be ideal for him. He wants to play in the orchestra -- both schools have one that will fit him. Bama's private teacher is a perfect match for him. A&M doesn't have a private teacher on his instrument. He gets along very well with all kinds of kids, but like most people, he does have his preferences. He's not into the Greek scene, not into athletics (outside of pickup basketball and the like), not ultra-conservative. He's very social, but he and his friends do lots of low-key, non-partying things for fun. In high school and middle school, the music kids have always been his best friends, to give some idea of his “type.”</p>
<p>It’s a difficult choice in our minds because Bama seems to be a better fit in terms of “personality,” honors opportunities, small classes, and personalized attention (in the honors program). But Texas A&M seems to be a better fit in terms of an engineering education, grad school opportunities, and employer recruitment. On the other hand, we don’t know if any of these generalizations are really true! </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for sharing your perspectives! :)
(I think I’m going to double-post this, btw.)</p>
<p>My vote goes for A&M and I don’t really think it’s close even with my obvious bias.</p>
<p>Since you brought up community service, I’m pretty sore from volunteering with 16k fellow Aggies yesterday.</p>
<p>Alabama. As far as mechanical engineering is concerned, it’s a distinction without a difference. Take the free ride at Alabama.</p>
<p>I vote for A&M. You’re correct in assuming that employment opportunities will be better for A&M. Plus, there’s just so much to love about Texas it would be a shame for him to pass up the endless opportunities here for the same school that Forrest Gump went to (not dissing Alabama, just stating a historical fact).</p>
<p>Whoa, that’s a tough one. Being from Louisiana, I can say that Texas A&M offers such great opportunities for employment. The alumni network is phenomenal. I grew up hearing Aggie jokes and never thought of A&M as a good school, but my opinion has changed since I’ve spent so much time in Texas in the last few years. I’ve also met kids older than my son, either from his high school or kids in the neighborhood, who have gone to Texas A&M and done amazingly well. A very good friend of ours is in his last year of civil engineering. After freshman year, he had a very well paid internship with a local very large company. The following year, he spent the summer in Belgium on his National Merit package. When I asked him about the school, he said, Good school, bad location. </p>
<p>My son is a mechanical engineering major at Bama currently, with the NMF package. As he’s only a freshman, I can’t comment on the quality of education or internship/job opportunities. He did not want to go to school in Texas, no offense, just been there, done that, and wanted to go someplace different, but has made many friends at Bama from Texas. And he has many friends in the music department, and the band, many of which are also engineering majors.</p>
<p>With the price being equal, let him visit both schools and see which is the better fit. But if he wants to work in Texas one day, or in the oil industry in general, I would recommend going to A&M because of the great intern/employment opportunities and alumi network.</p>