If anyone is familiar with the college or the area, I would welcome any input/insight.
It’s the first affordable school that my son’s been accepted to (Mechanical Engineering). He’s also been accepted into the honors program.
It’s across the country (we’re in So Cal) and he has T1 diabetes and fairly low energy. He doesn’t seem to think it’s a big deal, so I want to be supportive.
I guess I want to know:
Is the engineering dept. decent? Do kids get summer internships? Do they get help looking for jobs? Do they get hired after they graduate?
Does the small size of the school mean smaller class size, or simply larger classes and less availability of what you need to graduate in four years? Does the small size mean more individualized attention?
What’s Huntsville like? Do people fly directly into Huntsville? (Flights seem expensive, but it might be cheaper than flying into another city and getting transportation there)
Huntsville (Redstone Arsenal, also where NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is located) is home to the Army’s Aviation and Missile Command and all its subordinate acquisition and engineering and research organizations. It is also the home of the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, and the DoD’s Missile Defense Agency. The Huntsville area has probably the highest concentration of engineers and rocket scientists in the US.
So could I assume engineer majors coming out of UAH would be recruited?
And UAH seems like a great school, so what am I missing? It accepts 80+% of the students that apply. It’s small, so has smaller class sizes. (Thanks for the link, ucb) I see that it has zero prestige, but I don’t really know why more students don’t apply there. Are the academics weaker than at Bama or schools such as my local schools, UCSD, SDSU, UCI and so on?
I guess I’m just wondering if there are any downsides to attending UAH aside from the fact that perhaps it’s a commuter school and far away for my son.
It seems ideal because of the small size; it would seem students would get more personalized attention as with an LAC, yes?
NoVADad99, one doesn’t have to be in the military to be an engineer for the military, correct? You can be a civilian. My son is actually very interested in military tactical defense (or something like that) and weaponry, but cannot be in the miltary because of diabetes.
@sbjdorlo - Most of the employees on Redstone Arsenal are civil service civilian employees. I know that many of them are hired out of college by the agencies on the base. Some of them were also interns while in college. I’ve met many engineers who work on the arsenal who graduated from Alabama colleges.
The engineering programs are ABET accredited. The government only requires engineering candidates to have a degree from ABET accredited schools. UAH has this, so it’s not an issue. I don’t know how many engineering graduates are hired to work for the government agencies locally, but would assume it’s quite a few. Also, many defense and other technology companies operate in the Huntsville area supporting the programs on the arsenal, so there are great opportunities to get internships or full time employment with them.
Well, it’s not like I really want my son to live there after he graduates, ha-ha, but at least it’s good that the students can likely get internships. I’d rather see my kids closer by after graduation, but that’s a long way off in the future!
Thanks for the info. I was just trying to get a feel for how decently respected is a UAH engr. degree.
sbjdorlo: My younger son is a freshman at UAH. He is not an engineering major, but does know several. Several have had or currently enjoy nice internships with the various government and private industry places in Huntsville. Earlier this semester, there was a career fair for all majors, including engineering. Because he was just a freshman, my son did not attend the career fair, but as an econ/finance/accounting major, he already has had some local business people approach him about internships for next summer.
One of the things my son always says is that every engineer he knows who is a senior already has something lined up following graduation, and often it is in Huntsville.
The honors program has been a bit of a disappointment for my son. Because he had schedule conflicts both semesters, he could not take honors classes. He had 56 hours of credit when he got to UAH, so many of the honors classes were covered by AP credit. He is hoping that they offer more business-type classes in the future.
As for the city of Huntsville, my son loves it (and btw, he is an OOS student from Virginia.). It is about 100 miles to Birmingham and Nashville, if you want a larger city. Meanwhile, he has found plenty to do in Huntsville. He is in a fraternity, and every time we chat, it seems that he is off to volunteer with the food bank or another organization locally.
Thanks so much for sharing your son’s experience, momreads. My son will only be taking two AP tests this spring, but he will have about 40 units of community college credit, and I’d guess if UAH accepts transfer credits, he’ll have about a year’s worth of credits. Most are pretty general stuff, though: Calculus I, Italian 101, General Physics, Java Programming, English 105, etc. So I’m not sure what that would mean as far as honors goes. I think my son doesn’t care one way or the other if he’s in honors or not. He’s a “get in, get a degree, and get out” kind of a kid.
I’m curious as to what schools your son turned down and why he decided on UAH. Can I assume it was because of the scholarship? My son is actually 10 points away from the tuition plus room, so if he chooses UAH, I think he’ll retake SAT in June to bump up the score if possible
I would recommend, if your son is willing, taking the SAT once more to see if he could get that 10 points. You would be saving about $6000 a year.
That said, my son had dreamed of attending the U. of Alabama (as in Tuscaloosa) since he first visited the school as an eighth grader. He loved the campus and school spirit, thought the rec center was awesome, and the football’s pretty good, too. But he missed the cutoff twice by 10 points for full tuition. Truthfully, it was the best thing that ever happened. While he is a devout Bama fan, UAH gave him a wonderful chance to continue to compete in cross country and track, which is his first love. He also saw what wonderful opportunities students had on campus. One of his friends is currently working with a French company as a researcher (the young man also is a runner). He got into nine schools, including Ole Miss and Mississippi State. The latter offered him a near full scholarship, but he would not have the chance to run. In the end, UAH had the best of all worlds for him.
BTW, my son also had that “get in, get a degree” attitude until this fall. He now would like to spend five years at UAH so he can also complete a masters program.
So your son stayed regional with his applications. Sounds like he really loves the South. We’ve never been there, so it will be a very new experience for my son. We’re trying to swing a visit for him to go to admitted student day in March.
I know-10 points! Sadly, his writing score plus math was 1500, but they only take math and critical reading. I tried to convince them otherwise, but they didn’t buy it, ha-ha.
That’s really great that your son is so happy there. That does speak a lot to the opportunities there.
Is he pleased with the smaller class sizes? It seems like that would be a bonus.
My son isn’t into sports, so none of that matters to him. Actually, he’d like to do shooting sports, but I don’t see those at UAH. The one negative at UAH is that there isn’t a lot of music for a serious cellist like he is. The honors college dean, though, to his credit, wrote my son a nice note about playing his cello at UAH.
I grew up in Huntsville, and my sister went to UAH (I went to Auburn and now live in Ohio). She went on to medical school and became a doctor.
Huntsville itself is prosperous and safe. No slums, and rather clean.
UAH is probably as good as those for STEM subjects; in other words engineering, computer science, math, physics, chemistry, pre-med, etc… Personally, I do not recommend attending UAH for any other majors unless the student is a commuter who cannot afford to leave Huntsville.
So, yes, UAH has distinct commuter school aspect. However, it has a strong contingent of non-commuters and the dormitories are very nice for those who live on campus.
A year or so ago, Huntsville was listed as the most expensive U.S. city to fly into and out of. However, the airport is pretty good and you can go anywhere.
Fascinating stats. Thanks for sharing. So, based on what you’re saying, I see why people would prefer Bama over UAH because of the strengths across all disciplines at Bama, not just engineering. But, it sounds like for STEM students, UAH is a good school. Huntsville seems like a very interesting city.
Actually, flights were comparable to flying into Dallas-certainly not cheap, but if a kid only flies home twice a year, it’s totally doable. True, the Boston to San Diego flights my son takes are about $150 less, but it’s not a deal breaker if UAH is truly more affordable than California schools, and at this point, it is defintely more affordable than anything else on the table except for community college.
sbjdorlo: My son does love the south, but he did apply to schools in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. They just did not offer as much money as the southern schools did.
As for flights, there is a possibility that your student could have friends or roommates who come from Nashville or Birmingham, and you can book flights through those airports. I’ve flown into Birmingham several times, and it is a nice airport.
As for majors other than STEM, my son said that there are plenty of opportunities in the business department. In fact, the Dean of the College of Business told us during orientation that they have more internships than kids to fill them. Why? Because Boeing, NASA and other high tech places still need accountants, marketing and finance people.
@momreads is correct. I forgot about the business school, which is is pretty good at UAH. It is AACSB accredited (which is more rare than you might think). Their accounting program is not AACSB accredited, though, so that might not be the best choice.
Hi I am an international applying for UAH this fall. But I want suggestion that should I apply right now with 1250 SATs or should I retake them in june or july to bump them up and then apply. I am also thinking of taking act as I think I can score better on it. What are your views? Also is campus safe and friendly for a girl? I want to major in computer science n would love to know about the major companies that recruit there. I am sorry if my post is a little long but you people appeared to know a lot about the place. Please help me out. Thankyou in advance
SakuraUTD: I would apply now. You can continue to retake the SAT or the ACT and just submit a higher score. Apparently the school will re-evaluate the scores that you send later. As for the campus being safe, my son has had no problem when he has been out late at night. Many students also have evening classes, so there are lots of people around. The campus also has its own police department as well as the “blue” phones that you can pick up, and within a minute, the police arrive. If you need an escort back to your dorm late at night, you can get one, too. As for companies recruiting, take a look at an earlier post with those companies who came to a career fair in January.
@sbjdorlo - I am a UAH graduate so I could be biased but I think for STEM related degrees, it is great. I have had opportunities to work across the US but have stayed in Huntsville. I have friends all over the US though that went to UAH and work for companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, etc… I feel UAH is better for STEM than the University of Alabama.
The downside at UAH is historically is has been a commuter college. They have been working hard to change that. There are lots of research opportunities at the school and with local industry (both private and government related). Another downside for college sports fans is no football team. They do have the other typical sports plus Ice Hockey.
There is a $39 shuttle service that runs between the Huntsville and the Nashville airport. This helps to make flights cheaper.
