<p>Hi im a high school senior next year, and im applying to schools such as Clemson and North Carolina State, but recently i found out that i qualify for a guaranteed full tuition scholarship at UA. I would still have to pay room and board, but this would save a significant amount of money. My family could send me to Clemson or NC state both at in state prices and money would not be a issue, but is it worth paying the extra money. Im going to vist UA but does anyone know how their Chemical Engineering program compares to Clemson and State? Clemson and State are both ranked much higher but UA with free tuition and honors programs sound like it may be a great deal.</p>
<p>My guess is you could get a similar deal from University of Arizona (they have an honors program too), or University of Tulsa (it is a private college... they might even pay for the room and board too and have a liberal arts type honors program and special housing). Clemson might be the highest ranked of all these for ChemE, but these too (Arizona and Tulsa) would be as good or better than U Alabama and NC State. Tulsa is ranked near the best in the world for Petroleum Eng too.</p>
<p>What is it that you ultimately want to do? If you want to get a job as a researcher at a top company, or if you want to be a professor, then it'd maybe be a good idea to go for as good as you can get, if money's not a horrible problem (though University of Alabama has, I'm sure, produced its share of fine researchers and academicians in engineering).</p>
<p>If you want a good job with a good company, U of Alabama would be just fine for that. Good companies hire people from pretty much everywhere, even some of the more obscure programs.</p>
<p>Do explore all your options, though. Keep Alabama as a strong backup, see how much money other programs give you, and make sure you'd actually like to live for four years at University of Alabama before you actually sign anything. Happy students are successful students. Make sure you go to a place that's a good fit for you.</p>
<p>aibarr, I actually want to go to med school. Also Alabama sounds like it would be a great place with a good atmosphere. I just want a respected engineering program that i would be able to maintain a decent GPA. I know this is a tough major for med school but if med school doesn't work out i really like chemical engineering.</p>
<p>Definitely see if you can get something from Clemson or NC State. I take it that you are from one of the Carolinas. If you are guaranteed a full tuition scholarship at UA, then chances are good you will get something from those two schools.</p>
<p>Clemson and NC State are definitely higher ranked than Alabama, probably due to their higher research output. UA is obviously not a Top 50 school like the schools usually discussed on this board, but it's a good place, though it's not without its problems. I just graduated from UAChBE; shoot me a PM if you have any specific questions.</p>
<p>bump any more opinions would be great</p>
<p>Im really sorry for trying to steal your thread away from but I just wanted to ask you a question if you wouldnt mind. I just want to know what kind scholarship you qualified for because I was actually thinking about going to bama for engineering as well but money has been kind of tight around my house lately so any scholarships would help. Thanks and again sorry for asking.</p>
<p>Im referring to the Presidential scholarship. I called the admissions office and its automatic as long as you qualify. It covers full tuition.</p>
<p>For Out of State it is 32ACT or above and a 3.7 GPA
For In State i believe it is a 30 ACT and above</p>
<p>There is also a much smaller engineering scholarship that starts at 500 per year.</p>
<p>Also if you have a 32 ACT you can apply for the Academic Elite Scholarship which covers everything.</p>
<p>Weighted or unweighted GPA?</p>
<p>I called the emailed the admiss dept at UofA on this--they said the gpa that's "on your transcript." This wasn't super-illuminating..</p>