I am looking to major in either engineering or biology and then go to medical school. Is UAH a good fit for me? I have read some bad reviews about the education offered at the school and I was looking for any feedback/advice from someone.
1215indecisive: My son is just completing his first year at UAH, and he has generally had a good experience with academics. He’s gotten all the classes he wanted. Had some excellent professors. Met some really nice kids. Has had opportunities to do all sorts of things. That said, the engineering program is outstanding. He tells me that he has friends who will graduate and literally walk across the highway into incredible, well paying jobs. His fraternity big brother is currently interning in the aerospace field, and he is just in his second year. He knows another young man who is doing research with a French firm. So the opportunities are there.
A downside is that UAH is a commuter/suitcase school. Where would you be coming from? How easily do you make friends?
However, academically, for engineering, it’s really excellent.
(Both UAH and UA/Tuscaloosa have excellent engineering programs).
My son just decided on UAH for Mech/Aero engineering. He was accepted at Case Western, RPI, UMD, and Rowan Univ. Wait listed at Cornell, Hopkins, and Lehigh. He had visited all except Case and Cornell. UMD was the highest rated with the best facilities from the “accepted” group. UAH has the same engineering facilities (slightly older buildings) as UMD but with 1/4 the students. He was given a 1 on 1 tour of the engineering facilities at UAH by an upper division student that left him very impressed with the possibilities of hands on work there. They have dedicated labs and work areas for the engineering clubs that exceeded the lab space some schools have for their total program. It really is a small school with large school capabilities. The commercial research park across the street is the 2nd largest in the U.S. and the 4th largest in the world. It was a hard call, the “commuter school” label is a little dated, but the deciding factor for him was the ability to get a degree with zero debt, UAH is giving a “free ride” based on his grades.
I’m going to UAH this fall for mechanical engineering. The commuter/suitcase school thing is outdated. Freshman are required to live on campus unless you live within 30 miles. The dorms are really nice. Scholarship programs at UAH are great and the acedemics are good. For med school, GPA is important and I think at UAH you could be challenged, but still maintain a high GPA. UAH is particularly good for engineering majors. I know a lot of people that had a great job offer immediately after graduation. Have you been able to visit the school?
Well, strictly speaking, since freshmen are required to live on campus, and only 50-55% do, it means about 50% commute from within 30 miles, and most students (about 80%) go home on weekends. So while the situation’s improved compared to 15 years ago, it’s still a long way off from a residential campus. Someone who plans on living on campus over the weekend would need to check the cafeteria operating hours, for instance. The relative newness of the dorms means they’re very nice overall :).
BigFuture lists the percentage at 58% of first-year students living in college housing at UAH, so it does seem to be increasing. And with 6000 total undergrads, that’s still plenty of students regularly on campus.
Also, I saw the speech that the UAH president gave to the Alabama Board of Trustees last month in which he stated that 2015 applications are running 60% higher than 2014 applications, so he expects a large freshman class.
But I’m curious @MYOS1634, where did you see the stat of 80% of students that go home on weekends? I have researched UAH extensively and cannot find that stat anywhere.
20% live on campus total, so if you factor in the freshmen (who tend to go home more often even if they live on campus) + the typical situation of at least 50% living within 30 miles and commuting thus not staying for the weekends + 80% being in-state + reduced hours of operation at the oncampus cafeterias BUT not complete shutdown, that makes very few students left on campus on weekends but a relatively minority nevertheless (several hundreds). 80% is an estimate but based on usual numbers as cited above (available in the CDS) it’s likely very close to accurate. You can email residential life to have a precise percentage of students who occupy their residence rooms over the weekend and how many meals are served for Saturday dinner.
Again, that’s not to mean UA-H is bad - quite the contrary, it’s an excellent choice for engineering. However it’s got a long way to go before it’s residential. Students from instate are fine but students from OOS need to take this into account.
The funny is, many of the local kids do live on campus! My son rooms with two young men who are graduates of two local high schools. His girlfriend’s family is just 20 minutes away, but she also lives on campus. The downside of living on campus as a freshman is that CCRH is one of the older dorms. It really needs to be renovated. But following one’s freshman year, there are lots of housing options, including on-campus apartment, Greek housing (which is pretty nice) and newer dorms like Charger Village.
Does the campus need to provide more things to do on weekends? Yes, it does. For those without cars, the school needs to run a bus or van to Target, Wal-Mart or new Bridge Street Mall (which is gorgeous). Bringing in a musical act for a concert would be great. Maybe provide transportation for a day trip to Nashville or Birmingham.
As for going home on weekends, my son said that his roommates usually stay on campus. One has a job. The other will see his folks at Sunday services. My son’s girlfriend generally stays on campus, too. There are some kids, though, who go home every weekend because they need to do their laundry. That’s not a joke. I had one mom tell me that her son would be home every Friday night so he could drop off his laundry and pick up some leftovers to snack on during the week.
20% live on campus total, so if you factor in the freshmen (who tend to go home more often even if they live on campus) + the typical situation of at least 50% living within 30 miles and commuting thus not staying for the weekends + 80% being in-state + reduced hours of operation at the oncampus cafeterias BUT not complete shutdown, that makes very few students left on campus on weekends but a relatively minority nevertheless (several hundreds).
I think your numbers are misleading @MYOS1634. You can’t go by total percent that live on campus because we don’t know if upperclassmen are living at home or living in apartments near campus. The common data set doesn’t break that out. The freshmen numbers are a little more helpful as freshmen are required to live on campus if their home address is greater than 30 miles away. Also, talking to food service about total number of meals served on a weekday vs a weekend might be helpful. Your other numbers are too loosey-goosey. And like I stated earlier, with 6000 undergrads, there will still be a significant number on campus during weekends. We are from oos, and I feel quite comfortable that my son will not be isolated on weekends.
This is a good thread on the subject http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1376715-commuter-can-mean-two-things-p1.html
As far as freshman dorms, we toured Frank Franz Hall, home of the Honors college, and it was very nice–recently redone I think. Hopefully, CCRH is on the list for renovation. 
@momreads I agree. A lot of the local students I know live on campus and they don’t go home on weekends very much because its so close they can eat with their family for dinner every now and then and go back to campus.
Sounds good then. Good progress in the last 5years ten, excellent:)
Hello @1215indecisive!
The University of Alabama in Huntsville is a great institution for students interested in a Pre-Health field such as Pre-Medicine. Regardless of the major you select, a Pre-Health adviser is assigned to personally assist you in your medical school application efforts! Also, you will have an adviser for your major. This allows the Pre-Health adviser to focus on your successful admission to medical school. On top of small classroom sizes, personalized Pre-Health advising, Pre-Health student organizations, access to multiple medical facilities near campus for shadowing and undergraduate research opportunities, our Pre-Health students have a wide variety of internship opportunities outside of Huntsville as well! There are multiple articles on the UAH Pre-Health and UAH Honors web sites about our students’ pursuits of medical school acceptance.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions would be happy to speak about this subject with you! If you are interested in visiting, there is a private visit option that includes taking a tour of campus, meeting with an admissions counselor, and meeting with a Pre-Health adviser. You can learn more here: www.uah.edu/visit. Please contact us with any questions!
Since UAH scholarships are on 4+ gpa scale, so it must be weighted. How does UAH weighs gpa for International students? Any help will be appreciated.
Hello @SakuraUTD !
The University of Alabama in Huntsville has an individual department for international students seeking admission to UAH. Generally speaking, international students must complete the online admission application at www.uah.edu/apply and submit a Foreign Credential Evaluation. From there, the evaluation will specify your GPA. For more information about UAH admissions for international students, please contact the following office:
International Student and Scholars Services at UAH
E-mail: isss@uah.edu
Phone: 256-824-6055
Director: Ms. Sabrina Williams
Thank you