<p>I would appreciate any input on Electrical/Computer Engineering at Tuscaloosa or Huntsville regarding quality of education, chances for research, internships, employment, and social opportunities for out of state student.</p>
<p>When making our decision we have to consider that my son has a 35 ACT, top 3% of class, and 3.9 UW/ 4.5W GPA and will most likely be National Merit commended so he will get full ride at Huntsville vs. full tuition and $2500 at Tuscaloosa. Please let me know if you are aware of any additional scholarships available at Tuscaloosa on a competitive basis. I could not find any on web page and engineering department says not really until he is in upper classes. His extracurricular activities are strong relating to boy scouts and robotics but short on leadership.</p>
<p>What state are you in? If you’re not instate, your child may feel lonely at UAH since it’s mostly commuter/suitcase. The students often go home on weekends. There isn’t much campus activities on weekends.</p>
<p>However, if your son does get a big scholly from UAH because of his high stats, I would contact Mary Spiegel at Bama and see if Bama would offer more. If you do this, do this EARLY when Bama still has extra money. So, apply early, get the awards and then contact Ms. Spiegel.</p>
<p>My S will be a senior at UAH and has enjoyed every year. He’s not a big sports fan and this school is a good fit for him. UAH is a mid sized school and my son knows all the professors and most of the students in his field (aerospace eng). My D will attend UA this fall and is much more social so I think UA will suit her as well.</p>
<p>Your son deserves phrase for his work ethic; he will be very successful at either school.</p>
<p>As a UAH graduate, I would like to take the opportunity to confirm what has already been mentioned – UAH is primarily a smaller, academic oriented university. The students that attend are predominately there to receive an education rather than have an overall college experience so there exists a commuter culture as a result. Great strides have been made in recent years to spur a more traditional setting (a new student center is being built right now), but it is certainly not the same as UA’s amazing experience.</p>
<p>In regards to research and other opportunities, I was able to work on several NASA and DoD sponsored research projects throughout my studies. Since UAH has many commuting students, I found it very easy to find projects and opportunities others either ignored or were not interested in (especially since I was out-of-state and was on campus frequently). As a result, I made valuable business connections and certainly feel that my experience was more valuable because of it. I cannot speak with regards to UA’s research and opportunities, but I would assume they are different since UAH is extremely NASA/DoD research oriented.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions, I can certainly answer them.</p>
<p>Thank you nova372 and realfocus for the input. It is really helpful to hear about current and former students’ experiences. I want him to have as much information available to him before he makes his choice.</p>
<p>UAH will have a great deal of opportunities due to NASA and DoD. UA has opportunities in auto manufacturing and small engine. UA is a business school that offers engineering so the focus is different than UAH which is an engineering school. I would recommend that your son go to both schools and see which one he feels at home in. That is the same advice I give people considering UA vs AU. It is not one size fits all by any means.</p>
<p>BTW I am currently at UA. Most things here as far as majors don’t really pick up until upperclassmen because it is such a large school. If your son wants to do his own thing there is this.</p>
<p>UA is not “a business school that offers engineering,” but I guess maybe a Finance person might think so. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>if anything, UA is a College of Arts and Sciences school that has a B-school and a College of Engineering. There are about 2,000 more A&S undergrads than B majors. </p>
<p>UA would not have built a mega-sized Science & Engineering Complex if that were so.</p>
<p>Also, the College of Engineering has about 3,000 undergrads, that hardly makes its CoE some kind of afterthought.</p>
<p>My son from Missouri was in the exact position (almost identical stats) as yours this past winter trying to decide between the full ride at UAH and the Presidential/Engineering scholarship at UA. While not overly shy, my son is the type that takes a little while to make friends, so I was concerned about the commuter campus at UAH. Thanks to advice from M2CK, we were able to work with UA to obtain another scholarship that made attending UA affordable enough that finances became secondary. Seems like each school can provide a top-notch engineering education for students that are willing to work at it. For my son, the recent emphasis/push by UA in engineering and the other aspects of college life at UA (dorm suites, new facilities and non-commuter campus) appealed to him and he chose UA. Good luck in your decision!</p>
<p>DS applied to UAB/Huntsville a couple of weeks ago, he received his acceptance for Fall 2013 today. I thought it was the general college mailings we have been getting.</p>
<p>that’s awesome. Is it considerably more difficult to get the better internships from Cummings Research Park if you go to UA? I know that one of your children was chemE but is now doing med school so I’m sure he was incredibly smart.</p>
<p>Do you think internships of that quality restricted to that calibre of student or would they be accessible to strong students who aren’t quite that amazing</p>
<p>With a 1400 SAT, I qualified for both the Presidential at UA and the Full Tuition at UAH. I went with UAH because they didn’t give me any trouble about being a little older than the average freshman (I was 20 when I applied last year). UAH still accepted me automatically as a first time freshman and awarded me the full scholarship, whereas UA said I wasn’t eligible for the Presidential since I wasn’t coming directly out of high school at age 18. UA said I could write a letter asking for special consideration and that they might give me the scholarship anyway, but it wasn’t for sure. UAH awarded me the scholarship for sure and I liked that about them. Both universities seem like great educational institutions so although the UA culture draws a lot of people down there, I don’t think I’m going to be losing anything by attending UAH.</p>
<p>*that’s awesome. Is it considerably more difficult to get the better internships from Cummings Research Park if you go to UA? I know that one of your children was chemE but is now doing med school so I’m sure he was incredibly smart.</p>
<p>Do you think internships of that quality restricted to that calibre of student or would they be accessible to strong students who aren’t quite that amazing*</p>
<p>No, I don’t think it’s hard for UA students to get internships at CRP ( or internships or REUs elsewhere.)</p>
<p>I’m not sure what your last question is asking. </p>
<p>Arizonagirl…best wishes for you at UAH. I know that Bama does restrict its Presidential to graduating seniors…but does make exceptions for cases where the student needed to do a gap year for a good reason.</p>
<p>haha it looks like I accidentally forgot a word. I was asking if those internships with top companies were basically reserved for the tippy-top students with GPAs high enough for med school such as your son or if it is possible for less amazing students to get them as well.</p>
<p>But I think you answered that already since you said it’s not hard for UA students to get internships at CRP.</p>
<p>"UA is not “a business school that offers engineering,” but I guess maybe a Finance person might think so. </p>
<p>if anything, UA is a College of Arts and Sciences school that has a B-school and a College of Engineering. There are about 2,000 more A&S undergrads than B majors. </p>
<p>UA would not have built a mega-sized Science & Engineering Complex if that were so.</p>
<p>Also, the College of Engineering has about 3,000 undergrads, that hardly makes its CoE some kind of afterthought. "</p>
<p>Actually UA grants more business degrees than any other college. There are more A&S students because you can’t declare a business major until your junior year.</p>