Utah vs Alabama for Engineering safety school

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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i’m looking for potential safety schools for engineering for a good stats kid. now on CC Alabama comes up a lot and rightly so. it’s on the auto-merit yolasite list, it’s got about 10,000 threads here, and it gives a full–tuition scholarship + $2500 engineering scholarship. very nice.

but this thread http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19918141/#Comment_19918141 got me looking at Utah and i am wondering why it’s hardly mentioned at all here. it doesn’t even have its own link under “Colleges and Universities” even though it’s a state flagship. yet as far as i can tell it stacks up very favorably with Alabama for an affordable option.

UU’s Presidential Scholarship covers full-tuition plus fees plus an extra $750 per year. UA’s does not appear to cover fees, which seem to total about $800 yearly. while UA offers the $2500 engineering scholarship, UA’s room & board is $13K vs only $9738 for UU.

another difference is seen in the USNWR rankings. while they are about the same rank for national U’s, UU’s ranking for UG and Grad engineering is 58 and 51, while UA’s is 105 and 105.

does the engineering ranking make that much of a difference? i never thought of Utah as an engineering powerhouse. is UU really much better than UA for engineering or are these rankings a lot of smoke and mirrors?

i guess what i’m wondering is, did i stumble across a good yet underrated / unknown possibility that’s worth as much consideration as the very popular CC suggestion of UA for an affordable college option? or is there something i’m missing that everyone else knows about?

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^^This might be challenging for an engineering student.

http://financialaid.utah.edu/scholarships/search/details.php?id=6430

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Based on the yola scholarship websites. U Utah’s merit is competitive, while UA’s is automatic. Big difference!

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what’s Alabama’s GPA requirement to maintain it? 3.5 or3.0??

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3.0, @Wien2NC.

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er fees, which seem to total about $800 yearly. while UA offers the $2500 engineering scholarship, UA’s room & board is $13K vs only $9738 for UU.


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You need to compare apples with apples. Utah’s “room” is probably a standard double. If so, then you need to compare it to the cost of Bama’s standard doubles…which drops R&B costs by $3k.

Alabama puts its pricey “private room super suites” in the COA…but many do not choose that $$ option.

I would NOT choose Utah if it has that GPA req’t. I can almost promise you that MANY eng’g students lose their awards if that is the req’t.

DO NOT go by a child’s high school GPA as a guide as to what his eng’g GPA will be. That would likely be a HUGE mistake.

One reason why Utah isn’t mentioned much here is because unless you’re LDS, many students would be less inclined to go there. Yes, it’s public, but certainly the majority of kids are LDS.

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another difference is seen in the USNWR rankings. while they are about the same rank for national U’s, UU’s ranking for UG and Grad engineering is 58 and 51, while UA’s is 105 and 105.


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That is meaningless. There are hundreds of very good eng’g programs in the US. Heck, in the state of Calif alone there are over 25 very good eng’g programs. ABET accreditation is key.

Although Bama’s eng’g program is long-established (one of the first 5 colleges in the US to have eng’g), for many years the program was rather small. In the past 10 years, that has changed, including the building of a new Science and Engineering Complex…1Million sq ft of new STEM academic space.

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DD is at UA with Presidential and Engineering Scholarships. The difference between the suite housing and traditional dorm is about $3K - they indicate the higher priced dorm situation. Also freshman year, students have unlimited dining pass - after that year, students choose smaller meal plan or live off campus and some (like DD who lives in apt a block off campus) takes no meal plan. All students have dining dollars in their costs, but if they do not use them (on their student action card) they can convert them to buying books and things, or get refund. Most schools have dining dollar type programs which get various food/coffee shop vendors on campus.

A smart student who enjoys eng classes will do fine at UA. 3.0 required GPA to keep scholarships.

Honors has priority registration. 3.3 required for honors designation.

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Utah State and U of Utah were 2 other schools my son looked into for mechanical engineering because of their OOS outstanding scholarships. Beautiful area and Logan Utah was voted in the top five of cities to live in a couple of years ago, right behind Oxford, Ms. But the major drawback was the LDS and OOS students had to have so many days “living” in Utah in order to retain the scholarships for the next year.

As many have commented on here…as long as the school is ABET accredited.

My son is a freshman at UA and loving it!

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Many schools do have fees. Almost a way of life. They have to put costs in somewhere, and those that have to cap tuition increases due to state mandate have to have various costs covered.

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@mom2collegekids

you’re right about the housing. i was just going by the COA listed on UA’s website. i didn’t realize they list the pricier options there. but when i checked individual housing + meal plans, i found cheaper R&B options less than $10K for UA. so with $2500 Engr scholarship knocking that down to about $7500, that’s a point in UA’s favor.

after double-checking i realize that UU’s NPC number included the Pell grant, while UA’s estimated $7500-$8000 yearly cost did not include Pell. that drives UA’s COA much lower.

3.0 vs 3.6 is another big big point in UA’s favor

regarding LDS at UU, i’ve heard it’s anywhere from 35% - 45%.

UA would be much closer, would still let him get away from NC (i don’t know where this anti-NC thing is coming from but whatever) and i think he would like going to a school with lots of students from all over the country, since UA has such a high OOS population.

i have heard about UA’s massive expansion of the Engineering dept and facilities recently and i was expecting them to rise in the rankings. i am starting to think the USNWR rankings are like the AP preseason college football poll – mostly a popularity contest based on name recognition.

thanks for the extremely helpful feedback everybody.

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@SOSConcern

what is the range for how much off-campus apts cost?

@raven2016

congrats on your son, according to CC there are lots of happy students at UA and lots of happy parents.

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Many kids at UA like amenities, so apt prices reflect that. Also, as in almost all college towns, they get 12 month leases. Sometimes kids do sub-let. If one co-ops or does study abroad or does internship, they need to really plan how to avoid getting charged for an empty room. Many off-campus apts have individual leases even though apt may be 2-3-4 BR. DD is in 3 BR 3 BA nice place one block off campus (and on the same side as the University, there are train tracks and quite a lot of trains - avoid getting late to class by being on the good side of the train tracks)

DD in B’ham has a much nicer newly renovated apt (unfurnished) in a gated community with lower rent because B’ham has a bit of over supply of housing, and therefore is more price friendly. Even near UAB.

DD’s apt is furnished (so really is helpful for move in and move out), includes in apt washer/dryer, cable/wi fi, includes an amount for utilities (usually a little overage on electric usage, maybe $5-at most we have seen, $7. $8 overage per room-mate). A number of amenities - club room, outdoor pool, sand volleyball court, gym, small office for student use with 3 computers and free printer use. Each tenant has a parking place for them (has a parking window cling). Her complex is 100% occupied, and they use tier pricing for renewal, so if you renew early you get the best deal for the next year. DD moved in for sophomore year, and will stay in same apt for duration. We feel she is very safe where she lives.

DD does not have a car at UA (for 3 years no car), although many do. When she will be there in summer, she will have a car to use from us and then probably we will let her continue to use after that. Don’t know other room-mate plans, but that way she can drive to get groceries and drive to various off campus functions. Currently she relies on room-mates and friends with cars. They do have two cars to rent sitting in designated spots (can’t remember name, but it is a national kind of program where you can rent a vehicle for varying time needs). The Crimson Ride comes right to the front of apt complex, but sometimes she may bike or walk too.

There are apts farther out, some kids would rather take something with less rent, but then they have other costs and inconveniences to consider.

UA is the fastest growing flagship for a number of reasons.

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We know students that have kept their housing cost (rent and utilities) maybe in the $450 price area, but that is older, more cramped, farther from campus - usually a number of students renting a house. DD had no rent increase from her first to second apt year, but next year has a $50 a month increase. One key thing to remember is that moving from place to place gets expensive, and then the drudgery of parent helping to move, especially with furniture.

Key for students that go away from home is to learn personal budgeting before they get to college - one DD was good with this, another learned it in the semester long personal finance course at her HS which was Dave Ramsey. Some students do have jobs which they use for personal expenses. Some parents are having to put an amount in the student’s bank account weekly (on Monday) because they go through their monthly amount too quickly (and also this way they can learn to ‘save’ some money for weekend spending).

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I would agree that maintaining the 3.6 GPA at UU Engineering would be a MAJOR concern. With that in mind UA looks like a clear winner.

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Off-campus housing varies a lot.

My son spent 2 years living in one of the ‘older’ resort style complexes. It was a fully furnished 4BR unit with individual leases. He was paying about $550/month + $40 for utilities + utility overages which they had almost every month, so it wound up being a bit over $600/month. He never used any of the extra amenities (the clubhouse with the computers and pool tables, the gym, or the swimming pool) the complex offered.

After 2 years, he opted to move because he wanted fewer roommates. He’s now in a 2BR townhouse, paying around $450/month + about $80 for utils. It wasn’t furnished, so we had to buy all the furnishings, but bought most used or bought unassembled online so kept it ‘affordable’. It is not an individual lease, but his roommate is a student he attended high school with and we know his family if there is ever an issue with payment. It’s less than 2 miles from campus and although my son has a car, he usually rides his bike because he finds it quicker.

Both were less expensive for a 12 month lease than the cost of the suite style dorm that we paid for his first year and it’s worked out nicely since he’s spent 2 summers in Tuscaloosa working (one summer as a co-op student and again for the same co-op employer after his co-op ended).

There are some older/smaller units that can be found for a bit less and some of the newer units can be $1000+/month especially the 1 and 2 bedroom units because there are fewer of those available.

It really just depends on what you’re looking for in terms of location, amenities, and budget.

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What does LDS mean?

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^^^

Latter Day Saints/Mormons

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@SOSConcern
@jrcsmom

REALLY good and useful information here. thanks a lot.

@my2caligirls

yeah, i would have to agree. i think i’m overthinking all of this too much.

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From afar, you may be thinking ‘this (UA) is too good to be true’ and there must be some kind of catch. No catch. Visit and see for yourself.