Why UA is a Good deal for High Stats HS Students

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

Graduating with minimal to zero debt should be a major objective for any college student. As pointed out in an earlier thread, STEM majors do not pay more depending on school.

See this article on how college graduates feel about debt incurred and the consequences:

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/07/college-buyers-remorse-is-real.html

2

Did you mean to say that STEM majors are not paid more, depending on school?

3

If one is planning/considering on going to grad school, UA is one of the best options out there for undergrad.

4

For our older son, it came down to Georgetown or UA.

So - $65k per year for Georgetown for 4 yrs,

OR

For National Merit Finalists at Alabama:

  • Value of tuition for up to five years or 10 semesters for undergraduate and graduate (or law) school if a student gets undergrad degree early (this was the clencher for us!).
  • One year of on-campus housing at regular room rate
  • A $3,500 per year Merit Scholarship stipend for four years.
  • One-time allowance of $2,000 for use in summer research or international study
  • Technology enrichment (student's choice of a laptop {small Mac or PC} vs. an iPad on enrolling - we chose the latest iPad!).

For us, it was an easy decision. (Not knocking Georgetown - great school, just $$$!)

Roll tide!

5

My daughter is a rising senior top student in our school in New Jersey looking at Georgetown Columbia etc . Wish she could see herself at U.A but I know that she feels that internships in N.Y.C might be difficult . She plans on majoring in economics/business …

6

Sorry I forgot Roll Tide Roll

7

lmjdad, your daughter might be somewhat correct in that she will probably have to work harder to get a NYC internship from Alabama than she would from, say, Columbia. Many of the companies that are represented at the career fairs held at Alabama are from the southeast - Birmingham, Huntsville, Atlanta, Charlotte, etc. There are some national companies, and the Big 4 recruit at Bama, but most NYC firms are going to recruit at colleges where there’s a greater number of students seeking to work there. We noticed it with Chicago companies - they recruit at Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan, not at Alabama. That doesn’t mean students who want to work in NYC can’t find internships because they attend Alabama. But they will have to seek them out, network, send resumes to companies in which they’re interested, etc. I’ve seen students from Alabama get NYC internships, and I’ve seen other students struggle to find internships in their home cities. OTOH, I know plenty of Chicago area kids who went to school in the Chicago area and the midwest and tried to find Chicago internships and failed. I suspect the same is true of northeast students and NYC internships. There are a lot of top students at Alabama who are immensely successful, and those who seek it out get a lot of assistance from professors and others at Bama in achieving their goals.

8

@Atlanta68 yes, re #1 above, for STEM degrees, especially engineering, someone is not much, if any, more for starting salary. Companies do not look at a BS in engineering from a top ranked school and a state flagship any differently. You may get more interviews due to the school. Is that worth $100K for maybe 10 more interviews when you graduate?

I know this for fact because I have been on both sides, being hired and hiring, new grads. I also have been in the industry for 33 years.

After the first position, what program a person got the BS from does not matter. It is only about what a person accomplished. As long as the program is accredited, that is all that matters.

The above is only for going into industry. Maybe going to Grad School is a much different situation regarding prestige. However, I, personally, do not understand an MS in engineering unless you want to be a researcher. The vast majority of engineering jobs do not require an MS engineering in any way.

An MBA with an engineering degree is a different story.