Should I apply to U of A?

bigbird97
Mon, 29 Sep 2014 22:00:37 +0000

I’m a high school senior in Michigan planning on going into engineering (definitely mechanical/automotive if I were to attend U of A). I have a 32 on the ACT (34 math and science, 30 english) and a 3.87 weighted GPA, so I would qualify for the full ride at Alabama which is what attracted me to it in the first place. Although my parents would have no issue affording one of the state schools or a small private school with a similar price due to grants (what my sister is doing), going to college for free sounds fun for lack of a better word, but I also wouldn’t feel so bad about my parents paying a ton of money.

I’m applying directly to the engineering school at Michigan, which means I’ve probably got a 50/50 chance and the main thing I’ve got going for me is in state and my uncle is an engineering prof at U of M. Also applying to Wash U in St. Louis which is basically just a dream school and I don’t want to get my hopes up for it. I’m happy with going to MSU honors (or any less-prestigious-than-michigan state school), unlike the majority of kids in my school on my academic level. Purdue is there and I prefer it over U of M but probably won’t be affordable so not really getting my hopes up for it. RPI as well but too many men to be honest, despite the great location.

My interest in UA had died down for a while until I just saw a post on here about this awesome study abroad and internship program in Germany that Alabama is launching this year. I’ve always dreamed of living in Germany and working for one of the auto companies, specifically this part (Stuttgart area). This program is one of, if not the, best study abroad options I have come across in terms of my interests. (comparing it to the likes of GEARE at Purdue, Global E3 at U of M and RPI, Wash U study abroad in general.)

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1689117-for-mechanical-and-electrical-engineers-international-german-student-exchange-program.html#latest

tl;dr: Kid from Michigan that would qualify for the full ride that wants an out of state affordable safety that has respectable engineering and good study abroad wants to know if he should apply to U of A.

Thanks, and sorry for the wall of text.