Alabama Facilities, Campus, scholarships
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I have an engineering degree from State, and a law degree from Alabama. Its been a few decades, so I'm a little out of touch with current admissions standards, but I think your son should aim higher. Financial aid is available everywhere, so why just go to State schools?
As for suggestions on the engineering to law transition, I would say just stick to whatever he enjoys. But if he really is interested in Law School, then take some history and pre law electives. The difference between law and engineering is the vast amount of memorization required in Law, combined with the inability to just learn some core principles and apply them to every problem. But, being able to absorb large quantities of information is a big plus.
I remember laughing at Law School Orientation as Dean Hansford told us we would have to read and re-read cases 3 or 4 times before we would really understand them. I couldn't imagine needing to put in that type of effort; but he was right.
As for suggestions on the engineering to law transition, I would say just stick to whatever he enjoys. But if he really is interested in Law School, then take some history and pre law electives. The difference between law and engineering is the vast amount of memorization required in Law, combined with the inability to just learn some core principles and apply them to every problem. But, being able to absorb large quantities of information is a big plus.
I remember laughing at Law School Orientation as Dean Hansford told us we would have to read and re-read cases 3 or 4 times before we would really understand them. I couldn't imagine needing to put in that type of effort; but he was right.
Schools, especially those considered "highly selective", consider a lot more than just ACT/SAT scores. Things like community involvement play a big role. Demographic factors play a role as well, maybe even a dominant role.
Why Alabama?
With similar credentials one of our sons (our other three sons went to State) got the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship at Vanderbilt. It cost us nothing for him to get his four year degree in economics at Vanderbilt. Especially if he is considering law school, then Vandy is a no-brainer in comparison to Alabama. Good luck to your son.
With similar credentials one of our sons (our other three sons went to State) got the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship at Vanderbilt. It cost us nothing for him to get his four year degree in economics at Vanderbilt. Especially if he is considering law school, then Vandy is a no-brainer in comparison to Alabama. Good luck to your son.
As far as comparing the scholly's, my neighbor's son was in the exact same position as yours. He chose STATE and has not regretted it. The scholly/stipend etc. was more than adequate to cover all his college costs plus a nice little bit of change in his pocket. While Bama may have a slight advantage, it probably is not worth worrying over, as either scholly will more than take care of your son's education needs. Your son is a high performer and likely to finish in 3-3.5 years if he was a non-engineering major. The sequencing of engineering classes with pre-requisites will most likely dictate that he go 4 years. The dorms at state are generally very nice now, and he'll probably stay in Griffis (the honors dorm) which has some nice amenities such as classes in the dorm itself and study rooms. Most likely he will stay in the dorm one year anyway, so I wouldn't base much on the dorms regardless. My neighbor's son's stipends are more than enough to pay for his apartment and food so not many non-freshmen will stay in the dorms anymore.
We toured FSU and LSU and neither law school was particularly impressive. I'd treat law school as separate, and entry is almost solely based on the LSAT. If your son scores well, then he'll get into a good law school. I'd go through some LSAT prep material and let that guide some elective classes. Since your son has alot of dual credit classes coming out of high school, he'll want a few selective electives to add to those last engineering classes to help prepare for the LSAT and fluff that GPA if needed. My initial recommendation would be to take a few Poly Sci classes or even minor in it.
Make sure he joins the pre-law club if he goes to State, there are some nice benefits and trips to law programs. My daughter went to a conference at Harvard and was offered a scholly to their law school, but even a scholly there won't pay for half the price.
All schools now offer international abroad studies, my daughter went to Oxford, but it seems a bit overrated to me. Just be aware that that opportunity exists at every major school now including State.
Hope this helps.
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You will make money as a NM at MSU if you stay on campus all 4 years. If not, you will lose the housing part of your scholarship.
The problem is not who your daughter roots for. It's that once she goes to OM, the chance of her marrying an OM guy grows exponentially. Then you've got That Guy at your house for dinner every holiday.
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