<p>Like so many have done here, I wanted to post what a wonderful experience my Daughter and I had when we visited UA last week.</p>
<p>My D is a NMSF and is applying to about 9 schools. UA came to our attention because of the fabulous merit aid opportunities offered due to her NM status. We’re from the Chicago area, so we we very unaware of UA other than its awesome football team. :-)</p>
<p>We were very excited to visit and signed up for University Days. However, primarily due to the wonderful information provided here by Mom2CollegeKids, we were informed that U-Days was more for the general applicant and not focused on opportunities offered by the Honors programs at UA.</p>
<p>We were able to work with Jami Gates at the Honors College to create an itinerary that allowed us to tailor our day to get in some of the U-Day activities, but also get a LOT of face time with Honors College students and administration. Let me just say now that Jami was WONDERFUL! So nice, and so willing to work with us individually to make us feel welcome, and to make my D feel “wanted.” With so many people applying to such a large University, one does not typically expect such personalized and thoughtful interaction!</p>
<p>So, our day started off with a greeting at Nott Hall, the home of the Honors College. We were greeted by Jane Batson the Program Director of the Computer Based Honors Program. She sat and chatted with us about her program for about 25 minutes as we waited for our first meeting with one of the Honors College students. She was very informative about the CBHP and answered many of our questions. We then spent about an hour with a Junior Honors College student who gave us a tour of Nott Hall and walked with us over the the Ferguson Center to check in for U-Days. We sat in the HUGE Starbucks at “The Ferg” for about 30 minutes … she was a very informative. We joined the U-Days group for the Arts and Sciences College presentation, which included standard information about the programs offered by the A&S College. Incidentally, the U-Days turnout last week was the largest ever at UA with just under 1000 people attending! Then met Jami and another Honors student at Lakeside for lunch. This was the best time of the day according to my D. She had a WONDERFUL discussion with the Senior Student (Pre-Med major and CBHP & UFE member). He was from Tuscaloosa and had so much info to provide about the city and university and the benefits of the Honors Programming at UA. He then led us over to RidgeCrest for our tour of the Honors Dorms. All I can say is WOW! They are apartments … I supposed the ONLY thing that would classify them as NOT being apartments is that they do not have a “full” kitchen. But they do have a sink, microwave, and FULL size refrigerator. But 4 bedrooms and 2 full baths and 9 foot ceilings is ridiculous … obviously in a good way. The individual bedrooms are PLENTY large enough for one person and the common living room really is a nice size. Our Student guided us through campus giving us a very informative “mini tour” on our way back to Nott Hall (he had a class there so we tagged along). The walk from RidgeCrest to Nott Hall was very doable … we were walking at a good pace and made in in under 15 minutes. If you’re looking on the UA map, that looks like a pretty daunting walk across campus … it really didn’t feel that way. Our final meeting of the day was the best one (in my opinion) and it was with Dr. Morgan the Director of the University Fellows Experience (UFE) program at the Honors College. Our meeting was scheduled for 25 minutes and she met with us for just under an hour. She was very engaging and was genuinely happy to spend the personal time with us to share her enthusiasm for the university and the wonderful programming offered by the Honors College. She indicated that right now is just a very “special” time to be attending UA. President Witt is taking the university in amazing directions, and the students and staff are all very excited about the prospect for UA in the next few years.</p>
<p>I told Jami at the end of our day that I really could not have imagined a better day … really. So worth it, and I can tell you that UA is now firmly placed at a “tie for 1st,” using my D’s words, for which schools she’d like to attend. My opinion is if she gets in to UFE then she’s Bama Bound. As a parent, I can really say that that would be BAM-tastic!</p>
<p>Visit UA … you will NOT be disappointed.</p>