My DD is finally registered for a visit and we did call the Honors College to set up the tour and other typical visit activities. We will be there for two nights and are staying at the Capstone Inn. What do you suggest that we see and do in order to get a good feel for both UA and Tuscaloosa?
I would walk along the strip (University Blvd near campus), and I’d try to eat in the Strip or downtown area one night and maybe at Midtown Village or one of the BBQ places the other. Going out to Midtown Village will give you a feel for shopping that’s available in the area, as it’s right near Target and the Mall. You might want to walk along the Riverwalk (behind Presidential on the Black Warrior River). I like to do that just for exercise when I’m in Tuscaloosa. I would visit the Bryant Museum and also check the events calendar - there could be sporting events or music department concerts during your visit that would be fun to attend. Since you’re staying at the Capstone, you’ll be very close to everything and just getting out and walking around and seeing what is there and talking to students you run into will give you a feel for the place.
I agree with all of the above!
Midtown Village and the brand NEW Legacy Park shopping center (just north of Midtown Village on McFarland) are both fun to wander around…lots of restaurants and a good way to get a feel for what shops are available.
We’ve enjoyed having breakfast at Another Broken Egg Cafe, which sits on the edge of Black Warrior River so after breakfast, you can walk along the RiverWalk…a popular place for biking, walking, jogging.
Walking around Downtown can be interesting, but downtown Northport is more quaint It’s over the river (via Lurleen Wallace), first exit, turn leff and head to Main St.
If there’s a gymnastic meet or something else of interest on the calendar, try to visit.
The Paul Bryant Museum is interesting even if you’re not into sports.
What days of the week will you be here?
We are arriving sometime Monday (3/27) - likely early evening in time for dinner. We have our visit scheduled for Tuesday and leaving to fly out of Atlanta at noon on Wednesday. I am really looking forward to it (perhaps more than my DD)!
Best way to get a feel for UA is to tour Auburn, too. See what you’re missing.
Thank you but my DD is not interested in Auburn. She is OOS and from the NE US. Auburn has a very low OOS population and she already knows that it is not the place for her.
Forgot the smiley. Sorry. Guess, you, being from the NE US, need a bit of education on the rivalry.
Based on your itinerary, you probably won’t have a lot of free time, actually. On Monday night, just drive around the campus and the town to familiarise yourself with how it is laid out, so that come Tuesday, you go into the tour(s) well oriented. The biggest part of a student’s college decision is whether they can see themselves living there for all 4 years. In all of our college visits, I always had an eye towards the future, and wanted to know what off-campus housing, shopping, eating would be like, so that’s why I recommend just driving around and seeing if the town is someplace that your daughter can envision herself.
On Tuesday, be sure your student has enough time to connect with those things that she is interested in - that might be talking with students in her major, sitting in on classes that interest her, going to the rec center (or anywhere on campus that offers what she is ‘into’)…just hang at the largest Starbucks in the nation (!) at the Ferg…and visit the SUPE store for ‘stuff’. Don’t be afraid to talk with anyone/everyone about their experiences at UA. Students are very friendly and will be happy to help you. If you have time on Tuesday night, check out the UA Calendar of Events and see what is scheduled. You’ll have an early start on Wed to make your noon flight. I thought Another Broken Egg Cafe opened at 6 am (which would be helpful), but the website says 7. Bummer. I like to recommend that place.
@makennacompton - Sorry! I should have picked up on that. We are huge college FB fans so we certainly understand the rivalry but I will admit that we can’t truly appreciate it! A large part of the draw to my DD is success of UA sports.
Here’s where you can find the events calendar: http://events.ua.edu/view/day/date/2016-03-28. It looks like you’ll be there for the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference. This is when students who are doing CBH, Emerging Scholars and other research do presentations. If research is something of interest to your daughter you might want to wander through.
Also: you somehow have to get the scoop on sororities, which are also negligible in the NE, but are the social focus of Southern universities. You have your tour and you don’t get a bead on how to run your daughter through sorority recruitment, she will suffer dearly. Somewhere in your area there must be a sorority advisor who could assist you in pulling together the resume and the letter of support that go into the various sororities before MAY (so that the sororities can examine all the candidate). Do not show up at UA wet behind the ears on this… Every other girl will have done this and been well coached by their Southern Moms who, when it comes to sorority recruitment, make the Asian Tiger Moms looks like kitties.
The main reason that we are staying two nights and taking a bit of time is to find out how a non-Greek would fare at UA. My DD has zero interest in a sorority. This is one of my worries. She is very social and at each school, she has specifically asked how boring the honors housing is (checking that they go gout at least once or twice a week). She is not a 24/7 studier and does not play video games. She goes out with friends, watches sporting events, plays tennis in the summer and skis in the winter. As a parent, I love the opportunities that Bama offers her in terms of academics and opportunities. However, if we visit and she gets the sense that you must be Greek or your social life suffers, she will not enroll.
RE: “you must be Greek or your social life suffers”
One way to test this proposition (vs. Administrators who will tell you that kids thrive at UA without being a member of a sorority) is to ask two simple questions: (1) what is the date by which all Fall sorority bids are made? and (2) what is the date for withdrawal from the university in the Fall for tuition refund? If the bid date is BEFORE the withdrawal date (for tuition obligation purposes), the you will know that the university is sorority-friendly, as a fair number of girls can (and do!!) drop out of the university without penalty if they don’t get a bid. If the university doesn’t like sororities, they will time tuition payment obligation (the withdrawal date) before the sorority bid date, as it sticks the no-bid girls with full Fall tuition if they get no bid.
In the South, sororities are so crucial that girls literally leave school if they don’t get a bid. Just be super aware of this fact, and be super aware that UA is among the most southern of southern universities when it comes to this process. You can get a good idea of a sorority looks like at UA in the infamous Alpha Phi video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l3J2LzoAjM
Good luck!
PhilaSkiMom: I know of MANY of successful, happy girls at UA who are NOT in sororities. Even though a lot of freshmen females rush (something like 60% of them last fall I believe), less than 40-45% of the women on that campus (overall) are in social sororities. And for ALL students, somewhere around 30-35% are social Greeks. As you have no doubt heard, the Greek scene is prominent and very noticeable. But there is a LOT more to UA than social Greek organizations/activities! If your daughter doesn’t feel she needs to instantly have 100 new “best friends” and she makes an effort to “get out there”, she will do great and find plenty of things to do! Have a great visit!
We just visited UA on Monday/Tuesday and arrived in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night. It was a great experience.
My suggestion is that you be very specific about what you want to see on the tour. Our recruiter did a fantastic job of organizing the specific areas we wanted to see: Co-op office, Eng Career Services, Honors College, Tour Engineering Facilities, meet with departmental professor, and campus tour.
We had a discussion with our ACE tour guide about Greek Life at UA. She is part of an engineering sorority and said that being part of a regular sorority while in engineering is not possible due to time commitment. She also said that most engineering students are not in the Greek System because of no time. She had a good perspective because she started as PR major (thinking law school) then changed to Business and eventually EE.
We had Sunday to go on campus and around town. Since your time is limited, I suggest you go to the Strip for dinner. We ate lunch at Steamers and it was great! New Orleans type food.
I would suggest you drive on campus Monday night to get your bearings and maybe print a campus map off ahead of time so you can understand the layout. University Boulevard was very beneficial as the central roadway thru campus. I never got lost while I was there as the streets/campus are very well laid out and with some nice markers, i.e. Bryant/Denny Stadium, Denny Chimes, Ferguson Center.
PhilaSkiMom, my daughter is a current senior at UA. She is NOT in a sorority. She had little interest in Greek life and did not go through recruitment. She is very happy with her social life at Alabama. She doesn’t go to fraternity parties, but she has plenty of friends with whom she hangs out or goes out on weekends. She has never once complained about her social life or expressed one bit of regret that she didn’t join a sorority. She did join a professional fraternity that has a social component, and she has enjoyed that. I know plenty of UA girls who are in sororities. Most love it, some are just OK with it, and a few have dropped out. I also know plenty of UA girls who are not in sororities, and they are quite happy at UA. There is a huge Greek presence on the Alabama campus, but you can have a great experience without being Greek, and the majority of students are not in fraternities and sororities.
While I don’t doubt that this was said, I don’t think it is true. While the percentage of engineering majors who are Greek is, I’m sure, lower than the general percentage of Greek students, there are engineering majors who are Greek. I personally know several engineering students who are in sororities, and a couple of them are heavily involved and hold significant leadership positions in their sororities.
My son is now in his fourth year at UA. He never had any interested in joining the Greek system and hasn’t struggled because of it. He has both friends that are Greek and those that are not.
As a male, especially in engineering, I don’t think he was even in the minority choosing not to be in the Greek system, however as a freshman he did say that it seemed like ALL the girls were in sororities. Although it’s not all, it is a significant percentage. However now as a 4th year student, many of the girls he knew that had been in sororities dropped out and now Id say he knows as many (if not more) girls that are not Greek as those he knows that are.
In my opinion it’s not essential to be involved in the Greek system, but definitely get involved in activities to meet others. If you look up ‘The Source’ on UA’s website that is the parent organization that manages all student organizations and you can search a list of all the groups that are registered on campus. There is literally a group for EVERY interest. If you’re worried about her meeting other like minded people, find some clubs/activities that seem like they might be a good fit and ask here or on one of the parents FB groups if your a member and someone can probably put you in touch with someone who is active in that organization.
@beth’s mom Maybe you know first hand differently. I posed the same question to our ACE tour guide, a freeing of hers that stopped by, and a student that worked in the Career Services office. The same general answer from all.
I did not say that no engineering students are Greek. What I said was is that the percentage is much lower than the general population.
Being greek is not all it is cracked up to be. It is time consuming, which can be a detriment to those who aspire to maintain a very high GPA. It can be extremely expensive, the costs for regular dues plus lots of extras can leave a student’s family feeling strapped. Some students opt out of greek life after their first year because of costs. Just as some people feel positively about the greek experience, there are those who feel negatively about the greek experience, therefore it is a personal decision based on finances and expectations.
There is about a two-thirds non-Greek population on campus and you can be assured that these students maintain an active social life. There are over 500+ organizations on campus for students to join. There is a very active Honors College social calendar. There are tons of sports related activities as well as musical events, theatre events and lectures. Your student will surely find many rewarding and enriching experiences on campus without going greek, so no worries there.
I am sincerely hoping that we have the same great experience as many others have voiced. I know that she will find her place. She is an EE major and it sounds like that will definitely help. Thank you all for your input! We are looking forward to our visit!