<p>I will look into the co-ops. I’ve heard of them but I always have seen myself as a traditional student. </p>
<p>Anyway isn’t it kind of sad that I have to come up with ways just to pay for room and board? I can’t imagine trying to pay tuition and r&b. </p>
<p>Originally I was dead set on going to another school but realized I would be much less in debt going to bama. And it’s basically the same type of school too (mizzou). </p>
<p>I’m so glad that the campus sounds so beautiful. I can’t wait to see it for myself!</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for the info on the meal plan! Are there any all-you-can-eat dining halls? Or do you like get a certain amount for each meal? </p>
<p>Anyway i am not familiar with the mallet assembly. What’s that?</p>
<p>I thought the dining halls were kind of “all you can eat”. My D and I just found out the other day that you can take food “to go” from the dining halls. You can go in and load up and leave with it. Then you basically have 2 meals and snack in one. D was complaining about not having fresh fruit at the ready in her room and we were told that when she went to the dining halls she could eat and pack up some fruit to go. I had already gone to the store and stocked up her fridge with fresh fruit. Oh well, now we know.</p>
<p>i have always thought of co-ops as strange, too. that just wasn’t/isn’t the norm around here.</p>
<p>with a co-op, you are still a traditional student, you just have semesters at school and semesters working. it makes tons of sense for the student who is having to pay his/her own way through school (especially someone in a higher paying field like business or engineering).</p>
<p>Tx: to me all-you-can-eat is like, oh hey I want to get some pizza after eating that burger. And you just walk up and get it and sit back down. </p>
<p>About the co-ops: I will definitely look into it. Obviously I will still have some time to consider in the future haha. Thank you for all of the info.</p>
<p>The only dining hall at UA that I have been in is the Fresh Foods. There was an entrance to pay and after that it was stations you could go up to as often as you like and this one first and another second. Pretty much all you can eat and from all different stations.</p>
<p>Yep, all dining halls are “all you can eat”. Pay one swipe and you are good to go. </p>
<p>Freshmen are on the required UNLIMITED food plan so go ahead and swipe for a drink, a meal, a snack, some food to go, some milk and cereal for the dorm, some fruit for the dorm, some cookies for a snack, another meal, or a late night breakfast. You want to swipe ten times in a day…go ahead, the plan is truly unlimited. Just watch out for those “freshmen fifteen”. :)</p>
<p>I suppose, if you absolutely hate to cook, won’t shop, and want an all you can eat meal plan, you could always take the “unlimited” plan after freshman year, but I am betting that you will not. Most sophomores will switch to a smaller plan and supplement with off campus eating or food shopping. There are still ways to maximize your food plan swipes. There is no time limit, so if you want to bring books to study, you could in reality swipe once for a meal, eat all you want, study for a while, have desert, study, have a second meal and leave. This works well if you are a grazer ( you like smaller meals spaced apart) or you are a growing guy with a big appetite.</p>
<p>The only meal that will cost more is dinner at Bryant (where the athletes eat) there is a surcharge for eating dinner there, so it costs a swipe and some additional $. Avoid that dining hall for dinner if you need to save money. This surcharge will be applied to any meal swipe (even the unlimited plan) and will be charged against your dining dollars on your Act card. You can, however eat lunch there on just one swipe.</p>
<p>Txnewcollegemom, the takeout container is a great way to stock up on fruit for the dorm! It will hold a couple of oranges, 2-3 apples, 2 bananas, 2-3 plums and 3 kiwi. DD does this almost Sunday and fills up a large to go cup with milk. She also gets fresh veggies from the salad bar to use during the week when she cooks. Saves on trips to Publix.</p>
<p>As I am reading this my D sent my a pic of her lunch plate at the sorority house. Looked good. A ham/turkey wrap, pasta salad, fresh strawberries and grapes and a boiled egg. Looked really good and healthy :)</p>
<p>Just got my scholarship letter in the mail today! No motivation for school anymore. How low would my grades have to be for them to rescind my acceptance haha?</p>
<p>Nickm56: Why would you want to blow it now??? Don’t slack off and get into bad habits. You will need to keep on learning in order to be successful in college. Your college classes will be challenging and your classmates will be bright. You don’t want to lose any momentum. Don’t succumb to senioritis.</p>
<p>My Son might go to UA also if some other high reach schools dont beat the UAs Financial pkg… He from IL West Suburbs of Chicago and most probably will end up in Sophomore due to AP credits he accumulated so far. We doing the same MATH as you are and trying to see how he can graduate with as less DEBT as possible. </p>
<p>I just find out he can get xtra $1000 per yr because of Me being a UA Graduate.</p>
<p>If you dont want to follow co-op then look into Work Study program during semester and in summer those can generate good amount of $$$.
Also see if you can get some Federal Grants, they are mostly due after graduation and few of them has low Interest rate.</p>
<p>I think the campus is exceptionally beautiful. Congrats on the scholarship Nick. It sounds like a great plan you have. I think it is so smart to take every advantage given to you</p>
<p>I went to a big state school in Central Illinois…( where I see you are from) trust me…you will be blown away by the campus. It is the best mix of beautiful old historical buildings, and brand new state of the art…towering trees and huge expanses of open lawns…</p>
<p>It gets very hot, but not that different from the oven Central Illinois can be in August!</p>
<p>We now live in Georgia, but there are lots of Illinois kids at Bama, including my daughter’s roommate.</p>
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