<p>Hi all,
My son just got a invitation to a Special Reception by the University of Alabama to be held here in Denver next month.
He is in line to be a NMSF so Alabama has been on our radar screen (thanks to all the info I have gotten from this great forum!)
Any idea what we’ll learn at this reception?
I’m excited to hear what they say, as is my son.
Can’t believe college is coming so quickly…!
Thanks!</p>
<p>When we went to one a couple of years ago, it was really nice - at a hotel with heavy hor d’oeurves and desserts.</p>
<p>When you first arrive and check in, the Alabama people (dept heads, honors college reps, etc) are kind of lined up to also greet the students.</p>
<p>There’s some time spent chatting with the Bama people until everyone arrives and then everyone is invited to sit down and listen to some people’s presentations.</p>
<p>There will mentions of what Bama has to offer - majors, scholarships, honors college, etc. </p>
<p>If Dr. Sharpe is there and your son is interested in applying for CBH (Dr. Sharpe likes NMFs), then be sure to speak to him either before or after the event.</p>
<p>When my regional recruiter was telling me about it, she said it was basically just a great way to learn a lot about the school and hear from and speak to lots of different people. I know at my reception even Dr. Witt (the President) will be there to speak.</p>
<p>Definitely go! Ours was held in the middle of exams last year, and I kind of joined this forum at that time to get input about whether he should go or not.</p>
<p>It was a great experience! It was at the local art museum. The food was wonderful. The Bama staff was informative and helpful. We had student speakers and faculty speakers, including Dr. Caldwell! </p>
<p>Best decision we ever made, to go to that reception. Don’t miss it!</p>
<p>We never had one for Alabama in our area, but we were to several other schools (namely, Washington U., Duke, various Ivies, the U. of Virginia). I do recommend going, because of the opportunity you have to learn more about the school and its offerings.</p>
<p>Definitely go. S was not really interested in going to one in our area (Bama was way down the list) but we felt it would help decide if we even wanted to include it in college visit list. After talking to Dean Sharpe, Dean Karr and the students present it moved way up in consideration. Not always the case, a couple of other ones we attended actually had the opposite result. We followed up with a visit in spring and he’s now a freshman and is very happy with his decision. I really recommend you attend this and any that are even slightly in consideration. A lot of times S couldn’t pinpoint what made him lean away or towards a school, “a gut feeling” and only the student can make that determination.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies. We’re really looking forward to this visit. We went to a KU reception that we were invited to and that was nice, but something about this seems it will be a little more personal–and holding it at a country club is pretty nice too!<br>
The more we read about UA the more it seems like a real possibility for us. Thanks again!</p>
<p>I think one thing Bama is great at is making your child feel wanted. These receptions are a great indicator of that. Enjoy!</p>
<p>How formal is this event? (I’m wondering what I should wear)</p>
<p>Not formal.</p>
<p>Young men often wear khaki pants and a nice polo. Girls just wear something cute.</p>
<p>Probably business casual is fine. Some dads come from work and are in suits but that’s not req’d.</p>
<p>All the profs will be in suits.</p>
<p>We received one for the Atlanta area. It’s being held at my job so that’s kind of interesting. All the years I’ve worked here and never knew that they had that kind of stuff going on. We plan on attending.</p>
<p>We received an invitation to one of these two years ago, during DD’s sophomore year. We ate a quick dinner before going, not realizing there would be enough heavy hors d’oeuvres and desserts to make a pretty good dinner! They had all sorts of literature about the school, tshirts, and several speakers. They had 4-5 students who all spoke about their college experience and about being part of the Capstone Men and Women. It was a very enjoyable evening.</p>
<p>We missed the dinner her junior year. The invitation never arrived (although her friend received hers), and the event conflicted with her orchestra rehearsal anyway.</p>
<p>The invitation arrived this year, and again it’s a conflict with rehearsal. So she will go to rehearsal and her dad and I will go to the reception. Ours is scheduled for September 27 at the Westin Hotel.</p>
<p>Ahhh…the one at the Westin…always very nice with lots of good food. :)</p>
<p>Very good food! I’m excited to go back! :)</p>
<p>Anybody heard of a reception in the Phoenix area?</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I don’t know of a list of cities (but Bama needs one!), but you could ask your area rep.</p>
<p>Our Honors Reception is listed on our Regional Recruiter’s page on the Bama website.</p>
<p>I looked on the page for the Arizona recruiter ([Brett</a> Jenkins - Undergraduate Admissions - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://gobama.ua.edu/staff/counselor.cfm?id=82]Brett”>http://gobama.ua.edu/staff/counselor.cfm?id=82)), and didn’t see anything listed.</p>
<p>Thanks, BamaMom2Be. Guess we will just have to work on it.</p>
<p>DD was originally planning to skip the honors reception in favor of attending her youth orchestra rehearsal. She realized today that both her best friend and her ex-boyfriend-still-very-good-friend are both attending the reception. Then she focused in on the word “dessert” in the title of the reception. Wonder of wonders: she’s now decided she’ll be attending the reception.</p>
<p>Good thing I sent back the RSVP indicating that 3 of us would be attending: DD, DH, and me. :)</p>