Early this fall we may be able to visit Alabama with our S18. It will probably have to be a Thursday.
From those who have taken them, is there any advise on scheduling tours to ensure meeting with representatives from the Honors College, or National Scholars program (if they have a distinct team)? Secondarily, it would be nice to meet with a faculty or two … except S18 is undecided /waffling and not so focused on what he really wants to study. Maybe a Math and/or Chemical Engineering faculty member, though I don’t want to waste their time.
We have visited a couple other schools with similar programs, but it seems they had a focal point on the admissions team for this. I may be missing it but I don’t see an obvious contact beyond the “schedule a visit” link, which I can use if that’s the method of choice …
Most colleges only offer the basic campus tour, and usually a meeting before hand that has students/ some faculty who are there to answer questions. As for honors college I’ve only heard of them offering specific tours after a student was accepted but this might vary for each college. What I would do is either call/ email them and they can assist you better and maybe even schedule something more personal, which is what you seem to be looking for.
If you contact the Honors College, they will plan a day for you. Just tell them with whom you’d like to meet. During our son’s visit, we did the regular campus tour, had an Honors College meeting, had lunch with Honors students, and met with the Assistant Dean of Mechanical Engineering.
Be as specific as you can be and they will bend over backwards to make the visit worth his while. Pretty sure we used the “Schedule a Visit” form and then they followed up with an email.
@DavidPuddy, it’s fine to call if you don’t hear back in a reasonable amount of time. I think a lot of UA employees may just be getting back from vacation.
@DavidPuddy we scheduled the Campus Tour first, then completed the Honors College Visit form. Within two days we received an email back from the Honors College with a schedule for the day of our visit, integrating the Campus Tour, a meeting with a department head and an Honors College info session. Our visit is in a few weeks, will be our first visit to UA,so will definitely report back!
If any students or families have recommendations on a good place to grab an early dinner and get a good sense of the student body, please share
In case it was not clear from @Meant2B above, there is an honors specific form which I I eventually located and submitted. Not sure why I could not find it when initially on the look out the first time …
We were able to do the Honors tour with lunch in the morning, the regular campus tour in the afternoon following by the add on sorority tour/info session all in one day! The Honors department organized the sorority tour, it was all seamless!
@DavidPuddy and all, back from our visit to UA…Observations:
Boy do they do a fabulous job making your kid feel wanted! The people are fabulous, warm and friendly.
Campus is gorgeous, dorms are the best we have ever toured (I only wish they offered for at least one more year). Greek housing (for those interested) is beautiful.
Facilities for everything are top notch, not just the academic buildings, but everything else too–the recreation centers, student center and dining facilities.
Honors college meeting was 1:1, informative, they truly want your child to leave UA as the best possible version of themselves and seek to help them discover what it takes to get there.
Academic session with a prof in your prospective major was awesome. Casual atmosphere, all questions welcomed…truly.
Overall, great experience and so very glad we did it. Soared from bottom to top of my child’s list.
Biggest concerns are logistics traveling from the northeast and lack of proximity to a city for concerts, sports events, dining, museums etc. Nothing UA can DO about those items, up to prospective students to be real with themselves about if they’re ok not coming home as much due to logistics and cost, and if being in the bubble of Tuscaloosa is something they cherish or would get bored by.
Time will tell if we will be Bama Bound…but UA sure found a place in our hearts. Roll Tide!
@DavidPuddy we are looking at the business school, so department visit was there. Our list of schools is long, but no, Oklahoma is not currently in scope for us.
Wishing you the best! Let us know how your UA visit goes!!
Hi @annamom. I’m not sure where you’re flying in from, or how long you need to get to and from the airport. We drove from OOS in the morning as UA was the first of a few college campus visits. We had a full day at UA planned. We had a 1pm tour, ran roughly 1 1/2 - 2 hours, followed by about a 20 minute group info session with an admissions counselor. We also had an honors college 1:1 session and a meeting with a department head. It was a long but thorough day.
Check the tour and info times on the website, with a morning tour you could be fine with an early evening flight. It’s a big campus, I’d allot 3-4 hours for tours, info and walking around, book store, observing the activity on the quad, between classes etc. That’s to get a total view.
