Arranging a site visit? Planning advice, please

<p>I will be arranging a site visit for my daughter in October. </p>

<p>We are (far) out of state, and so this will likely be the one visit to UA (unless there is some special thing for some competitive scholarship or whatever, or if she really needs a second visit later to make a final decision), so I want to make the most of this visit. </p>

<p>This will be her senior year, and she will be a NMF, so the big scholarships are appealing. She is a smart cookie and a great girl. She’s also been homeschooled, but she is not a stereotypical conservative homeschooler, as we are not those sorts of homeschoolers ourselves. (We’re more liberal and academic than not.)</p>

<p>She is our eldest child, so this is our first time through this process. </p>

<p>The scholarships are appealing, as is the honors program and the overall offerings (engineering, music, math). </p>

<p>I’d like to know what honors programs (computer based? university fellows? other?) we should inquire about. My daughter should be competitive for anything, so I want to make sure I know about things in time for application/etc.</p>

<p>She is interested in engineering or math. Possibly biomedical engineering for grad school. She’s also a great writer and musician, so who on earth knows what she’ll actually end up choosing. (Another advantage of a big university with lots of choices!)</p>

<p>Also, she is a musician, and she will want to arrange a test lesson with the professor of her instrument (harp), so scheduling the visit when the professor is available will obviously require contact with the professor before nailing down dates (we have some flexibility on dates). (She isn’t planning to major in music, but she would like to play regularly and with orchestra/ensemble/etc. and take lessons, etc. while she likely continues to perform professionally to some degree.) We could contact her directly via email, or should we go through the recruiter/dean/whatever to arrange for that? Which would be better? Or, should we ask her current (online out of state) harp teacher to make the first contact? Or just ask that teacher for advice?</p>

<p>OK, so, all that to say that we will be in north Florida for 3 weeks in the fall, so I want to take the opportunity to take her to Tuscaloosa for a day or two to get in a fun and productive visit. What do you advise would be the best process to arrange a productive visit?</p>

<p>Any and all advice of who to contact, what to ask about, and what we should see would be appreciated!!</p>

<p>Also, hotel recommendations and fun restaurant choices near campus would also be helpful. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!!</p>

<p>Hi and welcome!</p>

<p>first of all, you will want to avoid visiting the weekend of Oct 18 because that is a home-game weekend and no decent lodging is available or reasonably priced. You could arrive that Sunday and tour Monday…prices and availability should be ok then. </p>

<p>you won’t want to tour on a weekend anyway because faculty aren’t around to meet.</p>

<p>for your music questions, you can contact the appropriate prof.</p>

<p>she sounds like she should apply to both UFE and CBH if both interest her…there are some who do both. Of course, she should first apply to UHP, which she automatically qualifies for based on stats. </p>

<p>set up your campus tour as soon as you know your visit date…try for an early morning time! </p>

<p>In the email include:</p>

<p>Student’s name and contact info</p>

<p>Date and time of the Campus tour that you’ve reserved.</p>

<p>GPA and test scores (include likely NMSF )</p>

<p>Likely majors*</p>

<p>Career interests (including med, law, etc)</p>

<p>Anything particular that you want to see. *If you have an interest in seeing the new Science and Engineering Complex, let them know.</p>

<p>Honors Recruitment</p>

<p>Susan Alley
Assistant Coordinator
270 Nott Hall
205-348-5599
<a href=“mailto:susan.alley@ua.edu”>susan.alley@ua.edu</a></p>

<p>Neil Adams
<a href=“mailto:neil.adams@ua.edu”>neil.adams@ua.edu</a></p>

<p>Susan and her assistant will arrange the rest of the day…meeting with faculty, honors people, touring honors dorms, etc.</p>

<p>Sometimes mail goes to their SPAM folders, so call them if you haven’t heard back within a few business days. These people do an excellent job and work very hard.</p>

<p>for lodging and restaurant recommendations …</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1570297-bama-hotel-guide.html#post16515987”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1570297-bama-hotel-guide.html#post16515987&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It sounds like you will have your family with you for this visit. If so, then a condo rental may provide the space/beds you need. (disclosure: I own two of these in Tuscaloosa. PM me if interested.) <a href=“Tuscaloosa, AL Vacation Rentals: house rentals & more | Vrbo”>Tuscaloosa, AL Vacation Rentals: house rentals & more | Vrbo;

<p>restaurants
<a href=“Bama area Restaurant Guide - University of Alabama - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1156069-bama-area-restaurant-guide-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>@mmom99, my son will be attending UA this fall on a Presidential scholarship Honors EE with a 5th year MBA likely. He was the Band Captain for the State of Florida Marching band champions Pace High School out of the Pensacola area last fall, and an avid sax player.</p>

<p>I will tell you that the music facility itself is incredible. We visited last Fall on a Sunday morning, completely un-scheduled. There was no way UA would make my son’s short list and we were basically just passing through town. We happened upon the building and a guy was loading gear in a trailer for an off site performance that day. When we asked if we could take a peek around, he proceeding to drop everything and give us a complete tour for over an hour, unlocking doors along the way (turns out he was a faculty member). He could not have been friendlier nor more helpful. His daughter was a student there too.</p>

<p>Turns out that amazing hospitality was typical with every visit we made to UA, all 4 of them. We visited over 8 schools on formal visits, accepted to a variety of larger southern schools, and had over 300K in scholarship offers (but by no means a NMF, congrats by the way) and could find anything that beat UA for quality, tradition, value, and in particular the facilities. The Honors program is the “school within the school” that we felt could give him the best opportunity for success…a herd to run with, away from the general population with its own dorms, labs, and faculty. </p>

<p>Once we got past the initial apprehension and really took a good look, it was the perfect fit. And we believe that UA is paying huge sums of scholarship $ to change how the university is perceived academically. The STEM programs at UA are on the rise and with a Presidential Scholarship, free is a good price. Enjoy your visit!</p>

<p>Hi mmom99,</p>

<p>My ds was accepted into CBHP this yr. He is so excited about the opportunities through the program that he didn’t even consider any other options. CBHP is focused on research. Ds lives and breathes research and plans on pursuing a phD physics. Being able to engage in undergrad research was a top priority for him. So if your dd wants research, definitely apply.</p>

<p>Fwiw, our ds was also homeschooled and there was at least one other homeschooler at the finalist weekend.</p>

<p>UFE is more leadership focused. It depends on her interests. Spend some time reading the site about the program.</p>

<p>My daughter is also way out of state and she LOVES UA. She does not regret her decision in the least.</p>