<p>We’re from Chicago’s western suburbs and our son will be attending Bama as a freshman in the fall. He is THRILLED (we attended U day in November and never looked back…).
Would love to connect with other parents of Bama students from the Chicago (or thereabouts) area…He is the first child will be sending to college (other than his twin brother who is headed to CO), so we have lots of questions.</p>
<p>We definitely “don’t know what we don’t know”.</p>
<p>Thanks y’all.</p>
<p>Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Hi there from frigid Naperville!
DS is a freshman - would be happy to fill you in on anything we learned! Roll Tide!</p>
<p>CTBM,
Welcome. We are from the East Coast. S will be a freshman next year. I know nothing however 
, well very little. We are from the East Coast. We are all very excited. This forum is a font of tremendous knowledge.</p>
<p>Roll Tide</p>
<p>ChiTownBoyzMom: Welcome to both you and your son. :)</p>
<p>To learn more about the university, just keep on reading the threads here. Look back to older threads -you will find them a fountain of knowledge. We are a very friendly group and look forward to answering any questions you have.</p>
<p>I am sure that your son will love it at Bama! Good luck to your other son as well.</p>
<p>I’m not from the Chicago area. But welcome to UA and Roll Tide!!</p>
<p>Lots of info can be garnered by reading back through old threads. And there are many great posters on here who would happily answer any specific questions you may have.</p>
<p>Roll Tide!!</p>
<p>Congrats!! And welcome!</p>
<p>If you have any questions, just ask!! :)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!
I don’t know what took me so long to find this forum (again…“I don’t know what I don’t know”) -
I’ll get started on the threads –
We are hoping to attend A Day – any suggestions for where to stay?</p>
<p>We stay at the Country Inn and Suites on McFarland…the price she quoted me was $139 for a King room. We have been very satisfied every time we have stayed there. There are lots of hotel to choose from in the area in a variety of price ranges. We just stayed here the first time we came down (well that’s not exactly true, we stayed at the Wyndham when my D took her initial tour but we decided to try something else…nothing wrong as I remember we just thought it was difficult to get to and from campus but we were lost most of the time :)…good news after having been to T-twn now 5 times we are no longer lost!)</p>
<p>D and H were at Bama visiting 2 weeks ago. I researched hotels and decided to book them at the Hampton Inn on Harper Lee right off McFarland, but by the time I got around to making the reservation, there was no room at the inn (Capstone Scholars weekend was also going on). So they stayed at the Fairfield Inn and were very pleased with it. I’d recommend not waiting too long to book, like I did, because it seems that if there’s anything going on, hotel rooms can go quickly.</p>
<p>We also are in Naperville. Our daughter is deciding between Alabama and South Carolina. We are waiting to hear about scholarships at USC before the final decision – but we are fairly sure the USC offer won’t be as good, so she most likely will be Bama Bound as well. Either way, she should be warmer than here.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Welcome to this forum!</p>
<p>As for the others who are asking for hotel recs…</p>
<p>Hampton Inn
Holiday Inn Express
Microtel
Wingate…but it’s a bit of a drive
Hotel Capstone…but only if you can get a decent rate…otherwise too much $$</p>
<p>Also from Chicago with a D whose is likely to be “Bama Bound.” When we attended Capstone Scholars Day, we stayed at the Wingate, which was very nice, but, as
mom2collegekids said, it was about a 20 minute drive.</p>
<p>Welcome! S is sophomore at UA. We are from Antioch (up on the WI border - not too far from Gurnee Mills) He LOVES it there. He is dating a girl that he met there and she’s from…Peoria! What are the chances? He has had a car there since day 1, but he has also flown home several times (leaving the car at a friend’s house) from 3 different aiports. Have handled every different packing and shipping scenario… 2 parent’s weekends, pledgeship, etc. If you have questions, there are lots for poeple here to help! </p>
<p>Lisa</p>
<p>PS Daughter refused University of South Carolina because she thought the dorms were -