<p>big10aj - Did they feed you? Enough not to have dinner beforehand?</p>
<p>Class2012Mom - I think I just have abysmal timing, because when D and I went through the food line most everything was empty. I’m sure they refilled the trays, but once we sat down we didn’t go back to the food. I saw a veggie tray, something that resembled quiche (but I don’t think it was - it was almost empty so hard to tell) and then 2 or 3 empty serving dishes. There was also a big dessert spread on a separate table. I ended up not having anything and D had a cookie. If we’d been hungry we could have waited for food and I’m sure it would have been substantial enough to serve as dinner. I’m guessing they had a bigger crowd than they anticipated, because they also ran out of t-shirts. Dr. Carr’s speech was fantastic and I thought the current student and the parent of a student did a great job also. The only bad part was it took us almost 90 minutes in ugly rush hour traffic to get there - in retrospect we should have gone to Milwaukee.</p>
<p>Was there to help and I had a great time! Amazing how the size of the reception has grown in two years. Met some really cool alumni and a very interesting Masters and PhD grad from DSs major. Hearing Dean Carr’s speech made me fall in love with Bama all over again :)</p>
<p>AL34 - wasn’t Dr. Carr great? My D remarked that she could tell from listening to him speak that he must be a wonderful teacher.</p>
<p>My wife, DD and I thought it was a great presentation - all three speakers were very good. Dean Carr’s talk was probably the best college recruiting speech I’ve heard-and this is our second kid so I’ve heard plenty of them. He spoke for almost a half hour without a script. He was insight and informative, but injected plenty of humor. Bethany spent several minutes with my DD discussing the Honors program. We will definitely be visiting the campus this spring.</p>
<p>Thanks, Beth’s Mom. We are going to Milwaukee tomorrow so I am was wondering about the food. We are in IL but far north suburbs. Really wanted to meet the Chicago people but knew it would take at least 2 hours to get to Lombard and I thought it would ruin what I hope is a good experience.</p>
<p>*On the way home from the reception, my parents are very impressed. It kind of helps that we got a surprise scholarship letter in the mail (I haven’t applied for scholarships yet) from bama right before the reception. The reception was well worth blowing off homework, roll tide! *</p>
<p>Be sure to submit the scholarship app. Did the letter mention that you need to submit? Also, if you’re a engineering or comp sci major, you need to submit the app for that scholarship (it’s the same app, but must be submitted.)</p>
<p>Beth’s mom, as you know we are from the Northern burbs too. We left home at 5:30 and arrived at the Westin at 6:30. Traffic was slow from O’Hare to I-88 but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. You must have left after we did to have an hour and a half trip. Bummer!</p>
<p>The food was good but not substantial enough for dinner. They had a crudite platter, a hot artichoke dip with bread crisps, fried macaroni and cheese balls, fried panko coated chicken on skewers, tiny fire roasted vegetable bruschetta, and bite size pannini sandwiches. No complaints from us because we weren’t there for the food.</p>
<p>Dean Carr was tremendous. He made a huge impression on my son. He was charming, funny, and sincere. Carr said that UA doesn’t just recruit great students, it recruits great people. That statement had a big impact on my son. </p>
<p>The student UA brought in was a nice kid and my son liked him because he “seemed liked the kind of kid I’d hang out with.”</p>
<p>The dad who spoke was great. He began his speech with humor and I’m sure he reassured a lot of people about sending their kids to a Southern school. He didn’t need to reassure me, I love the South and can’t wait for my boy to be entrenched in the traditions and graciousness that part of the country has to offer him.</p>
<p>I agree with every one above. What a great night! Met and spoke with lots of Alumni. It was great to talk to alumni who were grad students vs undergrad. So interesting that they all stressed how easy it was to assimiliate and how welcome they felt. </p>
<p>DD spoke to the student who was the speaker for about 15 minutes as they have similiar majors and he is in IC, which DD is really intersted in. VERY helpful to talk to those from this area who have had amazing experiences in Alabama. </p>
<p>Food was so good. It was very crowded and Rick Funk told me that a couple of years ago they had 20 students there! Wow what a change!</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me how the long these receptions typically last?</p>
<p>It started pretty close to on time…just a little after 7 as they were trying to find tables and chairs for all the extra people that came. The talk was over with by about 8:05pm. So just about an hour. Then people stayed if they wanted to talk to speakers or Alumni or students. We got there early and had enough time to talk to several alumni and students.</p>
<p>Thanks. A friend recommended a burger place 2 miles from the hotel to my son. He wants to stop there on the way home if he’s still hungry. Always good to have a plan. If anyone is interested, it’s [Welcome</a> to Sobelman’s Pub & Grill: Home of Milwaukee’s Best Hamburgers!](<a href=“http://www.milwaukeesbestburgers.com/about.html]Welcome”>http://www.milwaukeesbestburgers.com/about.html)</p>
<p>*It was very crowded and Rick Funk told me that a couple of years ago they had 20 students there! *</p>
<p>Amazing!! Wow!</p>
<p>So excited for all of you that attended, and the news that Alabama interest is HIGH in Chicagoland! Anyone that has any questions, feel free to PM me anytime. My D is a NMF current freshman and we are from the Northern burbs. RTR!!!</p>
<p>We attended last night and were very impressed with how excited and committed the speakers and advisors were. It felt like attending a session for a perstigious LAC, not for a large state flagship. </p>
<p>Thanks to those who provided the Milwaukee session info - we would have missed this great opportunity without it! D came away very impressed with everything she heard. She was hoping to talk to a faculty member (Dr. Carr had been part of the Chicago session), but the advisor turned out to be for the engineering school, so D got great info from a reliable source.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Another Chicago area parent here with a NMF freshman at UA. It seems that the interest in UA just keeps growing in the Chicago area (we had 4 from my son’s HS start at UA this year). I wish that UA would have been on our radar screen as early as it has appeared on some of yours. Would have saved us some (maybe a lot ;)) of stress and time looking at and applying to other schools. We visited many of the top colleges in the U.S. and I am convinced that our son started this year with better opportunities for his desired academic/career path (PHD researcher focused on genetics and aging) than he would have had at any other college we visited. The faculty and staff at UA are great and go out of their way to be helpful. I am very glad that UA eventually ended up on our radar screen. </p>
<p>Like DadILD, feel free to PM me with any questions you may have.</p>
<p>I just called the Hyatt in Milwaukee, listed as the location for tonight’s reception, talked to several managers. The event is not going to be there. Help! Anyone know the true location? I seem to remember something about a cultural center. Thanks.</p>
<p>This is what someone posted on the other thread:</p>
<p>“Anyone else going tonight? The reception is in the Pilot House - top floor, 360 degree view.”</p>
<p>Here is the link to the thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1398346-milwaukee-area-special-recruiting-reception.html#post14929255[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1398346-milwaukee-area-special-recruiting-reception.html#post14929255</a></p>