Hi y’all, I’m really considering Alabama as one of my top choices because of the Presidential Scholarship there. I’ve been admitted, and I’m wondering how quickly I should go to sign up for housing considering I’m not 100% sure that I’ll go. Can I wait on answers from my EA schools (so early January) before I bother to sign up and still feasibly get a suite style room like I hoped in pres or the ridgecrests?
If you wait until spring, @njk1999, I wouldn’t count on getting a room in suite-style housing unless another student “pulls” you into their apartment.
Students face this challenge every year (mine did for sure). If you can’t bear the thought of a traditional dorm, I’d go ahead and accept your offer of admission (a prerequisite for paying for housing) and put down a housing deposit.
If you get into an EA school, you’d just have to withdraw your acceptance and lose your enrollment fee, but I believe much of the housing deposit is refundable if you do it early enough. There are many threads related to this over the years if you want to try using the search engine in this forum.
Admitted students should have received an email from admissions outlining registration and housing procedure.
It includes the following:
Your next step, the Freshman Enrollment Deposit: This is a non-refundable $200 fee that must be paid before registering for housing or orientation. Please know that this fee counts as a pre-payment toward Fall 2017 tuition, and it is your son or daughter’s opportunity to secure their spot in the freshman class!
Housing at UA: UA requires first-year students to live on campus, and those who complete the housing contract by February 1st will be able to select a residence hall and specific room later in the spring. The contract does include a $300 deposit, however all but $25 is refundable if the contract is cancelled by May 1, 2017.
If you want to have some choice in which dorm you live freshman year at UA I would recommend putting down the enrollment and housing deposits as soon as possible. $225 is nonrefundable if you choose not to attend.
Two years ago my son put down his deposit in January and was lucky to find a roommate to pull him in to Ridgecrest South suites. Keep in mind, the freshman class size has increased the past few years without the addition of new dorms. You will be guaranteed a dorm room as a freshman but it may not be your first choice if you don’t make a deposit soon.
Yes, the freshman class has increased, and I know my son’s freshmen year, he had a few friends who ended up in the traditional dorms and weren’t too happy.
Since then, housing has changed in that freshmen can no longer re-contract for dorms, except for very specific circumstances. So more dorms available, but I think the preferred ones will still be tough without paying the early deposit.
One thing I liked about Bama is the availability of off campus housing. Plenty of housing available at different price points.
My son got in RCW and really likes it. Not as big as RCS. Roomates pulled each other in. My son did not officially decide on UA until Feb and applied to housing than. He had his roomates lined up from UA housing site - roommate finder. The earliest to have applied to housing gets first choice and they pull each other in.
They have now changed the pull in option to only “one” pull in per student.
So one early qualifier can now only pull in 1 person who may not have qualified for early selection.
I have heard the same thing…my D has 3 friends and they want to be in a quad suite. I am worried now that it will not work out since she has the earliest deposit in and that was not until Dec. 2nd… If she even can select a quad and pull one girl in what are the chances of the other 2 being able to select that room when their selection time comes… she will be calling housing when they open again after the holidays to see exactly what the new process means.
@shelleyr25 As this is a new procedure, no one knows how it will all turn out w/ the quad situation.
I will say, DS did not have first selection day, and though he only had one pull in, there were a lot of doubles available, They just all weren’t available in his original choice. I think a lot of the kids tend to want Ridgecrest South, so he went with RC East, I actually made him pick another room because the first one had guys who planned on joining fraternities.
He ended up in RCW, which seemed to have the most options when he signed up. Even if they don’t get into a quad together, if they can be near each other; there can be a group of 8 friends already. Anything can happen, so if they are prepared to be flexible, they will do OK.
If they are on the FB page for their year, maybe see where most of the kids there are planning on choosing and go to a different one?
No matter what, it generally works out. I was soooo worried about this w/ DS, though he didn’t seem to care all that much, and he ended up with a terrific group of guys, They all became friends and plan on living together off campus as well.
@laralei I think she is just nervous because it is her and a friend from home that connected with 2 other girls in the group me sorority chat. They are really taking the time to get to know each other and even planning on meeting up in NYC soon. I think they will be super disappointed if they can not get a quad together. I had been hoping that she would connect with someone with either the same, or an earlier deposit date, but that is not what happened. I told her she needs to be prepared for the fact that her and her one pull-in (friend from home) just may end up in a double somewhere. I am sure it will work out fine, she makes friends easily and I know it will all work out.