<p>My son returned from the CBHP overnight and truly loves U of A. He is from up north with his only southern experience being Disneyworld, so this was a big surprise! He originally applied because it was offering a full ride for NMF. Now I am scrambling to get a better understanding of this school. First I want to make sure he has his room deposit down and was hoping someone would give their point of view of the different room options between Riverside west,Lakeside West, Ridgecrest North or West. He did not get a chance to see any insides of dorms as his visit was very short. I have seen the website and Riverside west looks amazing.(he would feel right at home with einstein bagels there too) Is it the best choice?
Second, I wanted to know if the “love” he says he received from all the “top dogs” at the CBHP Session is genuine. In other words do the professors and deans continue to be as accessible and interested in honor students once recruitment is over and school is in session? Third question refers to FA. I will call the school, but wanted some background first so I am not caught off guard. He was offered their NMF “Package” , also given a 2500 engineering and 19,200 presidential award. What I am trying to figure out is what will not be covered. For example, are the meal plan and honors housing, books, health or registration fees covered? We have and EFC of 0 and are eligilble for the full pell grant and small OOS state grant. Will this be separate from merit aid? Lastly(thanks if you have read this far) I was curious what the fellowship was and what it offers exactly. He was not offered to interview for that. I am not sure why? I think his stats were high enough 1520/1600 SAT 1 and 800,790,770 SAT ll’s and 3.93 uwGPA/4.93 wGPA. Any insights? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I’ll try to help with the only thing I can,haha…</p>
<p>As far as honors dorms go, the newer the better. So, Ridgecrest>Lakeside>Riverside. Not a big fan of Ridgecrest South to be honest, but you really can’t go wrong with any of them.</p>
<p>Thanks ABR 1190. Son tells me that there is a residence hall that has underground parking. Do you know which one that is?</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>*First I want to make sure he has his room deposit down and was hoping someone would give their point of view of the different room options between Riverside west,Lakeside West, Ridgecrest North or West. He did not get a chance to see any insides of dorms as his visit was very short. I have seen the website and Riverside west looks amazing.(he would feel right at home with einstein bagels there too) Is it the best choice? *</p>
<p>I have a younger son who is in Ridgecrest South, and he really likes it. Next year he’ll be in Riverside. </p>
<p>Ridgecrest South has the underground parking.</p>
<p>I have an older son who has been in Riverside West and Lakeside. He’s liked both of them. Next year he’ll be in The Bluff. He’s in CBHP.</p>
<p>You really can’t go wrong with any of them. Look at the webpage for each of the honors dorms and watch the videos or look at the pics. </p>
<p>Sometimes, students choose based on where their likely classes will be. You can PM me with any questions.</p>
<p>* Second, I wanted to know if the “love” he says he received from all the “top dogs” at the CBHP Session is genuine. In other words do the professors and deans continue to be as accessible and interested in honor students once recruitment is over and school is in session? *</p>
<p>Yes, people like Dr. Sharpe, etc, are very hands-on with their students. Dr. Sharpe has 4 sons of his own and is super caring about the students. Mrs. Batson has 5 children (I think) many who went thru CBH (Mrs B also went thru CBH) and she’s like the “mom” of CBH. Dr. Halli, altho technically “retired,” still is active within the Honors program and works to help students with their research, awards, etc.</p>
<p>Third question refers to FA. I will call the school, but wanted some background first so I am not caught off guard. He was offered their NMF “Package” , also given a 2500 engineering and 19,200 presidential award. What I am trying to figure out is what will not be covered. For example, are the meal plan and honors housing, books, health or registration fees covered?</p>
<p>Honors housing is covered with the NMF scholarship as long as he’s in a 4 bedroom suite (which nearly all are 4 bedroom suites - so no problem there). Meal plan, books, and course fees are not covered. But, if he gets $1k from NMF pkg and $2500 from Engineering, that will cover much of that. Below, I’ll address the rest.</p>
<p>We have and EFC of 0 and are eligilble for the full pell grant and small OOS state grant. Will this be separate from merit aid?</p>
<p>Your son should still be awarded full Pell of $5350 per year, which will cover whatever food is not covered, transportation, and course fees. There isn’t a mandatory health insurance charge. Will your son be covered by your family plan? </p>
<p>Since the “full COA” that Bama lists for OOS students is generous, you should get the max of any free fed aid that you qualify for. Your son could even be awarded some work study. If not, he can get apply to be a campus tutor. I can tell you more about that if interested.</p>
<p>Lastly(thanks if you have read this far) I was curious what the fellowship was and what it offers exactly. He was not offered to interview for that. I am not sure why? I think his stats were high enough 1520/1600 SAT 1 and 800,790,770 SAT ll’s and 3.93 uwGPA/4.93 wGPA. Any insights? Thanks in advance!*</p>
<p>Did your son apply for Fellows? It was a separate application process like the CBH application process.</p>
<p>ABR - what do you not like about ridgecrest south?</p>
<p>Yes, please, pros and cons of all will be most appreciated. We liked Ridgecrest South for the model room and the meeting rooms, et al, but son liked the location of Riverside, although didn’t get to see inside any rooms.</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up on the scholarship not covering two bedrooms. We’d rather son not be in a two bedroom and this will dissuade him from pursuing that. </p>
<p>For the OP, welcome! We are all learning together. At my info session on Monday, I got a flyer with transportation info to and from Tuscaloosa. Names and phone numbers of airlines, shuttles, bus lines, train lines, lots of info. Call the admissions office for a copy, or if you want me to look something up for you, I’ll be glad to. As we like flying into Birmingham rather than driving five hours, I hope to take advantage of the campus shuttle at break times and perhaps Birmingham Door to Door for homesick/birthday visits. </p>
<p>As for being from out of the south, my tour on Monday included all OOS, including people from Delaware and Connecticut and even Milwaukee. </p>
<p>Best of luck to your son on CBHP. My son really enjoyed the weekend as well.</p>
<p>See you next year on campus!</p>
<p>*
Thanks for the heads up on the scholarship not covering two bedrooms.*</p>
<p>Not normally. However, there have been cases when they have let NMF kids have those spots without extra charge when they ran out of 4 bedroom units. I don’t know if that will happen now that Ridgecrest South is complete. But, maybe so. They’re still using The Bluff, and Bama didn’t think they would still need to…but, they do.</p>
<p>Incidentally, the Einstein Bros in Riverside closed a year or so ago.</p>
<p>I thought it had. I wonder what’s going to go in there.</p>
<p>To…Almost Forgot…</p>
<p>Lakeside Dining Hall, which is very close to Riverside housing, is likely where your son will eat many meals. </p>
<p>I think Einstein Bagels had a hard time competing with Lakeside Dining and Lakeside Lattes once it opened.</p>
<p>[Full</a> Campus Map - The University of Alabama](<a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama)</p>
<p>If you look around D-7, you’ll see building #2267, that’s Lakeside Dining. </p>
<p>If you look at D-6, you’ll see some buildings built kind of in an oval, that’s Riverside Residential. The pool is about where the #2264 is located.</p>
<p>So, you can see that one of the dining halls is very close to honors housing.</p>
<p>The other honors res halls are around Palmer Lake and #2271</p>
<p>[Interactive</a> Campus Map - The University of Alabama](<a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama)</p>
<p>Here’s another helpful map that you can zoom in and use your mouse to point to a bubble and it will tell you the names of building and such.</p>
<p>I didn’t really like Ridgecrest South because wheneverI go over to my friend’s room over there, it just felt like I was walking into a closet compared to my room in Ridgecrest West. I actually like the layout more, it makes more sense, but it just felt a little more cramped to me. Just my personal opinion.</p>
<p>Lots of great information. Thanks to all. So just to clarify, Ridgecrest South is honors? And that is the one with the built in parking garage. I personally would go for the bigger room and pool, but my son is all about cars.</p>
<p>The North part of Ridgecrest South is honors, the other side is not. And yes it is, but anyone who lives at any of the Ridgecrests can park there as well as Lakesiders on the bottom level.</p>
<p>First off, I’m sure the “love” your son received from CBHP was genuine. The students I know that are in CBHP were posting facebook statuses for the past week saying that they were so excited to meet the candidates. Today in class, they couldn’t stop talking about how great the candidates are.</p>
<p>m2ck is correct that you should get the entire Pell Grant and the OOS grant from your state and use it to pay for food, course fees, books, and any incidental/travel costs. I like the Ridgecrest buildings because they are closer to my classes (business major). I like South, but I like the smaller buildings (East and West) because they aren’t so big and busy. Really, any of the honors dorms are great and the non-honors ones are too, it’s just not fair to compare the newer dorms to the more traditional ones, IMHO. I’m really glad your son enjoyed his visit and hopefully he will be selected for CBHP. Don’t hesitate to ask us any more questions you may have, be it via PM or posting. Roll Tide!</p>
<p>As for the private rooms sometimes feeling cramped. </p>
<p>I’ve been in at least 19 different honors rooms in several different buildings and a lot depends on how the student lays out his furniture when he first arrives.</p>
<p>Some kids just leave the furniture the way it comes…often that’s a mistake because when the clean up crew comes thru after the students leave in May, furniture is just “set anywhere” or shoved aside while cleaning without any thought of logistics or practical use.</p>
<p>If a student (and parent…LOL) takes a minute or two upon arrival (before carrying stuff in to the room) and looks over the room and decides the most efficient way to place the furniture, it makes a huge difference in “visual empty space.” Placing the bed in the right place is probably the most important - since it’s the biggest piece.</p>
<p>The beds are loft-able, which allows the chest of drawers to be placed underneath if desired…and to allow for more floor space. The placement of the desk and printer table (or whatever that smaller piece is called), can then be placed in a more efficient spot.</p>
<p>Once you know your room assignment (A, B, C, or D), you can go online an idea of how the room is…where the door is, where the closet is, etc (keep in mind, the floorplan may be a mirror-image - reversed). Also, keep in mind that the floorplans online are actually distorted (which is obvious when you look at them), but you can still get an idea. Room sizes might be included. The rooms are approx 100 square feet, but each can be a bit different because of layout.</p>
<p>AlmostForgot: Welcome & glad to hear your son liked UA. My D is a NMF and will be a freshman in the fall; we are currently in TN but are NJ natives. We love it here & D really loves UA.</p>
<p>Re: what isn’t covered. As far as we can tell, the meal plan and books are the only big ticket items not covered, but the $1000/year stipend will help with that. Don’t forget that he will also receive a nice quality laptop as part of the NMF package too. Plus $2000 for study abroad or research. Travel back and forth and incidentals will need to be budgeted for also.</p>
<p>You mentioned your son would have a car as well. You’ll have to factor in the cost of a parking decal and gas and travel to and from school and home with the car. Amtrak does run out of Tuscaloosa and it may be the same line that runs up to the northeast. I know it’s long, but just trying to help you out with budget concerns. Southwest does fly into and out of Birmingham, and their wanna get away fares are very low if you catch them early, and even better, are transferrable if you need to cancel.</p>
<p>Fingers crossed, but I think AlmostForgot’s son’s funding should be OK…</p>
<p>Per year…
Tuition: covered by Presidential
Housing: covered by NMF
Books: covered by $1,000 stipend</p>
<p>Engineering scholarship… 2,500</p>
<h2>Pell… 5,500</h2>
<p>Total…$8,000</p>
<p>Meal plan & Dining Dollars…$3100 (Unused Dining Dollars can be refunded after May)
course fees…$600
Parking decal…$250</p>
<h2>OOS Transportation…$1615</h2>
<p>Total…$5565 (meal plan can be lower after frosh year)</p>
<p>That leaves about $2500 for misc expenses (not counting OOS grant).</p>
<p>Unknown OOS grant…? (how much is this?)</p>
<p>Does that look right to you?</p>
<p>Wow thanks for all the information. Your detailed responses are so helpful. Now I know where to come with any questions. I’ll be sure to update you if he gets the CBHP. He did say Dean Sharpe came up to him during lunch to tell him he wanted him in the program.So that sounds good.</p>