I know in years past living in Honors Dorms was recommended if you wanted to stay on campus sophomore year. Since that is no longer an option can someone speak to if there is any benefit of one dorm over the other. S is interested in Bryant for engineering study groups, finding classmates studying similar courses but also likes the idea of being in Honors housing. S tends to be shy and introverted initially and feels like it might be easier to make friends living with like minded students(as far as major) . Can anyone with experience speak to their experience in Bryant Hall for engineering. Thanks. RTR.
If your son is willing to share a room, then definitely have him live in Bryant. I see this as a positive for a shyer student as traditional dorms usually have more opportunities socially. It is also less expensive than the suites which is very nice. I have two engineering sons, both who decided to live in honors suites. I don’t think the fact that they were honors made much different except for the fact that maybe (and this is a big maybe) your roommates might be more serious students than partiers. My now graduated UA CS student really needed the privacy of a single room so living in a suite was great for him. For my junior EE student, I think Bryant might have been a better option for him.
Bryant is also a suite style dorm - https://housing.sa.ua.edu/residence-halls/bryant/
It is all male, the male athletes also live in Bryant, so it is not exclusively engineering students
It does have it’s own dining hall, however due to the athletic meal plan the dinners there are more expensive, so might not be as convenient for residents as it seems
Bryant also has full sized extra long beds instead of the twin sized extra long in the other dorms
My son didn’t live in Bryant, so I can’t speak to the environment
^^ Also, Bryant is men only!
A couple of my son’s friends lived in Bryant his freshman year and loved it. Besides getting to know lots of freshmen engineering majors, they also liked getting to know many athletes (some of whom were also freshman engineering majors). My son would often go there for brunch - great cafeteria.
Thanks for the responses. Just wanted to be sure there wasn’t something son was missing by choosing Bryant over honors. I think he is going to pick Bryant – he is ok with the men only aspects and I like that the cafeteria is right there for brunch.