<p>My son was accepted to Alabama yesterday. He is interested in visiting to see whether its a fit, but probably won’t be able to do so until February or March. My question is whether housing is very tight, and should we make a non-refundable tuition deposit to guarantee him good housing? I don’t mind the $200 tuition deposit, but then there’s $250 for housing, and I’m not sure if that’s refundable or not.</p>
<p>Also, what is the best dorm for freshman? We are not concerned about the cost, we just want the newest and most comfortable dorm for him.</p>
<p>I think the most you could lose is $50 if you put in a housing deposit. So, if there’s a good chance that your son will attend UA, I’d go ahead and put it down. Room selection doesn’t open up until March at the earliest, but the earlier you put your deposit down, the quicker he can choose a room. </p>
<p>The best dorms are the honors ones. Ridgecrest, Lakeside, and Riverside, in that order, are the best ones. In those dorms you have a suite with a living room, mini-kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and 4 private bedrooms, which is pretty nice.There are a few dorms like these that aren’t honors (Ridgecrest South South for sure and Riverside North) but these fill up fast.</p>
<p>Lakeside East is also non-honors and also has the super-suites housing style. </p>
<p>Elizabeth…</p>
<p>Congrats to your son! :)</p>
<p>a good day to visit is President’s Day in Feb because high schools are closed, but Bama is in session. The tours on that day book quickly, so book now even if you’re not sure if you’ll tour that day. You can always cancel/change. </p>
<p>I would recommend trying to get the first tour of the day so that you can fly home that evening if possible. :)</p>
<p>The later you pay your deposits, the less chance for getting your first choice of residence hall. It’s first come, first serve for choice. So, those who pay deposits before you pay, will get to choose their res hall, floor, suite, and room before you will. Students don’t only choose their hall, they actually get to choose the actual suite and the actual bedroom within the suite.</p>
<p>Do you have a desire to be in a particular residence hall?</p>
<p>You should pay it as soon as you can - once you think you might go there. Most of your housing deposit will be returned if you don’t go to Bama (you’ll lose $25 from the housing application.)</p>
<p>^^ I’ve understood the situation as everybody paying before the deadline will get equal consideration for room selection since - although it is first come, first serve - your pick will be at a random time. I could be wrong though…</p>
<p>^^^
I’m not sure what you mean by “your pick will be at a random time.” </p>
<p>The time to pick your room is based on when you paid your deposit.</p>
<p>*The online room selection process for incoming freshmen begins in spring 2010. Your date to enter the online room selection process is determined by 1) the date your housing application was completed, 2) living-learning community participation, if any, and 3) any special needs. </p>
<p>If waiting to pay the enrollment confirmation and housing deposit until after CSD, you will still have a good selection date. I had the second to last honors selection time and still had lots of room choices. Remember that you can choose a different room at a later time when housing selection is open. Non-honors has a different selection schedule (in April). Honors students wishing to live in housing not listed in the above schedule will not be able to choose one of those rooms when they become available in April.</p>
<p>I’m in Ridgecrest West, but have spent time in Ridgecrest South, Lakeside West, and the common areas of Riverside. I prefer the Ridgecrests because they are newer and closer to the Ferg, Publix, and the Business School. South is newer and has bigger showers, but apparently the rooms and suite common areas are slightly smaller. My dorm is one of a couple with a front desk that is not staffed (the staffed desk is in Ridgecrest East). This is a nice benefit for some people and makes the building a lot quieter. I’m still right next to the lake, which is always nice (go meet the ducks).</p>
<p>M2ck is correct. You can also see who has chosen the other spaces in your room so you can meet you roommates before UA sends out the roommate letter. There is also a way that you can pull roommates into your room, but UA will explain that later.</p>
<p>Not having a front desk means that there are no RA’s sitting there chatting and people mulling around, which makes things quieter. We have one woman who has an office in our building and an officer at the desk for 1.5 hours a week, but otherwise it’s only the two cleaning people.</p>
<p>So when you say quieter…do you mean quieter for those on the first floor with suites by the desk? I can’t imagine that the other floors would hear any noise.</p>
<p>Ridgecrest West is pretty quiet overall. Ridgecrest South has more people living in it, so many people go there to hang out with friends. Also, a parking garage is located under South, so the courtyard of South is a very high traffic area. Every time I walk into South, I talk to the desk workers for a little bit, but I don’t think that really makes too much of a difference.</p>