<p>Hi, my family will be spending Spring Break looking at colleges for my oldest, and Alabama is very high on our list. We are planning on spending the first weekend in New Orleans just for fun before touring Toulane on Monday, then driving to Tuscaloosa for the 'Bama part of our trip. If my son wants to do a comprehensive tour, including the Honors College, dorms, etc., is it feasible to spend Monday night in Tuscaloosa, do the tour Tuesday morning/afternoon, then drive all the way to Memphis by Tuesday night? We don’t want to sell Tuscaloosa or U of A short (I really hope DS is going to love it), but we are coming from California and trying to fit in quite a few southern schools in a relatively short period. Would we benefit greatly by squeezing in an extra half day? Thanks!</p>
<p>Welcome! It might help if we knew your exact dates for travel? Is it during UA’s spring break March 23 Sat. through March 31st Sunday? </p>
<p>Is your S a junior? What is his major? What do you want to see? Is he going to get one of the scholarships?</p>
<p>I would spend the extra time at UA if it is high on your list. You are coming a long way. </p>
<p>Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Yes, you need to coordinate your dates. The university will be empty for spring break, however your spring break may not coincide with UA’s dates.</p>
<p>Our first visit was very impromptu – only a few hours without the bells and whistles and between the spring and summer semesters – and my daughter wasn’t sold. Our second visit was a full day Honors College affair. Campus tour, dorm tour, meeting with Dr. Sharpe, sitting in on a class, lunch with a student from the Triathlon club. That was when she decided it was the place for her. Allow as much of the day as you can before you head on to Memphis and make sure you schedule the tour through the Honors College so that he gets to see the things that will really be of interest to him.</p>
<p>We did that exact schedule when we visited last spring - arrived the night before (too late to do anything), then spent the morning/afternoon at UA on a visit arranged by the honors college, and then got on the road to Nashville by dinnertime. I kind of wish we had stayed for dinner just to try one of the restaurants, but there will be plenty of time for that on upcoming trips. 
It was enough time for my S to fall in love, so I guess it was long enough!</p>
<p>I do agree to make sure it is not UA’s break, it definitely was important to have kids around.</p>
<p>Just for planing it is about 3.5 hours to get from T-Town to downtown Memphis. You will basically have the entire day at Bama if you want, so I would think that should be sufficient.</p>
<p>When we visited with DS, we started at T-Town in the A.M. did the full Honors college thing including the visits and tours and drove to New Orleans that evening for a Tulane visit the next day.</p>
<p>Don’t think you will have a problem with your plan timing wise.</p>
<p>Westcoastmom,</p>
<p>Have you contacted Allison and Susan in the Honors College to help coordinate your visit? If not, please do so.</p>
<p>first set up the campus tour online…try for an early morning time! Don’t bother with the “info session”, you’ll get that info here pretty much on the Alabama forum on College Confidential which is VERY active.*</p>
<p>[University</a> of Alabama - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/]University”>University of Alabama - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>In the email include:</p>
<p>Student’s name and contact info</p>
<p>Date and time of the Campus tour that you’ve reserved.</p>
<p>GPA and test scores (include NMSF status)</p>
<p>Likely majors*</p>
<p>Career interests (including med, law, etc)</p>
<p>Anything particular that you want to see. *If you have an interest in seeing the new Science and Engineering Complex, let them know.</p>
<p>Honors Recruitment
Allison Verhine
Coordinator
269 Nott Hall
205-348-5534
<a href=“mailto:allison.verhine@ua.edu”>allison.verhine@ua.edu</a></p>
<p>Susan Alley
Assistant Coordinator
270 Nott Hall
205-348-5599
<a href=“mailto:susan.alley@ua.edu”>susan.alley@ua.edu</a></p>
<p>Allison and her assistant will arrange the rest of the day…meeting with faculty related to major, honors college faculty, touring honors dorms, etc.</p>
<p>Sometimes mail goes to their SPAM folders, so call them if you haven’t heard back within a few business days. These ladies do an excellent job and work very hard</p>
<p>Fortunately, our break is in April so all the schools we plan to visit will be in session. I am waiting for my son’s SAT results to come out next Thursday before arranging any meetings so that I can include that information in my emails. I will definitely contact Allison or Susan in the next week or so. </p>
<p>DS should (fingers crossed) meet the requirements for a full tuition scholarship, and will probably be pursuing some kind of science field although he has yet to pin a major down. He is also thrilled by the fact that Alabama has an Olympic weightlifting team (club?) and he’d love to talk to some of the members if possible. They have a Facebook page, so I think he can make those arrangements directly.</p>
<p>While we’ll be looking at some other great schools, I am really hoping 'Bama will be the one for DS. It offers an amazing education at an outstanding price, and I love the support network you all have for each other!</p>
<p>Welcome and Best of Luck!!</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s help! One more thing: we are bringing our 13 year old son along on this trip. Any suggestions on fun things to do with him while his brother is busy touring?</p>
<p>What are the 13 year old’s interests?</p>
<p>13 year old loves football, lacrosse and volleyball. Maybe a stadium tour? He is not a huge Tide fan (yet), so not sure if it would hold his interest…
He is also growing like mad, so good food always makes him happy :)</p>
<p>Our 14-year-old just did everything with us. For the most part he was plenty entertained - we weren’t in any one place long enough for him to get too bored. He had his iPod too. I think Bama was the place he had the most fun, didn’t complain once while we were there. At Carnegie Mellon he was “dying of boredom” LOL.</p>
<p>Welcome, Westcoastmomof2! When we visited UA the first time, we took a tour of the football stadium and visited the Bryant Museum - Both are great places for football fans to visit. The stadium tour does require preregistration and small fee. Have a great time!</p>
<p>One more reason to hope son goes for Alabama: I just booked the Wingate by Wyndham in Tuscaloosa on Hotwire for $77 including tax and breakfast. Our New Orleans hotel is close to $300/night, ugh!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>We’ve stayed there twice and loved it. That price is a steal.</p>
<p>The honors college folks may be able to help with the weightlifting club meeting as well. My DD has been racing triathlons since she was 12, so a club team was very high on her list of requirements. They arranged for us to have lunch with an Honors College student who was in the triathlon club. I would make sure to mention it when you contact them.</p>
<p>Our then 13 year old went on the tour with us and did all of the same things we participated in on our tour. On the bus tour she asked more questions than anyone else. They were all very thought out questions and 1 even stumped our guide She had to sit on the front row!</p>