Me, my daughter and the University of Alabama (and other schools that she did not attend)

<p>@Chardo, that plug for The Supe wasn’t meant to make anybody feel guilty about how they purchase their textbooks. Just wanted to pass the info along because I wasn’t aware of it until we attended Bama Bound.</p>

<p>Some of the books - </p>

<p>Essential Calculus W/WebassignStewart (Binder Ready Bundle) (Custom )ISBN 1285041674 Edition 2Binding Looseleaf - $140.00</p>

<p>Laboratory Manual For General Chemistry 101 & 102Vincen tISBN 1269625845Binding Spiral
Required - 89.00</p>

<p>Chemistry: Structure And Properties Package For University Of Alabama, 1/ETro ISBN 1269905899 Binding None
Required - 132.00</p>

<p>Essential Calculus W/Webassign Stewart (Binder Ready Bundle) (Custom) ISBN 1285041674Edition 2Binding Looseleaf - 141.35</p>

<p>These are some of the more expensive books …</p>

<p>I did not find these on Amazon or Chegg …</p>

<p>Posted the calculus twice …</p>

<p>Another - </p>

<p>Mastering Engineering W/ Ebook For UA Engr 103Hibbeler (Code)ISBN 1269984144Edition 1EBinding None
Required - $140.00</p>

<p>Can she sell the books to next year’s class to get some money back?</p>

<p>One thing I failed to mention in another post is that UA took 42 credits worth of my daughter’s AP courses - she is a sophomore before she steps on campus. I am not sure if it was this forum but I saw where UA accepted 65 credits for another student. Another plus for UA :). </p>

<p>eusriso- you have done a great job researching and describing the UA process. And BIG CONGRATS to your DD for a great start to her UA experience. If I were you, I would be so proud. :-bd</p>

<p>That being said, I strongly encourage you to put some research into the process and costs of the Sorority life. If you think UA books and fees are expensive, you will be in for a wild ride once you get a taste of the costs associated with Greek Life. As you have learned so well with the other costs, forewarned is forearmed. </p>

<p>As far as the sorority costs go I know it is expensive - per the UA web site $1000 to $3000 initiation cost plus semester dues - anyone know the average for the semester dues? </p>

<p>Its up to my daughter to pay for the sorority. She has some High School graduation money and she will get a small allowance. I will strongly encourage her to get a job by second semester as she will need it. Neutral on the job now as I want her to get settled in and focus on grades.</p>

<p>As I mentioned in a prior post neutral on the Greek Life at UA - I know Greek Life can be fun and it can ruin students, been there :). I am not even sure my daughter will get a bid - not sure what sororities look for at UA. Try and set the expectation with my daughter to see if its for her, see if she gets a bid and then decide. From what I can tell there seems to be plenty to do at UA without Greek life so I am not too worried for her. </p>

<p>You are so right. The activities at UA are wonderful, and I am sure she will find a place for herself, either in or out of a sorority. It sounds like you have covered all the bases. Best of luck to her as she starts this great time in her life.</p>

<p>Sororities are expensive, I would definitely investigate all the costs. I know that although there are dues, there are also many other costs involved. You should read some of the very informative threads that are in this forum about Greek Life. The parents who post there are very knowledgable about the money matters.</p>

<p>My concern for your daughter would be time and time management. Your daughter has a full academic load and she has to adjust to college life and independent living. She will need time for classes, studying, cleaning, laundry, exercising, and getting to know people. A lot of STEM majors shy away from fraternities and sororities because of time constraints. Plus, you want her to hold down a job. This is a lot to take on during freshman year without adding a soority and its obligations.</p>

<p>Just food for thought .</p>

<p>Hi Robotbldmom,</p>

<p>I agree with you 100%. I asked my daughter to wait a semester to look at joining a Sorority but she wanted to go through formal rush. It seems that the Sororities do not have that in the spring.</p>

<p>I am somewhat surprised that UA allows Fall Freshmen rush, the college I went to restricted it - either wasn’t allowed or was late in the semester.</p>

<p>She will have to determine what she wants to do and address the time management/commitment that Greek life brings, at this stage all I can do is show the pro’s and con’s that she may not see and hope that she makes the right choices.</p>

<p>I have reminded her that she is at UA on a scholarship and to stay at UA she has to meet the GPA requirements. </p>

<p>I’ve really enjoyed reading your breakdown of costs. I have children in the high school classes of 2016, '17 and '18. We live in VA and have toured a couple of schools. It occurs to me that a great deal for a sophomore and above student is to become a Resident Advisor. The pay may vary at other schools but typically they get a free private room, reduced cost meal plan and a cash stipend. At VA Tech I think they said it is $100 a month. When I was in school it was not a difficult job at all. </p>

<p>Being an RA has the added benefit of ‘guaranteed’ housing, which can be difficult to come by for upper classemen in some years. Be mindful that you can be assigned to a hall/dorm that you do not necessarily fancy, however, which might trump even the best of benefits for some.</p>

<p>I was always under the impression that becoming an RA is a very competitive process, but it seems like a lot of kids are counting on becoming one to help defray the costs of housing. How hard is it to get one of these positions–in general and at UA?</p>

<p>Well it looks like (not 100% sure) that my daughter did not get into Emerging Scholars, which is disappointing - anyone know if having Work Study influences the decision? It was a question on the app… </p>

<p>I forgot my daughter applied for spring semester … Will she still get notification now?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I’m not sure what’s going on this year, but in the past students with Work Study could use their research as their work for Work Study. It didn’t impact who was admitted.</p>

<p>Eusriso,</p>

<p>Once again, thank you for sharing this with us. I wanted to pick your brain as you have recently experienced the process from day one. </p>

<p>Once my daughter is accepted into Bama do we pay the deposit immediately? How much is it? Also, when does one typically pay the housing deposit. I know that it is important to get that in as early as possible.</p>

<p>Thank you. </p>

<p>Hi InvolvedMom,</p>

<p>My daughter decided to go to UA in April after receiving and reviewing her award letters from the other colleges she was accepted at. When my daughter decided to go to UA we paid the fees immediately.(April).</p>

<p>The fees were $200 for enrollment and $275 for housing. I am unsure of the earliest time you could pay the fees but it is way earlier than April.</p>

<p>If you are sure your child wants to go to UA then you should pay them asap because your child cannot register for housing until they are paid. Housing is on a first come first served basis … Because we waited I was a worried that my daughter would not get the dorm she wanted - but she did.</p>

<h2>The housing fee is refundable, the enrollment is not.</h2>

<p>From the UA website (Housing) - </p>

<p>APPLICATION CALENDAR</p>

<p>Fall 2014: </p>

<p>•New Freshmen: Opens on October 1, 2013 at noon
Returners: Opens on January 15, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. CST and closes on January 31, 2014 at midnight</p>

<p>New Freshmen Students - before you can apply for housing:
•You must be admitted to UA
•You must pay your freshman enrollment deposit (fall term only). For information about the enrollment deposit, go to <a href=“Freshman Deposit – Admissions”>http://gobama.ua.edu/deposit/&lt;/a&gt;. Please note, you must wait at least 2 hours after paying the enrollment deposit for it to update in the Housing system and allow you access to the application.
•You will need your myBama username and password to log in to the portal. If you have not yet set up your myBama account, please go to <a href=“http://myBama.ua.edu”>http://myBama.ua.edu</a> and click on the link there that says “Create your password”</p>

<hr>

<p>Looks like the earliest you can apply for housing is October 1st which is when I would pay the fees - but I am sure UA will take your money earlier :).</p>

<p>You can’t make the housing deposit until the housing website “opens” to accept deposits. In the past it’s been October 1 and, as stated above, you needed to make the enrollment deposit before you could make the housing deposit. If your student has a particular dorm in mind, or wants to live with specific roommates, depositing in October is a really good idea. If a student isn’t that concerned with where he or she lives, there isn’t the same urgency, but I would definitely deposit during the period when you can select your own room (as opposed to having Housing assign you). My D didn’t decide to attend UA until the spring, but we made the deposit in October to insure honors housing and as much flexibility as possible.</p>