<p>I have been lurking on this board for a couple of weeks and have found it unbelievably informative. So, thank you all for your help thus far! Our oldest daughter decided, out of the blue, to add UA to her list a few months ago. It shocked us completely (we are in Ohio) as we thought she would stay closer to home. The more she has researched the higher on the list UA became. It is now her number one choice. She applied last week. We have a trip scheduled for October 11, with a tour set up through Allison Verhine (thank you for that tip!). Excuse my ignorance at the process. I assume she now needs to get her transcripts sent (the counselor is working on that). Do we need to have her ACT scores sent as well or do they take care of that? Is that all she will need to do now? </p>
<p>She is also wondering about the Honors dorms and which one is the best for her. Which should we try and tour while we are there? Anythying else that is not to be missed while we are there? I think this trip will be her determining factor.</p>
<p>She is thinking Accounting as her major, if that helps at all.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all of the information. This board has been 100% of the reason I have agreed with her that UA looks like a perfect match!</p>
<p>My DD was just accepted about a week ago, so here are some answers for you.</p>
<p>You need to make sure and send your transcripts and ACT scores to UA. ACT scores should come directly from ACT. You must include the ACT Writing score. Don’t worry if you have a better composite score on a test that did not include the writing section - just send both scores. They will take the best composite score provided - they just also need the writing for admissions purposes. </p>
<p>Once all documents are in, you should have a decision within a few weeks. You can track your documents on the myBama site. Once you are accepted you can apply to the Honors College. Also, be sure to submit your Scholarship Application.</p>
<p>Enjoy your upcoming visit - Allison does a great job planning visits. There is a model suite in Ridgecrest South that seems to be on most honors tours. You won’t believe the suites - so different from my experience back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Someone else may have more info on different dorms.</p>
<p>you need to sign on to the ACT website and send her ACT score to the school. Her HS will not do that for you. Also, does she already have the 32 on her ACT, or will she be taking it again? If she takes it again, then she can put UA on the form as a school to automatically get her ACT score when you sign up for the next ACT. </p>
<p>Look at the honors dorms when you are there, and then see what the distance is from the dorms to where most of her classes will be, and any other factor regarding distance. If she is in band, think about distance to fields/music buildings, if she wants to join a sorority, distance to those, etc. Walking around campus and seeing the buildings will help some.</p>
<p>Welcome aboard! We got introduced to UA and through this board and now I’ve got one son at UA and it looks like another on the way. Congrats to your daughter on making a smart decision to add UA to her list. Ms. Verhine and her team will make it a slam dunk decision for you on October 11.</p>
<p>Welcome to Bama! Im sure your tour will be great!</p>
<p>My D is a current senior at UA. We are from the Greater Cleveland area! This year 9 kids from our surrounding suburbs are attending UA!</p>
<p>As far as dorms go you just have to decide…they are all great. D lived in the Lakeside/Riverside Honors complex. (She liked that it had a outdoor pool) But since then new dorms have been added.</p>
<p>Ds roommate is a accounting major and was being wined and dined all summer by the Big 4? accounting firms. </p>
<p>Feel free to ask any thing. A mom from Pickerington started us looking at UA 4 years ago!
Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Welcome! You will quickly find that the online experience here will mirror your experience at UA in person. My son is a freshman this year and lives in Presidential. It is rather breathtaking, especially when you compare housing at other schools. This is not to say the other “suite-style” residences are not spectacular, because they are!</p>
<p>Almost every encounter we have had has been extremely positive. UA definitely “gets it” by an overwhelming margin and I can’t think of a better mix of all of the things important to a perspective student and parents. I can only think of a couple of items I was not entirely pleased with, and one of those is already in progress to be rectified. UA has done a commendable job of keeping pace with the explosive growth they have experienced, and I only see things getting even better. </p>
<p>For example, we toured Murray and UK last fall, and saved Bama for last. I am SO glad we did. My wife was skeptical about the distance from home, but once she sat foot on campus, she came around.</p>
<p>Good luck, and if you have questions please ask us. We will be glad to help!</p>
<p>Wow. Thanks you all so much! I am literally taking notes! She has taken the ACT and got a 28, with no prep. She takes it again Saturday (first time with writing) and with study of a review book. We are hoping for at least a 30. Any tips on getting that score up more? I am not sure how easy it is to raise the score 1 (or 4) points.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the warm welcome! Looking so forward to our trip now!</p>
<p>My D is a freshmen business student from Texas. CC helped me let her go so far away from home. If your D thinks she may want to rush I would swing by Tutwiler. My D gave up the honors dorm for Tut and is loving it. It’s close to the sorority houses and a lot of the “functions” she attends send a bus to pick up the girls at Tutwiler. Several of her pledge sisters that live in honors dorms come to her room to hang out and to get ready before swaps.</p>
<p>Since the test is in a few days… The science part of the ACT is usually a student’s lowest score and yet it is the easiest to raise. If you are a very fast reader. I would practice the science section using the ACT.org site and an ACT practice book. </p>
<p>Also, makes sure that you put UA on the test to recevie scores. That way you do not have to pay for them. I think that you have to do that before test day though. I cant remember if she can put a school down on the form on the day of the test or not. </p>
<p>For raising the score, I personally think some of it is luck. Actually, a good bit of it is luck. Especially in the science area. It used to be that the science was all about intrepreting charts, but it is not anymore. The student actually has to have an idea about the topic covered. So if she has a strong background in what is on the test she is taking, she will do well. If she does not, she may not do so well. That is where the luck comes into play. </p>
<p>My son was very close, but not quite there. So we had him sign up for every ACT and SAT through December 1. He made the cut off when he had a test where he did really well on the science section (ended up with a 34 in science I think). Not his highest marks in the other sections, but the science brought the whole test score up to a 32. He left the test saying all of the science topics were familliar to him, and topics he did well on in school. The next test was a SAT, and he barely made the cut off there too for the Presidential scholarship. </p>
<p>So, luck, and practice of taking the tests seemed to really help. He also practiced the tests timed at home. Especially the ACT. He became a much better judge of the amount of time he could take on each question. </p>
<p>momof3princesses, hello and welcome. My D took the ACT three times during her junior year, raising her composite by one point with each take (though the subscores were up and down). I would recommend that she take it as many times as she can before the cut-off.</p>
<p>Welcome! My son is a marketing major, a zillion miles from home, and he/we couldn’t be happier with UA. Like any family, we occasionally squabble with one another here on CC, but we’re always here to help if/when you need it. Just ask and ye shall receive. </p>
<p>FYI, SEA_tide is a business major, extremely generous with his time/willingness to share, and a veritable font of information. If you have any questions about UA from the student’s perspective, he’s one of your go-to guys. </p>
<p>You and your daughter have chosen wisely. Have a wonderful visit and Roll Tide!</p>
<p>For seniors, there are only 2 ACT and 2 SAT test dates that will be used for scholarship purposes, so I would sign her up for all of them.</p>
<p>For the Science Reasoning part…tell her to look at the charts for the answers. She’s not expected to just “know” the answers…she needs to look at the charts for them.</p>
<p>Since the SR section gives many kids a hard time, the SAT may end up being her better score…no SR.</p>
<p>As far as honor dorms go, I am a freshman living in RCS north. It’s very nice, not as new or shiny as Presidential Village but PV is not honors and is a bit far from stuff on campus. The parking deck is a good thing to have. It’s also very close to Lakeside Dining (and the new Dunkin’ Donuts!!) and the Ferg. Most of my classes are around the quad, and it takes me just about 10 minutes to walk to those buildings.</p>
<p>RCS has the model room for tours. You’ll get to see the entire suite, the atrium, laundry room, kitchen, etc. Not sure how you would go about touring the other buildings.</p>
<p>I’m also a biz major so feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the whole freshman process.</p>
<p>Welcome to the UA forum and feel free to ask any questions you may have, no matter how odd they may seem. Some of us even have the dimensions of the furniture and windows in the Honors dorms (a common question in the spring.) :)</p>
<p>UA has a very good accounting program and a dedicated branch of the career center for business students and a dedicated branch of the business school’s career center for accounting students.</p>
<p>Lastly, UA might be in Alabama, but we have people from all over. What the UA people remember from 10+ years ago is likely much different from the UA of today.</p>
<p>Best of luck in the college search and selection process and Roll Tide!!!</p>
<p>To everyone’s earlier posts, UA gets it. The attentive staff, the great professors, the wonderful Business Career Center (Linda Johnson gets unbelievable companies to recruit on campus), the amazing football (RTR), the spectacular dorms…it is a wonderful university.</p>
<p>We are from VA and our DD graduated in May. She had a stellar academic and personal experience and is now gainfully employed thanks to UA (yippee)!</p>
<p>Our DS, though in the honors program, is a freshman living in Presidential. Since he’s a science major, its location is not bad for him. Our DD lived in Ridgecrest South (honors) and loved it. Both are suite style.</p>
<p>Only other thing I would add is when (not if) your D decides on UA, strongly consider her participation in Alabama Action (AA) or Outdoor Action (OA). You’ll find posts on CC about it, but it is a great way to establish great core group of friends and get acclamated before school starts. Safe travels and enjoy!</p>
<p>adpmom is so right. A trip will definitely seal the deal. If it doesn’t, I want to see the campus selected over UA’s. The facilities are absolutely top-notch, and with almost Disney-like precision they have found a way to all but seamlessly blend the tradition with the future.</p>
<p>In all fairness, it isn’t entirely perfect. Just like any other institution they have areas they need to improve on <cough 348-ride="" cough=""> but the pursuit of improvement everywhere is perceptible and they are definitely not resting on the laurels of their dramatic expansion.</cough></p>
<p>The Tuscaloosa community as a whole could not be better people, period. While at Bama Bound (New Student Orientation) we took in a movie in town, and my wife had her prized “Bama Mom” pin fall off her purse. I think we were all of about 10 people in an otherwise empty auditorium. When the movie was over, we were digging in the dark to find this button and a couple who didn’t know us from Adam helped us look for it until it was found. If that doesn’t speak to the generosity and hospitality, I don’t know what does…</p>
<p>Roll Tide is as much a state of mind as it is an expression, and I hope your family joins!</p>
<p>I can’t thank you all enough! All of the tips are so appreciated - and needed! and rolltide90, you went and mentioned Disney…I’m sold!!! We are a Disney family, logging 30+ trips since our daughter was born. </p>
<p>Say a prayer for her tomorrow as she takes the ACT. Hoping for at least a 30. We did get some good news today that due to a medical condition, she can take the October ACT with extended time so maybe that will help as well.</p>
<p>Thanks again for making me feel right at home already!</p>
She has taken the ACT and got a 28, with no prep. She takes it again Saturday (first time with writing) and with study of a review book. We are hoping for at least a 30. Any tips on getting that score up more? I am not sure how easy it is to raise the score 1 (or 4) points.</p>