<p>So how much does OA cost?</p>
<p>Classof2012mom- tuition or fee it was the only payment I made and it was refunded making the cost zero. Did we make some other payment that I am not remembering?</p>
<p>I saw somewhere that the cost last year was $195. Don’t know what it will be this year. That includes the room and food- have no idea if that is the tuition also.</p>
<p>The $195 is the course “fee” not tuition so it is not bad for 10 days of food and living in the dorm but since AA and OA are both 1 credit hour courses be mindful of the tutition expense as well.<br>
Those on the Presidential are covered on scholarship for upto 20 hours but those who are paying all of or half OOS tutition need to understand there would be the additional expense of the 1 credit hour…and I think Fran O’Neal is the head of the OA program 
I would highly recommend the program it really helps the kids find like minded friends and is a great way to start off their college life!</p>
<p>Ok, so if you had a choice would you choose AA or OA and why? I would rather see DS make an informed decision based on everyone’s experience.</p>
<p>good question NYBama!</p>
<p>My S did OA. He’s an outdoors-y type of person and prior to last year the AA kids did work with elementary students and he would have hated that.</p>
<p>In OA, they do several readings and at least last year the focus was on environmental issues, then after the course they turn in a journal of their activites and short answer responses to several questions on how the readings related to various tasks they did during the week (last year most of their tasks involved tornado clean up in wooded areas that had been neglected since the tornado). </p>
<p>My son was prepared for the heat and had worked outdoors for much of the summer before heading down to campus, but what he wasn’t as prepared for was the rain. They did get heavy rains on a couple days including the day of his group’s canoe trip and they had to cut the trip short and shelter in the bushes for awhile until they could safely return.</p>
<p>I think in AA, since they’re working at schools they can arrange to do indoor projects during bad weather, but all of OAs activities are outdoors. </p>
<p>So which is better really just depends on your student, if they don’t like the heat and aren’t comfortable doing work outdoors in all weather conditions, then I’d say OA is probably not for them.</p>
<p>OA will be a better fit for my son. If given the choice between indoors or outdoors he chooses outdoors almost 100% of the time. His game systems sit untouched about 360 days/yr and only come out during really nasty weather when there are no outside options. He also plans to major in Env Science/Biology so the OA activities are more in line with his planned major as well.</p>
<p>Did a bit more research on the costs of OA since my son just missed the Presidential and we will be paying 1/3 tuition at UA. Since full time status is anything from 12-16 credit hours/semester, adding OA or AA should not result in additional tuition charges. The only extra cost will be the $195 (probably slightly higher this year) fee for food/transportation. I’m guessing there is no cost for housing since the dorms will be open already anyway.</p>
<p>My D chose AA since she didn’t want to camp or canoe. It was a good choice for her. She ended up doing the FocusFirst part of AA. Three or four students would wake up at “oh dark thirty” and were driven to an elementary school in a neighboring town to perform vision testing on Head Start children. It was a very, very rewarding experience. Your D or S will be interacting with 3 and 4 year old children. </p>
<p>Here’s a link: [FocusFirst</a> | Impact Alabama](<a href=“http://impactalabama.org/initiatives/focus-first/]FocusFirst”>http://impactalabama.org/initiatives/focus-first/)</p>
<p>Dr. Fran O’neal, associate director of the Honor’s College is in charge of OA.</p>
<p>The $195 included everything last year for OA for S. We did have to pay for this despite having Presidential Scholarship. That being said, there are some advantages - early, fast move in, campus is not real busy, meeting new people immediately and it is a very easy A if give a little effort, answer your journal questions and turn them in on time. OA staff was great. My S is not the most outgoing individual and his writing skills are the reason he is an engineer but he still breezed through. As stated to me by Honors College staff: The only way you wouldnt get an A would be to sit in a corner and refuse to participate. As far as OA vs AA… OA involves lots of outdoor, dirty work in rural Alabama locations so if you dont love the outdoors, AA might be the better choice. The only downside to OA was that S was the only one in his 4 person Ridgecrest suite and he was homesick almost immediately. Everyone was tired after long days and he was coming back to an empty room…Lots of phone calls to home that week but it worked out in the end.</p>
<p>I just got off the phone with Susan Alley, here’s what I got, including some new information for this year:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Registration will be all on-line this year. They do not have a firm date as they are in the middle of setting this up, will likely be late March. Susan asked that I email her our contact information as she’ll send out an email to those families that have shown interest once the registration date is confirmed. If you want to do the same, her email address is <a href=“mailto:susan.alley@ua.edu”>susan.alley@ua.edu</a></p></li>
<li><p>OA has 80 spots, AA has 120 spots, as always, first come first served</p></li>
<li><p>Tuscaloosa has pushed back the start date for their elementary schools, so the AA students will not get an opportunity to work directly with kids that week. That said, they will still get to do meaningful volunteering. She did say with this chance, they were looking for opportunities for the AA students to go back and work with the kids, perhaps even through the year.</p></li>
<li><p>Basically, what I got was the biggest difference between OA & AA will be, does your student prefer working inside or outside.</p></li>
</ol>
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<p>Be warned that choosing AA does not mean your child will work inside - or not get dirty. My wonderful son refused to bring his old shoes for AA last year. Ruined his new shoes by day two. He was very fortunate that I was 800 miles away and could not kill him - and that a wonderful mom who lives near me was moving in her son on the regular weekend was able to take him more new shoes.</p>
<p>To what others have said: yes, AA may/will not be entirely indoors - because schools are not yet in session, students this past year did landscaping, small construction projects, drainage work, painting, renovation work, and similar projects OUTdoors for the week. I do not believe anyone worked with elementary children (as has been done in the past). There were limited AA jobs inside last year, such as helping teachers set up classrooms and painting indoor murals. Most of the AA jobs were outside. OA on the other hand sounded like full-on heavy labor in comparison: clearing brush, cutting tracks, heavier construction projects, and so forth. Both AA and OA students should be prepared to do physical work and get dirty. The AA form may ask if you prefer indoor or outdoor work, but this is not a guarantee, as students do the jobs required that year. This will not be a paper-shuffling exercise. </p>
<p>Still, it is a rewarding experience, and I don’t want to put anyone off it…just be prepared, so you enjoy it. I packed my son with a 5-day supply of old t-shirts that he could throw away each day after he came home. Old shoes (closed toe - no flip-flops or sandals) and work gloves are good ideas, too.</p>
<p>I would not recommend old t-shirts that are ready for the trash unless you are willing to chance it that your child will make the news or local papers shown in said trashy shirt.</p>
<p>Class2012: Saw your boy on the TV clip. He looked very nice - the shoe sacrifice was worth it.</p>