I am planning on heading down to the University of Alabama campus from Pittsburgh in about a month, and I was wondering what all the university has for me to do while down there. Am I able to sit in on a class or talk to professors? Can I tour different housing? I am a civil engineering major given the presidential scholarship and accepted to the honors college. Is there any specific tours where I could see my opportunities within the honors college and college of engineering? Lastly, is there anything that is “can’t miss” that I should see when I go down? Really, any suggestions that would allow me to see what the university/campus life is like would be appreciated. Thanks!
Set up your tour here: Campus Tour - The University of Alabama
http://tour.ua.edu/
Don’t delay setting up your campus tour! The tour is a mix of walking and riding in a small bus, so each tour is strictly limited to the number of seats on that small bus.
Then, after you set up your campus tour, send an email to the Honors College (see email addresses below):
In the email to the below listed people, include:
Student’s name and contact info
Date and time of the Campus tour that you’ve reserved.
GPA and test scores (include likely NMSF if applicable)
Likely majors
Career interests (including med, law, etc)
Anything particular that you want to see. If you have an interest in seeing the new Science and Engineering Complex, sit in on a class in your desired major, meet a prof in your major, the TV or radio stations, the B-school, certain residence halls, or what-have-you, let them know.
Honors Recruitment
Susan Dendy, Coordinator
270 Nott Hall | 205-348-5599 | susan.dendy@ua.edu
Jordan Hall, Assistant Coordinator
272 Nott Hall | 205-348-7054 | jordanmhall@ua.edu
They will arrange the rest of the day…meeting with faculty, honors people, touring honors dorms, etc.
Sometimes mail goes to their SPAM folders, so call them if you haven’t heard back within a few business days. They do an excellent job and work very hard.
Even if you’re not a big sports fan, visiting the Paul Bryant Museum can be interesting, particulary the video at the beginning of the museum.
@mom2collegekids awesome! Thanks so much for the help!
@hudsonators, when my son and visited from Philly two years ago, the Honors College set up both tours (standard and honors) for us, so I would start with them. Be as specific as you can be about your interests and they will do their best to customize your visit.
I would suggest allowing enough time just to stroll around campus and chat with students and staff too, if possible.
I hope you enjoy yourself as much as we did. Good luck!
^^^
That is fine, but there’s the risk that by the time the HC tries to find seats on the Campus Tour, they may all be full for the desired date. The HC can’t squeeze more in because of the bus-seat-number issue.
I would go ahead and book the campus tour and then tell them. Another family booked flights and then tried to book a tour and all were full. Their experience reminds us to book tour first and then book others. You can always change your tour reservation, if needed and space is available.
In our case, the bus WAS full, so they just ordered up another one for everybody else! 
But, you’re right, probably better to hedge your bets and register yourself. Just make sure the HC knows that and gives you enough to time to get there. We had to sprint across campus to be there for the departure time.
OP - if you want suite housing/honors college housing, or traditional dorm - that will determine housing type you want to tour. There is a lot of suite housing available, and if on a budget, the traditional dorms are fine too ($3000/yr price difference) - and if you already have a housing deposit in to have any priority in selecting housing…Can look at the housing web site to get familiar. When touring, you probably will get a very nice Campus Map with the Quad detail on the back. I also stopped by the Ferg (Fergeson Student Center) and got a large tear off map off the pad - can ask questions of student worker there. Ferg is pretty close to the engineering areas (AIME building, Bevill, HM Comer, MERC, Shelby, SEC, SERC, Hardaway, Foundry.
If you don’t have already, have admissions mail you “Student Guide to Undergraduate Admissions and Scholarships” and the school map (if you don’t have already) - the guide is about 37 pages, has a good deal of info that you can look at along with looking at www before visiting.
Since you are interested in Civil Eng - look at the various areas of specialty in CE and ‘finish in four’ information for CE. There is flow chart information on the various engineering disciplines.Lots of info at the engineering web site http://eng.ua.edu/ - can see/print detailed flowcharts for 4 year engineering plan in your specific area(s) of interest. Can also minor in some specific sub civil eng areas.
My DD is dual tracking in general civil eng and architectual eng (for her it means three additional classes to graduate with both majors according to advising).