Questions about Campus Visit

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

Hello all!

I am a senior who lives in Arizona and UA is my top choice school due to thier very generous merit scholarships. I am hoping to visit the campus this year but have some questions that hopefully some of you can answer.

What is the cheapest airport to fly into? I did check for flight to Birmingham and they were about 400+ dollars each and we can simply not afford that at the moment.

When is it most ideal to visit? I know some people say that it is best to visit in the fall but is it still ok to visit in the spring?

Thanks so much in advance. All of my family have gone to our flagship school so this is all very foreign to me.

2

We are visiting from the Phoenix area Monday after Thanksgiving and flying into Atlanta. It was cheaper and Delta, American, and Southwest have direct flights. It looks like an easy three hour drive, all Interstate highway.

3

Check rates flying into:

Memphis Tn
Nashville Tn
Huntsville AL (sometimes a deal)
Bham AL
Atlanta GA <<< often cheapest…but don’t know if that’s true for coming from AZ.

How many people will be coming?

It’s best to visit as early as you can, so keep checking rates.

You DON"T want a campus visit on a weekend…you’ll want to visit the campus on a day that the campus has school (so not during Fall break or Christmas break)

Home game football weekends are EXPENSIVE…so dont stay over a Friday night of a home game weekend. However, if you arrive on a Sunday and tour on Monday, that can work even if it’s a game day weekend.

4

@Beaudreau are you flying on that Monday and touring on Tuesday?

Yes, it is an easy 3 hour drive from Atlanta…all interstate.

5

@mom2collegekids Flying to Atlanta on Saturday and staying with my brother and his wife Saturday night. Drive to Tuscaloosa mid-day Sunday. Touring UA on Monday (Susan is working on it!). Driving back to Atlanta on Tuesday morning. (My brother cannot be happy with Georgia’s performance today. I hope he’s even more unhappy when my Spartans crush UM in Ann Arbor in two weeks. Saban of course coached at MSU in the 90s. He hired Dantonio as his DBs coach and Dantonio stayed two more years after Saban left for LSU.)

6

Thanks for the advice! It will only be two of us flying. I’m still going to be checking rates but it looks like we won’t be able to go until Jan/Feb. We are also toying with just making that two day drive as it might actually be cheaper.

7

Good luck with the trip planning, EMAZ123! Keep us posted… and ROLL TIDE!

8

You didn’t mention New Orleans. How is that drive?

9

The drive from NOLA to Tuscaloosa is also an easy drive…about 4 hours and 15 minutes.

10

EMAZ - if you’re planning to go in January or February, try not to schedule right around a big weekend event such as Capstone Scholars Day or the finalist weekend for CBH/University Fellows. My D visited the Friday before Capstone Scholars Day a few years back and there were so many students who were attending the weekend and came early and showed up unscheduled at the honors college on that Friday that my D’s visit was chaos. And during the CBH/Fellows weekend, some of the honors folks will be quite busy with that on Friday and Monday.

11

I also have a question about visiting. My son is a NMSF and has already been accepted and offered the Presidential scholarship. We want to visit in February and I noticed there is a University Day on Monday, Feb 15. Is it best to attend that event, or schedule a visit on another day. We want to visit the Honors College and tour the whole campus. Thanks for any advice.

12

@laroyri Seniors should NOT attend a UDays that is after the first of the year. Those are geared towards juniors because it deals with the application process and scholarships. Since the scholarship deadline for seniors would be long past, it has no relevance. There is no personalization, either.

You would feel very cheated if you went to a UDays, particularly after the New Year.

Schedule your campus tour on a school day. then contact the Honors College…

13

HONORS COLLEGE CAMPUS VISITS (for those who will likely qualify for the HC)

If you do visit, be sure to set up a campus visit and then email the Honors College with the info (tour time, major, stats, etc), so that they can set up the rest of your day.

If you also have an interest in Computer-based Honors (CBH) or University Fellows Experience (UFE), indicate that in the email (however, a Feb visit is too late to apply to CBH or UFE.)

Set up your tour here: 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. Sometimes people delay and then they’re disappointed to find that there aren’t any tour spots available.

In the email to the below listed HC 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
Interest in Computer-Based Honors and/or UFE
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, the 3D printing lab, the TV or radio stations, the B-school 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.

14

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15

@mom2collegekids Thank you so much! So glad I asked. The schedule for February dates is not out there yet. I will keep an eye on it, then set it up. He was sent an invitation for Capstone Scholars day in January on a Saturday, but he has mid-term exams that next week and doesn’t feel like he can be gone that weekend. He has no interest in CBH or UFE so that is fine. I appreciate your help!!

16

We just toured UA with my youngest daughter. My oldest is already a student at UA and DD2 has been on campus several times. We skipped the regular info session and bus/walking tour. Instead, I emailed the director over the college she is interested in and told them we would be on campus on the specific date and she would be interested in visiting with someone from that department. They set up the entire day for her. She sat in 2 upper level classes that morning, had lunch with one of the student ambassadors then I met up with her for us to meet with the director of the school to discuss their program.

It was a very informative day for her and really helped her see more within her intended major. UA is her #2 at the moment even though she has been accepted. The day before we had toured her #1 school and had done the small group info session and walking tour. She now wants to go back to #1 and have a day that is arranged by the department for her to visit.

If you have not visited UA before and can spend 2 days, you can always do the group info session and tour on one day and the next day have the Honors College or the department setup a visit within the department for your son. If one night is all you can do, see if you can get a very early flight into Birmingham and do the afternoon tour, set up the department tour for the next morning and then a late flight out.

Good luck

17

What is nice about Scholar’s Day (if the schedule permits) is that all the students/families are high stat kids, many OOS on their first visit to campus. Many have done departmental visits on Friday. The Saturday schedule includes group info on study abroad, as well as presentations by HC Dean and others.