@Booajo My D has the same SI on PSAT as yours! She is also a junior. We are going to visit OU March 13. This is the website that I looked at to find the person to call to set up our customized tour. (Assuming the link will post) http://www.ou.edu/admissions/nationalmerit.html
They were very accommodating in setting up an itinerary for the entire day, complete with an info session on study abroad, lunch, and meetings with the departments my D is interested in.
Son filled out the form. I’m trying to have him take the lead, which means I have no idea if he’s heard back!
Just to update–we are set for our visit! Hope he likes it.
@Booajo Good luck! We ate at the most wonderful restaurant in Norman. It’s called Scratch – one of the best meals I have had in a while. My whole family really enjoyed it. You can check out their menu online.
@crazy4info By chance have you posted a report on your visit to OU? We’re visiting early next month and I’d love to hear how yours went.
Re: Places to eat - ooh, we’ll check out Scratch!
@DiotimaDM - I haven’t - I will try to do it soon. I’m a teacher and I’m usually lurking on this site while my kids are working. It’s easy for the quick post, but more than that is hard. I’ll try to get it done in the next couple of days. Please feel free to send me a pm if you have specific questions. So many people have been so helpful to me, so I’m happy to help!
@crazy4info Thanks!! No rush, just whenever you get around to it. Supercool on being a teacher, btw. We’re one of those teacher dynasty families, sort of like what happens with police and firefighters - teachers on both sides going back to one-room schoolhouses. Me, I’m the black sheep. I left the classroom to be a writer.
@DiotimaDM @Booajo for places to eat-- the Diner on Main Street for a hearty breakfast (It’s a Diners, drive in & dives kinda place) ; D loves Hideaway Pizza right in Campus corner area (in fact, when we visited in summer this is where the Scholars office folks took us to lunch); and I love the Mont for a frosty adult beverage (the food’s okay… but that frozen swirl drink is where it’s at!)
Ooh I’m wishing we were there longer! So much good food (and drink!)
What about hotel recommendations?
@Booajo I’ve always stayed at the one Tyler recommended… the Courtard by Marriott… very nice, a bit more than some others. This next time (April 7 for Mom’s weekend) I’m going to try the Marriott Conference center (Nat’l Center for Employee Dev’t-- I think it’s a USPS site for training)- the Courtyard was booked, and this place is not too far and a bit less. I’ll let you know.
I’m going to try my hand at a visit report – haven’t done this before. 
First, we stayed 2 nights in OKC - loved that. My husband and son went to a OKC Thunder game while my daughter and I had lunch. We ate at great restaurants - Pizzeria Gusto, Tucker’s (famous onion burgers), Republic Gastropub. All very good. We went to the OKC National Memorial. It was FANTASTIC! I still keep thinking about how powerful and well done it was.
On Monday morning, we got up and drove to Norman for our 8:30 appointment. It took less than 30 min. to get there. There were about 12 kids and their families. Most of them were seniors. My daughter is a junior. I was really impressed with the opportunities for studying abroad and scholarships to do so. Apparently 30% of the students study abroad at some point, and President Boren’s goal is to get that up to 50%. I love that!
We went back to the visitor’s center and we had a current OU NM student give us our campus tour. I will say that I am a wimp with the cold/wind - and it was 35 degrees with 30 mph winds. That totally stunk for me, my daughter, and son. My husband said it wasn’t that bad for him. The buildings are beautiful - “Cherokee Gothic” style. Unfortunately, I found that I was looking down at the ground a lot, and not looking up as I do on most tours because I was trying to keep the wind out of my face/eyes. That probably took away from the tour for me - but that’s just a weather thing. The Reading Room (looks like Hogwarts) in the library was beautiful and impressive, but the library, itself, I didn’t care for. It felt dark and the ceilings are low. The carpet on the stairs are very worn. Minor things, just an observation. I also didn’t love the dorms that they showed us–just older looking than others we have looked at (Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Baylor).
After the campus tour we went back to the visitor center and they split up the juniors and seniors. We were with only 2(?) other juniors. They laid out what the current NM scholarship is. I really appreciated that it is not a full ride, and you can expect to pay about $7,200 freshman year and $9,200 the years after. When you see the bottom line value of what NM students get, it seems like it could be full cost of attendance. I know it has been less for some other folks, as they were able to stack some departmental scholarships.
They took us to Hideaway Pizza, just across the street from the visitor’s center, at Campus Corner. The pizza was great. I LOVED Campus Corner. There are restaurants, boutique shops, a Starbucks, etc. The other campuses we have visited haven’t had this much to offer so close to the university. I like this, because you can get off campus without getting in your car (and losing your parking space). Seriously, the Campus Corner was a strong plus for me! My daughter doesn’t even have an idea how nice it would be to have those options so close to campus.
After lunch we met with Honors. We were the only ones in this meeting, because they had to change our schedule to fit in our department meetings with the Business and Communications colleges. I really liked what we learned about Honors - but honestly, I can’t tell you what she told us. It was an intimate and informative meeting. The day is a bit overwhelming.
We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites - and we went there to nap for a bit. The hotel was pretty was simple, clean, and had fine amenities, which included breakfast. It was in a good location. Then we had a 7 pm reservation at Scratch Kitchen and Cocktails in Norman. I LOVED this restaurant. Google it and look at the pictures. Our waiter, who was getting his PhD in music. It was fun to visit with a local–that always makes a difference for us.
Overall we liked OU – it’s in the top 3 for my daughter, but we still have plenty of time since she is only a junior. I didn’t love the campus as much as I did some others, but it does have a lot to offer.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for posting. I’m glad it went so well for your D! We’ll be there in the 2nd week of April, and we’ll share our thoughts, too. I hope it’s warmer by then.
We are hoping/planning for warmer weather!
Don’t be misled. OK weather is erratic. In fact this Monday it was 90 F (and we had 60). My D who went from Sunny CA says the place is too hot!. True OK will have high winds and that can bring down the true temp on cold days.
Last year when I visited for the first time, went to bed at 2 am (red eye flight) and woke up at 5 am itself because I thought it was earth quake but realized it is so strong wind (30 mph) and the trees were banging the window so much.
The funny thing for us about OU is that way before we knew anything about National Merit or OU’s great scholarship program, my S played Jud Fry (the villain) in his HS production of “Oklahoma!”
We live in a small enough town that S sometimes got recognized while out and about as “that kid from Oklahoma, you know, the creepy one with the axe.”
So when OU hit our radar, he was all, “Oklahoma? /facepalm Really??”
OU is currently tied for second on his list, so we’ll all laugh if that’s where he ends up. Who knew that a school play could be so prophetic?
The family really likes the Blackbird gastropub. We are trying Mont in May for graduation dinner.
Blackbird is my favorite restaurant on Campus Corner. Tarahumara’s is my favorite place in Norman. It’s an amazing Mexican place.
@crazy4info - thank you for the recommendation for Scratch! Just got home from a visit to OU and our daughters and I had brunch there on Sunday. Amazing!!
@WImom94 - so glad you enjoyed it. There’s part of me that is hoping that OU will be her choice, just so I can eat at this restaurant. Haha!! I live in Austin and we have wonderful restaurants, but Scratch is definitely one of the better restaurants I’ve eaten at in a while.
@crazy4info Fingers crossed that your D chooses OU so you can enjoy the yumminess of Scratch. There is a lot to love about OU, but I have have now added Scratch to the list! :))