I’ve seen a lot of older versions of this question, and wonder people’s thoughts now…
I, too, went back to older versions of this question, because there has been so much said…none better than from our old friend ‘Malanai’ back in this post #8 of 2013: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1456528-pros-cons-p1.html
"Cons for me fall into two categories: imperfections (e.g. we’ve only won three of the last four BCS Championships, the dorms aren’t as close to XYZ Hall as I’d like) and deal breakers (e.g. the academics are substandard, the infrastructure sucks, you can’t graduate in four years, the people are horrible).
“In 2.5 years of Bama experience we’ve found myriad pros, a few imperfections that my son likes to call first-world problems (i.e. not worth mentioning), and zero deal breakers.”
I know we were pretty stoked the second time we visited but it took us the second time to really sit back and observe just what UA had to offer. The scholarships, facilities, campus, academics, faculty ( that we met in honors - Dr. Bryan, ME dept. CAVT - Dr. Bahrat and Dr. Paul), friendly students and other personnel, athletics, and the city of Tuscaloosa. As Dr. B said, “we are recruiting top students to go to school here” and “there are 3 reason to go school at UA…academics, campus, and football.”
I have heard one complaint out of my daughter in four years, and it concerns Tuscaloosa drivers. She says they’re terrible and more concerned with their cell phones than moving along in traffic. I have never noticed that while driving in town, but she has a lot more driving hours logged in TTown than I do. She said it is especially bad on football weekends because there is so much additional traffic.
If that is the only negative she’s come up with, I’d say things are pretty good at UA.
The student athletic center has to be HIGH on the dislike list: it’s so darn awesome, it makes you feel guilty you are going to class right now instead of working out.
As a parent wearing an ALABAMA or BAMA sweatshirt while shopping/traveling in Tennessee or Arkansas I am frequently “counseled” about wearing the wrong SEC accessories.
Being a Bama dad from TN, I LOVE wearing my Bama gear!
Better program, school, campus, COLOR! And everybody knows it, too.
Just sayin’
ROLL TIDE
Likes; Football, look and feel (not ultra-liberal like most campuses), academics
Dislikes: McFarland Blvd, required first year residency, hawkish parking enforcement.
Comment about Tuscaloosa drives is spot on. The roads down here are PRISTINE. No potholes, not adverse weather, yet a lot of idiots still crash their cars and cause closures on already congested roads. There is no excuse for this.
@2015pop agree! I hate Tennessee’s puke orange!
Yeah, but how many of those “crashers” are actually UA students? I know of more than one OOS student who crashed a car in T-Town. 
Echoing @mom2collegekids 's comment on #9 in the prior thread:
A Hawaiian island, or near to a major airport, or in Minnesota.
Well… that last one is more parental con. Probably a pro for the student.