Hi all! I applied to the University yesterday. I will be visiting the campus November 18 & 19. I have my dance major audition for most of the day on the 18th and then the dance performance that night. I’ll go to the football game on the 19th. During my free time on that Friday, what do you all recommend that I go and see? There aren’t any campus tours that don’t interfere with my audition, so I am unable to get an official tour. I already know what the dorms are like because I went to a summer camp there twice a few summers ago. Thanks!
Do you have lodging reservations yet? That is a football weekend and there may not be much left at the non-flea-bag hotels. (And, sadly, the crummy hotels will have higher rates and may deceive you into thinking that they’re nice because of price).
Contact your area-recruiter. Do you know his/her name?
Are you applying to the honors college?
@mom2collegekids We decided to stay in Birmingham since we have a late flight Thursday night and an early one on Sunday morning. We will just commute, as the hotel is 30 min Map-quested from the University.
I will do that, thank you! No, I am not applying for the honors college.
Are you sure it’s in B’ham? B’ham is an hour away from UA. Maybe the hotel is in a city that’s between B’ham and Tuscaloosa.
^^ I was just going to mention that. Even the hotels in Hoover and Bessemer (Bham suburbs that are closer to T-Town) are 45 minutes away. However, it’s an easy drive unless you’re doing it in prime game day traffic. We stayed in Bessemer for Parents’ Weekend one year and it was fine.
It may be a town between Tuscaloosa and B’ham. I’m not positive exactly where it is, but it was definitely a lot less expensive than the hotels (that weren’t motels) in Tuscaloosa.
As a student I know a ton of things you could do:
1)Take a selfie on Gorgas steps, at Denny Chimes, next to Saban’s statue, and in Shelby Quad.
2) Email the Dance Major department head and ask if a current student is willing to show you what her day is like. I am a chemical engineering department ambassador and we give private tours twice a day and then you can speak with a professor afterwards. The Dance department might do something similar. I’ve also known that it is possible for prospective students to follow a freshman around for a day, including meal passes for breakfast lunch and dinner. You just have to figure out who to talk to.
3)visit all three theaters on campus, as a dance major, you’d like that.
4)go to the ferguson center at any one of the desks on the second floor and ask about the SOURCE, which keeps a tab of all the student organizations and what they do and resources you can find on campus.
5)pick up the crimson white while you’re at the ferg. There’s usually a list of events going on that week or month in there. if not, find the all the twitters linked to the university
6) visit the riverwalk on jack warner
7)walk through the new north lawn building. you can even go into some of the classrooms in between classes. it’s really nice.
8)visit the mars spring road park. it’s tiny, but it’s catty corner across from lloyd, and really pretty and quiet.
9)follow the quad squirrel on social media.
10)friday night is a prime time to observe the antics of pledges. once I saw a guy in a banana costume on a skateboard being chased by a guy in a grape costume. On friday you might also see unicycle guy, pledge with my little pony backpack, pledge with babydoll.
11)Go to Mugshots. Idk why this isn’t at the top. Get the peanut butter burger with jelly and bacon. Trust me, it is amazing.
12)Go to the ORIGINAL Dreamland on Jugg Factory Road. Get ribs. Thank me later. (Go down Mcfarland towards walmart and sams club, kepp going and cross skyland. It is the second left turn (first road) after you pass skyland. Follow for a while, it seems kinda weird.)
oh and 13) go to Waysiders for breakfast. (off of 15th and i believe, Greensboro)
@iamfuniswear I am going in early November. Will I be able to enjoy #10?
Ask them to show you the plans for the new performing arts center.
Friday lunch at City Cafe in Northport.
Yellow Hammer’s at Galletes is a MUST!
River restaurant on the Riverwalk.
I’ve had the peanut butter hamburger at Mugshots (didn’t have the jelly and bacon added).
It is amazing. Really amazing. And…the buns are to die for.
There is a Mugshots in B’ham too if you happen to be traveling through at Lunch/Dinner time - easy location to get to.
Y’all will need to report back how you liked your campus visit.
Peanut butter burger? lol, that sounds even grocer than the burger Paula Deen ate, Krispy Kreme Buns, egg, bacon and patty. But I would still try it once!
@Atlanta68 The peanut butter burger is surprisingly amazing. You get your choice of chunky or smooth.
Just checking in after a recent visit last week. So much new stuff in T’Town. I LOVE the road improvements on McFarland (3! turning lanes onto 15th! yay!), and I see there are more improvements happening still. The new Cook Out (opened 2 weeks ago?) on 15th had 20 minute lines on Thursday night (both out the door and in both drive-thru lanes), but is incredibly reasonable in price. A $2.99 shake in any 1 of 40 flavors? Yup, I waited. Worth it. A drive through the downtown area on both Wed and Thurs nights proved the town is thriving - limited parking to be had, waits at restaurants and bars, etc. Also, LOVE the new road across/around campus at the north end (cutting through the old hospital). Keep it up, UA/Tuscaloosa! 
My S is set on University of Alabama. We visited once this past March and he fell in love with it. I have heard nothing but ROLL TIDE since our trip. He has been accepted/honors college and is ready to go. We only spent an overnight there and took the informational tour the next day. If I would have known how much he was going to love it, I would have stayed a few more days in that area instead of continuing our college visits to Auburn and Clemson (neither of which he liked). I want to travel back down there for him to get a better feel for the place he plans to call home for the next 4 years; however, we live 12 hours away in Northern VA and finding time is difficult. There are many knowledgeable Roll Tide people on this board, so I wanted to get a feel for a Christmas week visit. I know that school is out and there won’t be much bustle around campus, but could we still get a good feel for the surrounding area and definitely a thorough campus walk-through (minus the inside of the buildings) during that week? As a first time poster, I want to thank everyone that contributes to this message board. I have learned SO MUCH valuable information on this forum – it’s incredible.
@scaredtoletgo, honestly that’s probably the very worst time to visit. Not only will the students be gone, but many of the faculty and staff take off, too. It would be an awfully long way to drive just to see not only nothing happening, but the place pretty dark and lonely, too. However…maybe you could combine it with a visit to the beach? Not that the gulf coast is warm enough in December for swimming, but it’s bound to be a break in scenery!