<p>Hi All
Well we just got DD’s new ACT scores…32!! WooHoo! She is telling her friends that UA is her first choice. She spent hours studying for this last ACT. I am pretty darn proud of her.</p>
<p>Soooo now it seems like UA is first and Iowa State is second. All other schools that we have visited up to now, are off her list, but we have not been to k-state and ku. Doing that later this summer.</p>
<p>Hubby is not sold on her being so far away, we are from South Chicago Suburbs. Do you think that it would be a good idea to send them both to one of the 'Bama Days tours for perspective students or should I have him do the whole Honors College tour, etc?</p>
<p>She is my husbands buddy and to him, her being 5 hours away is better than being 11 hours away. To me is it about the same…5 hours of driving vs 5 hours airport time to T-town.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your D! The 32 is an excellent score with great benefits!</p>
<p>We visited UA the day before Thanksgiving. Not a great time to visit. Our best visit included the Honors College and a personalized tour and meetings with my D’s college of choice. That tour was handled by Jami Gates in the Honors College. She is now working for the UA Law School. She has a replacement though.</p>
<p>We are from FL and will be driving 10 hours to bring our D to UA this fall. I hope you visit soon and often. It is a fabulous place that sells itself. My D had many college offers but she chose UA. Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Congrats to your D from another Chicago suburb parent. I think you should send both H and D, and do the VIP/Honors College/personalized tour via Jami Gates in the Honors College and the local Chicago rep whose info is copied below:</p>
<p>Bethany Forrest
Chicago Area Regional Recruiter
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
The University of Alabama
Box 870132
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487</p>
<p>I too suggest sending Dad and daughter for the all inclusive tour…that trip will seal the deal and it wont seem like its far away once they see the beautiful campus, experience the amazing hospitality of the staff and students, and the warm friendly culture of Tuscaloosa…</p>
<p>We live in Plano TX near Dallas and the 8 1/2 hours feels like our son is going to be a few towns away at Bama…</p>
<p>Agree with everything Cuttlefish123 said. We are from Texas and first visited on a University Day and then on a personalized tour months later. Prefer the personalized visit as D was able to sit in on a class, meet professors, visit with other UA students in areas where she had interests and also met up with Dr Sharpe. </p>
<p>D knew when she visited the second time that UA was right for her. Needless to say, she is very excited and cannot wait to get on campus in August. This forum is a great place to get information. Who knows - you might even find roommates here (Cuttlefish123’s D and my D are roommates!!).</p>
<p>Here’s a thought to share with your DH, that surprisingly came from my DH. He was/is very twitchy about the idea of his girls being “too far away for me to get to them quickly if they need me.” We were talking about D2s college search and I mentioned some schools she is considering in the Chicago area. I just about fell over when he said “you know, with those direct flights to Chicago, I could get there quicker than I can driving to Tuscaloosa.” What? Who are you and what have you done to my husband ?</p>
<p>Have him get his feet on campus with your D; preferably on a nice, quick nonstop Southwest flight to Birmingham. Once he sees how much she likes the campus, plus he enjoys the warm Southern hospitality, I’m sure he’ll be won over.</p>
<p>Hubby is not sold on her being so far away, we are from South Chicago Suburbs. Do you think that it would be a good idea to send them both to one of the 'Bama Days tours for perspective students or should I have him do the whole Honors College tour, etc?</p>
<p>No to the Bama Days…too many people, no personal attention.</p>
<p>BuzyMom … We are also from northern Chicago Suburbs. We looked at it this way … the travel time is relative … but the expenses are real. The GREAT packages that UA offers severely mitigates the costs associated with paying for flights instead of being “closer” to home via car travel. For example, my D has a friend that attends Drake in Iowa, which is 6 - 6.5 hours drive from northern suburbs, especially in Winter. My D is within 4-5 hours from home from UA taking into account the travel time to / from the airport and airplane time is just under 2 hours.</p>
<p>As for getting your H hooked, UA will do that, but definitely have both he and your D do the personalized visit through the Honors College. It will be GREAT and everyone will come away VERY happy!</p>
<p>my husband was twitchy about my daughter going so far away too … until he went there and visited himself. then he was all for it.</p>
<p>you may have told me before … what did your DD have on the ACT before? we have another DD coming along and her first ACT (this spring) was a 27. she would need at least a 30 for UA to be a possibility for her, but a 32 would be even nicer. it would kind of suck having BOTH of them so far away, but i think she would really like it there!!</p>
<p>Hi Mikewozowski…My DD had a 29 on her first ACT…she retook it in April and hit 30. Then her June one was 32. We did Revolution Test Prep and she had a book that she used to review with. To be perfectly honest, I really figured she had a very slim chance of going from 30 to 32 in one shot. I almost fell over when I looked at the score online.</p>
<p>October 23rd is the Tennessee game. Southwest still has some good fares to Birmingham. Do you think it would be possible to get tickets to this game? Or will I be paying a fortune? I think that would seal the deal for sure! LOL I would have them fly up on Thursday night, Friday they could tour the college and meet with Honors College people. Saturday they could see the town and eat at Dreamland, etc. Sunday go to the game and then fly home that night.</p>
<p>Her school is off that Thursday and Friday so she would not miss any school, which is bonus.</p>
<p>Highly recommend the visiting with tickets. I sent S&H for H’s first trip and they had such a great time. I think I paid about $80 each though, but it was worth it. It was homecoming weekend and a great atmosphere. Your D could do an overnite in the the Honors dorm on Thurs or friday as well.</p>
<p>For reference, Alabama football games are on Saturdays, whereas NFL games are on Sundays. Without Sunday sales, I can’t fathom what a Sunday Alabama football game would be like.</p>
<p>Dad2ILD I like the way you think! That makes sense…DH understands that, but I think the reality of having his ‘baby’ going away to college is just plain making him feel old. LOL That’s why I think that trying to get tickets to a game would go a long way to helping him see the pluses (at least during the Fall)! </p>
<p>MikeD how old is your daughter who is taking the ACT? My DD was projected to have a 27 when she took PSAT in fresh/soph years. I think that just taking the ACT practice tests really helped. I don’t remember exactly, but I think she took 6 or 7 full length tests that were timed.</p>
<p>I did reach out to the dad who was selling a couple of season tickets. We will see if anything comes of that. I still need to coordinate w/ DH’s crazy travel schedule. I am going to definitely do the personalized tour, for sure. Might try to get her to do an overnight (I did not know you could arrange this) and sitting in on classes would be a huge plus. </p>
<p>Last night we sat and looked at the current Honors course offerings and she was so excited about some of the choices. She really loved some of the book 1 hour ones. Even though she will be a science major, she loves to read and to write. Those classes just sort of spoke to her.</p>
<p>Random Parent…I have emailed Bethany 3 times, the last time was last week, and I can honestly say that I have never received any reply. Have you ever talked to her? Should I just try calling her? Honestly, if I had not found this board I would have never considered UA because of the lack of contact.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all the congratulations! We are pretty excited…someday soon I hope we will be sayin’ “Roll Tide”!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter on her excellent score!!</p>
<p>As for distance, I agree with you - 5 hours by car vs. 5 hours by plane - with the exception of the drop off drive (if you make it), it probably won’t make a difference. From what I’ve seen of my friends’ older kids, they only come home 2 times a year (3 at most). Even the kids who go to the Chicago area colleges but board there don’t come home a whole lot more than that, so it might be wishful thinking on your DH’s part that he’ll see your D more frequently if she’s closer.</p>
<p>Congrats to your daughter from another fellow South Sider likely headed to Bama! Poor Iowa State…always the bridesmaid but never the bride! ISU is my son’s runner up as well.</p>
<p>It took a long time for me to get a reply the first time I emailed Bethany. I never tried the phone. You may have better luck just working with Jami Gates at the Honors College. I was encouraged after Bethany made a trip to my son’s H.S. to hand each of the students their scholarship certificate and now has arranged a send off party for the Chicago area students.</p>
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