@BingeWatcher
Be sure to read up on the Level 9 Tour. We took ours in 2014 when DS18 turned 14. We paid $89 a person and that included lunch. It was well worth it for what we were able to see and do, especially since it was his birthday gift for that year. The tour guide we had was amazing. He had worked there during the Apollo time and was a wealth of interesting facts and information! I have a picture of DS18 sitting in the Flight Directors chair in the old Mission Control Room. I hope it is still just as good now as it was then. If you think it is not, then admission into Johnson’s Space Center has tons of things to see and do, and you can take a tour that is included with the admission which allows you to see some things, including a Saturn V Rocket.
Things can change in the merit aid schools offer, but UT Dallas has a nice merit aid program as of now. UT Arlington offers what is basically full tuition for their top merit scholarship. Also, depending on what your D21 is interested in, UL Lafayette offers a very good merit aid scholarship, but DS18 had no interest in going there.
West Texas is quite a drive from my neck of the woods! As an aside, UTPB has been pelting DS18 with letters and flyers but he has no interest in heading West for school. He has attended Boy Scout Camp twice at Buffalo Trails Scout Ranch in the Davis Mountains and LOVED it. It is a great scout camp with beautiful surroundings and with the low humidity it gets cool enough at night to make it easy to sleep in the green army canvas tents my son’s Troop camps in. BTSR was by far his favorite scout camp he ever went to.
That Level 9 tour sounds amazing. When we went to UAH in November, DD and I took the extra tour to the Redstome Arsenal where the Flight Center is that runs the space station - that was a fascinating tour, we really enjoyed it.
We’ve only been in Texas 6 years and I’m not familiar with all the geography. When we moved here, our road trip brought us across Arizona, New Mexico and from Albuquerque down to Lubbock so our DS could see Texas Tech as he was in college in Nevada and considering their PT program, then on to Marble Falls, TX. Spent a year in Marble Falls then moved to the burbs of Austin. We’ve been to South Padre Island and Dallas with a few points in between but still haven’t explored much. Its a BIG state 
@BingeWatcher I spent 6 months scouring schools with good merit packages as we had a very limited budget for DD and really didn’t want her to have any debt beyond what she could obtain on her own and even then, we wished to avoid if possible but our resources are limited. DD absolutely refused to consider anything in Texas, the south in general was a NO but UAH got a pass due to its technology and diverse population.
Oh and Hamilton, how exciting! I would love to see it. DD was in NYC twice in the past year and has seen two broadway shows; Book of Mormon and I don’t remember the other. DD and I saw Lion King here in Austin a few years ago, soooo amazing.
Texas state has a full tuition if the scores/grades are high enough. LA Tech if I remember correctly was also very reasonable plus there is the list here on College Confidential. I read a lot of the conversations in the financial aid section as the “list” is predominately the full rides and those are hard to come by so we were really looking for full tuition knowing we could handle housing if need be.
UAH for us had the magic combo, Tuition and housing along with being a stem heavy school. It was not her “dream” school but IMO chase the dream experiences after one has secured an education. DD is now contemplating med school as she thinks she wants to be a medical examiner (deals with the dead) its a good thing her undergrad is covered. The only reason she may take a loan is to go study abroad. She is in the UAH Honors college and they have lots of study abroad options which was one of the big attractions to her.
FYI - In case y’all are considering, UAH has the dates for their orientation up - the registration has not kicked off but the dates are up and per the admissions office, they are “cast in stone”.
Small world @SnowflakeDogMom @18EagleMom I’m also from Texas and accepted to UAH. Have done two visits before to UAH and thinking about going to the accepted students day. Don’t know how much more info I can get since I have done two full days there before.
@Hbs2018 we are not attending accepted students day - DD is reserved and booked for Honors orientation 5/19-20 tIt didn’t make sense financially to send her to two events a month apart since the distance is either a plane ride or a two day dribve - we are in Central Texas near Austin.
Hi, all. DS and I are going on April 7th. He’s still trying to figure out which school is the best fit for him and I’m hoping this will tip him over the edge. We went to an admitted student dinner last week here in TN and I think UAH is his #1 pick. However, he’s pretty reserved and not willing to make that call quite yet. It’s my #1 pick. Assuming he makes a decision, we’ll be back for the May 20-21 orientation. He did sign up for that, at least, at the dinner.
One other thing I noticed at the dinner last week, all of the students that attended were all sort of Big Bang types. Super smart, sort of geeky, a couple probably on the spectrum. In short, DS type of students. We’ve attended 2 other dinners and never really felt that same type of vibe. It just really seems like the right place.
@“Garden Mom” How fun to attend a dinner - we are in Central Texas so dinner is not an option.
My DD also liked the “smart kid” vibe she picked up on when we visited campus. She said it was like her IB group from high school but a whole campus full of smart kids.
DD’s flight is booked for 5/18 - she arrives the afternoon before orientation and flies home on the evening of the 21st - she is excited about orientation! She has been busily looking at course catalogs, she is currently undeclared and looking at lots of explorer classes. She has an interest in astro physics but also wants to go to medical school to be a medical examiner. We shall see where she actually lands.
@SnowflakeDogMom The dinner was really a nice touch and we enjoyed it. It was mostly a social thing rather than another presentation so we got to chat with other families. I’m pretty sure that’s where DS will end up and he’ll be only a couple of hours from home, which is nice. I think at this point, he just needs to decide if he wants to be surrounded with students like he’s had in his high school classes or if he wants to be in a school where he’ll stand out more. I’m pretty sold on the opportunities available at UAH much more so than the other school he’s considering. Assuming he’s there, I hope our paths may cross along the way.
Well, we attended the Admitted Students Day last weekend and it was really great. As we were walking from one bldg to another, my husband told DS that this was definitely his favorite campus that he’d been to with him. DS agreed and by the end of the visit was pretty much sold. They definitely did it right and so much better than 2 other schools he was interested in.
When I asked him what he liked most about UAH he said-
- The feel - The students seem more intellectual than the other schools
- I’ll have my own room and only need to share a bathroom with 1 other student
- The food was good each time we’ve been there
- Opportunities for internships / co-ops and later jobs
- Scholarship
- When he received his acceptance letter for the honors college there was a little hand written note from the Dean with comments on his essay.
I know this probably sounds crazy but we have revisited each of his favorite schools at least twice. We’ve been to UAH 3 times now and also a dinner given here in TN for admitted students. Every interaction has been positive and made him feel more and more comfortable. Looks like we’ll see you in Huntsville next fall.
@“Garden Mom” WooooWhooo!
Your son’s list reads just like my DD’s list - she said the exact same thing as your #1 - she said the campus reminded her of her IB group in high school except instead of a pocket of smart kids, there was a whole campus.
Dean also commented on DD’s HC essay, that letter is still hanging on our fridge, she was really proud of her essay as it was near and dear to her and his comments really hit home for her.
DD just joined the HC chat group, she is looking forward to Orientation in May