<p>Got a letter in the mail today telling me to sign up for university days. What is this day about and is it worth going ! I do live out of state and would have to fly out there. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Have you visited before? If so, I don’t think I could justify the expense of flying in for University Days. It’s a general recruitment type program. If you have visited or plan to visit and will be in Honors, I’d go for a personal visit. I think you would get more bang for your buck that way. Of course, that’s just my opinion.</p>
<p>I got my letter today as well. As I visited campus in the Summer, I probably can’t justify a $400 flight for what looks like a general program. Would love to hear opinions of those that have attended the program though!!</p>
<p>My daughter and I went, but we didn’t have to fly. Here a schedule from a previous session if that would help.</p>
<p><a href=“http://universitydays.ua.edu/schedule.pdf[/url]”>http://universitydays.ua.edu/schedule.pdf</a></p>
<p>Although we enjoyed going, we really didn’t gain anything by going since we had visited before. There was a small break out session depending on the student’s intended major at the one we attended. I’ve heard from some that they did have the opportunity to visit dorms other than RCS, but we didn’t stay for the campus tour or housing portion.</p>
<p>I have written about our experience somewhere else in this forum, but I will repeat it here because I can’t find it (easily). We had both a personalised visit AND the general U-day tacked onto it. I can recommend you try to coordinate both events for the same visit if you have the time. That is, go on your personal tour for a day or two, and then join the University day (usually a Fri?) on the 2nd or 3rd day of your visit, if you can. The reason for this is that you will see both the nitty-gritty of your particular area of study (if you ask to sit in on classes and meet staff/students in your major), as well as be part of the whole campus atmosphere when 500 people all troop around oggle-ing the super-suites. 
The bus tour during a personalised visit will be nice to familiarise yourself with the campus layout - there is a smaller bus that takes you around, whereas the larger buses are used for general tours to accommodate so many people, and I have heard that you can feel like a sardine at times.</p>
<p>My son had a poor experience during his very last interview with someone on his personalised tour agenda at the very end of our 2nd day…it went so badly and was a deal-breaker for him, so that evening he decided against UA. The next day, as part of the University Days, I begged him to just go with me to the Ferg and look around since we were supposed to there anyway. There were dozens of tables set up with various departments and clubs, handing out information and with student ambassadors answering questions. The first table happened to be the engineering students. They talked with him (and confirmed that his poor experience was NOT the norm)…and the rest is history. He absolutely loves UA and has made a wise decision to be part of it.</p>
<p>You never know what will grab you during your visit to either confirm or negate your college choice. If you are coming via a plane ride from out of state, I would think it is important to spend multiple days on campus. Since UA is likely far from home, you need to be comfortable with not only the campus, but the surrounding community. You simply cannot see nor experience everything in just 1 day. I also recommend not overbooking yourself - leave some hours in the day to just fill in with things of your choosing. You never know what will catch your eye…but I’m betting it will be something…and you WILL feel the magic if UA is the place for you.</p>