<p>Congratulations to all. We are from NJ and my son received an email yesterday, congratulating him for being a finalist. Today we received the red envelope. We’re from NJ, so I’m happy that he’ll be able to see the university one more time before starting. Parents out there-are you going with your child? We are sending him on his own-just bought the plane ticket! I’m excited for him and hope he meets all of you.</p>
<p>UFE finalist weekend includes many activities for the parents, so I encourage parents to attend if it is possible. You get a chance to meet with current UFE students, UFE and other Honors College faculty and staff, campus and dorm tour, Q&A time etc. Some events are with your finalist, others are just for parents. We left that weekend with a good understanding of the program, Honors College and University. UFE has provided our daughter with amazing opportunities and experiences! Good luck everyone!</p>
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<p>Congratulations and best of luck to all those going in as Finalist to UFE! </p>
<p>jerzey1: I agree w/momofonly1, if it is possible to go along w/your student the UFE weekend does give parents a very nice opportunity to understand the program, meet with the UFE/Honors College staff and it is fun to interact with the other parents. On the other hand if it isn’t possible to go know that your student will be well taken care of and going on their own can have its advantages as well…D flew back to UA the wkend after UFE on her own for an official visit for sports; having that time to experience campus even more how she would as a student (on her own) really sealed the deal for her. I’ll never forget her big smile when we met her at the airport coming home from that trip. I think that feeling of independence which will become a part of their college life really came out from the trip on her own so either way there will be positives.</p>
<p>Thanks! We went to the school over the summer and met with the Honors Dean, toured the campus and met with an Honors student, so I am hoping that I don’t miss too much. We just can’t swing my going right now. I’m so envious of those parents that are going.
Trvlbug, my husband and I were also hoping that he would be able to experience that sense of independence this time.
I love these boards and really appreciate the input!</p>
<p>Congrats to all you finalists! I got my letter late last week and I’ve had a smile on my face ever since. I’m looking forward to the weekend and I guess I just lucked out with my transporation situation as we live in Tuscaloosa. It’ll be a 15 minute drive for me! I’ll be going the route of rooming with another finalist as my parents won’t be able to make it, but I’m still looking forward to the experience just as much. Congrats again for getting this far and I can’t wait to meet some of you guys in a couple weeks!</p>
<p>Thanks for the taste of what’s to come for parents on the UFE weekend. D has been accepted since fall, but has many other applications out there. Haven’t been able to swing the long distance trip, but this invitation will make it possible. D has been heavily researching all the options for classes in Honors, Blount, and New College, as well as all the fantastic opportunities for service and mentoring that are part of Fellows. We are looking forward to meeting fellow prospective students, faculty, and staff. Didn’t imagine D attending such a large school, but this seems like a wonderful program.</p>
<p>Parentnerap and others…</p>
<p>congrats!</p>
<p>Can you please also post on our Roll Call Thread? I’ll bump it so you can find it. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Congrats to all the finalists, Good Luck!!</p>
<p>If UAlabama had funds for their football, they need to have funds for more UFEs who may contribute more to the society. This is not a disease restricted to Alabama, it is all over. Future scientists and philanthropists, educators are ignored but average sportsmen get full ride.</p>
<p>All the UFEs who made the cut, make those who did not make it but wished proud! You guys/gals deserve the best.</p>
<p>Actually, I think Alabama is very generous with academic scholarships. I think it would be a pretty harsh assumption to say athletes have less to offer society. I am happy mine and others are on academic scholarships and I am proud of our athletes also. And while UFE is a good program, there is a pretty large “pond” of academically talented individuals who are not UFE or CBH.</p>
<p>I strongly disagree,midwestdad. “Average” sportsmen do not get a full ride. And I think if you looked into it, you’d find that football is funding a lot of the scholarships for bright kids. Between engendering alumni support and generating licensing revenues, football is a huge contributor to the university and its scholarship funds. And who is to say who makes a greater contribution to society?</p>
<p>Following the tornado on April 27th the football team was alongside Coach Saban helping to provide relief to those in need in the Tuscaloosa community. I would say this is a pretty good indication of their character and a substantial commitment to contribute to society. We do have athletes who are also scholars as well. C.Peek would be an example of a former player who was also a scholar. My D was fortunate enough to meet this gentleman at a scholarship banquet. C.Tinker was severely injured during the tornado trying to save his girlfriend’s life. How many of us would have done the same?</p>
<p>" If UAlabama had funds for their football, they need to have funds for more UFEs who may contribute more to the society. "</p>
<p>Bama doesn’t really fund its football…the Crimson Tide funds itself AND funds the money-losing sports AND funds academic scholarships. So, there’s no reason to blame football.</p>
<p>That said, I don’t know why UFE isn’t bigger…I can’t really figure that out…I don’t think its every been fully enrolled…I think the most enrolled has been about 30 kids.</p>
<p>I don’t even think it’s a cost issue, since joining UFE is not an assured scholarship source.</p>
<p>Everyone out there, point well taken. I am not necessarily knocking athetes either. Sorry, it came out that way. I was just lamenting the fact that we (as a nation) are not encouraging some who are the backbone of our future. You have to agree that it is not going to be athletes. Yes, there are some. But, generally, it is going to be those hard-working teachers and others who do selfless work. Every indication is that is true. </p>
<p>UFE definitely needs to be bigger. I am not knocking UA as such, it is a general trend everywhere. I am actually agreeing to the fact that those who not part of UFE at UA are indeed scholars. That is what my point was. Those scholars need be in the UFE.</p>
<p>We also know that a majority of the endowements go to sports, not academics.</p>
<p>All the UFEs and non-UFEs and dedicated students and athletes out there who think about the society around you, I want to wish you all the best. You are a great bunch.</p>
<p>^^^ For what it’s worth, when my D met with Dr. Morgan last year she told us that the 25 limit was due to the fact that the program is still relatively new. For those that don’t know it, CBHP has been at UA since the 1960’s as the first (or one of the first depending on if you believe UA or MIT) research assisted by computers programs. So CBHP is roughly 50 years old and still has only 40 students per class. So, I’m thinking that UA has a pretty good track record and idea about how to address the capacity and growth of these programs.</p>
<p>As to the comments on funding, as m2ck indicated earlier, the NMF scholarships and I’m sure many other scholarships on campus are actually funded BECAUSE of the success of Football at UA and in some cases from places you might not expect. As one example, I think it was reported here last year that $1M in support of scholarships actually came from revenue derived from the sale of UA apparel / swag and that UA is in the top 3 nationally for merchandise sales. This is not coming “from” sports, but as a result of sports success and popularity. If UA has 182 NMFs at roughly a 120K value, then they are investing in excess of $21M on those students over 4 years and that doesn’t even count the 100s of Presidential and other guaranteed scholars. The fact that revenue from various aspects of sports at UA funds any significant portion of those large ACADEMIC scholarships says something special about UA. Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, DAD2ILD</p>
<p>Needa lil help and/or perspective. Eldest Son accepted to UBama Honors (Engineering) & Tulsa Univ & got good scholarships at each. Out of pocket is very close, both are good eng schools and have visited both, and each about same distance from home in Houston. Any words of wisdom???</p>
<p>Thanx!!</p>
<p>1msharp…you probably need a new thread with your question so people will see it and respond.</p>
<p>Did your son get the Presidential scholarship and Engineering scholarship from Bama (tuition plus 2500 per year)? What was he offered at Tulsa?</p>
<p>Is your son a NMF?</p>
<p>My problem with Fellows was that I loved it, but Bama… I didn’t love. I think that it’s a wonderful program, but you really have to love Bama, and have to be willing to give up everything outside of Bama for this single program, while you have an entire campus of more than 30,000, 60 of whom you like at Fellows Weekend, while you don’t know the rest.
For me, that risk was too high. I accepted my place at Cornell, and I have no regrets, I think this program doesn’t make up for the other focus of the school, which really is sports.</p>
<p>^^^ beware of Trolls!!!</p>