Thanks. My friend’s son is in the band so I know it’s just a 90 minute class ever day, plus gamedays. Not even early morning practice! It really sounds worth it to me.
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Right! Only game days are early. And the older students with cars do a great job of transporting freshmen from the dorms. I think all of band camp week and every game day, my son has been picked up so he’s not doing the trek in pitch black darkness after/before a long day. He’s really enjoyed having a section that he’s become friends with.
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My daughter (from Central NJ, Jewish but not religious) was admitted to the University of Alabama Honors College and STEM to MBA program. Great merit scholarship (4 year full tuition for both undergraduate and graduate studies, first year fee housing, plus a stipend for 4 years).
She is a biology major, not sure about going the physician route, likely more interested in research, possibly genetics counseling. She will be coming in with a lot of AP credits. The STEM to MBA definitely provides her with some optionality with respect to career path, I think.
Alabama seems like a very compelling option, although she is waiting on a few other schools she has applied to. How does Bama compare with FSU (hoping for OOS waiver, Honors College acceptance and possibly Presidential Scholarship) and University of South Carolina (Honors College, likely in state tuition plus some additional merit aid)?
Should we put down a deposit now to lock in UA Honors College housing or do we have some time? We haven’t yet had a chance to visit the campus.
Would love feedback from anyone with kids at UA, FSU or UofSC.
Thank you!
Our in-town visit went really well. Lots of kids, parents, admins, alums. I’d say close to 200. Served up walking tacos, Dani (?) dogs, and banana pudding. Great Q&A with a current student, alum and parent.
One thing I wanted to mention is that the recruiter was very open about diversity and inclusion. Apparently, there are 70+ clubs on campus that are focused on diversity.
She confirmed that full pic of scholarship becomes available in March but initial auto-scholarship will be available within the month. They are backed up by ~9000 applications right now!! Yikes.
Told us that she would be happy to set up a Zoom call and chat.
One concern is that deposit for housing is due in Feb and full merit won’t be available until March but a small one as we were assured he will get full merit as advertised.
Evening ended with the fight song and shaking of the “shakers” not pompoms.
Glad we went! They do recruiting very well and roll out the crimson (not red) carpet.
Roll Tide!!
with the february housing - you kid can put down later for sure - but wont get a choice and will be placed by housing dept. feb deadline is for kids to have a choice.
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I have a daughter who’s a freshman at FSU, OOS from NJ. She loves it there, but I have been disappointed in a few things. I can’t compare to UA, as I don’t have a student there (yet), but I can speak from my experience at FSU. First, it’s very difficult to get to from NJ. Flights are not direct, and are very infrequent. Flights to Jacksonville are more accessible, but there is no transportation available for the 3 hour drive to Tallahassee. Next, almost every major at FSU is not directly admitted. Students are placed in the Division of Undergraduate Studies for the first 60 credits, then need to meet certain criteria to be formally admitted to their major. This irked me, but I didn’t think it was a big deal until I learned what that entails–very poor advising and limited access to classes, even required classes. Veteran FSU parents take this in stride, claiming it’s like this at all colleges, and it’ll all work out.
Like I said, my daughter loves FSU, and she has no regrets. It’s a very competitive school, with a stunningly beautiful campus, and a robust social life. Still, the issues I have encountered there have taught me to look more closely at colleges for my youngest. My oldest graduated from Maryland two years ago with none of these issues.
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Thank you for sharing.
I will need to ask about that when we tour the campus and I get a chance to meet with someone from the administration.
Alabama doesn’t have that issue. Honors College students also have priority registration (I think the same at FSU).
Sounds like I need to put a deposit down for housing now.
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If kiddo received acceptance on Wednesday, when should we expect merit information?
A week or two. Ours arrived by mail.
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By snail mail. I like that.
Sorry if this has already been asked but my DS applied test optional and was accepted but no news on what they called “Competitive Scholarships” for test optional. Does anyone know the process or timeline for notification?
Last year a lot of people were disappointed in scholarship awards for test optional applicants. The issue is that merit scholarships are finite. The university has guaranteed scholarships to students who apply with certain test scores. Remaining merit scholarships are awarded to test optional students (and there are a lot of qualified candidates). Unfortunately being at the end of the process is not optimal. I believe last year the test optional awards were released in March.
When your son logs into his myBama (login info at the bottom of the applicant portal), he’ll find an “Admissions & Scholarship” section on the bottom left. Click on that and then go to “Freshman Supplemental Scholarship Application.” This is where he’ll go to apply for all the competitive scholarships. Priority deadline for application is January 15 with decisions released on or about March 1.
Good luck!
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Question about UA admission. Would appreciate any advice/insight.
DD applied to Bama in mid-Oct, engineering major, sent SAT scores. She’s also a NMSF. Applied via the Common App.
On Oct. 26, she received an email that her app was not yet complete. Supporting documentation was missing. However, upon logging in, everything had a green check (completed) and no items were listed as missing.
Should DD email admissions at this point or continue waiting for an admissions decision? Maybe the “missing documentation” email pertained to her SAT scores that had not yet arrived? Perhaps the delay is related to her engineering major? Her GPA would not be an issue.
Thanks for any suggestions.
I would have her send an email to her admissions advisor. My daughter’s was always very helpful and quick to reply, and she/he should be able to take a look at the application and verify the status.
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yes - on the bama parents FB many many parents were disappointed in the competitive scholarships when they did not submit an ACT/SAT. Different schools value different things; the other UA (arizona) only looks at GPA and not ACT/SAT. So - not to be a downer; but just wanted you to keep that in the back of your mind. good luck!
our admissions rep is absolutely delightful and helpful at almost all hours!!! she is the best. I’d email your rep and ask them to look into this - hoping you have one like ours in the midwest. congrats to your D!
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Is there any application status update before decision comes out? There is no status at all at the moment in the applicant details section. I can’t recall if it was there before. But I do remember message confirming application review, and that message disappeared this morning.
My son’s status went blank earlier in the week — and today he received an email with his acceptance directly in the email. He did look back in the portal and saw that it indicated that he was accepted. Nothing in regular mail yet — but we are in the northeast, so I assume it may take a bit of time to get here.