It’s an awesome school! My son is choosing Alabama over four UCs (including UCSD in beautiful La Jolla) which feels a bit crazy (major difference in ranking), but he has an incredible scholarship and he was just drawn to the school. I imagine SDSU won’t give much in merit aid and OOS tuition would be expensive.
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Ca parent here…SDSU is pretty hard to get into these days. You pretty much need a 4.0 or higher to get in. Back in the day it was not the case. I was just talking to someone about how when we applied for college no one wanted to apply there. Now it is totally different! All the kids I know who have gone there are top students and have loved their experience. SDSU and Cal Poly SLO are two of the hardest Cal State schools to get into. Kids are turning down UC’s…my daughter included… to go to these schools.
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simple app for honors, yes there is an essay but we recycled one and it wasn’t a long one either lol. It wasn’t his finest by any means and it was a go like a day or so later. I’d email about honors action spots as I did for my oldest two years ago with no problems getting added.
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So, my son is looking at classes for fall and it seems every honors class is full already but showing 6-10 students per class. I find this odd. Are seats blocked off for students and assigned by advisors when kids show up for Bama bound? Do they open up more sections?
Seats open for each Bama Bound session. After a certain time they are released to everyone. So maybe 4 open in a section and 2 sign up during Bama Bound and then the other 2 might show up for all.
It took some watching but my son got all the classes he wanted. Coursicle can help but we just kept looking and got the times he wanted.
My colleague’s son is headed to UA this fall but says Blount housing is full. Trying to make alternative arrangements and will join in housing when space permits.
Why not stay in honors housing – Ridgecrest?
My son strongly preferred the layout of the Ridgecrest dorms to Blount. It was actually a small factor in his ultimate decision not to apply to Blount Scholars.
My colleague said all dorms are full and his son got special permission to live off campus.
Also said maybe it’s because living in frat houses costs $6k (extra?) per semester and students are preferring to live in regular housing. I don’t believe this last part but it’s interesting how opinions are formed.
Alabama has had historically large freshman classes for several years (it did this year as well). Like other public universities, it cannot keep up on housing. Housing officially closed on either May 1st or 2nd. If you did not have housing by that date, odds are you might not until there is a “melt”.
Back from Bama Bound.
Registration went very smoothly. He was done a bit early with day 1 advising and showed up to the parents’ session with the engineering advisor who was very kind to look at his schedule and make a few recommendations. Day 2 took less than 5 mins for him and he was registered.
No honors Chemistry this fall. So, that’s going to be a bit of a wildcard. The advisor encouraged him to sign up for honors sections wherever possible. His words were tenured professors, smaller classes and more access + accountability. We shall see.
The only negative (if one) is that the EPIC program has been silent throughout. No communication whatsoever. So, he had to figure out that he did not need to sign up for regular honors but instead had to sign up for EPIC honors.
The engineering advisor was very big on tutoring services. Apparently, they provide free tutoring for the 10 most failed classes. Not sure if these tutoring sessions are helpful or fairly nominal.
Thank you for you suggestions and pointers.
I’m glad to hear it went well!
It’s so weird how different advisors give such different advice. My son was told honors was way harder and not to take any honors classes! This was a kid who was NMF, Valedictorian, had a full IB diploma, etc. I finally convinced him to and he said he should have done more of them - smaller classes and different students in them. Next semester he has no honors because he really enjoyed his Calc 2 professor and is taking him again for both Calc 3 and Diff Eq. Seems reasonable to me!
Sorry about EPIC. That’s unfortunate. I’m glad he figured out what to sign up for.
They do have tutoring. My son hasn’t needed it yet. Interesting that it’s for the 10 most failed classes. Huh.
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My daughter was an athlete at Alabama several years ago. They arranged tutoring freshman year for almost all of the classes… standard for athletes. Most classes she did not need tutoring. However, some of her later classes as an upper classman she did utilize tutoring. Many times the tutor was more of a sounding board for her and not really all that instructional. Sometimes it is good to have someone to walk through various problems (especially in engineering).
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Do you mind sharing the name of the prof? My son is signed up for Calc 3 hons at the suggestion of the advisor. I tried to DM you but profile is locked. Thanks!
I think I sent you a message.
Hi! I have a D24 and wondering if it took long for anyone to get admitted?? Her transcripts were received 8/30, and we still do not have a decision. She is pending after about 4 weeks. We keep hearing of kids getting in within 2 days. Does anyone know if there are waves of acceptance?? And how this work at UA? It’s my daughters first choice and she will be devastated not to get in. Thank you all for any insight
Some of the students who had to wait were those not submitting test scores, GPA that is a little lower, not as many rigorous classes etc.
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Thank you! Yeah she is TO and 3.6 UW, but honors and rigorous schedule. Thanks for the insight.