<p>S and I are scheduled to tour UA on Friday at 9. We have been in touch a few times with someone from the Honors College program who has been super friendly via email and she volunteered that she would arrange for S to meet with a current Honors student, see the Honors dorms, and also talk with a prof from his intended major, and would send us an itinerary for those things. I hadn’t heard anything, and it had been several weeks since we had connected, so I emailed a quick reminder at the end of last week about our upcoming visit and she said she would get back to me. We leave Thursday AM, and I still haven’t heard anything. Should I bother her again tomorrow, or trust that she’ll get back to me at some point? I hate to be annoying to her, but S is surprisingly enthusiastic about the visit, and I really want it to go well! :)</p>
<p>You will get it probably late Wednesday or sometime Thursday :)</p>
<p>We got ours via email en route!!! I have heard this happens almost all the time. The schedule tons of visits! It will go great - they do a nice job with these tours.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the reassurance! :)</p>
<p>I’m so sorry you seem to be having the same experience we had recently. We requested a tour more than five weeks in advance and followed up several times with emails and phone calls. Unfortunately we didn’t receive our itinerary until we were two hours in to our travel time and had taken three days off work. The itinerary was a disaster when we received it and we started from scratch on Friday evening at 5:00 by placing a literal last minute call to Alumni Hall. The alumni Association was extremely attentive and planned a very successful visit for us. I’m not sure what happened or why, but it left us with a bad impression and a feeling that we were imposing. Thankfully, our experience ended on a positive note after contacting Alumni Hall. </p>
<p>I can tell you this was nothing like the experience we had three years ago with our oldest student. Jami Gates planned an exceptional visit and left our student feeling welcome. I’ve read the same frustrating accounts from others recently regarding their visits. Ive also read of those for whom it worked out perfectly. I’m not sure why this happened, but perhaps they are overwhelmed. I would call and express my concerns.</p>
<p>I hope your visit is very successful.</p>
<p>Roll Tide!</p>
<p>We got my son’s itinerary two or three days before he was going…my guess is they don’t send it out earlier as the students they have taking the kids individually around the campus probably don’t know their schedules (tests etc) before then to commit earlier. Of course if you don’t hear anything the day before, definitely call but I will bet you will have an e-mail before then.</p>
<p>^^^My response crossed with the one above. My S went last year as he is a current freshman now. Perhaps there have been more problems this year than in the past. Hopefully all works outs with your visit and you come out with a positive feeling. Roll Tide.</p>
<p>Our visits and tours through the Honors College have always been just what we requested (better) but itineraries arrive at the last possible moment.</p>
<p>I think it is very difficult to get and maintain commitments with faculty as demands are made on their time…so the Honors College fine-tunes at the last to assure the student will actually see the right folks and have a full schedule.</p>
<p>We have been so very pleased…I hope everyone has a tour that shows the best UA has to offer.</p>
<p>This aspect of UA is particularly nerve wracking. When parents take off days from work, take kids out of school, and pay for OOS airfares…it is reassuring to know that things will indeed work out, and that it will all be worth the visit. And, yes, it will all work out.
BUT, this kind of feedback needs to get back to those involved w/ scheduling UA tours, and all this anxiety can be avoided by their simply giving an update to parents/families, stating that the itinerary will be coming at the last moment (so people don’t expect it sooner).</p>
<p>have you been in contact with Allison and Susan in Honors? If so, and you’re nervous, send them a note or call and leave a message for them.</p>
<p>I had a post similar to this last month! I had requested a tour in January, then sent a reminder in February for our March visit. Since we were leaving home almost a week before our actual tour, I sent an e-mail asking if the itinerary could be sent before we left home since I wouldn’t have a printer while we were gone. Susan sent it the next day. </p>
<p>We had a wonderful visit, although the time allotted for the engineering department was not near long enough. The engineering department tacked on a department tour to the end of our day at the last minute - very accommodating! </p>
<p>As far as the itinerary goes, I don’t think we (parents/students) necessarily need a step-by-step detail of the full day in advance, but simply a starting and ending time. I would have felt comfortable with them telling me in advance to be at the honors college at 8:30am and plan to be there until 2:00pm and expect to visit with department, sit in on class, tour dorms, have lunch, etc. They can work the details out later. :)</p>
<p>Hope you have a great tour! I know right now UA is #1 on DS’ list.</p>
<p>Received ours a day or so before departure. They are dealing with a lot of moving parts, but you might want to give a call just to check in and be sure it is moving forward. According to my wife and son it was very well done.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, yes I’ve been corresponding with Allison.</p>
<p>Kind of worrisome that they appear disorganized this year, but good to know that the itineraries did come eventually. If I don’t hear from her today, I will give a call before we leave tomorrow. Like beadymom said, I don’t need full detail, but starting and ending time with an idea of what will be happening in the middle would be great!</p>
<p>Since many of you have visited, can you give me an idea of how you handled the visit? For instance, did you lunch with your child and the current student and attend the meeting with the professor or did you leave your child on their own for that? Selfishly, <em>I</em> have a ton of questions that I don’t trust S to ask if I’m not there! ;)</p>
<p>College4twins: Unless your student will be sullen and treat you disrespectfully in front of others and be embarrassed that you are there…(doubt all that!)…YES, do go with your student on the tours and sit in on everything with them (even classes, if you want). YES, ask your questions - your S will hear the same information from 2 different perspectives, and this is a teaching moment for you, and he will hear what sorts of things to ask for future. After the 1st or 2nd appointment of the tour, your S should pick up on what questions to ask (from hearing you previously), and you can take more of a back seat.
Or, you can compromise, and have lunch on your own (leaving S to talk 1-on-1 with the tour student), as there might be some things he wants to talk about privately with an actual student. (Or find excuse to dip out of the lunch for 15 minutes, leaving them alone to talk in the dining hall, and then rejoin them?)
Excited for you! Enjoy!!!</p>
<p>Collegefortwins, I don’t think that it’s disorganized. We type A parents like to have all the details long in advance and that’s just not how this process works. I do agree, though, that UA could make it a little easier on themselves by telling prospective students to meet at this point at X time which is when you will receive your itinerary for the visit.</p>
<p>As far as accompanying your child, we did stay with our son, though our situation may be different than many on here. For us, UA came up in mid-September of my son’s senior year, long after we (thought) we were done visiting. We went from knowing nothing on a Monday to visiting 12 days later. We stayed with our son simply because the idea of UA was so new to us. We did look for our son to take the lead as far as questions, etc went. I knew I always could find out information later if need be.</p>
<p>I have to say that while I felt a little awkward sitting in on the class (an Honors section with only a dozen kids), I found the subject SO fascinating that I bought the book they were discussing (Confederates in the Attic) and have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. </p>
<p>I do think it is important (although difficult for us A types- especially with kids who are not A types) to not ask questions or contribute- they need to be the ones to do this.</p>
<p>Excellent points from everyone! I haven’t asked him how much he wants my help, and if I did, I am sure that he would tell me that he didn’t care whether I stayed with him or not. He will do fine either way…just might not get the info I want him to get. But, in reality, I can probably get it all here! 
I like the idea of finding a way to leave him alone with the student for part of the lunch to talk on their own and I will probably leave him to attend class alone. I have a feeling that S is way more reserved when I am around!</p>
<p>I stayed with son for most of the day - except for the seminar class. Like tjmom said, it is a small class with less than 15 students. It is in a boardroom type room and I honestly was afraid there would not be enough chairs for two of us! I just waited in the hall. He was nervous about going into the class by himself - I was nervous for him because he has a tendency to nap when he sits still too long! LOL </p>
<p>I wish I would have thought of excusing myself for a few minutes during lunch! Where were you guys a month ago??? haha My DS is extremely shy and does not ask many questions. I’m always afraid of that dead silence/awkward feeling. So I’ll give him a chance to ask something, but am there to shoot a question here or there to keep the conversation going. And like aeromom said, after they hear the same questions repeated they pick up on what to ask after awhile (at least I’m hoping he will!).</p>
<p>Kind of worrisome that they appear disorganized this year, but good to know that the itineraries did come eventually. If I don’t hear from her today, I will give a call before we leave tomorrow</p>
<p>They are very organized ladies. Your “turn” just hasn’t come yet. 
</p>
<p>They don’t send out intineraries early because schedules can be fluid until the end. They don’t want to send out a schedule in advance that says that you’re meeting Dr. X at 9, but then they find out Dr. X has to reschedule and meet at 11. </p>
<p>If you haven’t heard anything by about 2pm central time, then I’d call them.</p>
<p>We visited twice. Our first visit was arranged by our area recruiter (who can also be a good resource and is not as overwhelmed as the staff on campus, you can always ask your area recruiter to follow up on your behalf) and the second by the honor’s college staff.</p>
<p>The first visit I stayed with son the entire time and during the second visit I was there the whole time except for when he sat in on an engineering class and I wandered around campus for an hour. Having no background in engineering, I didn’t think I would get much out of sitting through that class, but after the class the instructor took time to sit down with son and myself and explain the degree requirements and how that class fit in and answer any questions we had.</p>
<p>The way I see it, we’re looking at things from two different perspectives - S’s there to ask questions to see if it’s a good ‘fit’ for him, I’m there to ask questions like ‘do students NEED a car on campus?’, ‘what percentage of students in this degree program finish in four years?’, ‘what safety precautions are in place in the dorms?’…questions my son would never ask because those aren’t his concerns… </p>
<p>Yes, most of those questions can be answered here, but I generally asked the same questions repeatedly to the students who led our tours, to the instructors we spoke with, to the staff in various departments just to compare the responses of people looking at the situation from a variety of perspectives.</p>
<p>Do not underestimate the value of talking with current students! (both parents and incoming students should do this) You will find them most helpful and willing to talk (as long as they are not dashing off to another class right away). So, do approach students! After the class you sit in on, corner a few of them and ask how they have found their studies, etc. (hopefully you are in an upper division class, as I think it is nice to get the perspective of kids who have been there awhile) Totally agree w/ jrcs - you have to ask the same questions several times and COMPARE the consistency of answers. If my S made his decision based off 1 very bad, sad experience with 1 very bad, sad person on the tour, he would not be at UA! Triangulate! :)</p>