@“beth’s mom” My twins initially wanted to got to Iowa State (DS) and UMN (DD). They both received the Presidential from UA. I believe they discussed among themselves and determined they did not want to borrow money and also that they want to go to the same school.
They both loved UA after the tour and really liked the Co-op opportunities. They also liked the laid back atmosphere and friendliness.
One of the areas of concern for my DD at UMN was that you had to request your eng major after Soph year. She felt the competitiveness would be too much as people vie for spots. That was a tipping point for her.
DS was definitely about the money so he can come out debt free.
My son graduated from Bama in 2014, debt free, and when it came time to choose his grad school, he had a choice between a full ride at Iowa, and no aid at UMN. He chose UMN because he wanted an urban area, career opportunities, and ease of travel from a city. While he probably could have done similar research at both, and perhaps career prospects from both would have been similar, he has enjoyed living in Minneapolis. He has now gotten his master’s, has a considerable amount of debt from his short time there, but was finally able to find a job. He has been able to hop on a plane easily to fly home, rather than drive some distance to an airport, then make multiple connections to get home. In fact, it is easier for him to get home from Minneapolis than it was to get home from Tuscaloosa. We live in Louisiana. Son was not Greek at Bama, but made some lifetime friends there, as part of dorm life, and continues to stay in touch with them. He got involved with extracurriculars at neither school, but was able to get an excellent education at both. In the end, that’s what he wanted to get out of college, an education that helped him achieve his goals. Best of luck to all your students as they make their college decisions.
My D, just got back last night from visiting UA on Friday and Saturday and Tulane on Sunday and Monday, she did not have one negative thing to say about UA, loved the campus, loved the friendliness of the people and especially loved the casualness of how the student were dressed, she is a sweatpants, sweatshirt, shorts and oversized t-shirt kinda of person, she said to my wife “look Mom these are my people”. I had been on many college visits with her last year at this time and she remarked that she appreciated the tours guides at UA being dressed up as they were representing the U in an official capacity, as opposed to the ones we saw at other more “prestigious”(ha ha) colleges who looked liked they literally rolled out of bed 10 minutes before.
She is down to 3 schools to pick from so it will be interesting to see which one she ultimately chooses.
We just booked our UA campus tour today and our daughter (from NJ) has the same reservations as the OP. We are hoping that she likes it. Thanks for sharing.
In the OP’s post: “all female tour guides were wearing the required dress, pearls and heels” When we toured 2 yrs ago, we thought that look was very professional. My son was and still is not at all interested in the social Greek life, but we were not put off by the Greek houses, etc. The university has such a great mix of people and so many different kinds of groups to get involved in! Hope your tour goes well, Bloke123!
Bloke123, for when in August did you schedule your tour? It could make a difference as to whether classes are in session, dining halls are open, professors are around and the like. It could also be very hot and humid, which might be an issue for some, but the “reward” for a couple months of really hot weather on either side of summer is a mild winter, at least by northeast/midwest standards. Best to be prepared for that.
When my DD toured Bama she thought the huge t-shirt over Nike shorts looked stupid. Then she arrived on campus in August. That strange combo turned immediately to the best thing ever because it was cool and didn’t show sweat. She also swore she would never wear the ugly Chaco sandals. By sophomore year, she realized distance walking in flip flops was ruining her feet. She could wear the Chacos all day and her feet wouldn’t hurt. They were also practical to wear in the rain. Best wishes to the OPs DD at Pitt. But those Bama girls will be wearing the Norts in November not a knee-length Northface!
I agree this is what I think of as a “professional look,” but one of the things that impressed me when my son and I finally visited UA at the 11th hour on spring break his senior year of HS was the range of impressive young women we met. The first was an ACE (CoE "Ambassador) from Huntsville, who was wearing khakis and a nice blouse with the UA logo. (I’m guessing this is the ACE “uniform” for tours). The second was an Honors College frosh from San Antonio who met us for lunch. She was dressed in what I’d characterize as classic liberal arts student “dress” attire (a pretty sundress and sandals).The third was dressed much more formally (in a crimson red suit with pearls IIRC). She was PR student (or recent grad) who led the formal campus bus tour. She very polished and well-spoken. All three really wowed me for different reasons. The weather was just getting mild after a very long and harsh winter that year (even in Tuscaloosa), so we really didn’t witness a lot of that “norts style” until we attended Bama Bound in August.
@Bloke123, I don’t think the OP actually had any reservations about UA. Her daughter did, and it turns out it wasn’t the right place for her. Was she focused too much on the negatives once she got to campus? Who can say? It’s entirely possible she was comparing everything to Pitt, and UA paled in comparison. For her. And that’s totally understandable.
I personally don’t think it was a wasted visit. (We had a similar disappointing experience when we visited one of my son’s top options. I loved the school; he was ready to leave by lunchtime on an ASD!) You can’t really know about any school until you visit. I, frankly, was shocked my son didn’t want to apply to Pitt because on paper it sounded perfect for him, especially as far as his safeties went. And he had several friends who’d applied there as their safeties too (two of whom are happy sophomores there now).
They can only go to one school. It’s great if they fall in love with the least expensive option, but that rarely happens in my experience. I’m just so grateful that after visiting three schools in two weeks (all for the first time) my son felt UA was the best overall fit. He surprised a lot of people when he chose Bama. Even me (and I was completely sold on the school after our visit). That it was by far the least expensive option was just icing on the cake.
For the record, I did not have any reservations about UA or any school in particular on my DD’s list. My DD applied at several schools in the south, each a bit different and a few closer to home. I will never know if it was anything in particular but UA was just not right for her. She also turned down Georgia Tech, Temple University, the University of Maryland and the University of Louisville. All were great schools on paper but only Pitt ended up feeling the most comfortable for her.
Again, I strongly encourage anyone who is even somewhat interested to apply to and visit UA. Both my DH and I thought it was a beautiful school with an amazing Honors College. The honors ambassador that we had lunch with was a non-Greek female ChemE major from Birmingham who was fantastic. My DD even remarked that if she would have chosen UA, she would have made a point to get in touch with the ambassador. However, my DD was also careful to say that the ambassador was not enough to change her mind. UA is not for her but I think this is a great example of why visits are important.
I think this thread is a great example of how each kid is unique. Even a school as awesome as UA isn’t going to be right for every student.
Ironically, Pitt was one of just a handful of schools we visited in addition to UA. Pitt is super close to us (80 miles instead of closer to 800). Pitt was clearly NOT for dd from the first tour. Too urban. Too many blue-lights-and-safe-zones. Too much security. Not cozy. UA, on the other hand, was a perfect fit.
And, FWIW, my dd wears jeans, cut offs, normal-fitted-tshirts, flip flops . . . no Norts (unless maybe she’s at the rec center, lol), no game day dresses, no Greek life, no drinking parties, liberal politics, no church . . . and she has heaps of good friends and fun times. I was worried about the Greek stuff, the cutesy girl dresses, the conservative Bible belt south . . . but, she found “her people” easily and has been very comfortable and happy and gets along with everyone. She is honors college, a Comp Sci major, so in the Engineering College.
UA, on the other hand, was a perfect fit.