Visiting Bama

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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<p>Well, looks like my parents and I will be heading down south at some point this summer to visit Bama. I’m a soon-to-be junior, and this’ll probably be the only time I’ll visit Bama before I apply, so I’m wanting to get the most bang for my time. My mom asked me to do a little research on going down there ahead of time so we can start planning.</p>

<p>So with that little intro stated:</p>

<p>-Best places to eat?
-Best hotels?
-What should we do on campus? Information session and campus tour? I’m also very interested in the honors college, can we set up a visit with that? Is it possible to tour any departments/facilities?
-While we’re down there, any general places we should visit in T-Town? </p>

<p>Thanks and Roll Tide! :)</p>

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<p>Do try to visit Bama…I think you’ll be very impressed by all the new facilities.</p>

<p>If you do visit, first set up the campus tour online…try for an early morning time! Don’t bother with the “info session”, you’ll get that info here pretty much on the Alabama forum on College Confidential which is VERY active.*</p>

<p>SET UP your campus visit time as soon as you can. These get booked up quickly. So as soon as you know when you’re coming, book your Campus Tour spots for your family.</p>

<p>Then send an email to the HC
In the email to the Honors College include:</p>

<p>Student’s name and contact info</p>

<p>Date and time of the Campus tour that you’ve reserved.</p>

<p>Likely majors*</p>

<p>Career interests (including med, law, etc)</p>

<p>Anything particular that you want to see. *If you have an interest in seeing the new Science and Engineering Complex, let them know.</p>

<p>Honors Recruitment
Allison Verhine
Coordinator
269 Nott Hall
205-348-5534
<a href=“mailto:allison.verhine@ua.edu”>allison.verhine@ua.edu</a></p>

<p>Susan Alley
Assistant Coordinator
270 Nott Hall
205-348-5599
<a href=“mailto:susan.alley@ua.edu”>susan.alley@ua.edu</a></p>

<p>Allison and her assistant will arrange the rest of the day…meeting with faculty related to major, honors college faculty, touring honors dorms, etc.</p>

<p>Sometimes mail goes to their SPAM folders, so call them if you haven’t heard back within a few business days. These ladies do an excellent job and work very hard</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1156069-bama-area-restaurant-guide.html?highlight=restaurants[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1156069-bama-area-restaurant-guide.html?highlight=restaurants&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<h1>Country Inn & Suites 4801 McFarland Blvd. East Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 (205) 345-9999</h1>

<h1>Courtyard by Marriott 4115 Courtney Drive Tuscaloosa, AL 35405 (205) 750-8384</h1>

<h1>Fairfield Inn 4101 Courtney Drive Tuscaloosa, AL 35405 (205) 366-0900</h1>

<h1>Hampton Inn 600 Harper Lee Drive Tuscaloosa, AL 35404 (205) 553-9800</h1>

<h1>Hampton Inn 6400 Interstate Dr. Tuscaloosa, AL 35453 (205) 562-9000 *</h1>

<h1>Holiday Inn Express 1120 Veterans Memorial Parkway Tuscaloosa, AL 35404 (205) 464-4000 *</h1>

<h1>Home-Towne Suites 1650 15th Street East Tuscaloosa, AL 35404 (205) 553-3828 *</h1>

<h1>Hotel Capstone 320 Paul W. Bryant Drive Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 (205) 752-3200</h1>

<h1>Microtel Inn 6331 Interstate Drive Tuscaloosa, AL 35453 (205) 556-1555</h1>

<h1>Microtel Inn & Suites 1417 Veterans Memorial Parkway Tuscaloosa, AL 35404 (205) 553-4095 *</h1>

<h1>Wingate by Wyndham 4918 Skyland Blvd. East Tuscaloosa, AL 35405 (205) 553-5400 *</h1>

<h1>Yellowhammer Inn & Conference Center 2700 Yacht Club Way NE Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 (205) 343-4215 *</h1>

<p>Will it just be you and your parents? or will any siblings be coming, too? If so, then you might want to rent a condo thru VRBO.com</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/alabama/tuscaloosa[/url]”>http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/alabama/tuscaloosa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>We have stayed at 2 of the places on the list.</p>

<p>Home Towne Suites in one of the king 1 bedrooom units w/ 2 baths. This is great for longer stays and if there are parents and siblings. Plenty of room. Nothing fancy, just clean. No free breakfasts which means no bacon.</p>

<p>The Hampton Inn on Harper Lee is very nice!!! There is the back road to use to get to campus and you can avoid McFarland and University Dr. This shortcut was GREAT! Breakfast included which some days does include bacon :wink: You will find there is this theme about bacon on here and the availability of said bacon at the hotels.</p>

<p>If you happen to be in T-Town on Sunday morning I do recommend the brunch at 5. There will be a wait but it is worth it. The place is small and it can be loud at time w/ the live music and all.</p>

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<p>If at all possible, try to visit mid-August or later, when students start returning to campus.</p>

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<p>Bama Bound – If you are visiting during a Bama Bound session, there will likely be student groups set up in Ferg. Don’t be shy just because you are a HS student – Talk to the wonderful kids manning the tables. We found them to be very insightful.</p>

<p>Allison was fantastic to add a discussion with the department my son was interested to major. Just because it may be summer does not mean all the faculty are gone. The more info you give to Allison, the more she will have to work with for you to get the most out of your visit.</p>

<p>DH & DS found a new appreciation for the area after eating at Dreamland.</p>

<p>Vacation Rentals – Instead of a hotel, we have started to look into vacation rentals for early move in time. The average costs we are finding is $150-$250/night. Some consider early move-in “in season” high rates, but most consider summer off-season.</p>

<p>Before you go, search the Bama website for University Fellows (spec app - Honors), CBHP (special App - Honors), MBA for STEM, Emerging Scholars (Research - freshmen all disciplines) and University Scholars (BA/MA combo). We were not aware of all of these when we visited, but thanks to this active forum we learned of so many opportunities.</p>

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<p>Also, breakfast or lunch at the new Another Broken Egg Cafe is very good.</p>

<p>Also…Cheddars Restaurant on Skyland is now open (across from Sams Club). The prices are very good. The restaurant is very nice. The food is very good. AND, they have very big margaritas for about $3.50!</p>

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<p>^Sure, NOW you tell us about the cheap margaritas!!</p>

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<p>Wow, thanks for all the good information, everyone! I’ll be sure to check into all of that, thanks for the suggestions!</p>

<p>M2CK: Thanks for the tip about contacting Honors, I’ll definitely do that.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Aha, my parents will be glad to know that. ;)</p>

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<p>My son is a junior and since he is the second of 4 we are sending to college, finances are key and UA (and UAB) seem to offer some of the best merit aid out there. Since we are from New Hampshire I wonder if he’d be a fish out of water at this school. Are any of you from the north by any chance to be able to comment on potential culture shock for a yankee in the deep south? Otherwise, if he scores 1330 on SAT it seems like a great option, esp. since he’s beginning to think engineering, although pre-law is still a consideration.</p>

<p>I am also wondering why the southern schools offer such good aid while in the northeast where there’s lots of competition, merit aid is much harder to come by.</p>

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<p>I’ll second the Hampton on Harper Lee. It is definitely our preferred spot, and Hampton is always our first choice as a hotel chain. Mellow Mushroom for Pizza should not be missed, nor should Dreamland (but that is almost a given at this point). You haven’t lived until you have had the PB&J Burger at Mugshots… :)</p>

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<p>collegedadnh, it’s about the same reason you can rent a house in the Cape for $5k a week, said house being a mile and a half walk to the beach with freezing ocean water vs. renting a house - much newer and nicer - in the Carolinas, second row (across street from beach) with water being warm enough to stay in it for hours - for $3k a week. There’s just too many of you in the NE - supply and demand!</p>

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<p>CollegeDadNH, the out of state student percentage in the Freshman class of 2012 was well over 50%. This was a significant fact that drew my son to UA, he will be a freshman this fall. While we are southerners (from FL) he liked that his friends will likely be from all over the country! This has to affect the learning environment in a positive way and add to the diversity on campus.</p>

<p>This combined with the beautiful facilities and new Engineering Buildings really make UA a great option. Like you, we were trying to avoid debt and my son feels very excited to be going to a school that really wanted him and was offering to pay to get him! Best of luck to you and yours.</p>

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<p>@collegedadnh: my DS from NY just finished his first year at UA. One of his friends is from Maine. They both love it there. Biggest culture shock is that people are genuinely nice. I can’t speak to other schools, but UA’s generous merit aid is part of a long term plan to use their ample football dollars to raise the overall caliber of the student body.</p>

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<p>^^^^CollegedadNH,
There is a huge contingent from the NY, NJ, Conn area going to Bama next fall. My DS received an excel spreadsheet from his recruiter that showed 14 students from our county alone (Westchester), NY. 3 from our High School.</p>

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<p>Since we are from New Hampshire I wonder if he’d be a fish out of water at this school. Are any of you from the north by any chance to be able to comment on potential culture shock for a yankee in the deep south? Otherwise, if he scores 1330 on SAT it seems like a great option, esp. since he’s beginning to think engineering, although pre-law is still a consideration.</p>

<p>I am always amused by these questions. What kind of “shock” do you think a student would find here? Shock at seeing nice people? Shock at seeing another region of the USA? What?</p>

<p>Anyway, Alabama is loaded with OOS students from all over the country, so your NE child will not be “the only one”. :)</p>

<p>You should visit. Your shock will be that you’ll see how nice it is here.</p>

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<p>It’s unlikely. My D grew up in the Chicago area, but I grew up in the northeast and don’t find the areas to be all that different. I would not say she experienced culture shock, but shortly before she left for Bama last August she mentioned that she would “need to get nicer” to fit in. This was a direct result of the southern hospitality and friendliness she experienced when she visited. She must have gotten nicer, because she fits in just fine. There are a LOT of non-southerners at Bama, but my D hangs out with a lot of southerners, too. I’m hoping the politeness and niceness wears off on her.</p>

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<p>There are cultural differences in different geographic area of the country. A couple of years ago we were having dinner at Carmine’s in Manhattan. Our waiter was Asian and in conversation had stated he had attended our state flagship, UIUC. He said he just couldn’t stay at school there - the culture was too different than what he was used to - and he transferred back east after a year or two. Now, the big city and the cornfields of central IL are very different, but there are kids who just don’t thrive in a setting vastly different than what they are used to. </p>

<p>NHDad, I wouldn’t worry too much. Bama really is not that different than the areas of NH I’ve visited. There is a very diverse population of OOS kids. Your son will make friends from all areas of the country and maybe even from Canada (you can find this out by viewing your cell phone bill and seeing where the calls are routed to/from - your kid won’t tell you anything if he’s at all like mine).</p>

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<p>^^^^Ahhhh Carmine’s !!! Love that place, one of the last great family style restaurants left.</p>

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<p>collegedadnh, several of my friends are from up North, including one of my roommates for next year who is from New Hampshire. She hasn’t had any trouble assimilating, or at least any that she’s told me about. She goes on lots of the outdoor trips with the Rec as she’s rather outdoorsy, and one night while hanging out in a friend’s room we sampled some of the maple syrup she brought back from home (maple milkshakes and late-night Lakeside pancakes!! :slight_smile: )</p>