<p>My son also tried Cafe Du Monde in the morning while visiting NOLA for his fraternity formal. It was 4 a.m. ;)</p>
<p>We did our visits in the same order when DS was doing his college search. Drove straight from Bama to Tulane.</p>
<p>I would suggest that the best use of your free time in T-Town would be finishing your app and writing your deposit check. :)</p>
<p>Lattelady: I know…Cafe Du Monde is so good that I have routed my flights through NOLA just for some coffee, I also bring a thermos and have it filled while there. Yes, I am that in love with the coffee, and the beignets ( they reheat well by the way.). :)</p>
<p>We did our visits in the opposite direction, Tulane, Loyola, Auburn and The University of Alabama. Had we started at UA, I am not sure we have gone any further. This was the last college trek as we had already visited many other colleges. We could have saved a lot of time and money had we started at UA.</p>
<p>Impressed with your advice, ROBOTBLDMOM. Spot On. Especially the nighttime tour and donut stop. And Full Moon is a great way to catch the UA spirit.</p>
<p>Our college tour was Emory (went on the tour; didn’t like it enough to stay for the info session), Bama (love at first sight), Vanderbilt (it isn’t Bama, so no!).</p>
<p>Hoping we all love Bama as much as you and your kids do. Sounds so much like what she wants, pretty campus, friendly kids, variety of majors. Will definitely report back after our visits!</p>
<p>^^^We’ll be looking forward to that report. Safe Travels!!</p>
<p>SpaceCoastMom: Thanks :)</p>
<p>First update: Flight from NY delayed as NYBama predicted. Got in 2 hours late. Quick flight, smallish plane. Forgot about one hour time difference. Nice to get back one of the hours lol. Drive from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa was easy. Hubby was looking for Dunkin while he drove to no avail. Kept telling him there was one at the school but he said that would be too late lol. Drove through campus late at night and it was absolutely stunning. DH said it was like Disney, never saw such a pristine and gorgeous campus in his life. Buildings all look magnificent. DD looked out window but kept thoughts to self. Was super tired and perhaps a but overwhelmed by how massive it is. S1 was asleep and missed the drive by. Saw very few kids out at midnight but loved how well lit it was. </p>
<p>Please talk to me about how kids get to school. Saw a lot of bikes around. Do kids use the Crimson Ride regularly? Is anything walking distance from dorms?</p>
<p>Also, are there shuttles from airport in B-ham to Tuscaloosa?</p>
<p>Have full day planned by Allison at HC. Looking forward to learning more!</p>
<p>Some kids do use their bikes regularly. DS was thinking that he would want one but that was only during his first term when he had classes that were spread out. From then on almost all of his classes are in the same area so he decided that a bike would not be as useful. He walks everywhere unless he is going to the rec center, then he usually drives.</p>
<p>There are shuttles to and from the airport. I know they run regularly during holidays and other peak periods, not sure about “other” weekends. Also know that there are a number of kids who will drive to the airport and have seen where many kids have had good luck catching a ride with someone when needed.</p>
<p>Enjoy your tour today !!!</p>
<p>Remember that your student will be living on campus their first year so classes will be close by. Most classroom buildings circle the quad. By the first month your student will be a pro at navigating the school.</p>
<p>Good luck today!!</p>
<p>The way the landscape lights shine up against the sides of the buildings just makes them look even more massive and stunning at night.</p>
<p>I hope your day went well today!</p>
<p>I remember when we arrived to campus, it was dark … and HUGE!! I could not imagine DS or myself liking this campus, it was just too big. Visiting with the Honors College, Engineering department and the tours that the honors student and engineering student took us on really impressed us. The campus seems to shrink when you’re in the middle of it. We waked from Nott to Hardaway, back to Nott, to Lakeside Dining, to Ridgecrest South and back to Hardaway and the Engineering complex. No problems finding where we needed to be at all. The Engineering complex is state of the art. DS was very impressed.</p>
<p>NYMom3Kids, how’d the visit go.</p>
<p>We are still traveling so I haven’t updated. DH, S1 and I all loved the school. Fantastic place, friendly people, loved Allison, loved the folks we met at Communications and Computer Science. Only misstep was that S1 is currently more interested in Engineering and heard nothing about it. He’s interested in Carnegie Mellon and UC Berkeley too but as he’s only a HS Soph he has plenty of time. DD likde it, thought it was pretty but the Southern culture gave her a real shock. I think she felt very out of place and couldn’t picture herself there. We met no kids from the North at all. Didn’t help that the Honors Ambassador who took us to lunch was a very southern, super-driven pre-med who came into Bama with 34 credits. He was very sweet and interesting but DD found no commonality with him at all. We were supposed to have a female honors student which I think would have fared better but she had some other conflict. </p>
<p>Visited Lisa Besnoy at Hillel and liked her very much. She’s doing some nice programming throughout the year and the Bloom house is pretty and adjacent to campus. Found out by chance that BamaHillel is doing a recruitment weekend in Sept and we are encouraging DD to go but she is resisting heavily for a variety of reasons. </p>
<p>Just toured Tulane yesterday and DD fell in love the moment we walked down the campus, hours before the tour. What was I thinking?! All along she’s been talking about a large rah rah school with lot of majors. But I felt I wouldn’t be doing my duty if she didn’t see some alternatives. Naturally, my girl fell in love instantly just as I did so many years ago when I visited Emory! The school couldn’t be more different than Bama and several others on her list. She will have to show me 2 majors she would be happy with before I will let her apply. We’ll see. </p>
<p>Thank you all do your support! Cracked me up when a father came up to ke at the info session and asked where we had gotten the Honors folder from. I was only in the know about having a personalized day set up due to you all! :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the update! Good luck on all of your college tours.</p>