<p>Hi! I will be visiting UA this summer and staying in Birmingham. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on what to do in Birmingham. Also, if there is anything on campus that I should see that is not included in the tour please let me know! Thank you!</p>
<p>why are you staying in B’ham? Why not stay in Tuscaloosa? it would make getting to a morning tour time much easier. </p>
<p>have you set up your tour time yet? </p>
<p>are you in honors? If so, have you contacted the honors college to set up the rest of your day after your tour?</p>
<p>what is your major?</p>
<p>First set up the campus tour online…try for an early morning time so that you will have time for the HC to set up the rest of your day.</p>
<p>In the email include:</p>
<p>Student’s name and contact info</p>
<p>Date and time of the Campus tour that you’ve reserved.</p>
<p>GPA and test scores (include likely NMSF if applicable)</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>““Is there anyone/any office in particular at Bama that acts as a “National Merit Recruiter” or some similar title, and if so do they also do individualized tours or is it only through the Honors College?””</p>
<p>There isn’t a special NMF recruiter, the two people </p>
<p>Honors Recruitment</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>Neil Adams
<a href=“mailto:neil.adams@ua.edu”>neil.adams@ua.edu</a></p>
<p>Susan and her assistant will arrange the rest of the day…meeting with faculty, honors people, 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 people do an excellent job and work very hard</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids- We are driving down from PA so we figured there is probably more to do in Birmingham than in Tuscaloosa. I have already set up a 10 am tour and yes I am very interested in the honors college! Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>While there might be more to do in Birmingham, there is still plenty to do in both Tuscaloosa and on campus. I don’t know if you will get the same “feel” if you stay in Birmingham. if you really want to experience what life will be like in T-Town, then I suggest that you stay there. We have multiple threads about restaurants and things to do around campus.</p>
<p>i dont think it is a good idea to stay in bham the whole time. it is better to get a feel for tuscaloosa and stay there at least one night.</p>
<p>If you are going to be here multiple nights, then stay one night in tuscaloosa (the night before the tour), and then drive back to bham, spend the night, and then see bham if desired.</p>
<p>I know that after a long drive with family the day before, it is hard to get everyone up and out of a hotel room early enough to drive an hour to somewhere and get there in time for an appt…including eating breakfast beforehand. if you are late to the tour, your spots will be given to those on the waitlist. that would be a bummer.</p>
<p>how many days/nights will you be in alabama? give us an idea of your plans…what day/time do you think you will arrive in alabama? what day is your tour?</p>
<p>we can suggest things to do/see in both tuscaloosa and bham. what do you like to see/do?</p>
<p>If this were me, I would stay the entire time in Tuscaloosa and forget Birmingham altogether. </p>
<p>We are driving down from Vanderbilt to UA (arrive midday Tuesday) and will only be in AL for two days. Our tour is Wednesday morning. </p>
<p>^</p>
<p>I agree if the family will only be in the area for a very short time. If the family is using this trip as some sort of mini-vaca and will be in the state for several days, then spending some time in bham can be fine. Not sure what they want to see. </p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with spending a night or two in tuscaloosa…and a night or two in Bham if you want to visit the museums, do shopping at The Summit, etc. </p>
<p>Knowing how hard it is for me to get a small group fed breakfast and out of a hotel room at an early time after a long drive the night before, I would not want to have to also include 90 minutes or so for travel to Tuscaloosa, identifying where we need to park and then walk to the Admissions/tour area. </p>
<p>i remember our first trip to the school. It took some extra time to figure out where to park and go for the tour. It would be a shame to arrive late and find out that your spots have been given to those on the waitlist. (the bus has X number of seats so a couple extras cannot be just added in.)</p>
<p>I have to agree with the other posters, given your time constraints, I would recommend staying in Tuscaloosa not Birmingham for this trip. My son and I flew from PA on a Sunday at the end of UA’s spring break, arriving in Birmingham mid-day, and driving to Tuscaloosa, where we arrived later in the afternoon. After checking in, we walked around a bit, drove over to The Strip and had lunch at Buffalo Phil’s, went back to the hotel to rest (we stayed at the Hotel Capstone), and then had dinner at Five downtown (based on the front desk clerk’s strong recommendation). We had breakfast in the hotel the next morning (where I spied Valerie Plame of all people!) and then headed straight to the Honors College for our scheduled tour. </p>
<p>I recommend you don’t try to do too much and figure the more folks you have with you, the longer everything will take. We had great visit–it was just right . . . not too short and not too long!</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Valerie Plame was a guest speaker at UA in March.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Valerie Plame was a guest speaker at UA in March.</p>
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<p>@alexoh</p>
<p>If you are touring Vandy on Tuesday for their 10am tour, then you wont get to the Bham/Tuscaloosa until very late afternoon or evening. It will take at least 4 hours to drive to Tuscaloosa).</p>
<p>Can you clarify? will you be arriving to the Bham/Tuscaloosa area late tuesday, spending one night in Alabama, touring Bama on Wednesday, and then what happens? will you be spending another night (wed night) in Alabama and then head home Thursday morning? </p>
<p>How many people are coming? both parents? any siblings?</p>
<p>If so, then i suggest this…</p>
<p>When you leave Vandy and head south to Alabama and go straight to Tuscaloosa and have dinner there either on The Strip, Downtown, or at Midtown Village. Spend Tuesday night in Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>then spend Wednesday at Bama…Grab a quick breakfast (maybe at Rama Jama), campus tour, lunch perhaps on campus, “honors meetings,” and then head to Bham (maybe to The Summit) and have dinner there…and maybe some shopping. If you will be leaving Bham later in the day on Thursday, then you could go to a museum on thursday morning…and then depart.</p>
<p>With such a short trip I dont see what you would gain by spending tuesday night in Bham. it would just cause your wednesday morning to be too crazy. If you are touring vandy on Tuesday morning, I dont think you realize how late you will be getting to central Alabama from Nashville.</p>
<p>If you do go to Birmingham, its worth it to walk Highland Avenue, especially the winding residential part. You will see three parks along the entire path. Beautiful houses, and trees. And if you are adventurous, go walking up the hilly neighborhood to the South. Great views. </p>
<p>My D and I toured many schools, including Vandy, Emory, and Rice. The University of Alabama’s Honors College tour is different! Usually tours and info sessions last a couple hours and none of it is personal. Our personalized full day Bama tour was an all day event, and we didn’t even do the bus tour (take it, I hear it’s great.). I think you are underestimating the time and personalization involved. You won’t be lacking for things to do in T-Town. the school itself will take you by surprise.</p>
<p>I think the family is thinking that they want to check-out what the major city (bham) has to offer. however, that really would require more time, otherwise they will be compromising their Bama visit to get a true feel. </p>
<p>tuscaloosa isnt a small town. it is a good-sized city. and as mentioned above, the HC is going to fill the time after the campus tour. </p>
<p>I cant say enough that I would not want to try to get my family showered, dressed, fed and out on the road for a one hour drive (plus another 15 minutes to park, walk, locate the admissions office) in order to meet a 10am tour time…the morning after a long drive/tour from vandy…that is still feeling the affects of the long drive from PA.</p>
<p>Even if you spend the night in tuscaloosa (and eliminate that hour morning drive), you will still find it rushed (but less so) to get to your destination on time.</p>
<p>i remember taking my nephew and SIL to Capstone Honors Day and we were in Tuscaloosa and had two bathrooms to use. We still didn’t have time to eat breakfast and had to get coffee & muffins at the campus starbucks.</p>
<p>if the family wants to check out Bham, then do so on wednesday late afternoon/evening (spending wed nite in bham), and if their schedule allows, visit some places on thurs morn before they depart.</p>
<p>I admit we stayed in Hoover before our first Bama tour. I thought I timed it well until I found parking to be confusing. Had I read through the whole packet, I would’ve seen detailed instructions. We have since stayed in VRBOs in Tuscaloosa which we wonderful.</p>
<p>We toured 6 out of state colleges in 4 states in 7 days. That’d be easier in some parts, but it was a cross country adventure for us. After years of research and adventure, D applied to one school. </p>
<p>Roll Tide.</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids- My father and I will be touring Vanderbilt Monday morning, staying in Nashville Sunday and Monday night, and driving down to Alabama Tuesday morning. I’m sorry I should have clarified what day we would be touring Vanderbilt. We are still planning to arrive in AL by midday Tuesday. </p>
<p>Thank you all for your suggestions! I think we will probably stay in Tuscaloosa the night before our tour and possibly visit Birmingham on the way back.</p>
<p>ahh…thanks for the clarification.</p>
<p>Then if you arrive in Tuscaloosa (about a 4 hr drive from nashville) by midday, you could spend some time seeing a few things like…</p>
<p>RiverWalk</p>
<p>bear byant museum if you like sports or want to learn more about the crimson tide.</p>
<p>midtown village…if you want to shop a bit or dine at one of the many restaurants …or buy some bama spirit wear at Alumni Hall.</p>
<p>Downtown…lots of restaurants, but also just some quant surroundings.</p>
<p>others can recommend things to see and do.</p>
<p>I cant find that thread about things to see and do in tuscaloosa…if anyone can link it here, please do.</p>
<p>Our family from Texas with twin sons (high school juniors this year) visited UA in Feb this year. We contacted Neil Adams, who planned an individualized day on campus for our sons, customized to their intended majors, with private meetings with professors, meetings with him and Ms. Alley and lunch with a student for our sons. We were beyond wowed. The opportunities there were only matched by the warmth and hospitality of the people.</p>
<p>There were no rooms in Tuscaloosca, so we stayed in Birmingham and we were blown away by it as well. We spent almost an entire day at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (<a href=“http://www.bcri.org/index.html”>http://www.bcri.org/index.html</a>) and half a day at the Birmingham Art Museum (<a href=“http://www.artsbma.org/”>http://www.artsbma.org/</a>). This is clearly not my parents’ Alabama of the 1960s. We loved our visit and will be glad if our sons choose this fine school. They are applying to Yale as well and DH and I are rooting for UA.</p>