<p>Thanks Robot and Mom. Those anecdotes are very helpful. </p>
<p>I know it will all work out in the end…I just can’t wait until May 1st.</p>
<p>Quote from 3togo: “I get the Alabama crew has loved their experience but the level of posting is curious to see.”</p>
<p>Well, that’s just the way we Roll … 
Roll Tide that is! </p>
<p>Alabama just provides and draws in that sense of community that I have seen no where else. It’s not just on CC, we had gatherings in Chicago before the kids even went away to school and I know we weren’t the only area in the country to do so. What other school has such great support network, outside of the school’s home state?</p>
<p>It starts with the school, but I think that it also comes from the type of students and families that are drawn to the school! Either way, you can’t help being drawn into this wonderful, supportive community.</p>
<p>Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies on football.</p>
<p>And here’s another question: Are students particularly conservative? I ask because Alabama is a very conservative state in the most conservative region of the country.</p>
<p>With so many students (50-56%) OOS, they’re are many different points of view both politically and religiously floating around the Bama campus. How great is that…</p>
<p>momfromme - There are over 30K students in total with the last few classes being over 50% out of state. The views vary widely some are very conservative, some are very liberal, many are in the middle.</p>
<p>The UA campus is not a subset of the state of Alabama, more of a subset of the nation at large.</p>
<p>You can see that by looking at the locations of many of the parent posters here on CC. We have parents from New York California, Chicago and Mass. certainly not consertative storngholds. We also have posters from Alabama, Texas and other states that tend to be more consertative. There are times that this “mix” will start a rather lively conversation, but it is almost always a civil conversation :)</p>
<p>DS has had liberal and consertative friends since getting to Bama so yours shouldn’t have an issue.</p>
<p>I would say that Bama’s campus is rather moderate with people all over the place on the political spectrum. </p>
<p>I agree that Bama is not a subset of the state.</p>
<p>All types of political views and religious views are represented. Not only is there a large and growing population of OOS students but Bama has many international students as well.</p>
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<p>Not mine. Definitely left of center, from a very blue state. He’s had zero problem finding like-minded friends.</p>
<p>That said, he’s also benefited greatly from his exposure to points of view right of center, some of which he has adopted. This may sound oxymoronic to some of my liberal friends, but my son is a more well-rounded and tolerant person as a result of his time at UA.</p>
<p>Just want to take a sec to touch on the size of the campus and school. My DD wanted nothing to do with a large school. The main reason she dropped one school off her list. Her top school was Pepperdine. Do not know how many of you have visited that campus but we have all heard “it is such a beautiful campus.” Let me start by saying, it has a beautiful VIEW. Campus reminds me of an 1960’s office park, eh. The vibe we all took away from that visit was, this place is introverted, seriously introverted. The term introverted has never been used to describe my D. Our next door neighbor is in her 2nd year there and loves it. It fits her perfectly. Which is why visiting a school is SO important. We were looking at the smaller top tier LAC schools till D visited UA and found she liked the spirit of the whole package. She has met kids from all over the country and different beliefs. And, she loves football. My girls are into sports though. </p>
<p>Go visit. Go visit all of the schools that are at least in the top 5, if you can top 10. See which ones seem to be the best fit. That is what is most important. It can change a lot of things. It is much less expensive to go tour these schools and pick the right fit after visiting than it is to send them off to a school you have never visited and they hate it.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, definitely do the college tour trips. We did several. Start off with the local colleges and then take a day trip or two to see others. We saved the long distance ones for last, combining them into a whirlwind tour. If you can afford to fly you will save time but driving can put the college into its regional context.</p>
<p>Want to save money??? See The University of Alabama first. Wish we had :)</p>
<p>I assume the last few posts are aimed at me. We have visited a total of about 14 schools. We also made sure to tour the local town/city. We loved something about each school. We also disliked something about each school. Some we dropped from the list and others moved to the top of the heap. Full disclosure, I did not attend the UA trip which was an HC visit. My D and W were really impressed and UA became one of her top choices. However, unlike many of you and your kids, it did not shoot to the tippy top for her. </p>
<p>I guess only time will tell. Thanks again…</p>
<p>Dad2ILD, Wake Forest is just down the road from us. Several of my colleagues have kids attending there. I know it’s a good school…but for over $250,000 over four years? I wouldn’t be able to retire till I turned 90, LOL!</p>
<p>Yep…I think we both made the right choice. :D</p>
<p>^It’s a great school, but I never understood why in-state students would choose Wake at sticker over UNC. Both are about equally selective, and UNC has great prestige and name recognition.</p>
<p>Bigdaddy88: Glad to hear that your daughter enjoyed her visit to Bama. Lots of students remain unsure of their final college choice until all the finances are laid out in front of them. I am sure that whatever your daughter decides will be a good choice for her and your family. </p>
<p>In addition: I listened to some very interesting financial advisors debating yesterday on TV. They were discussing how difficult it has become to find full time employment after graduation for recent college graduates. Corporations and companies are using the thirty hour loophole, no health benefits are required for 30 hours of employment or less, so they are creating many more part-time jobs.</p>
<p>Imagine no full time employment and crushing student debt. It would be much better to graduate with a minimum of undergraduate debt. IMHO</p>
<p>Bigdaddy88, Bama didn’t get to the top of my Ds list until her second visit. We went back for capstone scholars day after she was accepted and still unsure where she wanted to go. That visit sealed the deal. </p>
<p>She met other students who were accepted and would be her classmates. She also got a much more personal introduction to the school which the standard campus tour did not provide. She saw things which impressed and the negatives didn’t seem so bad the second time around.</p>
<p>On her first visit she was concerned the campus was too big (mostly because the rec center was so far away - she’s a health and exercise nut). Second visit and she realized that the quad really was the core of campus and it didn’t feel so big anymore, plus she found out the new rec center would be just steps from the dorms!</p>
<p>She walked away saying she could totally see herself at the school. That is the key. The scholarship dollars are great, but in the end you have to feel comfortable and that the school is a good fit.</p>
<p>DS - HS class 2013 did NOT want a big school; does not pay attention to sports</p>
<p>He applied to</p>
<p>Haverford
Pomona (denied)
Pitzer
Oxy
Colorado College (denied)
Rhodes
Juniata
Susquehanna (for a music tech program)
U of Tulsa (because he started considering engineering and the NM Scholarship)</p>
<p>Bama was not truly decided until the last possible second. It won out in the end due to money and the fact he finally leaned toward Engineering vs Cog Science or Physics. Also, he is very outdoorsy and Bama had far more outdoors opportunities than he initially thought.</p>
<p>Even without the Honors class cap of 15, he found some upper level language classes which were small.</p>
<p>Add to the pro off big scholarship, programs like Emerging Scholars/STEM MBA/CBHP, you quickly see more opportunities then a student could dream of. </p>
<p>If we were millionaires, he definitely would have gone off to Pitzer and been happy in SoCalifornia. </p>
<p>He has meant many other students that were accepted to top schools and choose Bama for the scholarships and ability to research as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all the posts. I had my son read them yesterday. He no longer glazes over when I mention applying. He actually seemed excited. Now, if I could only get DH to look at the posts.</p>
<p>To be fair, I think that DH knows that Alabama is worth considering but I want him to read all of the posts to see how much everyone really likes the school.</p>
<p>S14’s application will probably be complete by mid-October unless I can get him moving sooner.</p>
<p>And thanks to everyone for the PM’s. I am now one post away from being able to respond.</p>
<p>And just as I thought I had big girl status, CC made me wait 60 seconds before I could post the magic number 15. Now I can PM too!</p>
<p>Encourage your son to apply! As I recall it was the easiest/shortest app of them all for my S! He can always do more research later. And if for some reason he doesn’t get in, you drop the subject. If he applies at least it is still an option.</p>