<p>We made our DS apply after going to the presentation in Sacramento. It was clear from all the communication that Bama wanted him. He visited and that sealed his decision. No regrets now that he has completed his first semester. BTW, he didn’t apply to Oregon because they don’t have Engineering as a major.</p>
<p>Like several of you, we asked D to apply because of the automatic merit scholarship. It was the visits (and some reaching out by the HC) that sealed it. She declined acceptance at some very nice colleges but hasn’t looked back once. Thank you, Alabama, for your generous scholarships and the student support that follows! It’s not a bait and switch. Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Jm2817,
When you say Parents Weekend, which weekend are you referring to? Are you speculating like some of us that it will be the Sept 21 weekend?</p>
<p>NYBama, yes I am assuming that Sep 21 will be Parents Weekend now that Homecoming is set. I made reservations at Hotel Capstone.</p>
<p>Although our son’s ACT meets the mark for a full scholarship, he had some extenuating circumstances during high school and with a couple of very rough semesters, missed the GPA mark by .2, so the automatic scholarships were not a lure for us. I believe what sold our son was the honors college, that he could have a small school experience within a large school. That plus all that is offered in the Engineering College. Dean Karr personally sat down with our boy for an hour, helping him weigh his options…heck, by the end of it I was ready to come study engineering at UA! As well, the top notch honors dorms were a plus.</p>
<p>I’m confused as to why Alabama is compared with Alaska-Anchorage and North Dakota in terms of Yield rather than its peer institutions, those generally being SEC schools, Vanderbilt being the lone exception. </p>
<p>Oregon and Alabama generally have a different applicant base. Besides those students attracted by large scholarships and the personal attention offered to students, there are a lot of students who grow up knowing that they will attend Alabama, students from Texas who didn’t qualify for admission to UT-Austin or Texas A&M under the “Top X%” rule, and students from nearby states who don’t want to wear orange or purple. 
Oregon having a lot of California applicants likely decreases its yield because said California applicants likely apply to a lot of OOS schools, particularly those in AZ/NV/OR/WA, in addition to various UCs and CSUs. </p>
<p>I fly out of both Portland and Birmingham and can say that airfare to each is about the same. Driving long distances seems to be a lot more popular in the South, which may reduce the impact of airfares on budgets. Many students drive to UA from Texas or Illinois, both of which are 10+ hour drives.</p>