<p>I am going down tomorrow night, but I should not get to Tuscaloosa until 8:30 or so. Saturday, I will tour (I cannot figure out any other way). Then, I will go to the basketball game Saturday afternoon before going home Sunday (unless the snow/ice in Philly stops me from doing so). Apart from enjoying a couple days of 70 degree weather, does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do?</p>
<p>SurvivorFan, you are going to get an outsider’s view of UA. The real magic of the place is the people: the faculty, the interactions in an Honors College seminar, the students. All of that is available to you if you’ll visit on a school day. As you have things scheduled now, I fear you will end up with a distorted and cold view of Bama.</p>
<p>That said, if you can’t alter your plans, would you like to meet some students from the Honors College? I could put the word out on the Bama Parents’ FB page to see if any students might be available to have dinner or lunch or whatever with you so you could meet some peers and have a little insider experience. Please post if you’re interested and let us know what time you’ll be departing Tuscaloosa on Sunday (in the event someone might be available to meet with you then). </p>
<p>Roll Tide! :)</p>
<p>Malanai is right. Going on a Saturday without a tour or anything scheduled could be a rather cold experience.</p>
<p>I know that you’re going to try to get on the Waitlist for a Saturday tour. There will be others trying to do that, too, so you have to get to the tour area EARLY so that you can be first on the WL in hopes that someone doesn’t show. </p>
<p>If you like sports, be sure to visit the Paul Bryant Museum.</p>
<p>Other things to go by…</p>
<p>RiverWalk
Downtown
Midtown Village area
The Strip
The Stadium</p>
<p>If you can’t get into a tour, then ask Admissions what other options</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids
The admissions officer told me that if I get there early, I should be able to get on the tour (as he has often seen empty seats on the bus). Thank you for the suggestions.</p>
<p>SurvivorFan, I just spoke to my son, who said he’d make time to meet with you Saturday evening if you’d like. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, he’s a dual major, NMF, member of the Honors College, and a football fanatic, so you guys should have plenty of common ground. If you’d like to set this up, PM me and I’ll pass on his contact info to you.</p>
<p>Have a great visit.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for their help, and I thought that I would share my thoughts. Fortunately, getting onto the tour was no problem, as there was plenty of open room. We only had 5 or 6 families on the whole tour! Alabama is by far the biggest school that I have toured (with more than double the student body of any of the other ones I have been to), so I was a little worried about that, but I liked that most of the main buildings were right on the quad (or very close to it). The dorms were also crazy, by far the nicest I have seen in 21 college tours. As it was a Saturday morning, there were not that many people about, but there were a lot of people in the area (some students, but many alums and/or Alabama fans), and they all seemed to have a great sense of school pride. My dad kept screaming “Roll Tide” at people on the street and almost all of them said it back to him. But, that was a little bit embarrassing (when we got back to Philly, we saw a guy in an Alabama sweatshirt, so I had to ask my dad not to yell Roll Tide at him). Unfortunately, as it was Saturday, we did not meet with the honors college or any departments, but I did not do that at any other school, so I guess that it puts it on a fair playing field. While we were there, we went to a small breakfast place near Bryant-Denny Stadium, to the Bear Bryant Museum, and to the Alabama-Auburn basketball game. I really liked it, but I am still FAR from making a college decision, as there are several schools that I really like right now. But, going from the 77 and sunny weather in Alabama to a coming snowstorm in Philadelphia is terrible. </p>
<p>Good luck SurvivorFan in your decision and, of course, roll tide!</p>
<p>I am so glad that you enjoyed your trip to Tuscaloosa. UA is just so beautiful. Good luck with your college search. Please say “Roll Tide” to your dad for me! :)</p>