After 3 1/2 years of reading about the University of Alabama- we finally visited last Thursday and returned Sunday night. D met with Honor’s College Friday before Capstone day- sat in a class, met with the head of the dept. of her field of interest, did a tour with an ambassador from Alabama. We did the Capstone Day- which we all agreed help sell us (along with the private tour) on the school. Seriously, the president of a University- Dr. Bell- addressed students and parents! That was just awesome! He practically had us at hello because the first thing out of his mouth was that he WANTS my child to go to UA. In this horrible process of trying to find the right school- what my daughter has been experiencing in this spin cycle… the snobbish elite feeling that most colleges have sort of if you are one of the “lucky” to get in to our school and now pay 62,000 because it’s “worth it.” The truth is that none of these so called elite colleges hold a candle to what we saw at UA. The vibe at Alabama is what I see as Student centered. It is clear that this university cares about kids-they have all kinds of resources available such as counseling services, career placement, health center, study abroad and a club for everyone. Plus the facilities are top notch!
Here’s what our family loves about the school- not in any order
Gorgeous Campus
Warm friendly people everywhere
School Spirit
Student centered approach to learning
Good Safety plan- students can call for a van if needed at night
Beautiful dorms!
Excellent program that excites and will challenge my child.
People that actually email you back! And fast too!
Full tuition! Almost too good to be true. Presidential Scholar
Diversity! All kinds of people on this campus!!! 51 percent out of state. All are welcome.
Churches of all denominations on campus. That’s a plus for us! Very welcoming too!
The Work out facilities- mind blowing- even a rock wall!
Southern Hospitality- wonderful and helpful people everywhere!
Awesome BBQ- I had to include this. We did not have a bad meal anywhere. Any boy was it delicious!
I felt the Capstone Day 2016 was well organized and well done. My daughter even had the chance to make some contacts at lunch which was great and I think she’ll have some potential roommates. We enjoyed this day and felt we learned a tremendous amount about the campus and UA. So worth it!!!
Thank you to all the people who took the time to post information about UA- especially to Mom2Kidscollege! She’s the real MVP!!!
My kid is sold. Making the deposit today. We are officially done with this process and honestly- my daughter could care less what acceptances roll in now. The old “dream school” is now toast- and has been replaced by the University of Alabama. My advice, visit the school. When you tour, you’ll understand. Added benefit- daughter 2 and 3 already want to go here as well. We dragged them along and they did a general tour of the University and visited the Stadium with their father while I did Capstone with my oldest.
Roll Tide!
I have yet to read a negative review of a campus visit at Alabama. They have quite a recruitment process and are serious about their recruitment of high stats students and their families. Bama has done its homework and put its money where it matters.
This was one of the things that my husband loved the most (that and everything else LOL).
So glad you guys had a great visit - congrats!
I have a picture - from our visit in the fall - of a planter with that special “A” stamped on to it - filled with beautiful flowers. It just captured the way I feel about UA.
As far as UF goes, in answer to the question above - it’s a wonderful school in its own way. Great academics. But we get tired of all the hoops UF wants our homeschooler to jump through. So far this kid has a 3.9+ UW in his multiple dual enrollment classes (not to mention a great record in other areas of homeschooling). Not sure what else they need but it’s their school, they have a great demand from Florida students, and they call the shots. We get that. Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t get old.
FSU - we have not visited yet, and our son did get some merit there. We will have to see what happens.
@floridamomma - Great post…love your enthusiasm and passionate post - it sums up what many of us have felt over the years. UA truly cares about its students and wants them to succeed and will help them in all sorts of ways to do so. These feelings will not diminish. It only gets better from here on out. Welcome!
The Capstone Event is often when many high stat OOS students/families take an opportunity to visit the campus and hear faculty and administration leadership with the informative itinerary. As an in-state family, we were impressed with the event and continued to soak up everything presented, even with attending a lot of other events (engineering day, area scholars invitation evening program, one week SITE program, two summer band camps, three honor band programs - you get the idea - every chance to learn, we took). DD is a happy eng student, continuing on her Presidential and Eng scholarships. Her two years in the Million Dollar Band - wow, two SEC Championships, two Cotton Bowls, and one National Championship win. Has a very desirable well-paying internship this summer. Is taking advantage of the honors program and STEM MBA program.
I know other students from OOS that have UA visits coming up, so look forward to hearing their feedback.
@Floridamomma, it’s great that you and your daughter have found the school that’s right for her, and I love the enthusiasm that you express for UA. What I don’t love is that you felt the need to dump on “so called elite colleges” (as you describe them) in expressing that enthusiasm. Those schools may be the right schools for someone else’s child, and they are undoubtedly terrific schools too.
My daughter didn’t have one of those “magical” visits to Bama. Her visit wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it didn’t stand out above other schools or “seal the deal,” either. She ended up choosing Alabama, and all I can say is that while her visit wasn’t anything to write home about, her experience has been. She’s in her last semester and has had a great experience. It’s not just the visit - in our experience, the reality lives up to the hype.
Yes, it’s great that beth’s daughter was able to see beyond that crazy Friday before Capstone Scholars Day back in 2011. The HC wasn’t yet used to suddenly have a few hundred extra prospective students appear for a supplemental tour…many w/o prior notice. We were there that day (I brought by nephew) and it was chaos. The HC did the best they could, but there were missed appts, miscues, etc.
The OP is simply posting her own viewpoint and how she’s comparing.
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In this horrible process of trying to find the right school- what my daughter has been experiencing in this spin cycle... the snobbish elite feeling that most colleges have sort of if you are one of the "lucky" to get in to our school and now pay 62,000 because it's "worth it." The truth is that none of these so called elite colleges hold a candle to what we saw at UA. The vibe at Alabama is what I see as Student centered. It is clear that this university cares about kids-they have all kinds of resources available such as counseling services, career placement, health center, study abroad and a club for everyone. Plus the facilities are top notch!
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the OP believes that her DD has received a more welcoming, “we want you” response than what she’s seen at the elite schools they’ve encountered.
This reminds me of the experience we had in 2012. DS & DH flew from Sacramento. We had a visit to Purdue scheduled two weeks later. On the drive to the Birmingham airport DS said, “We don’t need to visit Purdue Dad”.
Capstone Scholar’s Day was our third visit to the campus. It still brings a thrill to myself and DS to be on campus. He was all smiles the entire day. UA makes him feel special and that they want him there. Many mom’s ask how I can send my DS 10 hours away. I just tell them about the beautiful campus, friendly people, the large OOS population, all the great opportunities for him, some of the nicest dorms I have ever seen, and he is extremely happy when he is there. So I am happy to send him. Roll Tide!
All I can say is UA does academic recruitment like it does football! DS is a freshman and was sold that weekend too even though I still made him visit others. Always good to have comparisons to be sure. When he got back there from winter break he texted me simply with “mom I’m home!” Yes it was crushing to hear but at the same time it just made me so happy. My dad dropped him off and said his suitemates and friends were all waiting for him at the front door and swarmed the car carrying all his stuff inside. He was the last one to get back. Now in his second semester he’s even more excited because he’s getting in deeper into his major. Love it!