The University of Alabama Visit Report by buzymom3

Visit Activities:

Admissions Interview: No - Met with Jami in the Honors College to talk about our day and to discuss our many meetings and tours. Very easy to find buildings as everything revolves around the quad.

Information Session: No - We were supposed to meet with Dr. O'Neill, but after waiting about 30 minutes another member of the Honors College, Allison took us into her office and met with us. Very informative!

Campus Tour: No - We had a couple of tours. One of the campus in general that was great. Lots of history and tradition explained. BEAUTIFUL clean campus.

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Campus:

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EVERY single person we spoke with on and off campus was so polite and genuinely kind. If we even looked a little bit lost when walking someone would stop and ask if they could help. Impressive.

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Again, every one was so very kind. Jami kept adding tours and meetings to our day just to make sure that we saw and did everything we needed to since we were from so far away.

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BEAUTIFUL! Easily the most beautiful campus we have visited....and we have been to 12! Clean, open, yet easy to navigate. The athletic facilities and workout facilities are first class.

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Trust me, as a mom, I looked at corners of rooms, and walls and ceilings. Even the older buildings we were in were clean. Landscape was beautiful. Lots of flowers and greenery everywhere you look.

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Honors dorms were unbelievable. The downside is the cost...an additional $2000 per year. But with 4 private rooms en-suite & 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and living area. It is tough to pass up.

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I don't know much about this. I did some blue towers, but safety was not really discussed too much during the tour. Not sure how safe the area is so I don't want to comment.

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My child is fully impressed as was I. Campus is stunning, opportunities are endless. It seems like a great place to be.

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Off-Campus:

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We went down to the both the downtown area that is a few miles from campus and we walked to the area of shops just off campus. Both has some cute shops, restaurants and seemed nice.

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We came in a day early and spent the day exploring Tuscaloosa. We went to MidTown Mall and also a mall across the street. We ate at local places and found everyone and everything to be very nice.

Campus Visit Notes for The University of Alabama

Visit Description:

We flew in a day before all of our meetings. We drove into Tuscaloosa and headed for campus. We spent the day exploring the city and trying to get a feeling for the Southern culture and the campus area as a whole.

Off campus if you are touring I highly recommend MidTown Mall...it is a outdoor mall with very nice shops and restaurants. We spent a few hours shopping here. They even have a nice cupcake shop! Yum!

We had breakfast at Rama Jama's and since it was right next to the stadium, we saw several football players come in and out. We were obviously from out of town and talked to some students here, they were really open and forthcoming about their UA experiences. I asked every single student we came in contact with if they were a student (if we were in a shop,e tc). I asked how they liked it, what they did not like, etc. We had a ton of great information from those talks.

Dinner we headed over to the Cypress Inn. What a great place. Located right on the river with floor to ceiling windows. We had our first fried green tomato's...which i highly recommend and fried pickles...also amazing. Very good dinner. Again our server was so kind and also attending UA. Lots of insight about the college. Seems like everyone loves the campus.

The next day was jam packed from 9am to 4:30pm with tours and meetings.

Honors College is very impressive. We were disappointed not to get to meet with the Dean, but we did get all of our questions answered and had a great meeting regardless.

Jami even brought out a golf cart and arranged for us to meet with a student who was in the same major as my child. We met several other heads of the department and everyone went out of their way to answer our questions.

We had lunch with another family from Georgia and even though we had to rush thru it, as we had another meeting, the food was very good. We have been to a couple of campuses where the food was horrible. Lots of fresh choices, huge stands of fresh fruit - apples, oranges, banana's and other fruit right at the exit/entrance so students can grab and go. My kids loved that. seemed like much of the food is cooked right there and was not overly processed. Big salad bar. Lots of beverage choices.

We crisscrossed campus several times and were surprised at how quickly you can get from one end to the other. Looking at the campus map it was very deceiving and seems much more spread out.

Buildings are beautiful to look at. Architecture is stunning with sweeping staircases and New Orleans style balcony's. Everything was very very clean and inviting.

We did go into an old dorm and asked to see a room. The Honors dorms were so nice but we really needed to see the other side of the spectrum. They were very willing to take us up to one and show us. Even the old dorm was very nice. Lots of closet space and enough living space to get by. Showers/community baths were again, very clean and nicely organized.

Overall, we were very impressed. Seems like the Honors college has much to offer. Very friendly atmosphere, academics seem rigorous and the traditions of both the South and school are very interesting. I was surprised to learn that the campus has almost 40% out of state attendance. Many from the Northern states of NY and NJ and even a big contingent from Chicago. We met a student from California at breakfast who told us he was never going back to Cali. LOL

EVERYONE is so very friendly, helpful and polite. My kids wanted to take the Southern boys that they met home, or at least have them give our Northern boys some lessons! lol

UA is definitely high on our list. They have easily moved up above University of Nebraska and a couple of others. We still have 4 other colleges to visit, but I think it will be tough to beat UA.

Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:

We stayed very close to Birmingham because we had a 6am flight home in the morning, so I cannot recommend anything in T-town.

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

I highly recommend Rama Jama's for breakfast. Great biscuits and a huge omelet.

Dinner at Cypress Inn.Do not come to town without eating here. We spent 2 hours sitting at table next to the

Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):

Very easy to drive around. Lots of parking. Good signage. LOVE that the bus system has an app for iphone, etc that shows where the buses are. They run continuously.