Take a dorm tour. The University of Alabama offers dorm tours to prospective students looking into University housing. The best way to get an idea about which dorms are the best is to tour several of them.
Decide whether you want a single-sex dorm or a co-ed dorm. This may be a matter of personal preference, but it may also come down to what is available. There are far more single-sex dorms than there are co-ed dorms. This makes it far easier to get into a single-sex building. For some students, their parents' preference also enters into the decision.
Look for dorms that have the largest rooms. The University of Alabama has some massive dorms that houses hundreds of students. Those dorms generally have smaller rooms. The smaller dorms that accommodate fewer students generally have larger rooms. One of the largest on campus, Tutweiler, houses almost 1,000 students and has some of the smallest rooms on campus. Somerville on the other hand is one of the smallest dorms, housing about 100 students. The rooms are about 35 square feet larger than the rooms in Tutweiler.
Ask students who have lived in the dorms. If you don't know any students of the University of Alabama, ask to talk to a few students while you're on your tour. Tour guides can introduce you to a few students so that you can ask questions and make a final decision about which dorm is best.