Also, a plurality of the out of state counselors (as in Atlanta, where Auburn has had a huge alumni base for a number of years while UA’s is more recent) who attended an Alabama school are Auburn grads.
I would think a small overall % of state counselors (in-state + out of state), that rated UA are Auburn alumni. 
It’s likely not much higher than the % that are UA alumni (or fans).
Like I said earlier, I think most non Southern out of state counselors would choose “don’t know” but I could be wrong there. And I don’t put it past Auburn grads to rate UA lower than UA grads would rate Auburn. But who knows?
Why do YOU think high school counselors have traditionally given UA a lower rating than Auburn? By the way, I didn’t mean to suggest that I think high school counselor rating is the only factor in the rubric that could explain UA’s lower than expected place in the USNWR rankings. Clearly, if UA dramatically improved its six year graduation rate, it would help, and it if could improve its rating by peers, it would help.
In my opinion one thing that might improve the overall impression of the school is having very polished presentations in the schools/communities where they are trying to attract students. Over the last two years we have gone to at least a dozen different presentations for various schools… Ivies, Duke, Vanderbilt, state schools and Alabama. Most of the more selective schools had presentations and alumni speaking that were very articulate and relayed a message of being part of an exclusive club with all the opportunities and privilege that goes with being part of that school. The “highlights” of those schools were not really " how hard they were to get into" but more about what happened once they graduated with their degree and how that has been a huge part of their success (alumni) and current students talked about research and how the environment motivated them to dream big. I know that it is not all rainbows and unicorns at these schools but their presentations really emphasized the remarkable make-up of the school and student body. By contrast many of the state schools, out-of-state and in-state really just rehash what can be read in the flyer. Many times the students they bring in do not really share all the special opportunities they have been afforded. At some of the presentations I almost felt like the students who were picked drew the short straw.
Don’t really know. I would “guess” it has something to do with Auburn being perceived as having higher admission “standards”. Even today, the ACT bottom 25th percentile is 24, while it’s 22 at UA. At UA,. 33% of admitted students had a composite ACT score from 18 to 23, while only 15% do at Auburn. Back in 2005-2006, it was 53% at UA. EDIT: I’m sure those in Alabama have a better sense of how the two schools are viewed, than I do…
Either way, I don’t think the HS counselor rating has gone down. While UA’s been aggressively increasing undergraduate enrollment, they haven’t been increasing faculty at the same rate. The Fall 2015 student to faculty ratio was 23.59 to 1 (back in 2005-2006, it was 19 to 1). Percentage of class sections that have 50+ students has gone up from 14% (2005-2006) to almost 20%.
While UA has improved in student selectivity (12.5%), it has struggled with it’s graduation rates and faculty resources (20%); while not improving in Financial Resources (10%, which is how much UA $ spends per student).
Once UA caps it’s freshman enrollment (it has to at some point!), and shifts resources to recruiting faculty, I would expect UA to start climbing back up the rankings. That graduation rate should also start increasing.
Something to keep in mind.
I wouldn’t be surprise if the student experience is very different for students in the honor program, as they are assigned additional resources (access to smaller classes, better advisement, etc.).
I agree with this. When Texas A&M decided to make a push to increase reputation and climb the rankings they decided to hire high profile professors who were approaching the end of their careers. Their visibility and name recognition among the professorial community was much improved by this strategy.
I am all for a cap on freshmen enrollment.
I don’t think the high school counselor rating for UA has declined, I just think UA still gets lower ratings from counselors than similar schools like Auburn. With a higher percentage of top scoring students now attending UA than Auburn, I don’t know why a lower bottom percentile number would hurt UA’s rating with the counselors, but maybe you are right.
I have literally been told by Auburn fans that it is harder to get into Troy State than UA, that anyone can get into UA, that UA is the Wal Mart of higher ed. So I base my opinion on anecdotal evidence of distorted views of UA among Auburn people. Sure, sidewalk Alabama fans and even some alumni can be obnoxious about Auburn, but from my experience, the Auburn alumni often have a negative view of UA. Most UA folks will admit that Auburn has had a very good engineering school. To some extent, Auburn did have the academic edge till fairly recently, so maybe it will just take time for the counselors who are familiar with both schools to change their ratings in UA’s favor.
@Atlanta68 that statement is not just from Auburn people, it’s from Georgia people too, not just UGA but the state of Georgia. UA on this thread continually tout the wonderful high freshmen enrollment and the high OOS enrollment but “what does that mean?” You give enough money away, those numbers will go up and as I’ve stated before, the kids (not the counselors although they may as well) make flip comments about Alabama because if you go to a high stat school in north Atlanta, it’s kind of a gimme that you are going to apply to Alabama as a safety and get the $'s. But this is the strategy Alabama used to get the kids to raise the stats which will raise the rankings - as good as it works on one side of the fence, it has a perception consequence on the other. And BTW, I don’t know why you think Auburn grads are so bad…the ones I’ve met are great.
I personally think that the Auburn/Alabama rivalry is over blown. Just like the Georgia Tech/UGA one is. Sure there are people that cut down the other school but… most people don’t care except when it comes to football. DH even works with a bunch of UA/Auburn/UGA/GT grads and they actually get along!! Nobody is talking behind someones back about “well you know he/she went to XYZ college…”.
I do not think any high school counselors are rating UA lower because they went to Auburn.
I never said Auburn grads were “bad.” Geeze Louise, just that there is a common perception among them that UA is an inferior school. I think it rubs off on the guidance counselors, many of whom went to Auburn. And if any student is getting money from UA, they will be admitted to UGA. UGA isn’t THAT selective that someone who would get the lowest level of scholarship, like for those getting a 27 on the ACT, but would not get admitted to UGA. So, not sure I understand your point there. A kid who can’t get into UGA, will NOT get any significant scholly to UA. And UA has even more top students, in numbers, than UGA does. Check out the latest stats. UA’s freshman classes have been bigger than UGA’s for several years now, but has the same percentage of top students (25 % or more with an ACT of 32 or higher).
MichianGeorgia. thank what you will. I have seen the attitude a long time now. I think it resulted from UA humiliating Auburn in football during the 70s, along with a focus then at Auburn on improving its academics while UA was letting things slip a bit.
Wow and I almost forgot about that! 
Okay @Atlanta68 I give up - you got me, it was all about football. Can I say “Geeze Louise” too? Just so you know, I am an Auburn parent who thinks highly of UA along with some of my sons parents who also enjoyed the wonderful honors tour. I’m simply providing a perspective that because UA is so generous with the merit money at a moderate stat level, which increases the stat profile and because many pro-UA students/parents/alumni are bragging (not sure that is the correct word) about the increased freshman class size, and the increase in selectivity - it may appear to some like you are manipulating the stats for ranking sake. UA’s ranking will move the needle in the right direction but some of the “meat” has to catch up to the marketing. I think you are impatient and you should really be enjoying what UA has to offer your student now (or later, not sure) because it is good stuff!
“A kid who can’t get into UGA, will NOT get any significant scholly to UA.”
That may have been true years ago. I hate to be pessimistic but…my DS17 will receive the Presidential at UA. However the odds that he will be accepted at UGA are pretty slim. The Hope scholarship in Georgia has made it incredibly difficult for kids like my DS to be admitted to UGA. That’s why kids with stats like him apply to automatic merit schools like UA, Ole Miss, Mississippi State & Auburn. I’m glad they have the scholarships. But if they didn’t he would not be considering any of them because we could not afford the OOS tuition.
MichiganGeorgia,
I don’t know where you get that. The lower part of the mid range at UGA last Fall was 1220 on the new SAT, which when converted to the ACT, is a 25. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/university-of-georgia
Significant UA scholarships don’t begin till an ACT of 27. UGA is not the Harvard of the South, yet. Furthermore, the high part of the mid range for UGA is only 1400 on the new SAT, or only 30 on the ACT, which is a tad less impressive than that for UA. So your perspective is not based in reality. though I am sure you have been told things that made you think this way. UGA folks are very proud of their school, rightfully so, but their self impression is a bit inflated it would seem.
Yes, at the bottom end, it is much harder to get into UGA, but it is not like students with decent GPAs and SAT scores of 1220 are being denied admission. Don’t believe the hype about UGA.
Threeofthree, check out this video by an Auburn PhD History student. He touches on the intensity of the political rivalry between the two schools, beyond football. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI2A09ftlPo
MichiganGeorgia, Here is a link to the UGA mid range for ACT. As you can see, the high part of the mid range is lower than that for UA. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/university-of-georgia vs. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/university-of-alabama
UGA does have higher mid range SAT than UA. But the great majority of students enrolling at UA submit the ACT.
For 2016, the middle 50% ACT range for UGA is 27-32.
The UA OOS scholarships require high test scores, but only a 3.5 GPA. On the other hand, some schools put more focus on GPA/class rigor than test scores in admissions. An OOS student with a 3.5 GPA isn’t likely to be accepted to UGA, even with a high ACT score.
The 2016 UGA freshman profile:
Middle 50% of All Enrolled First-Year Students: 3.91-4.17
Overall Average of All Enrolled First-Year Students: 3.98
Middle 50% of All Enrolled Honors Students: 4.02-4.29
Middle 50% of All Scholarship Students: 3.97-4.3
First-Year Students in the Honors Program: 525
First-Year Students Offered a UGA Academic Scholarship: 14%
And ACT test scores:
ACT Middle 50% of Admitted First-Year Students: 27-32
Overall ACT Average for Admitted First-Year Students: 29
ACT Middle 50% of Admitted Honors Students: 32 - 34
ACT Middle 50% of Admitted Scholarship Students: 30 - 34
https://www.admissions.uga.edu/prospective-students/first-year/fy-profile
52% of admitted students are in the top 10%, 92% are in the top 25%(2014). This compares to UA at 37% and 52%(2015).
GT and UGA’s increased selectivity is causing a lot of heartburn in Georgia.
Gator, I don’t dispute that it is getting harder to get into UGA. And from what you say, it is even harder for OOS students to get admitted there. However, that is not what MichiganGeorgia was talking about. She was discussing the difficulty of lower end high stats kids in GA getting admitted to UGA. Even with the updated data about UGA which you have provided, which is an impressive increase in quality of students I must say!, it is clear that 25% of all UGA freshmen have an ACT of 26 or less. As for GPA, I would have to see the avg. GPA for UA freshmen on OOS scholarship, but I would bet that avg. is fairly close to the one at UGA. The overall avg. GPA at UA was 3.66 last Fall. I know it is higher this Fall, but don’t recall the exact number. “More than 31 percent of the freshman class had a high school Grade Point Average of 4.0 or higher, up from 29.5 percent last year.” https://www.ua.edu/news/2016/09/uas-record-enrollment-bolstered-by-talented-freshmen/ With many more students scoring on the lower end at UA, I seriously doubt that a significant percentage of the OOS students on scholly have a GPA of only 3.5. So I stand by my claim, but modify it to say that the great majority of students who receive a scholarship at UA, would have little difficulty getting admitted to UGA.
@atlanta68 - The difference it that UGA doesn’t take the weighted GPA off the transcript like UA does. They calculate the GPA based on only core classes.
So this is only CORE classes:
Middle 50% of All Enrolled First-Year Students: 3.91-4.17
While I am sure there are UA kids on scholarship that have that core GPA there are also a number of them like my son who does not.
What is your son’s ACT, if you don’t mind? https://www.ua.edu/news/2016/09/uas-record-enrollment-bolstered-by-talented-freshmen/ According to this link, UGA’s freshman class is much smaller (5475) than UA’s (7559) which. along with the fact that at least 25 % of the freshmen at UA last Fall had an ACT of 32 or higher (and more this Fall), implies that the actual number of top scoring students at UA is actually larger than at UGA. But the fact that UGA denies admission to many of the lower end students that gain admission to UA certainly drags down UA’s stats.
By the way Gator, the SAT 1 stats you listed for UGA are on a different scale, which partially explains the difference from the College Board info about UGA’s 2015 class. But yes, the ACT range definitely increased by an impressive two points from last Fall. Do most UGA students submit SAT or ACT?