AU versus UA – Best School for Assimilating Out-of-state Students

Colleges and Universities A-Z Auburn University
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<p>I was an out of state student, and many of my friends i made were out of state students. There were a large number of us out-of-staters. If you’re from the south then you can assimilate just fine. I’m not from the deep south. CWE was great, and even my first year at school I was amazingly happy. starting my 2nd year, i wasn’t so naive about Auburn. </p>

<p>There is a LOT of self imposed racial segregation. I am white, and I was asked to not participate in a BSU picnic event with a group of friends (a mix of black and white students) because i was told i “didn’t belong”. on the flip side, my roommate (who was black) was asked to leave a bar because she was with a white male and the bar staff told her that she was “too drunk” to be in the bar anymore. she had had a couple beers, but was just dancing with her date when a bouncer grabbed her and got really physical with her. I heard the N-word used everyday white white students in extremely hateful ways. </p>

<p>I also had many professors walk into class the first day and make speeches like this: “I don’t care if my students learn or do well in this class. I am only teaching this class because no one else will and the university is making me. I am required to have office hours, but that in no way means i am encouraging you to come to them. I will fail the whole class if i feel like it.” etc. etc. I had one class that was so bad that over half the class went to the Dean of that college (i didn’t because at the time i didn’t realize i had any options to speak out) about this professor. When the professor found out, he made a speech about how we “hadn’t seen anything yet”. It was a truly hellish semester. </p>

<p>I now have a degree, but I deeply regret choosing Auburn. A lot of what I was told when i toured campus and at CWE was incorrect information. I was told there was free tutoring in ALL subjects. Yet when I tried to take advantage of this “free tutoring” it was either with students who didn’t speak English or I was told that I would have to pay $20/hr for tutoring. </p>

<p>Not to mention I was told by someone in the Dean’s office of my college that I was “a fool” to start my job search in the Fall before i graduated and should wait until April (a month before graduation). Look how foolish i am now? Me and my fellow 2009 graduates entered the worst job market that we’ve seen in decades! They actually discouraged me from starting my job search early in my senior year! Good thing I didn’t listen to them!</p>

<p>I don’t want to sound like a bitter alumni, but Auburn has some REAL issues that need to be addressed before I will suggest someone pay out of state tuition. It wasn’t worth it for me. PLEASE don’t put yourself in debt! Go to an in-state school. In this economic climate, I wouldn’t suggest paying out of state tuition for ANY college. go to your state schools.</p>

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<p>Wow, that sounds pretty bad on many levels. Are there any alums who can add to this?</p>

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<p>augrad: I am sorry about your experiences with apparent ignorants but I have heard nothing but positive things about Auburn from current students outside of the CWE experience. I don’t discount your experiences and I think they are a shame but maybe it was more common amongst the people you lived near. I don’t know. I do know that my daughter’s CWE counselor was a black male and I wonder why he would have sought out that job, which is a very competitive position, if he was treated like a second class citizen.</p>

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<p>well, we’ve lived in michigan and georgia. the biggest difference we’ve seen is not north vs. south; it’s intelligent vs. not-so-much. i’ve not seen more racism down here than 36 years in michigan. my 16 y.o. daughter’s boyfriend is korean and we’re white. we’ve not heard one negative comment.</p>

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<p>It is hard to believe that augrad is actually a grad of auburn. why would someone who spent 4 years at auburn now make their very first post at CC??? I would take what augrad has to say with a grain of salt…</p>

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<p>I agree with that-I have many friends that attended Auburn-in the mid to late 40’s now and couldn’t say nicer things- I am sure it is ALOT better now 25 years later- we are going to War Eagle Day(for rising HS seniors) this Thursday- do we get to see the Village? anything we should specifically ask about in honors program?</p>

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<p>The village tours are at 2:00 pm M-F. You may need to register for it as I don’t remember a tour offered last year, but then the Village had not been completed. Have fun!!</p>

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<p>bluemath: aside from the type that live under bridges, what is a “■■■■■”? Sorry to ask, but I’m pretty new to the discussion forum sphere. Are there beings out there in forum cyberspace who just attempt to upset the applecart?</p>

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<p>audellmom: A ■■■■■ is somebody who posts stuff just to get a rise out of people. </p>

<p>Auburn is used to having out of state students since a large percentage of their student body is from Georgia (Clemson, BTW, draws a huge percentage of its students from the NE and from Northern Virginia with many of those coming from military families).</p>

<p>I would say that, historically, UA was a little less welcoming to OOSers since most students were from in-state, but that has all changed. In 2009, more OOS students pledged sororities than in-state. UA has actively pursing OOS students for the past 4 or 5 years…so much so that in-state students are beginning to feel unwanted.</p>