<p>Which is the better school? Im considering both but have no idea as to which is better for me. </p>
<p>(I am from out of state and plan to major in Pre-Physical Therapy/ Exercise Science/Kinesiology)</p>
<p>I'm kind of wondering this for OOS. Who has a better Honors college? I'm kind of leaning toward 'Bama now, but I could be swayed.</p>
<p>I also am in this predictament. They say Bama is better for business also. Bama is more of a frat atmosphere. They are also more generous with scholarships/aid. However, I do love the Tigers.</p>
<p>Auburn is overall a way better school although Bama is better in certain departments. Auburn's engineering is way better but i believe Bama has better medical degrees. Also since Bama is a little weaker overall they are more generous with acceptance and scholarships</p>
<p>Ok, now I know there will be bias here because this is the Auburn forum, but how is Auburn a "way better school" than 'Bama? 'Bama is slightly more selective, 64% to 69% acceptance rate, for SAT/ACT stuff Auburn has a slight edge, but not by much, every college ranking I've seen(USNWR, Kiplingers, etc...) has 'Bama ranked higher that Auburn. 'Bama has a bigger endowment, by like $300 million, but that probably doesn't matter too much.</p>
<p>Majoring in Business/Marketing - go to Alabama right?
That's what everyone is telling me. But I love Auburn. What if I switch majors and end up doing something else? Then I'm going to regret my decision and wish I was at Auburn. Such a tough decision!</p>
<p>You need to take a look at the formula's used in ranking colleges. Bama ranks so high because their endowment is stratospheric. I'm out of state but not by far so I know a lot of people who go to both schools and love it. As far as general reputations go, if you take the die hard fans out of the picture and only count people who are fairly considering both, you will find that Auburn is considered the academically superior school all around. Bama is way more generous with aid, and literally everyone gets accepted there. It is the fall back school for a lot of high school students who were mediocre students and didn't get into any other large state school. The statistics are skewed because the aggressive endowment offers are attracting top students from across the nation, but that can't make up for the majority of student body who are not great students at all. As one of my friends said "I feel dumber for having gone there" before transferring to Clemson. Having said that, you can get an amazing education at Bama, it is what you make of it. At my school, many of the kids who are going to Bama were rejected by Auburn.</p>
<p>Alabama has an excellent honors program. I would have to disagree with boomu, that Auburn is considered academically superior. The business school at Alabama has an excellent reputation. Auburn used to be better for engineering, but I am not sure that is the case anymore. The facilities at Alabama are excellent also. There is a major building program going on and the housing is wonderful.</p>
<p>Auburn is considered by most to be the better school. Contrary to percentages it is more selective than Bama, Auburn's acceptance rate is higher because more people who apply there have a good chance of getting in. If we used the percentage, GT would be comparable to Bama, and better than Auburn (lawl)</p>
<p>Though I will give both schools props for the communications schools.</p>
<p>Here is some basic data for you (and, while I know both schools well, I don't have a dog in this fight). U.S. News & World Report ranks Alabama as the 83rd best university in the country, and the 37th best public university. (Auburn is ranked 96th overall, and 45th among the publics.) Kiplinger ranks Alabama at #44 in its rankings of the best values in public colleges and universities. (Auburn is ranked #81.) Princeton Review just named Alabama as one of its 2009 Top 50 best value public universities, based on its criteria of "excellent academics, low sticker price and/or generous financial aid." (Auburn did not make the list.) Princeton Review gives Alabama an academic rating of 76, versus a 70 for Auburn (higher is better). The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, as reported in Forbes, currently ranks Alabama as the 7th best national public university. (Auburn is ranked 46th.) Alabama had 7 students named to the 2008 USA Today All-Academic Team, the most of any university in the country. This brings Alabama's total to 31 in the past six years, tops during that period out of all colleges and universities in the U.S. (Auburn's website mentions that it had 2 students named in 2005.) Perhaps the largest online student review website (StudentReviews) gives Alabama an overall rating of 8.0 (with sub-components of Education Quality - 8.3, Social Life - 8.3, Extracurricular Activities - 8.8, University Resources - 7.9, Surrounding City - 7.0). Auburn was viewed as an overall 6.4 (Education Quality - 7.0, Social Life - 6.4, Extracurricular Activities - 7.2, University Resources - 6.7, Surrounding City - 5.2). Auburn was on probation for its accreditation status in late 2004 or early 2005, but that was more related to bungling and interfering trustees (Bobby Lowder, etc.) than any big issue with academics.</p>
<p>I think it is a big stretch to argue that Auburn's acceptance rate is misleading because it is in the nature of a "self-selective" school, like a Georgia Tech (which obviously is a top-shelf, largely specialized engineering school). Alabama and Auburn have very similar average GPA and SAT scores for admitted students. Princeton Review gives Alabama a selectivity rating of 86, versus an 85 for Auburn (higher is better). Alabama has a stated policy of trying to grow the student body to about 28,000 students. It should reach that goal in another year or two, at which time I think you will see the selectivity number (percentage of applicants accepted) move lower (and it is already lower than Auburn's - 64% versus 69%).</p>
<p>If you are a sports fan, football is king at both schools. Alabama has the richer tradition over the course of history (many more SEC and National titles). Auburn had "owned" Alabama in recent years (winning 6 in a row, I believe) until Alabama won this past season, 36 to 0. With Nick Saban at Alabama, and a new coach coming to Auburn this year, a betting person might think that Bama should have the best of it over the next few years.</p>
<p>Auburn picks up A LOT of high school students out of the metro Atlanta area, many of whom did not get into the University of Georgia (which has become quite selective due to the Hope Scholarship and its impact of keeping many of the top students in-state). Auburn is only 2 hours from Atlanta (Alabama is about 3.5 hours from Atlanta, and 40 minutes from Birmingham). Not sure if you'd view that as a positive or negative, but the heavy influx of the Atlanta kids brings a certain "flavor" to Auburn.</p>
<p>I just wanted to say, Alabama gets more money for scholarships and financial aid from the state of Alabama than Auburn does. They also tend to give out scholarships for lower ACT/SAT scores than Auburn does as well. </p>
<p>Also, this is second hand knowledge (but I've heard it from many many people) but apparently the social life at Alabama is such that if you are not Greek, you have no social life. I've also heard that the races very much self-segregate there as well.</p>
<p>The social life at Auburn, however, does not revolve around being Greek unless you ARE Greek. Personally, I have very few friends who are Greek, and we all have perfectly acceptable social lives!
The self-segregation does happen at Auburn (esp. among Greeks, both white and black) although I have little experience with it. I have a wide range of friends, and I don't think it would be that hard for others to do so as well, if they would try to break out of the comfort zone a little bit.</p>
<p>Auburn has no money-esp for merit scholarships! Yes, I suppose you could argue that Alabama gives scholarships for lower scores, etc., but they seem to have the money to do this in spite of paying their head coach an exhoritant amount of money. Auburn has been able to pay for a new coach, but can't seem to keep up money wise with Alabama in terms of scholarships--esp to National Merit Finalists! Couple that with the fact that they almost lost their accreditation several years ago. I am an Auburn grad--the rankings are in place for a reason, but then again, they are just rankings.</p>
<p>Just a note to address the many Georgia and Atlanta area students at Auburn. Looking at average entering ACT scores (or average of 25-75 percentiles), Georgia Tech is 29, Georgia is 27, and Auburn is 26 (25.9 for this entering class). The next best Georgia in-state school weighs in at 23. It's easy to understand, if one misses out on Georgia and Tech, why Auburn would be a good choice. Tech gives extra weight for honors courses and Georgia puts a lot of emphasis on GPA so, if one takes hard courses at a school that doesn't hand out As easily, it is possible for one to be admitted to Tech without being admitted to Georgia. But the people I know the best chose Auburn (over Georgia and Georgia Tech) because Georgia was too big (geographically) and too party happy and they did not want to be an engineer or at an engineer-dominated school. Also, if one is Georgia Tech material, they are likely to get some merit aid at Auburn (not as good as the Hope, but enough to make the expense more palatable).
One more thing. Auburn is closer to many Georgia students than either Tech or Georgia.</p>
<p>From nationalmerit.org--UA has 83 new National Merit scholars; AU, 31 in the news today...UA is ranked second in the SEC and 28th nationally for enrolling National Merit Scholars. Auburn is ranked eight in the SEC and 71st among schools according to data released buy NMS Corp.</p>
<p>razor dad and bamagirl16 are right on.</p>
<p>Im not knocking Alabama but National Merit Scholars means nothing. Alabama is buying national merit scholars with great scholarships.</p>
<p>National Merit Scholars does mean something--take a look at some of the more elite schools that use National Merit as a way of attracting top students. Auburn just does not have the money to fund National Merit Scholars--not to mention, the quality and caliber of a National Merit Scholar in institutions is quite valuable. Who can blame Alabama for trying to "buy" National Merit Scholars esp in this economy? I suggest that you take a look at the National Merit Organization web site before you suggest that National Merit Scholars means "nothing"!</p>
<p>Top schools no longer buy National Merit Scholars because they don't need to.</p>
<p>Having National Merit Scholars in your admissions class certainly can't hurt--esp at Auburn. Maybe the top schools aren't buying them anymore, however Ala is trying to elevate their academic status by "buying" their NMS, apparently Auburn is NOT. I suppose you think that National Merit Status is not earned-thru grades, scores, etc.? Auburn needs to wake up--and at least try to attract more top students instead of spending money on a new head coach which they obviously couln't afford to begin with. Like I said before, at least Alabama can afford a new head coach and still attract or "buy" top scholars! Let's hope that Auburn's accreditation rating stays in place and does not revert to a few years ago when they were in danger of losing it!</p>
<p>Auburn's probation issue wasn't academics-related. It had to due with micromanagement from their Board of Trustees.</p>