<p>and i also want to add that it is largely known that the us news & world report and all of those other publications that rate colleges are heavily skewed in certain areas and many people argue the rankings all the time because most people don't agree with those anyways so i would disregard those, i think the actual opinions of people with experience at schools and experience applying are the things that matter statistics arent always completely accurate and matching of people experiences</p>
<p>As far as people from Georgia using 'Bama as a safety- Here in Florida the average to low-average students find it impossible to get into Florida and sometimes even FSU. As a result, Auburn is a popular safety. After all, FSU and UCF both have acceptance rates somewhere in the neighborhood of 55% and Auburn is not in that neighborhood at all! I just don't believe that this somehow discredits Auburn. The Bright Futures program and the FL prepaid has prompted Florida kids to stay home for college. In my opinion, Florida is the same college it was in the 1970's and 1980's. They just happen to have more applications and hence, are more selective.</p>
<p>yeah i agree that thats a factor for ga schools as well, since we have the HOPE scholarship here (you get full tuition paid if you have at least a 3.0) many people stay in state just because of this and thats one huge reason why UGA is soooo competitive because it has so many applicants. not to say its a bad school but without the HOPE i know many people would choose to go to the out of state schools they prefer</p>
<p>Last year FSU had an average Fall SAT of 1265 and admissions rate of some 42%. Quite comparable to UF. UCF's SAT average was around 1218.</p>
<p>Yeah, it is getting hard to get into FSU as well as UF. I'm glad that there are still schools like Auburn, Bama, and USC that offer the flagship U experience but are still within reach to the average student. I love that Alabama, with a small statewide population, has two very large, very good Flagship U's, and no Hope type scholarship keeping kids from going out of state. It just seems to me that there isn't that much of a difference in the actual education that you get once they are actually attending UGA, UF, Bama, Clemson, FSU, or Auburn. I have friends at UGA who had it so easy compared with friends at Auburn who were working their butts off in the same classes! Not that UGA is easy, I'm just saying that just because Auburn is easy to get into doesn't mean that it is a slacker school, and vice versa. Auburn and Bama don't have the number of applicants to draw from so their admittance rate is higher than some of the other regional universities, but that doesn't mean that they are worse schools. I like both UF and FSU but I am partial to FSU and I have been admitted, but I like Auburn the best and Bama second best.</p>
<p>As a reply to those of you who think Bama 'blows Auburn out of the water' in regards to National Merit Finalist scholarships, you should all do your homework.</p>
<p>Auburn offers:
Presidential Scholarship which includes Full Tuition & Fees, $1500 technology stipend, automatic admission into the honors college, and a $4,000 enrichment experience stipend.
On-Campus housing allowance valued at $4,400 per year for four years.
University Stipend varying between $1,000-$2,000 per year for four years (depends on financial need.)</p>
<p>Alabama offers:
Value of tuition in-state or out-of-state for 4 years (same as AU)
4 years of on-campus housing at regular room rate* (same ass AU, maybe a little below)
$1,000 per year University National Merit/Achievement Scholarship for 4 years (Same to Less than AU)
One time allowance of $2,000 for use in summer research or international study (Less than AU)
Laptop computer (Same as AU unless they give cheap dell's, then AU students get more value)</p>
<p>Please enlighten me as to how Bama offers a better scholarship deal.
I just want to give a reminder that before you post, you really should do your homework. People look on here for assistance, it's best if what they're reading is true.</p>
<p>Racergirl, I think the point that has been made by others (see post #14) is that it is not even close with respect to the number of National Merit Scholars who attend Alabama versus Auburn (not the respective financial offers). If Auburn gives out a superior award, one might wonder why Alabama still seems to attract so many more. Sort of reinforces the point.</p>
<p>There is nothing to wonder about...look at the stats. Bama has an endowment that far exceeds Auburn so there is more money to offer more individuals. It's as simple as that. Seriously, you can't judge a school by the number of National Merit Scholars that attend...that is just foolishness. Judging schools strictly by these rankings and odd stats is foolish as well. There are so many ways that schools manipulate the rankings that a valid ranking system which corresponds to the quality of education does not exist. So if Bama can pay to have 200 NMS and Auburn can pay to have 100 NMS that does not make either school better or worse, it's just another silly statistic for people to gauge/judge/fret over.</p>
<p>This is pure AU propaganda. The truth is that both schools are about equal overall, with Bama holding an edge in some departments, and AU in others. However, the momentum is clearly with Bama. When I attended UA, AU was definitely ranked higher, but not in the last five or so years. UA has become more selective, and will become even more selective after this Fall when it reaches the 28,000 enrollment goal.</p>
<p>Bama's avg. SAT is much higher than 990. Where do you get these numbers?</p>
<p>that is the minimal required, not the average!</p>
<p>Aside from their domination of campus politics, the Greek scene at UA is no more "oppressive" than at AU. In fact, a higher percentage of AU's men are in Frats than at Bama. I was a GDI at Bama, and had no problems having fun and making friends. With that said, I do think UA's administration spends too much money on "loans" to Frats to help them build those grand houses. As UA becomes more diverse, the Greek Scene will continue to lose its supposed grip on the campus.</p>
<p>Sorry Atlanta68, but the Greeks do not dominate the Auburn campus. Far from it, while there is a large percentage of kids participating in Greek organizations, there is not a campus culture of Go Greek or Go Home. In fact they are very welcoming of non-Greeks, or GDI's as you called them. Why would you use a derogatory term to describe yourself anyways? If 25% of a campus is Greek then 75% is not.....so where do you get the feeling that Greeks dominate the campus culture? Also, Bama is known for the fact that Greeks are generally going to get positions of power and influence on campus thanks to the infamous 'Machine'. </p>
<p>There are enormous benefits from participating in the Greek system especially when the system is well organized and well run like it is at both AU and UA. The treasurer of a Greek org handles a budget that far exceeds any other campus club, leadership positions as well as philanthropy activities are plentiful, social activities are fun, and solid academics are encouraged.</p>
<p>Boomu, </p>
<p>I never said that Greeks dominate Auburn's campus. Where did you get that? I only pointed out that the percentage of Auburn's students who are in the Greek system is greater than at UA. College</a> Search - University of Alabama - UA - Housing & Campus Life is a link to a page which shows the percentage of men and women at UA who are Greek. 22% of men are in Frats, while 29% of women are in Sororities. College</a> Search - Auburn University - Housing & Campus Life is a link for the same info on Auburn. 21% of AU men are in Frats, but 31% of AU women are in Sororities. So technically, AU has a higher percentage of students who are Greek, but the difference is minimal. </p>
<p>I assure you that I did not feel encouraged to "go home". "GDI" may sound harsh, but most Independents called themselves GDI's with pride. I dont ever remember any one from a Frat calling me a GDI.</p>
<p>boomu, I would definitely argue against a fraternity's treasurer handling budgets larger than other campus organizations... you wouldn't BELIEVE how much money SGA handles, as well as UPC. They both have million-dollar+ budgets, UPC alone gets about 3 million dollars a year. I would also argue that while it can be nice to have a built in social system in which to participate, one can find the same things (leadership, philanthropy, socials) in other campus organizations, religious groups, etc. that you, you know, don't have to pay to join. </p>
<p>Statistically, the percentage of greeks at Auburn and Bama are about the same. However, the percentage of Greeks in high leadership positions around campus is much greater at Bama than Auburn. </p>
<p>I don't think I've ever heard anyone here call themselves GDI's, but I've heard greek people refer to us regular people as that. I think it's a bit silly tbh. I know plenty of people in sororities and we get along perfectly well. Fraternity guys in large numbers tend to be a bit jerk-ish wherever you are, although usually they are nice and normal on their own. But, well, that is kind of guys in general, not just frats!</p>
<p>I know this is an old post, but I’ll give my 2 cents regarding my recent experience at Auburn.</p>
<p>I just went to Auburn for graduate school and found it to be a very nice campus and atmosphere. I’m from the North, and have never been to “Bama’s” campus, but Auburn is very quaint. The business school is very nice. The faculty is excellent and extremely friendly! The atmosphere is built around the concept of “family” which I think is another way of saying “team”. They want you to succeed and will do about anything to make sure you do. The campus is smaller than I had thought prior to arriving, but its just condensed. A lot going on in a smaller space. I’m sure Alabama is 10x’s the land mass. But, make no mistake…Auburn is a big-time school. The town of Auburn is also very quaint. Nice combination of bars, restaurants, shopping within walking distance of the campus. Football is clearly the be-all-end-all on Campus. Jordan-Hare Stadium is clearly the most prominant structure on campus and is top knotch. But, the campus has a nice mix of newly renovated buildings but kept the character of its historic buildings that have been around since the beginning. There’s a lot of tradition there, and, something I like…is that its unique. I think Alabama is kind of commercialized to the point where there’s a lot of “Bama” stuff everywhere. Its nice to be a little unique and affiliate yourself with something different. I think Auburn provides that too.</p>
<p>I would definitely recommend Auburn. </p>
<p>I’m not saying anything against Alabama. I can only speak to Auburn. I’m sure Alabama is an equally excellent school with top knotch facilities and campus experience. I don’t think you could go wrong either way.</p>
<p>Adding to the post from more than a year ago by racergirl: The NMF scholarship is generous and some of the departments and maybe all of them add additional scholarship money for each year to NMF. All of the money AU has given my daughter covers her four years in full. I only pay for gas and extra clothes. She has enough for housing, food, books and as stated above tuition and fees. Lastly, she is absolutely loving AU. She is taking one math and two science classes this semester and all of her professors are America without accents.</p>
<p>Actually, Auburn’s campus is significantly larger than UA’s, though Auburn’s core campus is more condensed, and its periphery largely for agricultural, Vet, etc. </p>
<p>I think both schools have lovely campuses. AU has more of a Georgian campus, and UA more of a neo classical look. But UA also has Victorian, Art Deco, and other interesting styles.</p>
<p>The truth is that the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa uses many tricks to stay up in the ratings - like buying National Merit Scholars, various honors programs, and their endowment gained through political backroom deals that funded programs so money could be saved to the endowment. They HAVE to do this or they would fall even farther behind Auburn in academics. </p>
<p>That said, even taking in the rankings, people like Razordad flat out misrepresented some of them, and left out others. Here are some facts, not observations, but facts:</p>
<p>The average ACT among Auburn freshmen last year was an entire point higher than the average ACT among Bama freshmen. Auburn also requires a higher ACT than Bama requires (which makes sense). In short, if you can’t get into Auburn you can likely still get into Bama (and we all know many cases like this).
Business Week recently (2010) had an article revealing that over a 30 year working career the average Auburn graduate would earn $100,000 more than the average Alabama graduate.
There is also the issue of crime and quality of life. The Auburn/Opelika area has been rated many times as a “best place to live” by various publications. On the other hand, Alabama’s campus is in Tuscaloos - the second most dangerous city in Alabama after Birmingham (which is one of the most dangerous cities in the country).</p>
<p>According to another post on this site(talking about the US News), the acceptance rate of Auburn is 71% for 2010 v. 60% for Alabama. How is Alabama easier to get into and how do you only have to have a pulse to get in? For 2011 the stats are 80% acceptance at AU v. 57% at UA. UA is sounding pretty selective to me. (although how they have the 2011 stats, I have no idea), but that’s a huge difference in selectivity. I am just trying to understand the thinking here.</p>