<p>That’s great @irlandaise! So glad you went and toured both campuses. In the end, only YOU can decide what’s best for you. Thanks so much for coming back and posting about your experiences–I’m sure it will help others in the future!</p>
<p>I’m happy to hear you loved Auburn! When it gets in you it sticks. 
oh, and those suites that share one bath aren’t bad at all. Still some of the best dorms I’ve seen (and I’ve been touring lots of schools these days with my own son). I lived in the Quad and on the Hill, back when the Hill housed the sorority halls. The Hill can be far from some classes, but I really liked my days in the Quad. I liked their historic nature and that they were close to my Freshman classes. Auburn definitely has a homey feel that can be hard to describe to others - it’s big, but feels small. If it’s for you, you just know it. WDE!</p>
<p>As far as academic for art, I would recommend Alabama. The campus is beautiful and I always enjoy the quad. People are generally very friendly. </p>
<p>Great! I second ^^^VAbeach’s thoughts on the regular dorms , especially the Quad. A lot of kids select the Quad’s regular dorms over the Village super suites because of the location. Kind of like giving up the big beautiful house in the suburbs to live in the smaller older house in the “trendy” neighborhood where everything is happening. </p>
<p>I’ve visited both and they both gave me VERY different feelings. If it’s possible you definitely need to visit both and see for yourself. Auburn almost has a small campus feel and I don’t know if it was just for the tour or something but I really got a sense that everyone is just so friendly there and the “Auburn Family” is really a thing. Alabama was the complete opposite. The campus is really spread out and it made me feel like I would feel unsafe there, especially with all those fraternities and there seemed to be less of those emergency call things. I felt like they were much less focused on academics. During the info session the guy was like “Do y’all have any questions? We have to talk about the boring academic stuff after this…” and no one else in my tour group was interested in honors. Also, I know at least in-state Auburn gives better merit aid. You get full tuition plus a technology allowance whereas Alabama just gives full tuition and I think the requirements for the scholarship at Auburn are lower also.</p>
<p>^ Actually, Alabama gives better merit aid to the really high stats kids especially NMF. </p>
<p>Man, this reminds me of my year in Montgomery at school. The question was always “so, are you for Auburn or Alabama”?</p>
<p>I wouldnt make a decision based on a one time technology allowance.</p>
<p>What are your stats? What is your major? </p>
<p>Sounds like you visited Bama during the summer. That isnt a good time to visit. You dont get a true feel for how the campus would be with students.</p>
<p>I am stunned that you felt that you were unsafe at Bama? ??? unsafe? less blue call things? From virtually any part of campus a student can easily see THREE blue call things…that is how close they are to each other. </p>
<p>I also wouldnt judge a school by a tour guide. that is just one person…good or bad. A great tour guide doesnt mean a school is great, and a lesser tour guide doesnt mean that a school is lesser. </p>
<p>And who cares if those on your tour werent interested in honors. Bama’s honors programs is much, much, MUCH bigger than Auburn’s so any conclusion that you wouldnt have many honors classmates at Bama would be a very wrong conclusion. </p>
<p>I think you should visit again during the school year. </p>
<p>Touring a college campus should be more than going on a group tour with a student ambassador, especially on large campuses. We have a definite approach on how we tour. We go on the “packaged group tour.” We have had some real duds that way. But, we also tour the dept for the intended major, arrange a meeting with dean of the dept and/or undergrad diector, and if possible, get permission to sit in on an upper level class in the dept (you get a feeling for the dept’s upperclassmen.)</p>
<p>Using the above approach, ds completely eliminated Auburn after the dept meeting. The dept was completely disengaged from their students. I have taken this approach with 3 of our kids now, AU was by far the worst dept meeting ever which included sitting through a rant by the undergrad advisor. </p>
<p>On the opposite end, at UA, the undergrad director spent an hour with our ds offering suggestions for various approaches to undergrad, took him on a personal tour of the facilities, introduced him to various undergrad students who were in the dept at the time, arranged for ds to sit in on a class where the prof engaged ds afterward. UA has programs for guaranteed undergrad research opportunities (the response to that question at AU was not encouraging at all.) He also told ds about available dept scholarships.</p>
<p>Those types of experiences shed a lot more light on a school than taking a tour with a student who might be majoring in a field with no overlap to your interests and who has never even taken a class on the side of campus as your major, let alone the dept. (A sociology major is not a good source of info for an engineering question.)</p>
<p>Both schools have lot to offer. S1 visited both and had a similar take to yours. Bama seemed more difficult to navigate for him. He ultimately applied to Auburn as a safety.</p>
<p>Enjoy. Sounds like you have a good idea what you like. Don’t worry about what other’s think at this point. As long as it is in your ability to pay, have a great career!</p>
<p>If Auburn is the choice, so be it. Great school!</p>
<p>For any future students, Bama is a big campus. It took DS and me a full day or so to get acclimated. We didn’t do the big official bus tour until the end of our visit, after spending time in the Honors College and then with representatives from both Engineering and the College of Arts & Sciences. By the end of our visit, even my directionally-challenged son had a good feel for where everything was. He also had a strong sense of which wing of the campus would be where he spent the bulk of his time.</p>
<p>You’re going to school for four years. Keep in mind that what seems safe and cozy at 17 or 18 can seem small and limiting at 20 or 21.</p>
<p>Wow, great timing that this thread got revived, as I just got back from visiting Auburn again! </p>
<p>@arc3993 - you describe very similarly my feelings towards Auburn! UA looks great on paper, but fails to impress on paper. I, too, came up with a few logical reasons to prefer AU, but honestly I just know that’s where I belong, and it sounds like the same case for you! For in-state, Alabama and Auburn give basically the same amount of merit aid, even for NMF, from what I’ve read - but hey, I wouldn’t go to UA even if they did offer me a little more ;)</p>
<p>Also, personally, I wouldn’t bother touring again - and won’t, myself. UA has a completely different feel from AU (I kinda get what you mean about being uneasy, too) and don’t see the point in touring again in case this was a fluke because I’ve been on two extraordinary tours at AU already. Sure, a lot of UA supporters will encourage you to re-visit, but meh, I don’t see the advantage. BUT - if you do have any doubts, go for it.</p>
<p>I also visited with my intended areas of study, and was personally blown away with how amazing and caring they were. Actually, I’ve always been amazed at how friendly and caring everyone at Auburn is - every tour guide I’ve had (like, ten at this point) has been amazing, as well as all the admissions and academic staff I’ve encountered, not to mention bookstore/restaurant employees.</p>
<p>Everyone I’ve met has gone out of his or her way to make me feel welcome, and it’s something I’ve never once experienced at Alabama, in the four times I’ve been on campus (once as a prospie, thrice for unrelated reasons). </p>
<p>But I do agree that the fellow prospies on the tour shouldn’t really figure into your judgement of the college - my first group tour was made up of Greek-heavy prospies, something I’m not interested in. <em>shrug</em> that doesn’t mean that everyone I’ll meet is Greek-heavy, so that doesn’t really factor in. </p>
<p>Feel free to message me/respond here about anything or if you just wanna talk Auburn! Feel like a recruiter myself with how many tours I’ve been on. What’s/re your intended major(s)?</p>