<p>We are Florida residents but was able to attend both Talon Day at Auburn and Capstone Scholars Day at Alabama. We were very impressed with Auburn campus due to its compact design although Alabama was somewhat more spread out. My daughter is looking at majoring in Nurseing and it seems Alabama has a much better program. I know their new College of Nursing building is very nice. Daughter was very impressed with this building She also stated the student guides at Alabama seemed to be more “into” their college than at Auburn. Of course being Alabama has offered full tuition and Auburn only offered 2/3 I think Alabama is winning out at least for these two schools. Still waiting on Florida to let us know of acceptance. Auburn seems to really stress “family” hoping the same is true at Alabama and it just wasn’t talked about as much although Alabama stressed their honor program much more than Auburn did. Anyone want to comment either way?</p>
<p>I think there is something to the Family theme at Auburn, but perhaps not for the reasons suggested by AU people. I think most Auburn alumni and fans have a chip on their shoulder for not being the flagship university of the state, despite its impressive academic strengths. Most AU people are sure that it is more selective than UA, and more prestigious, despite all evidence to the contrary. This is not to knock AU, but I do think they tend to exagerrate their rep. </p>
<p>Also, being in a very small town, the school is more important to the city than UA is to Tuscaloosa, though both are important to their respective locations. I also think that the stronger football tradition, historically speaking, at UA, has caused a lot of hurt feelings on the Plains. From 1973-1981, UA beat Auburn nine times in a row, and of course won three national titles in the sixties, three in the seventies, and two in the last twenty years, not to mention the Rose Bowl victories earlier which served as national title games back then. </p>
<p>AU gets a lot of flack for being the cow college, so I think that adds to their “circle the wagons” mentality. </p>
<p>Certainly, AU’s large size does not allow it to have the small college atmosphere that many assume it to have. But perhaps that small town atmosphere makes their students a little friendlier, but here I think there is exagerration as well.</p>
<p>In my experience, both Auburn and Alabama strongly believe in the concept that everyone is part of the school’s “family.” Outside of the South, you will often see the two families merge to become one. Much like when immigrants from a specific country go out of their way to help those from that same country in their new surroundings, those connected with the Alabama and Auburn families will often do the same. It is amazing to be walking down the street in another part of the country (or the world) and hear somebody shout “Roll Tide.” I’ve met many interesting alumni from both schools this way, along with people from the south, and even some die-hard football fans. While home football games are the most obvious and expected example, we all take pride in our respective schools and aren’t hesitant to show it every day of the week. I recently read that for school logo and memorabilia sales, the University of Alabama is only behind the University of Texas-Austin in terms of total sales. When you consider that you can find Texas Longhorns products in seemingly every store in the nation, this is a huge achievement.</p>
<p>Since your daughter has very high stats, UA is going to stress its honors program a lot because the Honors College is put in charge of recruiting high stats students and that along with the large merit scholarships, having a top notch honors college is what helps attract top students to UA. When compared to the honors programs at other universities, UA is somewhat unique in that it offers 5+ programs and has such a large percentage of students enrolled in one or more honors programs.</p>
<p>We didn’t tour AU, so I have no first-hand knowledge for comparing the two, but we did find everyone on the Bama campus to be extremely friendly and welcoming. We’ll be sending our daughter a very long way to attend Bama, so that was very important to us. I really felt the people in the Honors College gave us that assurance. They’re just so genuine there!</p>
<p>My daughter’s friend toured the campus with us also and she is interested in the nursing program. We were so impressed with their new building and the administrators of the program. It’s very competitive to get into. Average GPA for acceptances into the upper level is around 3.8, but they have a very impressive 98 percent pass rate for their graduates (national average is 80 percent). They also have additional departmental scholarships for both their lower level and upper level students.</p>
<p>Good luck in your decision! Roll Tide!!!</p>
<p>Both schools have that “family” attitude.</p>
<p>I have to differ a bit with what Atlanta said. While T-town is a mid-sized city, the city is devoted to the school. My nephew, who visited from Calif last weekend, surely noted that the city is very devoted to the University. I don’t think there would be a RiverWalk or the new Amphitheater if the city wasn’t working closely with the school. I think even the recent remodeling of Downtown is related to the city’s connection to the campus. The city and the campus are forever intertwined.</p>
<p>Bama has a MUCH more developed honors program.</p>
<p>Bama has a LOT more honors Super Suites. Bama has over 2500 honors super suites beds, while Auburn only has 298 honors super suites beds. That makes it MUCH harder to get one - especially after the first year. </p>
<p>Bama has an outstanding nursing program with a 98% pass rate when taking the exam for the first time.</p>
<p>Alabama can seem more “spread out” at first glance. However, once you look at a campus map, you can see that it’s laid out very logically. Core Curriculum classes tend to be held around/near the quad. Courses related to one’s major are typically in clustered buildings that are located to an area off of the quad.</p>
<p>Dorms and other ancillary buildings are around the perimeter. </p>
<p>Dining venues are located both in the center areas where classes are held, and also near dorms for later access. </p>
<p>Of course, the nursing building is across from the Medical Center for obvious reasons. :)</p>
<p>Mom, I didn’t mean to suggest that the town doesn’t support UA. I was just suggesting that it is taken up a notch at Auburn due to the size differential between the two cities. But I do think Tuscaloosa has improved in its support for UA, at least over the last ten or so years.</p>
<p>My D and I also attended both Talons at Auburn and Capstone at Bama this past weekend. Both had very impressive programs and campuses and D and I found that we liked some things at one better than the other and vice versa. Which, of course, makes the decision b/w them even harder.</p>
<p>One question that we still have is about campus transportation at Bama. Since it is so spread out, is there a campus bus system? The Tiger transit system at Auburn seemed to be very visible while we were there. There seemed to be alot of parking lots by the dorms at Bama so we wondered if lots of students have cars on campus.</p>
<p>M2ck: good point about more supersuites at Bama vs Auburn. Those dorms are amazing- makes me want to go back to college ;)</p>
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<p>Bama has extensive campus (and off-campus) transportation (Crimson Ride). Check it out at: [Crimson</a> Ride - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://crimsonride.ua.edu/]Crimson”>http://crimsonride.ua.edu/)</p>
<p>And this: <a href=“http://sa.ua.edu/bamabikes/signup.cfm[/url]”>http://sa.ua.edu/bamabikes/signup.cfm</a></p>
<p>And this: <a href=“http://uanews.ua.edu/2009/08/zipcar-launches-car-sharing-program-at-ua/[/url]”>http://uanews.ua.edu/2009/08/zipcar-launches-car-sharing-program-at-ua/</a></p>
<p>^ Thanks for the information, malanai. We didn’t see any Crimson ride busses while we were there- maybe because we were there on a Saturday.They used school busses to transport students and parents around campus</p>
<p>The Campus Ride has a really cool app where you can see what buses are where on their route in real time. D uses that to determine whether she should walk or wait for the bus. </p>
<p>Having said that, she rarely uses the bus since her classes are clustered around the Quad and she’s in Ridgecrest West. UA has a very walkable campus with few hills. She has used the bus to get to the Student health Center, the Rec Center & when it rains heavily. Oh and she also uses the Sunday route that goes to Target, the Mall, and the Midtown Village shopping center (with Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Five Guys, etc.) I really love that they added that this year!</p>
<p>Also…when you’re in Bama buildings, there are flat screens by the doors that tell you where the buses currently are. So, you can see if a bus will be soon approaching your closest bus stop.</p>
<p>And, yes, if you have a smart phone, you can see where the buses are right on your phone. </p>
<p>Click here to see where the buses are right now! </p>
<p>[CrimsonRide</a> - Transit Visualization System](<a href=“http://ua.transloc.com/]CrimsonRide”>http://ua.transloc.com/)</p>
<p>Also…do not hesitate to call the Crimson Ride if you have an issue. They are responsive.</p>
<p>I don’t know why Bama uses school buses for these weekend recruitments to move kids around. I noticed that this weekend for Capstone Scholars Day. Must have something to do with the fact that regular school buses have more seats on them…and CSDay had over 500 students attending. </p>
<p>Anyway…the Crimson Ride buses are VERY nice…clean, air-conditioned, etc.</p>
<p>The only on-campus Crimson Ride bus service on weekends is the 348-RIDE Express that operates during the night. Otherwise, transportation is provided via 348-RIDE vans. It’s surprising that UA was using school buses for CSD as they are [usually] only used for football games when all the Crimson Ride buses are also being used.</p>
<p>Re: the “family” atmosphere at AU vs UA. My twins were in both colleges 2001-2006. Being a UA alum, I was very impressed by the close feeling on AU’s campus. But make no mistake - its campus is just as spread out as Alabama’s. However, on AU’s campus the most of the dorms, student center and stadium are very close, plus you have the town’s business district right there. It just seems more “cozy” than Alabama’s.</p>
<p>Woolif, I think that you and I met at the Capstone Scholar day. If this is not you then you have twin in Florida under the similar situation.
Did you stop at the Honors College before leaving ?</p>
<p>I think Auburn did an excellent job at Talons Day. People showed a lot of passion. Our first visit at Auburn was not as good. This time I have to give kudos the CHEM Eng Dept. They did a great job and as a result they moved up in my son’s list.</p>
<p>From Capstone Day we did not get a lot. It was not as organized as I was hoping for. Anyway we had such a good first visit that we knew everything we needed to know. There is no question that that the scholarships and honors college in UA is top notch. I do feel that the Eng. Dept. is going thru some growing pains. The CHEM Eng Dept. is in 2 different buildings and it hurt that this event was on a Saturday that there wasn’t anybody to talk too.</p>
<p>I think that for you D it will come down to where she sees herself fitting better. UA will be a great place without a doubt.</p>
<p>Auburn is actually bigger in area than Bama.</p>
<p>Auburn has 1800 acres, while Bama has 1300 acres (1000 acres plus the newly acquired Bryce hospital land). </p>
<p>I do agree that CSDay needs some “punching up”. Scholarships and the Honors College should get some feedback about this.</p>
<p>I will add my two cents to what lapagan said about Talons vs Capstone.</p>
<p>Talons Day at Auburn had a multi-media presentation with interspersed speakers, panelists and video clips of students & grads highlighting football (of course), academic opportunities, travel abroad and other unique offerings at Auburn. It was very engaging. Talons Day was a smaller in number (because they have 4 Talons Days), both parents could attend, and it was on a Friday when classes were in session. Tiger Transit was used to transport parents & students around campus. Gt to meet the trainers of the “War Eagle” birds, but I will confess that the random shouts of “War Eagle” in the presentations and around campus became a bit annoying by the end of the day.</p>
<p>Capstone Scholars was very well-organized, it was full of helpful & persuasive information which was delivered primarily by student panelists and speakers who mainly answered the questions that were asked. The repetitiveness of the Q & A format became a bit boring by the end of the morning. While the speakers & students were excellent, it is entirely possible that Alabama wasn’t able to hold the interest of all Capstone attendees simply because the format. I personally liked what Bama said better than what Auburn said, but enjoyed Auburn’s presentation style much better. Capstone was on a Sat, only allowed 1 parent and the campus was not in full swing and they used school buses to transport parents & students around, rather than using the Crimson Ride which we didn’t even know about until I asked on this board.</p>
<p>Having said that, D initially preferred Auburn, but now Bama appears to be the favorite and she’s wearing her Bama sweatshirt today :D</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I think those in Scholarships who plan CSDay and those in Honors (such as Dr. Sharpe), would benefit from hearing your analysis.</p>
<p>I do think Bama needs to change CSDay a bit…and also offer it on more than one Saturday. A school day would be nice. And, yes, 2 parents should be able to attend!</p>
<p>I have seen many sightings of S’s 'bama sweatshirt recently. He has gotten into some great schools but 'bama wins on all fronts. Roll Tide</p>
<p>I was happy when my nephew bought a Bama sweatshirt on Saturday and wore it all day. He put on again the next day to wear on the plane ride home.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>He goes to a private high school in Calif, but the rule is that you can wear college sweatshirts to school. So, his Bama sweatshirt is being worn in Calif. :)</p>
<p>“Family” shouldn’t be a recruiting slogan. It should be shown in how the alumni and students support the school, current students, and prospective students.</p>
<p>Ask the great auburn family why their CC board has about 3 posters. Why questions go unanswered for days and why little if any help is given to prospective students. Then compare that to this board and you’ll be able to tell who just talks about being a family, and who actually is a family. Don’t drink their kool-aid.</p>