<p>USC is SEC and Clemson is ACC. If you’re serious about football, stick with the SEC :)</p>
<p>Does it have to be a flagship? Smaller schools like Millsaps, Birmingham-Southern, and Wofford will give her the culture and spirit she’s looking for in a more personalized environment.</p>
<p>Auburn is not a commuter school; that’s nuts. Most undergrads live off-campus, but not at home. They live in student apartments.</p>
<p>I need to second that Auburn is definitely not a commuter school. I was attracted to it because it was described as a family - very tight-knit and welcoming. We met with an academic advisor there who said the one thing she would’ve done differently as an undergrad at Auburn is join a sorority because her friends who did are enjoying longer lasting friendships years after graduation.</p>
<p>We visited UT-Knoxville and it seemed to have a lot going for it. We were a little turned off by how spread out the campus was (tour was a bus tour instead of a walking tour) and by the old dorm they showed us (I told them on the questionnaire they sent that they never should show that old dorm to a teen girl when there are nicer ones on campus!). But it didn’t matter, D’s mind was set on Auburn before we ever looked at Tennessee. </p>
<p><<<
University of Alabama gives the best out-of-state scholarships and has a lovely campus.
<<<</p>
<p>Very true about its beautiful campus…both the buildings and grounds are very well-maintained. Trees trimmed, flowers planted, very clean.</p>
<p>… and Bama also has extremely friendly students. They do say, “hi,” to strangers and open doors for anyone and everyone. If you’re looking for something ( a building, whatever), it isn’t unusual for a student to notice your bewilderment and offer to escort you to wherever you want to be. </p>
<p>Sounds like UMiss or LSU to me. </p>
<p>Miami of Ohio? Second the rec of South Carolina </p>
<p>@fieldsports - I’m not sure why collegeboard.org doesn’t have the SAT scores for Clemson. According to US News, SAT 25th - 75th percentile of accepted students: CR 560-660, M 590-680, W 540-650. Avg ACT 28, 56% in top 10% of class, 86% in top 25%. </p>
<p>Both Clemson and U of South Carolina (known here as USC) are good state schools. Clemson is the State’s land-grant institution. In state, it is more difficult to be admitted to Clemson. Both have great honors programs. South Carolina honors is top ranked in the country. Clemson is much stronger in engineering. </p>
<p>While the SEC is no doubt the power conference in football, Clemson loves its football too, and has amazing school spirit. Clemson consistently ranks in the top in Princeton Review’s " happiest students" category. </p>
<p>PS A third for Auburn not being a commuter school. There is just some bad information out there! </p>
<p>
I am an Auburn alum. @Hanna is correct on all counts. On this issue, Collegeboard.org is completely wrong. Almost all Auburn students graduated from high schools more than two hours away, so living at home really is not an option. Plus, most students stay at Auburn on weekends. So, it is not even a suitcase school.</p>
<p>Perhaps Collegeboard.org is measuring what percentage of students live on campus, and declaring a school to be “commuter” if the percentage drops below a certain point. As Hanna says, a large percentage of students live off-campus. Definitely a majority of the men do.</p>
<p>I also doubt that U.Kentucky is a commuter school, although I cannot speak from experience. UK is absolutely bonkers about basketball, and that is about all that I know about U.Kentucky.</p>
<p>I have a Freshman S at Auburn as a ME major and a HS Junior D interested in ultimately going to Vet School or doing PT, who wants to go south too. For him to check things out we hit most of the ACC and SEC names (VT, NC State, Clemson, USC, along with UNC-Charlotte). She was along for all those but didn’t see Auburn until we moved him in back in August, and then again during Family Weekend at the end of September. I’m totally surprised by it, but so far that’s the place she has as her standard bearer that other schools get compared against.</p>
<p>After that weekend visit we took a trip to Miss State, as they have a 7-year early entry program for Vet School, and she did not like the atmosphere of the school and the Starkville vicinity. It did not do anything for me either, having a very midwestern vibe, maybe because that’s what the geography reminded of, basically looking like central Kansas. We also did UGA that trip, and it was a very decent environment, if a little large. Athens has a very hipster-y sort of San Francisco type of character. I was amused by it, my wife put off, but the D liked it. We also drove through Tuscaloosa and Alabama. The shopping and retail areas on the north side of town have that same sort of dustbowl strip mall look, but the campus was very stately looking and quite the contrast. We all thought it was OK, but not sure it merited being called gorgeous.</p>
<p>As to the college experience so far for my transplant, the S in 10 weeks at Auburn has made a group of about 10 friends. Two are from Birmingham, AL; one from near Huntsville, two are from different Atlanta suburbs, and everyone else from further out of state (IL, PA, FL and NJ). There are some different ideas there on racial relations, mine being from a pretty enlightened NE suburb where the HS does not divide by skin color but jocks/band/nerd association has had some surprises discussing these types of issues. Greek life is present but not dominant. Everyone is polite, but things happen soooooo slooooooooowwww when service related. He says the food is terrible, because the closest good bagels, pizza and other Italian culinary masterpieces like Chicken Rolls are at least 800 miles north. That stat cited about Auburn statistically being a commuter school is based on there being limited on-campus housing. Freshman are not guaranteed dorms, so there are many rental apartments in town and nearby. So far his experience has been OK all-in. His usual mood meter has never swung too far off-center, and has remained that way there so I think he’s in a good place. While it is in Alabama, the school is only 20 miles across the GA border, and Atlanta is only 90 minutes away up I-85. The Auburn-Opelika area has the same feel as what you find most anywhere in NC, SC or GA, which we found not to be what exists further into Alabama or Mississippi.</p>
<p>As to what it will take to get admitted? My son was applying as a ME which is generally a higher bar, but had a 3.5 GPA and a 1200 SAT, with a super strong all-encompassing extracurricular with an interesting story besides that which tied into the major. Denied at Clemson, and NC State, accepted into an alternate major at VT, and accepted at five others including UNC-Charlotte and Auburn. No brainer which one to pick. With scores in the 500’s, UGA will be a reach, as well as Clemson. Auburn depending on major may be as well. Ole Miss and Alabama are probably matches. Based on the SAT I assume the GPA is in the low 3’s?</p>
<p>I wish 34 years ago I had known of the SEC schools, instead of picking the path I did. You really do need to visit a few as has been said. And not just the school but the surrounding area to get a good overall picture of the environment.</p>
<p>I’m an Auburn alum - graduated 20 years ago (wow does time fly). I had friends from PA, NJ, DC area, NY, MD, VA, OH back in the day. Auburn is not a commuter school in any way. It’s totally a college town and a great one at that. I was in a sorority, but you don’t have to be to get involved in fun things. I’ve stayed in touch with just as many of my independent friends as sorority sisters over the years. I don’t live in Alabama, so when I come across someone from the Auburn family, it’s always fun to shout a friendly War Eagle!</p>
<p>I wonder if Collegeboard mixed up the description with their satellite school in Montgomery (AUM) which I believe is a commuter school. </p>
<p>Auburn University - Montgomery is a commuter school. People getting degrees there primarily work full time while getting their degrees. It’s not a traditional campus.</p>
<p>I’ll reiterate what others have said - Auburn is definitely not a commuter campus. On-campus housing is not guaranteed, even for freshmen, simply because there aren’t enough dorms to sustain the whole campus. About 30% of freshman live off campus, and 60% of the student body live off campus. Statistically, this may make it seem like a commuter campus, according to College Board, but most of the “off campus” students live within five miles of the campus (that’s being generous - there are tons of student apartments less than two blocks from the Auburn village dorms). These student apartments generally have individual leases per student, so it’s not as daunting as it seems for freshmen to live in apartments.</p>
<p>
Check out Sweet Briar. It lacks the football scene of the big SEC schools, obviously, but it might be quite a good fit anyway. It’s more of a southern belle school than the more diverse Agnes Scott or the quirkier Hollins. </p>
<p>Sweet Briar’s male counterpart Hampden-Sydney is about an hour away, and there’s a fair amount of dating between the two. </p>
<p>I remember getting really mad way back in the 80s from Sweet Briar when I used to get college junk mail! Oh, it made me so mad since I was dead set on studying science or engineering at a larger school with plenty of men attending. What were they thinking sending me mail?? 
With that said, my son is very happy going to school in the south. We live in the Northeast, and back when I was in high school getting the junk mail I so resented, I lived in Minnesota.</p>
<p>OP what year is D? It would help for most of these suggestions to get SAT scores up. Ole Miss probably takes lower scores than some mentioned. Not as big on sports but might want to look at Furman, Wofford, Elon. If her GPA is high then Furman is test optional now. Nice mix of kids. </p>
<p>What does she want to study? As far as SC flagships, Clemson is more rural although close enough to Greenville and has higher ranking for engineering. Also focuses on land grant stuff like animal science, etc. USC is an in-town school but very pretty. Strong business school, journalism school and top honors college.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info.</p>
<p>We had the pleasure of visiting Bama-- absolutely gorgeous campus. We were really blown away by the academic opportunities which far, far exceeded expectation. Really friendly school community. The greek houses were staggering in number and grandeur. Bama is referred to as the Harvard of greek life.</p>
<p>To take in the whole school experience, we stayed for a football game and had a blast! Was a cultural experience to see all the greek guys & gals dressed up for the game in their preppy blazers & Lilly Pulitzer dresses. Son goes to an east coast prep school and said he could see himself at that school.</p>
<p>Bama is definitely worth looking at-- a rising school. We didn’t consider Auburn bcs it does not have as large an OOS student body as Bama. But I know of an east coast prep school girl at Auburn who loves it there.</p>