Of these three schools, is there one that stands out to you as having a community where a kid would fit in who leans pretty conservative, traditional, and is a Christian? Which has the most vibrant communities of other believers. No political diatribes please.
I don’t think that there would be much of a difference between the 3 schools for your criteria. The biggest difference between the 3 would be TAMU Corps of Cadets and the higher concentration of engineering students.
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I think all three are a good fit and are all great choices. Auburn is a beautiful campus, great school spirit. I haven’t been to Arkansas’s campus but have family in Arkansas. They say it’s conservative, nice, happy student body. But I would definitely lean to A&M. The tradition, strong conservative values, the respect shown to the military, and the nicest, most polite student body. They are amazing IMHO.
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Accepted to Arkansas and Auburn and toured both campuses. Both lovely. Arkansas campus had a bit more of a liberal vibe which we were surprised about as we heard it was pretty conservative. More Tats, piercings, and colorful hair seen. The town also felt more liberal than Auburn. My girl is ok with all, but leans conservative and definitely felt more in tune with Auburn. The kids at Auburn seemed “happier” seemingly as well and most were walking about campus with heads up-the majority of Arkansas kids had heads down in their phone. (These are our observations only) Gorgeous campus for sure. Haven’t been to Texas A&M and her application there is still “in review” and she will most likely not get in. Out of the 3 I personally feel Auburn or A&M would be a good fit. Definitely visit Arkansas first before committing there. It was in the top for my girl until actually visiting. That said it is a lovely campus and Greek life looked really top shelf. She is picking between TCU and Baylor currently but really hoping to hear a “yes” from Clemson this week.
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The “gorgeous campus for sure” was for Auburn
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thank you so much. Very helpful.
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I don’t know much about these three colleges, but all those things are completely mainstream now and are seen on people of all religious and political persuasions. My brother is a born-again extreme conservative and is covered with tattoos, most of them acquired in last five years. His girlfriend, whose beliefs are aligned, has bright pink hair. I wouldn’t use those things as markers.
In terms of overall reputation, A&M is probably more highly regarded than the others.
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I always tell kids to find some Christian clubs at each place and email them (kids running the clubs) to ask their take on the college (life, classes, etc). Most secular schools have thriving Christian groups to join. The best insight tends to come from those currently there vs folks who have just visited or who were there some time ago.
If visiting, try to coordinate when the group(s) meet and sit in on it to get an even better feel if it’s a fit or not.
My advice is the same for any religion actually, as well as those interested in club sports, dance, or similar.
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I know three students in the last two years that have attended Auburn from our Dallas church. The students are rather down to earth and serious. It’s also getting to be a tougher admit than either OU or Arkansas. U of Arkansas is very popular and is more of a “where all my friends go” option.
I have a friend whose kid chose Arkansas over straight Blinn and PSA and is thriving. For them, the cost was only a bit more than TX in state. The parents are regular churchgoers and said there are a lot of faith based organizations and churches to choose from.
Yes, I agree. My daughter’s fiance is a very conservative Pastor from Texas and is tatted with bible verses, etc.
Most of the tatted kids we saw were definitely not conservative (with the types of tats we saw). Didn’t see that at Auburn or any other college we visited. Also more BLM signage (eat the rich/ACAB) in Fayetteville-also didn’t see that hardly in the other towns. So going off of that and the vibe. To each his own, but Ark. definitely had a different vibe that the other campuses. Just recommending he should visit before committing. He may have a totally different experience than we had.
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I know your student would fit in to TX A&M or Auburn. We visited both and son applied to and was accepted at Auburn. We have not been to Arkansas since the 1980’s so not much help there. The one person I do know from there is on the aggressively liberal side. My son was more moderate (leans one way on some topics and the other way on others). He chose Kansas State which has a reputation of being conservative but in practice he has seen both sides welcome. It had a good Christian community that he has fit into.
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