<p>I qualify for $10,000 a year scholarship at LSU (i live in bama). Unfortunately out of state has gone up. I qualify for full tuition off at Auburn and it's only a two hour drive. My friend really wants me to room with him since he's going to LSU. I think it'd be cool, but that can't be my only reason considering I know alot of people going to AU too. I haven't decided on a major yet so it's hard to have that factor into my decision. Why should I choose LSU over Auburn?</p>
<p>maybe ill just take the winner of this saturday's game and go there haha</p>
<p>Hmm interesting. They were two of my final schools. LSU ended up giving me a better scholarship, which was the main deciding factor. I also liked LSU’s athletics, so that made the decision easier, but if Auburn gave me a better scholarship package, I would have chosen that. I was from the midwest, so neither was closer to home, LSU had better airport access though.</p>
<p>I’ll be honest to you. There really is no good reason for you to choose LSU unless you want to experience something new and get out of your comfort zone of home. A lot of the Louisianan’s here are very cliquish, it almost feels like high school at times. On campus life is dull except for football games. </p>
<p>The budget cuts LSU is facing are devastating. Programs are being cut, professors let go, and classes canceled or consolidated. I’m not sure whether Auburn is facing similar problems, just from a google search of Auburn budget cuts it does not seem like they are under going the same budget problems.</p>
<p>I’d encourage you to talk with your friend who is going to LSU and see what his motivation is for attending. That might help you decide. I hope he knows what he is getting into. Honestly, I’m thankful I am graduating this year rather than starting at LSU during such an uncertain time.</p>
<p>Perhaps the temptation of ridiculously talented future recruiting classes is too much to pass.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, you can tell I’m not bs’ing you like LSU admissions or guides on campus tours would.</p>
<p>LSU8888 - Thank you for your honesty about the budget cut situation. That has me worried as well. </p>
<p>My younger son has been accepted to LSU, but is unlikely to get much merit money now that the criteria have changed. But, LSU is still his 1st choice. He has also applied to Oklahoma (an auto admit) and Texas A&M (a bit of a long shot). He knows a lot of people from his high school at LSU, and while we are in TX, we have close friends in Baton Rouge and my mother lives in New Orleans - so he is close to family and friends.</p>
<p>He is interested in geosciences, and while there are some things I like better about the Oklahoma program, I really like the freshman field camp that LSU offers for prospective geoscience majors. </p>
<p>I have not seen a list of programs being cut. Do you know if any of the geoscience programs are impacted?</p>
<p>I’m mass communication, political communication concentration. I really enjoyed all my mass comm classes, great faculty in particular. I personally have been satisfied with the quality of education I have received.</p>
<p>As for what is being cut, foreign languages and English are the first ones to go. That has been decided on. Other programs like library science have been cut too. The rest is being decided upon. I highly doubt geoscience will be cut, but I nor the administration can make any guarantees. Business and engineering are the safest probably. In likelihood, the sciences and most of the humanities will probably see the budget decline, but not be cut alltogether.</p>
<p>LSU is packed with Texans. About 95% of students I think are either Louisiana or Texas. </p>
<p>I still have a lot of faith in LSU and its potential, but I advise everyone who is considering attending from out of state to do your homework. Get in contact with faculty, etc.</p>
<p>Please, for the love of God, go to Auburn. And I’m a Bama parent, so that’s saying a lot. </p>
<p>I live in Louisiana, and I can tell you, the cutbacks are real and they are devastating. </p>
<p>You may love the program LSU has for you now, but what if you change your major? What if they cut your program while you’re there?</p>
<p>The above poster is correct in that a majority of the students are from Louisiana or Texas. UT’s 10 percent rule has lured a lot of good students to LSU, and if the budget wasn’t on the chopping block, the school might have had a chance to grow by increasing its academic standards. But academics are not a priority in Louisiana. Oil and tourism are. And it would be a big roll of the dice to choose LSU over Auburn.</p>
<p>Yip, it’s such a shame because right when I got here, this school was headed in the right direction. I had faith that we had the potential to reach almost UGA status if the administration played its cards right. Alas, darn budget cuts will set LSU back further than it was before the flagship agenda. </p>
<p>It’s ridiculous that LSU-BR is getting hammered. LSU’s other branches, LSU-Eunice/Shreveport, etc. have no business staying open even. The graduation rates are absolutely atrocious. It’s all bureaucracy.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t discount LSU for petroleum engineering. But what of schools in your home state of Texas? I know UTAustin has become very selective, but there are other excellent state schools you can avail yourself of. You would also have better internship opportunities there as well. Another school in Louisiana you might look at is UL-Lafayette. Always in the shadow of LSU, no one ever looks at it. But it has had a very well respected computer science program for years, and I was surprised to learn that it actually does have an engineering program. Lafayette is the main hub for the oil field industry in Louisiana, and while not a big city like New Orleans or Baton Rouge, it has its charm, and absolutely amazing food. It does have a football team, though not SEC, but you would still enjoy some good Southern football. It would be worth applying and looking into if you feel unsure about committing to LSU. Good luck!</p>
<p>Don’t discount LSU for petroleum engineering?
I know i can’t compete for UTAustin but I’m waiting to hear back from Texas A&M and Texas Tech. I haven’t looked at UL Lafayette but I will check them out. </p>
<p>Also, would the overall student life and enjoyment decrease with the budget cuts, even if my major does not? I wouldn’t really want to attend a school that is dead due to budget cuts when I could attend Texas A&M or OU.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with Texas Tech, but Texas A&M has an excellent engineering program with excellent internship opportunities. We have a friend there who was interning in civil engineering the semester after his first year. Texas A&M also has a strong alumni network, just as Auburn does, for the OP, and would help with internships in that way.</p>
<p>As for enjoyment, as long as LSU is part of the SEC, I think the enjoyment would stay the same, good or bad team. Louisiana really is not focused on education, and many kids just go to LSU for the partying and networking it affords them, especially for the locals. If you plan to stay in Louisiana and work there, it may be a good place to go so you can make your connections. But if you are looking to stay in Texas for the future, I would cross my fingers for Texas A&M.</p>
<p>Good to hear, LSU. It would be an awful shame for LSU to lose petroleum engineering. The location, like UL-Lafayette, is great for that major. </p>
<p>However, there are rumors that naval architecture/engineering will be cut at UNO, one of three top programs in the nation. I don’t know if this has actually happened or not, but it would be darn shame if that program is cut as well. If it is, just shows you that no one is safe.</p>
<p>Another top engineering school in Louisiana, not a state uni, but a private, cut its engineering program, even though it had a national reputation. There are various opinions why this occurred, but it, in fact, did occur after Katrina, as a cost cutting measure.</p>
<p>The undergraduate and graduate programs in landscape architecture are ranked no. 1 and 2, respectively, by Design Intelligence. LSU has an outstanding reputation in this field.</p>
<p>For architecture, Auburn has an excellent program. Many kids with equal scholarship offers to Bama and Auburn chose Auburn specifically for its architecture program.</p>
<p>As for Louisiana Tech, we visited the school, as it was the only instate public that offered my son’s intended major, biomedical engineering. While they have a great BME program, it was overshadowed by the constant talk of cutbacks. They said that class sizes were growing, course selection was limited, and it didn’t look like there was any hope on the horizon. The school did have a lot of spirit, as we were there on a gameday, and I think it would be a good alternative for someone looking for a southern sports atmosphere, but did not want the size of LSU.</p>
I was really considering LSU for it’s strong Petroleum Engineering program and it’s $10,000 OOS merit scholarship.</p>