Auburn vs Alabama

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama has a much better academic community due to having the nation's most generous, high-profile guaranteed merit scholarships attracting top talent from across the US.

Especially given how insane admissions has been recently, with many top students not getting into top schools, a significant number of them end up at Bama.

Agree with the other poster that Alabama is better choice than Auburn for the super smart kids. We visited both and Auburn didn't come close to comparing to Alabama in terms of opportunities for top students (undergraduate research, Blount, Randall, etc. at Alabama - all very impressive).

Auburn is ranked much higher than UAT, even UAB is ranked higher than UAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama has a much better academic community due to having the nation's most generous, high-profile guaranteed merit scholarships attracting top talent from across the US.

Especially given how insane admissions has been recently, with many top students not getting into top schools, a significant number of them end up at Bama.

I have a kid at Alabama -- my kid, and all kids friends at Alabama, got into Ivies, T25s, etc. but still chose Alabama. They don't go there because they don't get in anywhere else, they go there b/c Alabama caters to super high achievers and gives amazing merit scholarships to the tippy top kids.

Kids we know that are attending T25s don't even have the stats to get top merit at Alabama. You need perfect ACT, SAT (no super score) plus perfect GPA. OR to be a National Merit Finalist -- these kids are getting full rides, or near full rides at Alabama. Most of these kids are pre-med, pre-law, or in STEM to MBA program and will graduate in 5 years as engineers with their MBA. Plus Alabama takes ALL of your AP credits -- so many of these kids get to skip over the basics and go straight to upper level courses. My kid started as a junior.

Agree with the other poster that Alabama is better choice than Auburn for the super smart kids. We visited both and Auburn didn't come close to comparing to Alabama in terms of opportunities for top students (undergraduate research, Blount, Randall, etc. at Alabama - all very impressive).

Our friend’s DD just got a full academic scholarship to Bama with a 3.9 GPA and mediocre ACT score.

[Anonymous]

This was 20 years ago but I did well enough to qualify for Auburn's Honors College but received NO merit aid. Apparently at the time they prioritized aid for in state students and I was out of state. I liked it but left after a year for the cheaper flagship back home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama has a much better academic community due to having the nation's most generous, high-profile guaranteed merit scholarships attracting top talent from across the US.

Especially given how insane admissions has been recently, with many top students not getting into top schools, a significant number of them end up at Bama.

Agree with the other poster that Alabama is better choice than Auburn for the super smart kids. We visited both and Auburn didn't come close to comparing to Alabama in terms of opportunities for top students (undergraduate research, Blount, Randall, etc. at Alabama - all very impressive).

Auburn is ranked much higher than UAT, even UAB is ranked higher than UAT.

And? What's your point? Who cares about rankings.
Auburn is great for good students, but doesn't have the same opportunities for the very tippy top kids (the ones who got into ivies/T20s but chose Alabama instead). There's a large cohort of the very smartest kids at Alabama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama has a much better academic community due to having the nation's most generous, high-profile guaranteed merit scholarships attracting top talent from across the US.

Especially given how insane admissions has been recently, with many top students not getting into top schools, a significant number of them end up at Bama.

I have a kid at Alabama -- my kid, and all kids friends at Alabama, got into Ivies, T25s, etc. but still chose Alabama. They don't go there because they don't get in anywhere else, they go there b/c Alabama caters to super high achievers and gives amazing merit scholarships to the tippy top kids.

Kids we know that are attending T25s don't even have the stats to get top merit at Alabama. You need perfect ACT, SAT (no super score) plus perfect GPA. OR to be a National Merit Finalist -- these kids are getting full rides, or near full rides at Alabama. Most of these kids are pre-med, pre-law, or in STEM to MBA program and will graduate in 5 years as engineers with their MBA. Plus Alabama takes ALL of your AP credits -- so many of these kids get to skip over the basics and go straight to upper level courses. My kid started as a junior.

Agree with the other poster that Alabama is better choice than Auburn for the super smart kids. We visited both and Auburn didn't come close to comparing to Alabama in terms of opportunities for top students (undergraduate research, Blount, Randall, etc. at Alabama - all very impressive).

Our friend’s DD just got a full academic scholarship to Bama with a 3.9 GPA and mediocre ACT score.

That's awesome! But it wasn't auto merit, and I bet it doesn't include room and board. (Presidential auto merit: 32+ ACT and is $28k/year. COA is close to $50k/yr+ out of state).

The kids I'm referring to are getting true full rides. The out of pocket is $0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama has a much better academic community due to having the nation's most generous, high-profile guaranteed merit scholarships attracting top talent from across the US.

Especially given how insane admissions has been recently, with many top students not getting into top schools, a significant number of them end up at Bama.

I have a kid at Alabama -- my kid, and all kids friends at Alabama, got into Ivies, T25s, etc. but still chose Alabama. They don't go there because they don't get in anywhere else, they go there b/c Alabama caters to super high achievers and gives amazing merit scholarships to the tippy top kids.

Kids we know that are attending T25s don't even have the stats to get top merit at Alabama. You need perfect ACT, SAT (no super score) plus perfect GPA. OR to be a National Merit Finalist -- these kids are getting full rides, or near full rides at Alabama. Most of these kids are pre-med, pre-law, or in STEM to MBA program and will graduate in 5 years as engineers with their MBA. Plus Alabama takes ALL of your AP credits -- so many of these kids get to skip over the basics and go straight to upper level courses. My kid started as a junior.

Agree with the other poster that Alabama is better choice than Auburn for the super smart kids. We visited both and Auburn didn't come close to comparing to Alabama in terms of opportunities for top students (undergraduate research, Blount, Randall, etc. at Alabama - all very impressive).

Our friend’s DD just got a full academic scholarship to Bama with a 3.9 GPA and mediocre ACT score.

Your friend got at least a 32 if they received a full academic scholarship. Is that what we are calling mediocre these days? I honestly have no idea. I think of 28-30 as average or mediocre.

[Anonymous]

The level of this discussion is already very telling.

When you say “my kids love it at Alabama”, can you elaborate?

Do they love it because it’s easy and there are a lot of parties and the campus is pretty? Or do they love it because they got great professors and interesting research projects, etc?

[Anonymous]

I can’t imagine getting into T20 and choosing Alabama. Is it because of money only? Parents didn’t save up for college?

[Anonymous]

If you are smart, the best thing about Alabama is that you can get a college degree for almost free. That's it. That's the advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are smart, the best thing about Alabama is that you can get a college degree for almost free. That's it. That's the advantage.

Smart kids going to school free and winning major, prestigious awards


Rhodes Scholar

https://history.ua.edu/history-major-named-a-rhodes-scholar/

Fulbright Fellow

https://live-ua-news.pantheonsite.io/2024/09/ua-graduate-named-fulbright-john-lewis-civil-rights-fellow/

Eisenhower Scholar

https://news.ua.edu/2024/06/ua-alumnus-named-eisenhower-global-scholar/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine getting into T20 and choosing Alabama. Is it because of money only? Parents didn’t save up for college?

Easy to imagine....

4 kids to put through college @ full pay.

One kid goes undergrad for free and funds parents saved will pay for top law/grad school (also @ full pay which will cost approx. $300k+). Kid (and parents) will graduate 100% debt free.

OR, kid could go T20 undergrad @ $400k, then onto top law school @ $300k -- and parents will have spent $700k on ONE kid's education. That's insane.

Not many UMC families can afford this -- unless grandparents paying tuition, or maybe expecting an inheritance and therefore do not need to save for retirement, etc.
Say siblings want the same ... that's $3 MILLION dollars on college.

[Anonymous]

Do the smarter kids go to Auburn in Alabama like the best kids in VA go to UVA? If admitted to both Auburn has a much better ranking and the academic profile is superior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the smarter kids go to Auburn in Alabama like the best kids in VA go to UVA? If admitted to both Auburn has a much better ranking and the academic profile is superior.

I doubt that matters. My friend in Alabama has one at Bama and the other wants to go to Auburn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine getting into T20 and choosing Alabama. Is it because of money only? Parents didn’t save up for college?

Easy to imagine....

4 kids to put through college @ full pay.

One kid goes undergrad for free and funds parents saved will pay for top law/grad school (also @ full pay which will cost approx. $300k+).

But what makes you think they will get into a top law school after Alabama?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine getting into T20 and choosing Alabama. Is it because of money only? Parents didn’t save up for college?

Easy to imagine....

4 kids to put through college @ full pay.

One kid goes undergrad for free and funds parents saved will pay for top law/grad school (also @ full pay which will cost approx. $300k+).

But what makes you think they will get into a top law school after Alabama?

Because the data says so? It’s about smart kids putting in the work. Not all go on to top schools but there are some for sure.

https://prelaw.ua.edu/overview/outcome-data/