Auburn vs Alabama

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure, base you kid's college decision on a couple of wackos you don't like. We can find similar wackos at all schools. E.g. Trump and Penn/Wharton.

But ok....

I visited both last year. Alabama has a lot to offer. Beautiful campus with new buildings and old traditional buildings. A good student would do well. I was impressed, and I previously was a northern school SLAC snob.

Alabama much more sprawling. Only campus where our tour was by bus.

Alabama gives very generous merit aid, if you need that.

Auburn much more compact and walkable. Felt more like a community. But less diverse.

Auburn has a better reputation.

DS chose Auburn.

You can visit both in same day. So go visit.

Why does Auburn have a better reputation?

I wonder if it's not because Alabama has Alabama in the title. Auburn is in Alabama, but it doesn't have Alabama in the title, isn't too far from Georgia (which has more of a "New South" reputation than Alabama), and has a stronger reputation for engineering.

This is interesting. Many big state schools (U of X, X State) are naturally being associated with their respective states. Therefore, there are certain things that these universities can’t control.
However, this is different for schools like Auburn, Clemson, Purdue, etc. These schools have more control over their respective brands. Sometimes people even assume that these universities are private schools.

Interesting that people would think land grants are private.

[Anonymous]

Some are… kind of. Cornell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is going to Auburn. Visited both in the same week. Very different vibes- Alabama is a huge, pristine campus, greek architecture , lots of green space. Students look 'happy" and are friendly. He had a great visit there. But hated Tuscaloosa- like really hated it. He really thought about spending four years there and just couldn't imagine.

Auburn campus is really pretty and really compact. Very different style than Bama. Students go out of their way to be friendly and are really happy to engage. We noticed that on Auburn's campus, many students wear Auburn gear- not nearly as many at Bama. The surrounding town is really cute- small southern charm. Target right on campus. Really nice off campus housing- a lot of the off campus housing we saw in Tuscaloosa is dumpy.

Auburn is about 65% IN State, Bama is 65% OUT of state.

He is really excited to be heading to Auburn! Turned down Bama, UTK, South Carolina, UKY, CU Boulder, NC State, UMD, and Ole Miss- Auburn's campus and charm beat all of them.

Why did he hate Tuscaloosa? Did you visit any of the others?

Felt like it is really depressing. It is sort of suburban strip mall on the outskirts and immediately surrounding campus just a couple ugly blocks of bars and restaurants. Zero charm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who sends their kid to the land of Katie Britt and Tommytubbervile?

Sorry but no an education is a gift and neither of these two places will be providing that moving forward. Science will be gone period. Replaced by religious nut bag nonsense.

We were considering both schools but since this situation keeps getting worse, we've crossed them both off our list.

What situation? College towns are blue.

Yeah, but you’re still stuck with horrendous state laws

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is going to Auburn. Visited both in the same week. Very different vibes- Alabama is a huge, pristine campus, greek architecture , lots of green space. Students look 'happy" and are friendly. He had a great visit there. But hated Tuscaloosa- like really hated it. He really thought about spending four years there and just couldn't imagine.

Auburn campus is really pretty and really compact. Very different style than Bama. Students go out of their way to be friendly and are really happy to engage. We noticed that on Auburn's campus, many students wear Auburn gear- not nearly as many at Bama. The surrounding town is really cute- small southern charm. Target right on campus. Really nice off campus housing- a lot of the off campus housing we saw in Tuscaloosa is dumpy.

Auburn is about 65% IN State, Bama is 65% OUT of state.

He is really excited to be heading to Auburn! Turned down Bama, UTK, South Carolina, UKY, CU Boulder, NC State, UMD, and Ole Miss- Auburn's campus and charm beat all of them.

I'm the pp who visited both in 2021. Funny, we noticed the exact opposite!

[Anonymous]

How does UGA compare to Auburn?

[Anonymous]

UGA campus is much more sprawling and requires using school buses to get around. Auburn campus is more compact and flat and much easier to navigate as a student. Students have a similar vibe at both. I actually think the Auburn kids are a notch classier and more wholesome. UGA has overall better academics, but I would absolutely pick Auburn over UGA for engineering. Both schools are great, awesome spirit, solid academics. You can’t go wrong with either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UGA campus is much more sprawling and requires using school buses to get around. Auburn campus is more compact and flat and much easier to navigate as a student. Students have a similar vibe at both. I actually think the Auburn kids are a notch classier and more wholesome. UGA has overall better academics, but I would absolutely pick Auburn over UGA for engineering. Both schools are great, awesome spirit, solid academics. You can’t go wrong with either.

Can you provide some examples?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure, base you kid's college decision on a couple of wackos you don't like. We can find similar wackos at all schools. E.g. Trump and Penn/Wharton.

But ok....

I visited both last year. Alabama has a lot to offer. Beautiful campus with new buildings and old traditional buildings. A good student would do well. I was impressed, and I previously was a northern school SLAC snob.

Alabama much more sprawling. Only campus where our tour was by bus.

Alabama gives very generous merit aid, if you need that.

Auburn much more compact and walkable. Felt more like a community. But less diverse.

Auburn has a better reputation.

DS chose Auburn.

You can visit both in same day. So go visit.

Why does Auburn have a better reputation?

Because it's the engineering school.

And the nursing school is very impressive, along with the five year program which gives you a masters, but I think you can do this in almost any major there with proper planning.

[Anonymous]

My dd visited and applied to both several years ago. She was also accepted into both with merit aide at each school (she was coming from a private in the DMV). We visited the campuses during COVID so were pretty much on our own. Her take (keep in mind the day we were at Auburn was St Patrick's Day) and while we were touring (self guided) she could not stop talking about how depressed everyone was and that everyone was walking by themselves. I believe her image was this is St Patricks Day, where's the green beer and music? This is the stuff college is made of, lol. That evening we stayed over in Tuscaloosa with a morning mini tour to attend. Needless to say the campus was much livelier that evening and everyone seemed so happy. The difference between the two campuses was night and day and it wasn't because of the alcohol.

She chose to go to Alabama and we have nothing but good things to say about her experience but it comes with a word of caution. The drinking is normal thing is on steroids at this school and the hook up culture is extremely tough on the young women. My DD had a boyfriend at another college so it did not affect her directly, but she lived it through her friends and still does 3 years later. Your daughter will have to be a strong woman to read through the bs of the boys who attend Alabama. As for the girls, if you belong to a sorority it's better, otherwise it's tough especially if you aren't particularly popular in some respect. It's like high school all over. Alabama is not for the weak and not for introverts. There is no learning curve there when it comes to social life.

Our experience with Auburn is much more limited but we have it since the students do go between the two colleges for various reasons. She loves the intimacy of Auburn's campus but thinks the students aren't as mature. There is a lot of drinking there as well and the cultures these days mimic one another.

We wanted our DD at Auburn, as parents we appreciated its' strengths but it was ultimately her decision. It seems she made the right decision and found her people very quickly which made it very smooth for us as a family.

Good luck to your daughter!

[Anonymous]

As far as Auburn kids being a notch classier than UGA (and 2 notches classier than Alabama), this is just something I’ve observed over the years. I have one child who went to UGA and one who picked Auburn over UGA for engineering. We live in Georgia, so the pull to UGA is huge because of the Zell/Hope scholarship. My kids’ friends who picked Auburn were just more kind, down to earth, and generally more religious. Of course, partying is rampant on both campuses. But, UGA is on a different level with 80+ bars drawing the kids in every night of the week. I guess I’ve just seen too many pics of UGA girls walking around half-clothed and carrying gallon jugs of alcohol at Darty’s. Lol

[Anonymous]

I think PP has a point.

[Anonymous]

My kid went to Alabama and loved it. wanted to stay longer and become a bartender, but alas, that wasn't in the cards as she took her engineering degree and headed straight to one of the top investment banks. Some of the things said here are true. Some are not. I loved it when we visited Tuscaloosa.

As far as the type of kids there ... there are ALL types, and it being a party school, well, that will be at every school. It is up to your kid to make their own priorities and do what they need to do.

All the kids I know that went there have landed on their feet and done well, but most kids I Know were honors college kids, not run of the mill kids who couldn't be accepted anywhere else.

The campus is beautiful. The weather is pretty great. Some people said it is spread out. I think it is a great right size, as I went to a much larger school that is really spread out! To me, Auburn seemed too compact, and i didn't really like the location of the football field there!

The opportunities at Alabama are there for the taking!

[Anonymous]

I graduated from one of the two and this is my advice…Do not make this decision without letting your child visit — they have very different vibes and one will be much more appealing to them than the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As far as Auburn kids being a notch classier than UGA (and 2 notches classier than Alabama), this is just something I’ve observed over the years. I have one child who went to UGA and one who picked Auburn over UGA for engineering. We live in Georgia, so the pull to UGA is huge because of the Zell/Hope scholarship. My kids’ friends who picked Auburn were just more kind, down to earth, and generally more religious. Of course, partying is rampant on both campuses. But, UGA is on a different level with 80+ bars drawing the kids in every night of the week. I guess I’ve just seen too many pics of UGA girls walking around half-clothed and carrying gallon jugs of alcohol at Darty’s. Lol

Interesting anecdote. Both schools have over 30,000 students.