Is Ole Miss a good school?

[Anonymous]

I have a hard time seeing from what you posted why Ole Miss would be a step down from Alabama, or what would justify a 61-school differential in rankings. Are you sure you're posting the right data, particularly the correct admission rates for the two schools?

[Anonymous]

I have no idea why, but it is.

Here's the raw data, straight from Naviance:

[Anonymous]

Oh, OK. The Naviance data is for an individual high school over a ten-year period, rather than for the total number of applicants to Ole Miss and Alabama in a particular year.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It's just to give an idea of what selectivity is like for a person who goes to a public school in the DMV.

Here's the data for the whole country over one year:

Ole Miss
25th/75th %ile SAT (1600): 980/1190
25th/75th %ile SAT (2400): not reported
25th/75th %ile ACT: 21/27
Acceptance Rate: 59.4%

Alabama
25th/75th %ile SAT (1600): 990/1260
25th/75th %ile SAT (2400): 1470/1860
25th/75th %ile ACT: 22/30
Acceptance Rate: 56.6%

Interestingly, there still doesn't seem to be much of a difference in selectivity between the two schools. The ranking difference seems to be because of the other things US News considers: retention, graduation rates, faculty resources, academic reputation and financial resources.

I really don't see why anyone would consider Ole Miss over Alabama when Alabama is academically superior and just as easy to get into.

Alabama even has a better football team.

[Anonymous]

Oh wow. I looked up tuition. Alabama is cheaper, too.

http://cost.ua.edu/undergraduate-budget-html/
http://finaid.olemiss.edu/cost-of-attendance/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It's just to give an idea of what selectivity is like for a person who goes to a public school in the DMV.

Here's the data for the whole country over one year:

Ole Miss
25th/75th %ile SAT (1600): 980/1190
25th/75th %ile SAT (2400): not reported
25th/75th %ile ACT: 21/27
Acceptance Rate: 59.4%

Alabama
25th/75th %ile SAT (1600): 990/1260
25th/75th %ile SAT (2400): 1470/1860
25th/75th %ile ACT: 22/30
Acceptance Rate: 56.6%

Interestingly, there still doesn't seem to be much of a difference in selectivity between the two schools. The ranking difference seems to be because of the other things US News considers: retention, graduation rates, faculty resources, academic reputation and financial resources.

I really don't see why anyone would consider Ole Miss over Alabama when Alabama is academically superior and just as easy to get into.

Alabama even has a better football team.

I think some people probably consider Oxford a nicer town than Tuscaloosa, for one thing.

[Anonymous]

Alabama has been making an effort to recruit out of state students. It might be easier for OPs some to fit in there. Of course, if he really wants an "authentic" old school southern vibe, Ole Miss is probably as culturally southern as it gets for big flagship state schools.

[Anonymous]

My DS wanted southern and went to Alabama tuition free (it was about $11K/year. We just paid room and board). I don't remember what the exact cutoffs were, but you can get extremely significant scholarships on the basis of scores/grades alone at Bama.

[Anonymous]

I know of a super smart student going to Alabama for free + computer and football tix!! Pretty sure this kid is going to grad school so why not go under grad for free. Sounds good to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know of a super smart student going to Alabama for free + computer and football tix!! Pretty sure this kid is going to grad school so why not go under grad for free. Sounds good to me.

It's still Alabama, and the fact that they buy some smart kids doesn't change the fact that the student body as a whole has fairly unimpressive credentials. If you have an issue with Ole Miss, you probably aren't going to be thrilled with Alabama, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know of a super smart student going to Alabama for free + computer and football tix!! Pretty sure this kid is going to grad school so why not go under grad for free. Sounds good to me.

It's still Alabama, and the fact that they buy some smart kids doesn't change the fact that the student body as a whole has fairly unimpressive credentials. If you have an issue with Ole Miss, you probably aren't going to be thrilled with Alabama, either.

Just because a school is not extremely selective doesn't mean that it is not a good school. And most of the big football schools are more selective than people seem to think. Personally, I can see a benefit for a child of an upper-middle class, Northeastern family to go to a non-elite, but still reasonable, state school. They would get to socialize with relatively smart kids who grew up outside of the NE rat race. So many people on this board seem laughably out of touch with what life is like outside of the DC/NY/Boston metro areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It's just to give an idea of what selectivity is like for a person who goes to a public school in the DMV.

Here's the data for the whole country over one year:

Ole Miss
25th/75th %ile SAT (1600): 980/1190
25th/75th %ile SAT (2400): not reported
25th/75th %ile ACT: 21/27
Acceptance Rate: 59.4%

Alabama
25th/75th %ile SAT (1600): 990/1260
25th/75th %ile SAT (2400): 1470/1860
25th/75th %ile ACT: 22/30
Acceptance Rate: 56.6%

Interestingly, there still doesn't seem to be much of a difference in selectivity between the two schools. The ranking difference seems to be because of the other things US News considers: retention, graduation rates, faculty resources, academic reputation and financial resources.

I really don't see why anyone would consider Ole Miss over Alabama when Alabama is academically superior and just as easy to get into.

Alabama even has a better football team.

I'll answer why someone would choose Ole Miss over Alabama as someone who is from that part of the country and knows a lot about both schools. But first, let me point out that Ole Miss beat Alabama this year.

If you've ever spent any time in Oxford and Tuscaloosa you know that there is no comparison between the towns.

Oxford is a beautiful little town that looks like something you would see on a postcard. It has a gorgeous town square with all kinds of neat stores and restaurants. You can visit Rowan Oak, the Faulkner House, the Lamar House, Civil Rights Monuments, several museums, a great theater, a very old and very cool observatory....there's just tons of stuff to do right in Oxford. There are also several great festivals. My favorite is the Double Decker Arts Festival. There are a lot of international students at Ole Miss and a LOT of money. Rich southern families send their kids to Ole Miss. Oxford itself feels very different from the rest of the state. The public schools in Oxford are very good. It's not a redneck city by any stretch of the imagination. Drive just a couple of miles outside of Oxford into Lafayette County and you are in redneck heaven. But Ole Miss and Oxford are hidden gems in an otherwise dismal state.

Tuscaloosa ~ There are some great bars and restaurants in Tuscaloosa. The river is really pretty and you can ride the riverboat. There are several museums. And that's about it. Tuscaloosa has a very redneck feel to it. It just has a completely different vibe than Oxford. Someone not from the south would probably like Oxford. I'm not sure someone from the outside would ever like Tuscaloosa. And I say that as a southerner who loves Alabama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know of a super smart student going to Alabama for free + computer and football tix!! Pretty sure this kid is going to grad school so why not go under grad for free. Sounds good to me.

It's still Alabama, and the fact that they buy some smart kids doesn't change the fact that the student body as a whole has fairly unimpressive credentials. If you have an issue with Ole Miss, you probably aren't going to be thrilled with Alabama, either.

Just because a school is not extremely selective doesn't mean that it is not a good school. And most of the big football schools are more selective than people seem to think. Personally, I can see a benefit for a child of an upper-middle class, Northeastern family to go to a non-elite, but still reasonable, state school. They would get to socialize with relatively smart kids who grew up outside of the NE rat race. So many people on this board seem laughably out of touch with what life is like outside of the DC/NY/Boston metro areas.

I don't necessarily disagree with that, for some kids, except that if you have the courage of your convictions it seems to me you'd make essentially the same argument with respect to Ole Miss.