Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 04:31     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Alabama’s focus is to establish itself as a research school and obtain grant money.


Alabama is already an R1 research institution. Auburn as well and both UA Birmingham and Huntsville.

https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/institutions/

UA is classified as a Very High Research Activity Institution in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2025 01:16     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Isn’t there statistics that kids end up settling down in the area they went to school?

Are you not worried they will settle down in AL?

Are you not worried about the peers’ quality of education? My DC in 10th grade in a magnet school in AL just had a class in how to use rulers and protractors because kids didn’t know how to use them properly.

Does it not bother you that your DDs will have access to abortions and have a high risk if pregnancy goes wrong?

AL passed a law that allows to arrest librarians if they give access to “wrong” books.

Are you religious? There are more churches here than gas stations. Church is a huge part of the culture here.


At Alabama orientation, they actually said they have no expectation or desire for out of state kids stay in Alabama. That is not the model. They have national recruitment and kids go everywhere for grad/professional programs.


As someone who knew the Mayor and Gov in Alabama, they definitely have issues with kids not returning to Alabama for work so that is not true and what an odd thing to project at an orientation.


The “Mayor” in Alabama? Anyway, DP, this is true. The “Alabama” school is Auburn, which has more in-state students and does not entice the high stats out of state kids with scholarships the way Alabama does. Alabama’s focus is to establish itself as a research school and obtain grant money. It does this by attracting high stats kids largely from suburbs of large cities (Chicago, NJ suburbs, etc). They don’t want an entirely parochial student body that won’t attract top professors. This is how the university benefits the state, not by having kids stay there to work. They don’t care about that.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 23:33     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Isn’t there statistics that kids end up settling down in the area they went to school?

Are you not worried they will settle down in AL?

Are you not worried about the peers’ quality of education? My DC in 10th grade in a magnet school in AL just had a class in how to use rulers and protractors because kids didn’t know how to use them properly.

Does it not bother you that your DDs will have access to abortions and have a high risk if pregnancy goes wrong?

AL passed a law that allows to arrest librarians if they give access to “wrong” books.

Are you religious? There are more churches here than gas stations. Church is a huge part of the culture here.


At Alabama orientation, they actually said they have no expectation or desire for out of state kids stay in Alabama. That is not the model. They have national recruitment and kids go everywhere for grad/professional programs.


As someone who knew the Mayor and Gov in Alabama, they definitely have issues with kids not returning to Alabama for work so that is not true and what an odd thing to project at an orientation.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 22:21     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Anonymous wrote:My kid got a full scholarship to both and chose Auburn. Like a PP said, they have different “vibes”. Auburn feels more laid back and wholesome. Alabama is also more political about leadership (“The Machine”) Accepted to T14 law school, but took a nearly full scholarship to a T20 law school instead.

They are both perfectly good schools in nice college towns.


The “machine” only affects Greek life, which is 39% of Alabama. The rest of the school is pretty apolitical.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 22:08     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
My kid got a full scholarship to both and chose Auburn. Like a PP said, they have different “vibes”. Auburn feels more laid back and wholesome. Alabama is also more political about leadership (“The Machine”) Accepted to T14 law school, but took a nearly full scholarship to a T20 law school instead.

They are both perfectly good schools in nice college towns.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 21:46     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Anonymous wrote:Did anyone here have kids that applied to Auburn and/or Alabama from DMV before a tour, then eventually toured and were so impressed that it became the choice? Or because Alabama offered excellent merit?


Yes! I didn’t take Alabama seriously until the visit. Blew me away - nothing like I expected, for all the reasons people are mentioning here. Alabama became the obvious choice and DS attends (money was not an issue, we could afford full pay anywhere). The school has turned out even better than we expected. If even considering, visit.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 21:39     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
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 many kids do.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 21:37     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Anonymous wrote: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?



DS loves it because his classes are interesting with mostly great professors, some of whom he has gotten to know personally, he is running a lab and publishing, his friends are very smart and motivated, AND he is having a blast at football / basketball games AND the campus is beautiful.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 21:29     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
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.


Just shows the fallacy of the rankings. DS has had a far superior experience than most of his friends at much higher ranked schools with respect to academics and opportunities and professor interaction.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 21:19     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
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).


+1 (exactly!)
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 21:16     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Anonymous wrote:Isn’t there statistics that kids end up settling down in the area they went to school?

Are you not worried they will settle down in AL?

Are you not worried about the peers’ quality of education? My DC in 10th grade in a magnet school in AL just had a class in how to use rulers and protractors because kids didn’t know how to use them properly.

Does it not bother you that your DDs will have access to abortions and have a high risk if pregnancy goes wrong?

AL passed a law that allows to arrest librarians if they give access to “wrong” books.

Are you religious? There are more churches here than gas stations. Church is a huge part of the culture here.


At Alabama orientation, they actually said they have no expectation or desire for out of state kids stay in Alabama. That is not the model. They have national recruitment and kids go everywhere for grad/professional programs.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 21:11     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
DS is at Alabama and this post is absolutely spot on. All types of kids, amazing opportunities, fun place to be. DS is bio and all the seniors in his lab have had amazing Med school and PhD placements.


For med school everyone in AL goes to UAB. Why would you pick Tascaloosa?


considering that many premed graduates are *from* alabama, why wouldn't they go to the in-state option UAB. you konw whatthey call graduates of the UAB med school? doctor.


60+ percent of kids at Alabama are from out of state, includes pre-meds.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 21:10     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
DS is at Alabama and this post is absolutely spot on. All types of kids, amazing opportunities, fun place to be. DS is bio and all the seniors in his lab have had amazing Med school and PhD placements.


For med school everyone in AL goes to UAB. Why would you pick Tascaloosa?


Kids from Alabama go everywhere for med school. UAB is a great med school, but most don’t go there.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 10:11     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Anonymous wrote:
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/




So 11 out of 384 went to a top 20 law school.
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2025 09:56     Subject: Auburn vs Alabama
Anonymous wrote:Oh god…..why in the world would anyone want to be in the state of Alabama? Just go to your local community college….

Because it’s warmer. People are nicer. The pace is slower. Home prices are better and not a townhouse jungle. Flat yards are more possible. New homes aren’t 1.5 million. It doesn’t have a 495,395,95,66.