mom2collegekids

From Princeton Review... Test Prep: GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, SAT, ACT, and More

Freshman Academic Profile
Admissions Selectivity Rating: 84

Freshman Acceptance
Total applicants: 18,500
Total applicants who are accepted: 11,172
Total of accepted students who enroll: 5,034


SAT:
% Submitting Score: 33%
Critical Reading Middle 50%: 490 - 600
Math Middle 50%: 500 - 610
ACT:
% Submitting Score: 86%
ACT Middle 50%: 21 - 27
Math Middle 50%: 19 - 26
English Middle 50%: 21 - 28

Average High School GPA: 3.4
% with GPA 3.75 of higher: 29.4%
% with GPA 3.50 - 3.74: 16%
% with GPA 3.25 - 3.49: 15.6%
% with GPA 3.0 - 3.24: 17.6%
% with GPA 2.5 - 2.99: 18.5%
% with GPA 2.0 - 2.49: 2.9%
Students in Top Tenth of HS Class: 42.2%
Students in Top Quarter of HS Class: 54.8%
Students in Top Half of HS Class: 79.9%

navarre1

We visited Bama and were really impressed, but that is not an impressive middle 50%.

bikedad

I have to agree with navarre1 on this one. I'm not sure how impactful the profile would be on a graduate's chances of progressing to a good post-graduate program, but it does give me some concern.

D1 went to Bama and got accepted to UT Austin Phd program in pscychology so I guess she overcame this disadvantage IF indeed it is one, but the competition out there for phd programs in some areas of A&S was brutal this year--double the applicants (in psych) according to a UVA spokesperson. I know in many fields you don't see this level of competition, (Texas took 15 out of over 600, for example.) and I'm not sure to what degree grad/professional programs consider student profiles of the undergraduate school, but with competition the way it is today, (in many fields away) it's certainly worth consideration.

Don't get me wrong, UA has a lot to offer and the NMF package is great, but I'm just trying to consider all angles and risks here. Thanks.

Bikedad

mom2collegekids

Keep in mind that many state schools have to be more broad in acceptances, because their purpose is to serve their states' residents. I'll post some stats from other states' schools for comparison purposes.

The better/best students tend to be in the more difficult majors. The more "average" students tend to flock to the so-called easier majors - which state schools have to have... LOL.

Therefore, the tougher majors are still strong in academics and the graduates don't have problems getting into grad schools, law schools, or med schools. A friend of mine's son graduated in May. He was always a very good student (but never "spectacular"). He applied to 5 very good med schools and was accepted to 4. The one "rejection" was not from the best med school (they have no clue why this one "lesser" med school rejected him, while two better ones accepted him. Weird. He's not a URM.)

Alabama is getting stronger and stronger. Next year's freshman class will likely have even better stats since the apps numbers keep growing, and UA is going to have to further limit acceptances (percentage wise).

Also...The better students are also in the honors programs.

mom2collegekids

For comparison purposes....

University of Kansas

Freshman Academic Profile
Admissions Selectivity Rating: 89
ACT:
% Submitting Score: 98%
ACT Middle 50%: 22 - 27
Math Middle 50%: 21 - 27
English Middle 50%: 21 - 28
Average High School GPA: 3.4
% with GPA 3.75 of higher: 31%
% with GPA 3.50 - 3.74: 19%
% with GPA 3.25 - 3.49: 17%
% with GPA 3.0 - 3.24: 14%
% with GPA 2.5 - 2.99: 15%
% with GPA 2.0 - 2.49: 4%
Students in Top Tenth of HS Class: 27%
Students in Top Quarter of HS Class: 60%
Students in Top Half of HS Class: 90%

Freshman Acceptance & Retention
Total applicants: 10,902
Total applicants who are accepted: 10,003
Total of accepted students who enroll: 4,441



Iowa State University

Freshman Academic Profile
Admissions Selectivity Rating: 88
SAT:
% Submitting Score: 12%
Critical Reading Middle 50%: 490 - 650
Math Middle 50%: 550 - 680
ACT:
% Submitting Score: 92%
ACT Middle 50%: 22 - 27
Math Middle 50%: 22 - 28
English Middle 50%: 21 - 27
Average High School GPA: 3.49
% with GPA 3.75 of higher: 33%
% with GPA 3.50 - 3.74: 20%
% with GPA 3.25 - 3.49: 18%
% with GPA 3.0 - 3.24: 14%
% with GPA 2.5 - 2.99: 13%
% with GPA 2.0 - 2.49: 2%
Students in Top Tenth of HS Class: 27%
Students in Top Quarter of HS Class: 60%
Students in Top Half of HS Class: 92%
Freshman Student from Public School High Schools: 91%

Freshman Acceptance & Retention
Total applicants: 12,549
Total applicants who are accepted: 10,953
Total of accepted students who enroll: 4,424



University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Freshman Academic Profile
Admissions Selectivity Rating: 76
SAT:
% Submitting Score: 15%
Critical Reading Middle 50%: 500 - 650
Math Middle 50%: 530 - 670
ACT:
% Submitting Score: 96%
ACT Middle 50%: 22 - 28
Math Middle 50%: 21 - 28
English Middle 50%: 21 - 28
Students in Top Tenth of HS Class: 27%
Students in Top Quarter of HS Class: 53%
Students in Top Half of HS Class: 83%
Total applicants: 9,598
Total applicants who are accepted: 5,978
Total of accepted students who enroll: 4,215



Indiana U - Bloomington

Freshman Academic Profile
Admissions Selectivity Rating: 89
SAT:
% Submitting Score: 79%
Critical Reading Middle 50%: 510 - 620
Math Middle 50%: 530 - 640
ACT:
% Submitting Score: 52%
ACT Middle 50%: 23 - 29
Math Middle 50%: 23 - 29
English Middle 50%: 23 - 29
Average High School GPA: 3.57
% with GPA 3.75 of higher: 37.42%
% with GPA 3.50 - 3.74: 24.54%
% with GPA 3.25 - 3.49: 20.7%
% with GPA 3.0 - 3.24: 11.97%
% with GPA 2.5 - 2.99: 4.98%
% with GPA 2.0 - 2.49: 0.35%
% with GPA 1.0 - 1.99: 0.01%
% with GPA 1.0 of lower: 0.01%
Students in Top Tenth of HS Class: 31%
Students in Top Quarter of HS Class: 69%

Freshman Acceptance & Retention
Total applicants: 31,160
Total applicants who are accepted: 22,030
Total of accepted students who enroll: 7,553



Florida State U

Freshman Academic Profile
Admissions Selectivity Rating: 88
SAT:
% Submitting Score: 49%
Critical Reading Middle 50%: 550 - 640
Math Middle 50%: 560 - 650
ACT:
% Submitting Score: 50%
ACT Middle 50%: 24 - 28
Math Middle 50%: 23 - 27
English Middle 50%: 23 - 29
Average High School GPA: 3.72
% with GPA 3.75 of higher: 47.1%
% with GPA 3.50 - 3.74: 27.7%
% with GPA 3.25 - 3.49: 14.3%
% with GPA 3.0 - 3.24: 8.8%
% with GPA 2.5 - 2.99: 1.8%
% with GPA 2.0 - 2.49: 0.3%
Students in Top Tenth of HS Class: 31%
Students in Top Quarter of HS Class: 71%
Freshman Student from Public School High Schools: 84%

Freshman Acceptance & Retention
Total applicants: 25,485
Total applicants who are accepted: 11,901
Total of accepted students who enroll: 4,992

Atlanta68

The University has not released the complete profile of this Fall's class, but all of the preliminary evidence indicates that it is better than the profile listed above, from Fall of last year (2008).

One thing that stood out to me, was the fact that UA enrolled around 170 more freshman this Fall with 4.0s, despite having only about 90 additional students in this Fall's class. Plus, the number of National Merit Scholars in this Fall's freshman class has never been greater.

The reality seems to be that UA continues to enroll ever greater numbers of the state's and nation's top students, yet continues to admit a sizeable, though slowly declining percentage of lower achieving students as well.

If you compare UA with Auburn, you will find a seeming contradiction. UA's application acceptance rate has declined to under 60 per cent as of this Fall, while Auburn's acceptance rate has stayed at around 70 per cent. Yet, Auburn's avg. ACT rate has increased dramatically to 26.2 as of this Fall, while UA's ACT avg. has hovered around 24.5 the last two years (this year's class avg. has not been released). This disparity can be explained by the fact that UA has a much higher yield rate, or a higher percentage of applicants actually choosing to enroll. So UA can afford to have a higher rejection rate. Plus, UA still seems to have a higher percentage of students with the highest scores, as evidenced by the NMS numbers. Nevertheless, they also seem to have a higher percentage of the lower performing students.

Dr. Witt has stated that it will become increasingly difficult to be admitted to UA, and has said that the size of the freshman class will remain the current size for the foreseeable future, stopping years of unprecendented growth. This will allow UA to reap the benefits of growth, especially in light of the economic downturn, and the huge drop in state funding, and also increase its selectivity. Fall of 2010 will be the first time that UA will require applicants to submit SAT and ACT writing scores, so I imagine that will weed out some of the lower performing students.

While I too would like to see UA's academic profile become more prestigious, I am glad that the huge increases in enrollment are protecting the financial health of the University. It is clear that if UA limited its freshman class enrollment to match the size of say Auburn's much smaller freshman class, then its academic profile would actually be superior, yet its finances would probably suffer. Indeed, UA is one of the few institutions in the country that is hiring new faculty, initiating new programs, and not cutting staff.

navarre1

Well said Atlanta68, but it is still a little troubling when I see tier 3 schools with higher ACTs.

mom2collegekids

Those aren't tier 3 schools...I'm using a 2009 USNews - but ranks are...

UKansas #89
Iowa St # 89
Indiana U #71

Those are all considered tier 1 by new standards. By old tier standards, they would be tier 2

Their rankings and their stats are rather similar (not exactly) to those of UA. I don't think the differences are evident at all on the campus. Again, I think those with higher stats gravitate towards the more difficult majors; those with lower stats tend to major in the easier programs.

When you consider the high percentage (over 20%) of freshmen qualify for honors, you know that you're getting some pretty smart kids.

navarre1

Sorry I was not thinking of those schools..I was thinking about UCF and USF. Anyway, I'm not trying to bash Bama so I'll leave it alone now.


University of South Florida
Admissions Selectivity Rating: 87
SAT:
% Submitting Score: 61%
Critical Reading Middle 50%: 510 - 610
Math Middle 50%: 530 - 630
Writing Middle 50%: 490 - 580
ACT:
% Submitting Score: 39%
ACT Middle 50%: 23 - 28
Math Middle 50%: 22 - 27
English Middle 50%: 21 - 27
Writing Middle 50%: 7 - 9
Average High School GPA: 3.67
% with GPA 3.75 of higher: 47.6%
% with GPA 3.50 - 3.74: 23.8%
% with GPA 3.25 - 3.49: 17.9%
% with GPA 3.0 - 3.24: 8.6%
% with GPA 2.5 - 2.99: 1.8%
% with GPA 2.0 - 2.49: 0.4%
Students in Top Tenth of HS Class: 25%
Students in Top Quarter of HS Class: 60%
Students in Top Half of HS Class: 81%
Freshman Student from Public School High Schools: 95%

University of Central Florida
Admissions Selectivity Rating: 89
SAT:
% Submitting Score: 59%
Critical Reading Middle 50%: 530 - 630
Math Middle 50%: 550 - 640
Writing Middle 50%: 510 - 600
ACT:
% Submitting Score: 41%
ACT Middle 50%: 23 - 27
Average High School GPA: 3.67
% with GPA 3.75 of higher: 40.9%
% with GPA 3.50 - 3.74: 27.8%
% with GPA 3.25 - 3.49: 15.7%
% with GPA 3.0 - 3.24: 13.6%
% with GPA 2.5 - 2.99: 1.9%
% with GPA 2.0 - 2.49: 0.1%
% with GPA 1.0 - 1.99: 0%
% with GPA 1.0 of lower: 0%
Students in Top Tenth of HS Class: 35%
Students in Top Quarter of HS Class: 77%

mom2collegekids

No problem

I thought you were thinking that the schools that I listed were 3rd tier. I tried to pick higher ranked or similarly ranked schools in my post.

As for some 3rd tiers...

There are some 3rd tier schools that are ranked that way for other reasons - not necessarily because they have "lower stat" kids. Some 3rd tiers get that lower ranking because of "other" issues...such as: not enough major offerings, poor freshman retention rating, larger class-sizes, etc.

For instance...UCF...it may be able to attract lots of strong stats kids, but it has a poor retention rate (maybe WDW is a distraction ). It also has less full-time faculty, larger classes, and a low alumni giving rate. Those things are probably causing it to have a lower ranking.

I know that a state school by my home is "3rd tier" but it has entering freshmen with good stats. It gets its 3rd tier ranking because it doesn't offer a wide range of majors/programs. It's very good in a few majors, but it has little depth in the others that it offers.

So, the ranking doesn't necessarily tell the whole story.

mom2collegekids

Forgot to add...

I completely agree with the above point that UA's incoming freshmen stats will markedly rise in the near future.

Within a few years, UA went from getting 7,000 freshman apps, to over 18,000 apps. UA went from accepting most applicants to rejecting around 40% (don't have the exact stat in front of me). Improving it selectivity (which it has) will bring an increase in its freshmen stats.


Edited to add found stats

2002 .... 7,322 applied.....6,250 admitted....80% admitted

2008 ...18,500 applied....11,172 admitted....60% admitted

This has allowed UA to be more selective. Now, that UA has reached the maximum it can really enroll (around 5,300 for 2009 - don't have the exact number), and the applications will likely continue to rise, UA will continue to be more selective and the stats will rise.