I had to look up Auburn because I didn’t know anything about it. I assumed it was a small school and maybe UNC was too big…maybe the OP wants a small school. Nope…Auburn has over 24,000 undergrads. Definitely not a small school…it has more undergrads than UNC.
The OP wants a walkable town and big D1 spirit. This confuses me as well…because UNC has a walkable town and big D1 spirit.
Was this student accepted to Auburn as a biology major? How easy/difficult is it to transfer into the school of engineering if one changes his/her mind?
I do understand how this parent feels (I would feel the same), but if Auburn is affordable…I would allow the student to choose.