Stats for fall 2014…
Admit rate
53% IS / 18% OOS
Average SAT CR
643 IS / 662 OOS
Average SAT Math
656 IS / 688 OOS
Average SAT Writing
635 IS / 671 OOOS
Average CR+M SAT
1299 IS / 1350 OOS
[ul][]Best public university in the South if you exclude Texas
[]Great weather
[]Nice campus
[]Great college town
[]Friendly people and a thriving social scene
[]Long and interesting history (first public university founded in the US)
[]Tons of school spirit
[]Cross-registration and an intense rivalry with another top university
[]Nearly unique among publics in offering financial aid to all admitted domestic students
[]Noticeably smaller than many other flagship publics (18,000 undergrads, compared to 30,000+ at some)[/ul]
I don’t think it’s at all surprising someone would want to apply.