Students choosing southern schools because of less covid restrictions was definitely a thing, based on counselor list servs, meetings, etc.
It’s not the only thing though…plenty of students from northern climes want warmer weather, and big football/sports is another draw. Not to mention good merit at some of these schools, although that may be on the decline at places like U Arizona and likely some more schools in the next few years.
Finally someone said it! The south stayed open and also didn’t virtue signal for every imaginable social issue over the last few years. They met the kids where they were, and it’s refreshing to many. Hence the overwhelming increase in interest of southern schools. The south isn’t for everyone. But clearly it’s desired by more than most people realize. War Eagle!
Speaking as a current college student, the year where Auburn received a 155+% spike in applications also coincided with the rise of gymnast Suni Lee, who is incredibly well-known/popular within the our generation.
She being Asian also helped the optics that the schools in the south were welcoming to people of all races (helping to alleviate the stereotypes of southern schools) hence Out-of-State applications skyrocketed.
Kids in our generation like to avoid messy topics so I hope this thread can stay civil and focus on the school. Auburn is a fantastic school esp for engineering!
It also had a little something to do with Auburn joining the Common App and being cheaper to attend than a lot of other schools.
I wasn’t disputing that there weren’t some people likely looking at southern schools (or specifically at schools that didn’t react quite so strongly during the pandemic). I was disputing that was the reason applications are up. The other side of the coin is that their reaction to the pandemic is you may have parents explicitly NOT wanting to send their kids there - people who are more cautious - warranted or not.
Numbers are up across the board, north south east west.
there’s nothing messy about praising a school for actually - gasp - putting kids’ needs first.
War Eagle!
Our oldest daughter turned down higher ranked schools in California and Northern states to attend a school in the South. She did not go to Auburn, but seriously considered it because it is a beautiful campus with nice people and a good vibe. She had a scholarship offer that would have made it very affordable, but the Alabama, Georgia and Florida schools already have pretty affordable OOS tuition compared to OOS tuition at schools like Michigan and UVA. The overall cost of living in those areas is also pretty affordable for off campus housing etc.
And do not underestimate the covid appeal of the schools in the South. We are not anti vax, but we are anti-online school and generally anti-mandate. We thought our daughter was nuts choosing the school she did, but in the end she made the right decision. She ended up being online for half the spring semester of 2020 and still got a full in person college experience the rest of the time. Her 2nd place school, with a much higher ranking, was online for 2 full years. That would have been a disaster for her. Our liberal state has many people looking to go to school in the South for the full college experience and little threat of getting a University of Phoenix equivalent online education.
Auburn seems to be a good mix of a quality education and a fun college experience, without the really high cost of attendance that so many other schools have now.
what school did she end up attending?
Totally agree with your assessment. We are anti-coercion, not anti-vax. Many many families from New England threw their hands up in the air and were disgusted with the response, so migrated to areas that emphasized choice and personal responsibility.
Clemson.
We just visited this past weekend. Absolutely gorgeous campus. Would never have guessed. Great athletics. Business building was incredible. Kiddo applied a bit on a whim site unseen. If accepted into Honors and offered a bit of merit I think Auburn will be a real contender.
We are from MD. DD’s 3 school friends attend 3 different schools in GA. 2 - CA, 1 MD. My 2 daughters - one in GA, another in TN. It is interesting that among our friends their older kids stayed in MD. But the youngest went all over: PA, IN, OH, NY - only 1 stayed in MD…
One of my son’s classmates went to Auburn as an OOS student: he got a business degree in logistics/supply chain management at Auburn, went on for an MBA at Wake Forest, and is now working in Boston. He had a great experience at Auburn.
39% acceptance rate is crazy!
They are finally getting the “recognition” they deserve—hidden gem.
That it is! My daughter absolutely loves it!
Visiting next week. Looking forward to it.
Just finding this older thread now that I’ve got a kid sort of researching Auburn (and Clemson and Tenn). There seem to be a couple of different questions/discussions. First is the general issue of “Why are so many kids from outside the South/applicable state applying to and then attending big public schools in the South/applicable state that no one of their parents’ generation would ever have even considered?” And the second, which I think the OP was asking, is “Among those schools, why does it feel like Auburn’s so hot right now?”
As to the first, I chalk it up to some intermingling of a bunch of factors: (i) more kids, (ii) less regionality in American life and culture than 30 and especially 50 years ago, (iii) demographic movement southward, (iv) weather (why spend 4 years in East Lansing when you could be in Tuscaloosa from Sept-May?), (v) COVID kids more likely to prefer large, socially very active schools with party/Greek/football scene, (vi) common app and other factors leading to more randomness in admissions pushing more applications to likely admit schools, leading to campus visits and then, lo and behold, it’s beautiful! And looks fun, (vii) merit scholarships on top of the lower sticker price than ______________ (insert random private university that’s not uber elite and thus difficult to justify $80k/year when Auburn’s maybe half that) in an environment where a lot of consumers are looking for ways to push back on out of control higher ed costs, and (viii) social media keeping kids in contact with high school friends and acquaintances even if they go to college a thousand miles from home, so it’s become a sustainable pipeline instead of a fad. Outside of factor (vii), these are all in play for southern private schools, too, which is why so many kids from north of the Mason-Dixon line are showing up at TCU and the like these days.
Re: the why Auburn specifically question, I think the answer is that it’s not specifically Auburn. Apps are skyrocketing at southern schools generally, and people have pushed further and further down the “eliteness” list to the point where almost all the SEC/ACC schools have become inundated. First it was UNC and UVA and then Florida and Texas until yanks realized they had in-state mandates driving their oos acceptance rates into Ivy territory. So people moved on to UGA, and then Florida State and NC State, and so on. Over the last decade they’ve discovered most of the rest. But it rotates, at least from our area. Last year my kids’ school saw a doubling of apps to Tennessee from '21-'22. The year before that Clemson apps had jumped but subsequently receded some. Our local public hs has a huge contingent of kids headed to So. Carolina this year for some reason, but last year it was Ole Miss, and very few seem to want Knoxville. The only ones not in the rotation seem to be Mizzou, Kentucky, Arkansas and LSU.
Why do you think Mizzou, Kentucky, Arkansas, and LSU are not in play? All four have excellent programs and I don’t really view them all that differently from, say USC, Clemson, and Auburn. I view them all as excellent SEC/ACC schools. None of the above are in the tier of UF, UNC, UVA, or Texas, but all fine schools nonetheless. Heck, even Arkansas business is ranked way higher than NC State, Florida State, UTK, and so on. And Fayetteville is an elite level college city.
