Any Aggie families have experience with your kid either considering or attending Auburn? My daughter will be auto admit but wants to visit Auburn. I seem to remember some positive things said about the campus, school, etc from Aggie familes on here.

Mine will be attending in the fall. Was accepted at A&M and several other schools, but after visiting Auburn about a year ago...her decision was pretty much set. I can't blame her as I would've made the exact same decision today if I was in that position. I echo what double b said.

Edited to add that if she ends up being interested, I'd suggest her taking the SAT/ACT enough times to get the scores needed for merit scholarships...which brings tuition costs a bit closer to what you'd pay for A&M, etc (assuming you are a Texas resident).

For the 2023-2024 school year you'd need a 3.5 GPA plus:
a 29/30 ACT, 1330-1380 SAT for $11000/yr scholarship
a 31/32 ACT, 1390-1440 SAT for $15000/yr scholarship
A 33+ ACT, 1450+ SAT for $16500/yr scholarship
https://www.auburn.edu/scholarship/undergraduate/competitive-merit.php

Prexys... Auburn is worth a hard look!

Our oldest ultimately picked A&M but Auburn was a very close 2nd and I think the distance was only reason why. We enjoyed our visit and he really felt comfortable there. Smaller version of A&M (much small) as others have mentioned. Clean, friendly, dorms are fantastic.

Also, I'll 2nd the comment about test scores. Auburn is very black and white about what you need to qualify which is refreshing. GPA + strong scores and tuition is virtually the same as TX schools.

Best of luck in the search... It's a fun process if you let it be and don't get too caught up in the details.

Son got in to Auburn engineering. 32 on the ACT so he got the $15k/year scholarship. Coincidentally, that made tuition about the same as what TAMU would be.

I think he would have been eligible for more money, but he decided to go elsewhere (not Auburn or TAMU) and didn't apply for anything else.

Campus is really nice, and the engineering program is great. AU would have been a great choice.

Thanks for the link, my kid isn't too high on A&M , that scholarship might make it worth a look. I thought the campus was very nice the time I visited.

My daughter will be a freshman at Auburn in the fall. She really liked the campus and the college she will be in. Auburn is beautiful and I think the size is great at around 32k kids.

Her final two choices were Auburn and texas. I thought she would choose the latter because so many of her camp friends (Mystic) go there. But in the end, she just didn't like the grunge-y Austin vibe.

And as others have said, the automagic merit scholarships are great at Auburn (and other SEC schools).

Congrats, mission accomplished for raising a smart kid

double b said:

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Auburn is a great school and has become much more competitive in the last few years. It's very similar to the size and feel of Texas A&M of the 2000s.

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This is spot on but I would even say A&M in the late 90s. Very friendly down to earth people. Conservative student body with very little of the woke nonsense.

My son was leaning Auburn. The campus is pretty, nice sized. friendly, and conservative. It has academic standards similar to A&M and tu. As mentioned, the money he was offered made the cost near A&M. I heard the professors are easily accessible and very helpful. Auburn really works to help with internships and jobs. I was not impressed with the dorms we saw and they do not have very many. Ultimately, he decided to stay closer to home and be a 3rd Gen Ag. Quite frankly I would have been fine with him breaking tradition if he chose Auburn.

bmet said:

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Mine will be attending in the fall. Was accepted at A&M and several other schools, but after visiting Auburn about a year ago...her decision was pretty much set. I can't blame her as I would've made the exact same decision today if I was in that position. I echo what double b said.

Edited to add that if she ends up being interested, I'd suggest her taking the SAT/ACT enough times to get the scores needed for merit scholarships...which brings tuition costs a bit closer to what you'd pay for A&M, etc (assuming you are a Texas resident).

For the 2023-2024 school year you'd need a 3.5 GPA plus:
a 29/30 ACT, 1330-1380 SAT for $11000/yr scholarship
a 31/32 ACT, 1390-1440 SAT for $15000/yr scholarship
A 33+ ACT, 1450+ SAT for $16500/yr scholarship
https://www.auburn.edu/scholarship/undergraduate/competitive-merit.php

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I am curious as to whether or not this money taps out such that only early applicants get these offers. Last night I was speaking to the Mom and Dad of a senior who lives a couple houses down from me. Their son is going to Auburn and Mom and Dad said he is getting zero from the school, despite having a 35 ACT. She said that it was her understanding that there was a finite amount of money for merit scholarships, and that it was awarded first to in-state applicants then to out of state kids (we live in Georgia). He did decide on Auburn late in the game, as he was entertaining multiple D3 basketball scholarships before deciding to pass on those offers and focus on school instead.

Is this a cautionary tale for kids considering this offer? Parents are pretty on the ball, so I doubt they just overlooked merit scholarships due to him. Any input from double b or others on this? My son is possibly going to consider Auburn as a "safety school", but I would certainly hate to pay full price to go out of state.

It's possible they missed the December 15th scholarship deadline.

From what I understand, yes...there is a finite pool of money and anyone that is accepted before mid January is automatically considered.

I don't think in-state applicants are given any priority, though they do get a lesser amount of money given that they already have lower in-state tuition. The amounts/criteria likely change for each incoming class depending on the number of applicants and their GPA/test scores. (Each class "competes" with itself).

Thanks. That would make sense, given the score he had on the ACT (I don't know how high his GPA was). That's probably a good thing for parents of children considering Auburn to know.

Side story, but Mom seemed a bit frustrated with his decision because of all the time and effort they put into getting a basketball scholarship. Their older son got multiple football scholarship offers, including from Harvard, but chose Villanova. Dad was quite happy with the decision his son made. The kid basically woke up one day and told his parents that he decided there was almost no chance he would ever play in the NBA, so he'd rather go to a D1 school. I think it's probably one of the best decisions he will make.

Yeah, that stinks about being a late applicant...he missed out on a good chunk of money. But I understand his reasoning. I have a sibling that played D1 football in the 90s. College sports are literally a full time job in addition to school. You gotta love playing it, because you don't have a lot of extra time to do things outside of that even in off-season.