US News College Rankings

[DCWarEagle 0]

This year's US News and World Report college rankings are out. I know these things are not absolutely correct, but they are very influential. Lots of high school kids look at them. Unfortunately, this year Auburn fell several spots. Last year we were 88 (tied with Bama) and this year we are 96. Bama also slid, but not quite as far. They are ranked at 91. Weren't we ranked ahead of them for like ten years in a row? Anyone know why we have dropped?

Other SEC schools: Vandy at 19, Florida at 49, Georgia at 59, Tenn tied w/ us at 96, South Carolina at 112, Kentucky at 122 and Arkansas at 124.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews....tudoc_brief.php

Here is the Auburn press release:

http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/175

[PChamp119 96]

Boo, we all know Auburn is a better University than Alabama. Let's make a list:

Engineering School = Auburn

Vet School = Auburn (Amongst Best in Nation)

Architecture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Agriculture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Forestry & Wildlife = Auburn

Pharmacy = Auburn

Education I am assuming belongs to Auburn

Nursing I guess is Auburn

Alabama can have Business & Law (which I hear our Business school is making some ground on Bama)

Not sure about Math & Science (I'd think Auburn because of engineering and applicable uses of science in forestry, vet, and pharmacy); Liberal Arts; or Human Sciences.

Auburn is way better when it comes to academia. Plus we also have their butts in football (and basketball now?)

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

To be entirely accurate, Alabama is tied for 91st, along with four other schools, so the 96th ranking is but one step below them.

For what it's worth, K State is a strong #124.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Boo, we all know Auburn is a better University than Alabama. Let's make a list:

Engineering School = Auburn

Vet School = Auburn (Amongst Best in Nation)

Architecture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Agriculture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Forestry & Wildlife = Auburn

Pharmacy = Auburn

Education I am assuming belongs to Auburn

Nursing I guess is Auburn

Alabama can have Business & Law (which I hear our Business school is making some ground on Bama)

Not sure about Math & Science (I'd think Auburn because of engineering and applicable uses of science in forestry, vet, and pharmacy); Liberal Arts; or Human Sciences.

Auburn is way better when it comes to academia. Plus we also have their butts in football (and basketball now?)

Yeah, none of that is subjective.

Bottom line, there's really not much of a difference between the schools. They are both good schools and in the top 100. Even this list is based on some weird things that skew the numbers one way or the other.

[DCWarEagle 0]

I would really like to see Auburn make some gains here. We are investing a ton in new facilities, and the "It Begins At Auburn" campaign has been very successful, so I was disappointed to see that we dropped.

I think it is a realistic goal for us to be one of the top four schools in the SEC. Vanderbilt will probably always be the class of the SEC academically. Florida is just so huge and has so much money. Georgia really helped itself with the Hope scholarship and being an early lottery state, I remember thinking at the time (I was a freshman at Auburn) that I wished the state of Alabama would do something like that.

[PChamp119 96]

Boo, we all know Auburn is a better University than Alabama. Let's make a list:

Engineering School = Auburn

Vet School = Auburn (Amongst Best in Nation)

Architecture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Agriculture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Forestry & Wildlife = Auburn

Pharmacy = Auburn

Education I am assuming belongs to Auburn

Nursing I guess is Auburn

Alabama can have Business & Law (which I hear our Business school is making some ground on Bama)

Not sure about Math & Science (I'd think Auburn because of engineering and applicable uses of science in forestry, vet, and pharmacy); Liberal Arts; or Human Sciences.

Auburn is way better when it comes to academia. Plus we also have their butts in football (and basketball now?)

Yeah, none of that is subjective.

Bottom line, there's really not much of a difference between the schools. They are both good schools and in the top 100. Even this list is based on some weird things that skew the numbers one way or the other.

Which schools at Bama do you think are better than Auburn? Like I said - we'll give you Law.

**EDIT** I just saw on the US News Website (premium content) that Auburn is tied with University of Alabama (Culverhouse) in Undergraduate Business. Now I have no clue if that is a typo for Tuscaloosa or where the hell Culverhouse is, but I guess they don't even have that.

[mowegl 4]

Boo, we all know Auburn is a better University than Alabama. Let's make a list:

Engineering School = Auburn

Vet School = Auburn (Amongst Best in Nation)

Architecture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Agriculture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Forestry & Wildlife = Auburn

Pharmacy = Auburn

Education I am assuming belongs to Auburn

Nursing I guess is Auburn

Alabama can have Business & Law (which I hear our Business school is making some ground on Bama)

Not sure about Math & Science (I'd think Auburn because of engineering and applicable uses of science in forestry, vet, and pharmacy); Liberal Arts; or Human Sciences.

Auburn is way better when it comes to academia. Plus we also have their butts in football (and basketball now?)

Actually im not positive on this but I dont think Auburn's college of education is very good. Liberal Arts arent very great either. I'm pretty sure Bama has a leg up on us there. I would think a lot more goes into this than just academic prestige. However, do I think Auburn is the 96th best school? Heck no.

[PChamp119 96]

I have no clue how good our Liberal Arts and Education schools are. I thought the Education program was pretty decent, but I shouldn't comment on it. And I agree it is more than academia - but like you said - that doesn't mean they have the better school. Auburn is better than Bama

[BamaGrad03 0]

Boo, we all know Auburn is a better University than Alabama. Let's make a list:

Engineering School = Auburn

Vet School = Auburn (Amongst Best in Nation)

Architecture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Agriculture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Forestry & Wildlife = Auburn

Pharmacy = Auburn

Education I am assuming belongs to Auburn

Nursing I guess is Auburn

Alabama can have Business & Law (which I hear our Business school is making some ground on Bama)

Not sure about Math & Science (I'd think Auburn because of engineering and applicable uses of science in forestry, vet, and pharmacy); Liberal Arts; or Human Sciences.

Auburn is way better when it comes to academia. Plus we also have their butts in football (and basketball now?)

Yeah, none of that is subjective.

Bottom line, there's really not much of a difference between the schools. They are both good schools and in the top 100. Even this list is based on some weird things that skew the numbers one way or the other.

Which schools at Bama do you think are better than Auburn? Like I said - we'll give you Law.

**EDIT** I just saw on the US News Website (premium content) that Auburn is tied with University of Alabama (Culverhouse) in Undergraduate Business. Now I have no clue if that is a typo for Tuscaloosa or where the hell Culverhouse is, but I guess they don't even have that.

So US News ranks us higher than Auburn...yet every possible program at Auburn is better than every single one at Alabama?

Like I said, it's highly subjective.

But saying something like this

Auburn is way better when it comes to academia.

In a thread where we discuss Alabama being ranked ahead of you in the most trusted national review, makes me laugh.

Are you qualified to make that determination? Have you studied all the programs in depth? Do you have access to both schools' teacher/student/testing information?

It's a call neither you or I are in a position to make.

Your line of thinking is evident when you say something like this:

Nursing I guess is Auburn

"I don't know anything about either schools nursing program, but I'm an Auburn football fan...so ours is probably better"

[rtftiger 40]

Alabama is really making strides with their honors program. They are attracting the best students in the state because of scholarships and the appeal of the program.

We need to step up in that area. It's hard for the best students in the state to turn down what Alabama is offering: full tuition scholarship, free laptop, and housing in a brand new, community centered dorm.

We can do it, though. Perhaps some of the 500 mill. that we have raised will go toward attracting the best students.

[PChamp119 96]

Boo, we all know Auburn is a better University than Alabama. Let's make a list:

Engineering School = Auburn

Vet School = Auburn (Amongst Best in Nation)

Architecture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Agriculture = Auburn (Among Best in Nation)

Forestry & Wildlife = Auburn

Pharmacy = Auburn

Education I am assuming belongs to Auburn

Nursing I guess is Auburn

Alabama can have Business & Law (which I hear our Business school is making some ground on Bama)

Not sure about Math & Science (I'd think Auburn because of engineering and applicable uses of science in forestry, vet, and pharmacy); Liberal Arts; or Human Sciences.

Auburn is way better when it comes to academia. Plus we also have their butts in football (and basketball now?)

Yeah, none of that is subjective.

Bottom line, there's really not much of a difference between the schools. They are both good schools and in the top 100. Even this list is based on some weird things that skew the numbers one way or the other.

Which schools at Bama do you think are better than Auburn? Like I said - we'll give you Law.

**EDIT** I just saw on the US News Website (premium content) that Auburn is tied with University of Alabama (Culverhouse) in Undergraduate Business. Now I have no clue if that is a typo for Tuscaloosa or where the hell Culverhouse is, but I guess they don't even have that.

So US News ranks us higher than Auburn...yet every possible program at Auburn is better than every single one at Alabama?

Like I said, it's highly subjective.

But saying something like this

Auburn is way better when it comes to academia.

In a thread where we discuss Alabama being ranked ahead of you in the most trusted national review, makes me laugh.

Are you qualified to make that determination? Have you studied all the programs in depth? Do you have access to both schools' teacher/student/testing information?

It's a call neither you or I are in a position to make.

Your line of thinking is evident when you say something like this:

Nursing I guess is Auburn

"I don't know anything about either schools nursing program, but I'm an Auburn football fan...so ours is probably better"

I agree that I (we) don't know most of the programs, but after working with admissions at Auburn, I know which programs Auburn is of higher rank. I do know that engineering is better (when I visited Bama, they even admitted that to my family and I). I know for a fact that the architecture/vet/agriculture programs are better. I'm like 99% sure pharmacy and forestry are as well.

Nursing, when I worked with admissions, appeared to be difficult to get into, but I don't know about that school for sure. Same goes for the other schools that I made "guesses" or assumptions on. I really don't know though.

And I never said because of our football program being better is as to why Auburn is the better school academically. That was all you. Again I think it is better based on the above paragraph or reasons I provided.

Your argument that it is silly to argue when Bama is ranked higher in the magazine - that is why I focused on ACADEMIA. I even noted that the magazine takes in other accounts (such as alumni giving and various other methods such as retention rate).

Plus, it is pure fact that it is more difficult to get into Auburn over Alabama. Requirement scores are higher at Auburn.

My point is this: If a student has no ties to Auburn/Alabama, where is he/she most likely to go? I visited both campuses (Bama twice) and was sold on Auburn for many reasons. I was told I was crazy to pick Auburn over Purdue's engineering school, but I chose Auburn instead. Granted I am one of thousands of cases, but I would think Auburn would be picked more often.

[WarTim 3,539]

Speaking for myself....I am not an AU "Football" Fan. I AM AN AU FAN. That includes everything Orange and Blue.

Back to the same old same old....................

[PChamp119 96]

Speaking for myself....I am not an AU "Football" Fan. I AM AN AU FAN. That includes everything Orange and Blue.

Couldn't agree with you more

[Tiger1992 1,114]

I don't want to rehash the lottery/HOPE scholarship debate, but I'd be interested to see UGA's rankings compared to Auburn's in the pre-HOPE years. I guarandamntee you that they weren't ranked nearly forty spots ahead of us at that point in time.

[autkidd 0]

Well considering Bama Doesn't have a Vet school or a college of Ag we are tops in that... They don't have architecture as well... Our liberal arts is suffering I know many that have transferred because of it... Music is making strides but not near where alabama is...

I don't really think it matters all that much... Auburn is too different of a school to try and compare it to Alabama. And to try and say that Auburn is better is worthless because we know it is... not because of sports or academia but because that is where our hearts are...

[BamaGrad03 0]

I agree that I (we) don't know most of the programs, but after working with admissions at Auburn, I know which programs Auburn is of higher rank. I do know that engineering is better (when I visited Bama, they even admitted that to my family and I). I know for a fact that the architecture/vet/agriculture programs are better. I'm like 99% sure pharmacy and forestry are as well.

Nursing, when I worked with admissions, appeared to be difficult to get into, but I don't know about that school for sure. Same goes for the other schools that I made "guesses" or assumptions on. I really don't know though.

And I never said because of our football program being better is as to why Auburn is the better school academically. That was all you. Again I think it is better based on the above paragraph or reasons I provided.

Your argument that it is silly to argue when Bama is ranked higher in the magazine - that is why I focused on ACADEMIA. I even noted that the magazine takes in other accounts (such as alumni giving and various other methods such as retention rate).

Plus, it is pure fact that it is more difficult to get into Auburn over Alabama. Requirement scores are higher at Auburn.

My point is this: If a student has no ties to Auburn/Alabama, where is he/she most likely to go? I visited both campuses (Bama twice) and was sold on Auburn for many reasons. I was told I was crazy to pick Auburn over Purdue's engineering school, but I chose Auburn instead. Granted I am one of thousands of cases, but I would think Auburn would be picked more often.

Again, you are missing the entire point. Just because you worked in the admissions doesn't mean you are in any position to compare the two schools. And are you telling me you know more than the US News people? Do you have access to more raw statistical data than they do? For both schools?

I'm not saying which school is better, but I am saying your logic is retarded. You have a better Forestry program, and better Ag program so you are a better school? Gee whiz dude, why don't I pick a couple of random and obscure programs at Alabama that AU doesn't offer...and use that as a metric for why we are better?

Why do you ASSUME without ANY knowledge that "oh well I guess Nursing is better". Would you care to cite some rankings or ANYTHING beyond your homer perspective?

Same goes for the other schools that I made "guesses" or assumptions on. I really don't know though.

Then why are you casting a ranking judgement if YOU DONT KNOW?

Also, as far as admissions requirements.

Alabama:

Academic electives should include fine arts and computer literacy. Minimum composite ACT score of 19 (combined SAT I score of 890) and minimum 2.5 GPA in academic core courses required.

Auburn:

Math units must include algebra I, algebra II, and one unit of analysis, calculus, geometry, or trigonometry. Science units must include biology and a physical science. Minimum composite ACT score of 18 and minimum 2.5 GPA required of in-state applicants; minimum composite ACT score of 22 and minimum 2.5 GPA required of out-of-state applicants.

http://www.alabamamentor.org/campustour/un...niversity2.html

[AU alum 2]

These were used to determine rankings:

Rank Peer assess- ment score (5.0=highest)

Average freshman retention rate 2006

actual graduation rate

Faculty resources rank

% of classes w/50 or more ('06)

% faculty who are full time ('06)

SAT/ACT 25th-75th percentile ('06)

Acceptance rate ('06)

Alumni giving rank

Overall score

Graduation & retention rank 2006

predicted graduation rate 2006

overperf.(+)/ underperf.(-)

% of classes w/fewer than 20 ('06)

Student/ faculty ratio ('06)

Selectivity rank

Freshmen in top 10% of HS class

Financial resources rank

Avg. alumni giving rate

[SouthLink02 8]

You get out of college what you put in.

I like that UGA is that high but a guy from Atlanta Community College that has the same credentials as me and is a better speaker will get the job over me.

Granted, that may not be exactly true in every situation if a boss loves his alumni or things like that

But, nothing makes me roll my eyes then someone from Loyola, Tulane, or LSU claiming they would get a job over another school (Heard LSU people say their degree is "worth more" then Loyola, Tulane say it about LSU, ext...) just because of their degree

[FayettenamHog 0]

Meanwhile, Ole Miss and Miss St can't get ranked in anything...

[AUfan88 0]

Auburn's business program moved up to 29th among public schools, which is great. I'm not sure why Auburn dropped so much. I can tell you that Alabama has been recruiting heavily trying to get top students. Where I just graduated from in Birmingham is a very competitive and outstanding high school and there has been an increase every year in the number of students going to Alabama(I believe this year, it was around 110, one of the reasons I would never go there). It is a big change from when my sister graduated four years ago where a lot of parents who were Alabama alumni(keep in mind this is a suburb of Birmingham) were sending their kids to Auburn because Alabama's reputation had gotten kinda bad. Also, I think Alabama has been attracting a lot of kids from a private school here with free laptops, honors college, scholarships. I will say though that there were a few people that I know of from my graduating class and the seniors before me that didn't get into Auburn and went to Alabama because of that. All Auburn needs to do is recruit more top students with scholarships and the honors program and become more selective with who they take(Auburn's pretty much got Alabama beat in that) and they could potentially be ranked with Florida and Georgia. I know I am still intent on trying to transfer to Auburn after my upcoming year at UAB(yeah, I may have screwed around my first two years of high school, which got me rejected from Auburn, but god knows I would rather tough it out for a year as a blazer and spend my last three as a tiger, than ever go to Alabama with the rest of Mountain Brook. ). Of course there is a chance that I may become a Terrapin(just considering my options). By the way bamagrad, that website with the requirements for each school is b.s., take it from someone who just went through the admissions process, if those were Auburn's requirements I would have definitely gotten in.

[bigsixfive 341]

Lets remember this is the same publication that, a few years back, said Berkeley had a top 10 Aerospace Engineering program...

Berkely doesn't have an Aerospace Engineering program.