A lot of "northern" students pay so much money for in state tuition at home that it is actually cheaper to pay OOS tuition at other schools. I saw this a lot in MD where many of our Greek women were OOS from NY. This also happens in AZ with kids coming from CA. Alabama has now made it onto the radar of these students, so you can expect their numbers to grow.

This is true at Indiana, as well. There are a ton of east coast kids who go there now because the music and business schools are highly regarded and the OOS tuition + room and board is cheaper than east coast schools.

Auburn gets a lot of students from Florida because of how big the Florida schools have gotten. The Auburn campus is gorgeous and looks like a movie set of what you would expect college to look like. This attracts a lot of students (in particular women or interested in engineering) from Georgia and Florida that go to visit FSU and GaTech and it doesn't look like what they thought or feel as friendly or homey.

Although the freshman Return rate is 90%, the 6 year graduation rate for Auburn is about 70%, I would guess that part of that is OOS students that transfer home.

They are definitely not getting into Michigan/Illinois/Ohio State/Wisconsin with below 3.0 GPAs, and Alabama is a lot more appealing than the third-tier schools they could get into in their home states.

I am not sure where you're located, but your estimation of the Big 10 academic tiers are a little off. I have worked in secondary education for 20 years in Big 10 country and two of the schools you've cited do admit students below a 3.0 and do it quite often. You left Purdue off the list which is harder to get into the Illinois and Ohio State. In fact, OSU has the third lowest admissions standards in the Big Ten. I know of quite a few kids who were wait listed at Purdue and Indiana and got into Illinois. Michigan and Ohio State may compete athletically, but academically it's not even close.

You can get into Ohio State with a 3.0 GPA or sometimes even below, especially if you are an Ohio resident, quite easily. Supposedly they are "working" on making the admissions criteria more strict (all you have to do is compare anything OSU to Michigan and if Michigan beats out OSU you best bet there WILL be change).

Now...back to Auburn and their recruitment. :D

Pre recruitment and move-in = two weeks from today!
Time to get your hair done ?
Make a list of what you need from Target when you get there
Pack your make up - they run out

I've got the rubbermaid tubs stacked in the living room. Still have a long list of things to get. I would like to avoid Target on move in day. What a nightmare that place will be.

Since this is my first daughter to send to college I'm going to assume that it's normal for her to be a little sensitive, weepy, etc. She's kind of been an emotional roller coaster lately. I'm trying to stay calm and patient with her b/c I know it's hard to grasp leaving home. I think trying to stay strong for her is the only thing keeping me from being an emotional roller coaster. Two more weeks. Oy Vey.

Brittin- It's totally normal. They are about to leave everything they know and love for a huge unknown. Sometimes they lash out too- called "spoiling the nest" which helps them separate from you and ultimately helps you separate from them also. The day of drop off with my daughter (10 hours away) was really, really tough. We were both sobbing. I cannot begin to imagine what it is like to immediately begin a competitive recruitment when having just gone through a massive upheaval emotionally. I understand they do it because it is easier on the collegians to not have classes interfere with recruitment, but to me, it's a very rough time already and recruitment just adds a boat load more stress to the whole situation.

The advantage of doing it before classes is having a whole new family to show them the ropes and introduce them to friends before they have to think about classes. They can better balance social with studies.

It actually helped me having rush start immediately… I was also 10 hours away from home and had been just a ball of hormonal emotions for about 2 weeks- crying, lashing out, clingy etc… when my parents finally left my dorm room I would have had a complete meltdown had I not had to hurry to convocation!!!! Rush (recruitment) completely got my mind off of all of those feelings of being so far from home and helped me immediately start meeting people and making friends. I'm not sure how it would have been had I not had that distraction.

Brittin- hang in there!!!!

AMEN!!!! It was the same for me. I would have been MISERABLE those first few weeks without my new home prior to classes starting. They helped me adjust to everything and I thought I was pretty capable & independent already.

ETA: and I went to school back in the dark ages when you had to pay for every minute of long distance calling and NO computers, no email, no cell phones, no texting, no skyping!

Amen to your ETA! Me too, theta lady. Dragons and dinosaurs abounded when I went to school.

However (this should come as no surprise) I could not WAIT to go away. My dad drove me to Santa Barbara and helped me move in. My mom was the one who was all weepy and freaking out, etc. My dad was like "don't get in trouble, and if you do - call me, don't call your mother." Then off he drove and I launched into Life. :p Recruitment was a blast, college was a fabulous experience (even the tough stuff) because I was on my own.

I love your dad!

I'm going to save that for my kids. Their dad is a little high strung about stuff.

(Not that I wouldn't tell my DH if one of the kids got in trouble, but it's better presented as "This is what happened and this is what is going to happen because of it" so that he doesn't panic and think he has to solve the problem.)

We have one week until move-in and orientation. Recruitment begins one week from tomorrow! My daughter is very nervous and I am praying for that perfect sister who can put her at ease to show up first day - first house!