Still agreed. And I was being facetious about UGA.

I do think it's hard to compare UGA to other schools in the SEC for the reason that it's so hard to get into now. It's more on the same plane as UVA, UNC, UTexas as far as quality of kids, while Auburn, Ole Miss, Alabama, etc. still let in kids with a 2.5 GPA and a 900 SAT. Although I believe Alabama has upped its requirements to a 3.0 GPA for this fall. And Athens is a lot more arty than most other SEC school towns.

While I agree with what you're saying about UGA, I don't think you can get into Auburn or Bama with those scores...Maybe if you know somebody? Just to be sure, I checked Princeton Review...Average gpa for a freshman entering AU is 3.52 with an 1127 SAT, Bama is 3.36 with an 1128. I know this isn't the original point, but I wanted to clarify to others...

Yeah, I think I may have been exaggerating the 900 SAT there...but the point is, it's possible to get into most SEC schools with a B average and so-so SAT/ACT scores. UGA is an exception, and it's mainly of the HOPE scholarship, and I think UF is getting to be tough to get into as well.

I do think it's good that Bama is raising their standards, and it seems like Auburn is as well. But when a student with a 3.5 GPA and 1250 SAT can't get into their state's flagship school, such as the case in Georgia these days, I start to have a problem with it. There's so many kids back home in Georgia who are forced to go to Georgia State or Georgia Southern because they can't get into UGA or Tech. Maybe some kids wanted to go Ga. Southern or Ga. State in the first place, but a lot of them would much rather be at UGA or Tech. I'm lucky because I could make the choice to go out-of-state, but there's so many kids who don't have that choice because they can't afford to do that.

I'm totally getting off-topic here. I apologize.

The kids in our region of our state WISH that they could get in our two flagship schools with a 3.5 and 1250.

http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/profile.html

http://www.wm.edu

Yeah, that's my point. Ivy Leagues and private schools are a whole other ballgame, but I feel that students with those sort of credentials should be able to get into one of the top two of their state's schools. Like say, in Virginia, what options are there for kids who can't get into UVA or VaTech but still have pretty good grades and scores?

Alum, are you referring to Va Tech? Just wondering, because VT is a decent school, but not overwhelmingly difficult to get into, (around a 1200, 25 act). Just checking to see if you were referring to somewhere besides that. Your point about UVA is well taken, however, and I wish I could go to law school there.

No, I'm referring to the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary.

Is William and Mary a private school? What I'm talking about is public state flagship schools.

OK, I just checked, I see that it's public. I get W&M and W&Lee mixed up.

Nobody is debating the merits of Virginia's educational system. I do think it is important to note, however, that there are other factors people use in deciding to come to a large public university. I think for Auburn and Alabama students, it is often family tradition (Ole Miss) as well. I'm from GA, and got into a few better schools than AU (UGA, UNC, Emory), but I wanted a traditional southern big school atmosphere, and I hate UGA. One thing I've noticed about Alabama (the state) is that wealthy, very intelligent students who could easily venture to other schools outside the state, will generally choose between UA or AU. I just thought that was interesting, and somewhat unique in this day and age.

William and Mary was originally founded under the crown in 1692 (?). It is second only to Harvard in terms of age of a US-based school. It was a private school until the early 1900s so I believe UNC Chapel Hill holds the claim to oldest state-funded public university. W&M has the oldest college structure of any school in the country. They have 3 campuses New, Old, and Ancient.:)

It is a university in terms of professor research and the business and law schools and it is ranked 31 (sorry I couldn't help myself) in US News. UVa is in the low 20s.

It's nice and small (6000 students) so it's almost as if the student is getting a private college education for a pubilc school price.

A student can't go wrong with either school. After all Thomas Jefferson graduated from one and founded the other!

UF is VERY tough to get into. Incoming freshman have an average of a 4.0 GPA and a 1300 SAT score.

Even the two other big schools in the state, FSU and UCF, are becoming increasingly difficult to get into. FSU's incoming freshman average is an 1187 SAT and UCF's is a 3.62 GPA and an 1178 GPA.

The schools in Florida that use to be smaller state schools have doubled their enrollment over the past few years due to students not being able to get into "the big 3".

All this talk about good public schools is so cute :)

-Rudey

Yes, I noticed the same thing. I think there's a lot to keep them in the state -- full ride scholarships, a good law school and business school (UA), a good medical school (UAB), and good engineering schools (UA and AU).

There's also the Blount Undergraduate program at UA that attracts a lot of the brightest Alabama high schoolers.

Kids nowadays have stellar resumes. I interview prospective freshman for my own alma mater and I am always bowled over about the amazing accomplishments that these students have achieved.