Auburn PNM numbers for 2011?

[AuburnMom85]

I heard from someone that the number of PNM for recruitment this year at Auburn is higher than ever....over 1500. Any truth to that?

I'm excited for my daughter and want her to find the perfect fit for her. We have talked a lot about going with an open mind and not having any preconceived ideas of which sorority is "best".....I really think there are so many good ones at Auburn that she can't go wrong. My only fear is her getting cut completely with that many girls actually going out.

Any advice about recruitment at Auburn is greatly appreciated!!

[DubaiSis]

The number of girls going through doesn't affect her individual odds. It will only affect the resulting new member classes, which will be HUGE if your 1500 rumor is anywhere near accurate.

The one thing those numbers do is increase stress, to both the PNMs and the actives. Remind her that EVERYONE is under pressure, so try her hardest not to take every little thing too seriously. I know, easier said than done with an 18 year old!

Best of luck to your daughter and to you.

[33girl]

Exactly. Some groups may have to cut harder than other groups because they have higher return rates, but those numbers will be commensurate with the total number of rushees. It's not "everyone who ABC invited put them first last year, so they are only allowed to have 50 people come back to second round this year."

The biggest thing is to KEEP AN OPEN MIND!!

[Titchou]

Auburn is saying they expect 1200 to go thru - same number as the last couple of years.

Alabama has 1608 registered as of now and expect 1700 by the start of recruitment on the 14th. Less than 700 of those 1608 are from the state of Alabama!

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Titchou

Alabama has 1608 registered as of now and expect 1700 by the start of recruitment on the 14th. Less than 700 of those 1608 are from the state of Alabama!

That's really interesting. What's the typical percentage?

[Titchou]

I'm not sure. I know the last couple of years the percentage actually pledged is about 55/45 OOS vs IS. They did have that info on their web site so you could check to see if it's still up from last year.

[Eightisgreat]

The increase in Alabama's out of state numbers does not surprise me in the least. Alabama has been doing a fine job of bring in OOS students with their generous scholarships for higher achievers. It makes going OOS much cheaper than staying instate for many students.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Titchou

I'm not sure. I know the last couple of years the percentage actually pledged is about 55/45 OOS vs IS. They did have that info on their web site so you could check to see if it's still up from last year.

Originally Posted by Eightisgreat

The increase in Alabama's out of state numbers does not surprise me in the least. Alabama has been doing a fine job of bring in OOS students with their generous scholarships for higher achievers. It makes going OOS much cheaper than staying instate for many students.

We have great students head to Auburn and Alabama from Georgia every year. I was still surprised to see that the OOS women had become the majority of the Greek system, though. I guess that's a big part of the Alabama experience, and it's good that they know it going in.

I hope that this info puts some minds at ease about it being a big disadvantage to be from out of state.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Eightisgreat

The increase in Alabama's out of state numbers does not surprise me in the least. Alabama has been doing a fine job of bring in OOS students with their generous scholarships for higher achievers. It makes going OOS much cheaper than staying instate for many students.

Silly question...

are they doing this (i.e. big ol' scholarships) because not enough students from Alabama are going there, or why? Do they want to diversify the student body?

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Silly question...

are they doing this (i.e. big ol' scholarships) because not enough students from Alabama are going there, or why? Do they want to diversify the student body?

It pulls their average data up by attracting strong kids from out of state. The scholarships that I'm familiar with have both high GPA and high test score ranges associated with them, so you might move on up in the college rankings some.

Some of the in-state Alabama kids are equally as strong, so I'm not slighting them, but they really reward high achieving out of state kids.

ETA: the more I think about it, the more I think SEC schools tend to do this almost across the board. I have former students at LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn and Alabama, and South Carolina who were all wooed with sweet out of state scholarship deals. UGA doesn't offer it too much, I don't think, because the regular admissions stuff has gotten so competitive and I think if they started admitting out of state kids over well qualified in-state kids, the general assembly might freak out over funding.

[sdtennisgal]

I believe UVA has also traditionally offered admission and scholarships to particularly outstanding students from out of state. I think most of the UVA alums (undergrad) I have met were actually not from Virginia. As I understand it, at least part of the rationale is to make sure the campus is diverse, but making sure the academic reputation stays intact.

[NUBlue&Blue]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

It pulls their average data up by attracting strong kids from out of state. The scholarships that I'm familiar with have both high GPA and high test score ranges associated with them, so you might move on up in the college rankings some.

Some of the in-state Alabama kids are equally as strong, so I'm not slighting them, but they really reward high achieving out of state kids.

ETA: the more I think about it, the more I think SEC schools tend to do this almost across the board. I have former students at LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn and Alabama, and South Carolina who were all wooed with sweet out of state scholarship deals. UGA doesn't offer it too much, I don't think, because the regular admissions stuff has gotten so competitive and I think if they started admitting out of state kids over well qualified in-state kids, the general assembly might freak out over funding.

Another reason is that the states surrounding Georgia have much smaller population. In 2010, Georgia had 9.6 million people, Alabama 4.7, Louisiana 4.5, and South Carolina had 4.6. I always tell my son that Mississippi reminds me of Nebraska, in that it is a rural state with small towns and less populous, so that's why they recruit out of state students (even though, at 2.9 million, it still has almost twice as many people as Nebraska). Tennessee has 6.3 million people and we don't see as many kids going to UT from our area, but that may not be true of all of Georgia. That's definitely why so many of these schools are targeting and recruiting Georgia. There was a time when people chose those schools above UGA, particularly when I first moved here over 25 years ago, but the establishment of the HOPE scholarship and unbridled population growth changed all that and more kids were staying in state.

[UGAalum94]

And going back a while, tuition generally wasn't as enormous as it is today, so it didn't require a big commitment to choose Auburn over Georgia, even if you were paying for it. (Plus in the olden days, you could set up in-state residency easily.)

I wonder if the Alabama data breaks down how many of the OOS folks are from Georgia.

[Titchou]

The bid list gives hometowns so you can merge, sort and manipulate to your heart's content.....

[AnchorAlumna]

At the University of Alabama, in 2010 the largest number of out of state students came from Georgia - 221. Second largest group was from Texas - 104. Next was Florida - 90. Apparently more Mississippi students are staying there. It only contributed only 14 to the U of Alabama, despite the state being just 45 minutes down the road.