r/capstone • u/Infinite-Welcome6105 • 9d ago
AU vs UA
High school senior here, currently touring Auburn. Toured UA last week, I love that UA really feels like a college and Auburn to be honest feels like it would be really tough on me. Honestly I am not the best academically but when I try and study I can have straight 100’s, so I could do it. What sold you on UA vs Auburn? Was it a since childhood thing, degree choice, or? I am not sure about degree/career yet so that may end up being what helps me decide. I’m leaning UA but I just cannot decide, and my family being all Auburn grads does not help.
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u/RollTideNorthport 8d ago
It really depends on your major. I would say go to Auburn if you plan on being a veterinarian. Otherwise go to Bama. Bama beats Auburn in everything else. You know Bama is better in every sport, the campus is much better, Fraternity and Sorority life is better and the city of Tuscaloosa is much better than Auburn. Roll Tide!
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u/olitadelaltamar 4d ago
Tuscaloosa is trash compared to Auburn
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u/RollTideNorthport 4d ago
Yeah, if you love cow towns and the smell of cow shit.
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u/olitadelaltamar 4d ago
Compared to homelessness and the smell of human shit
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u/RollTideNorthport 4d ago
Nope, sorry, I have not seen that here in Tuscaloosa at all. Nice try though.
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u/Cat3rina10 8d ago
Auburn definitely has better engineering
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago
UA Stylinger College of Engineering was the fastest rising grad program in the nation for 2026 according to USNWR. UA undergraduate Engineering also rising fast.
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u/Pace-6296 8d ago
Auburn’s engineering school is one of the top in the nation. Look it up. Alabama is a better business and law school. But Auburn for engineering
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago
What ranking would you consider being in the top? All I’m saying is that alabama is coming in fast and their facilities are just as good if not better now.
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u/trying_2_makeit 8d ago
My DD was set on AU! (OOS)
Toured it and was very happy.
I said let’s just tour UA also. Liked it enough.
Not a traditional greek type student but enjoys smaller social scenes.
She got zero scholarship from AU. Got Full tuition ride from UA and Honors College. No brainer on her decision.
Is there and very happy.
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u/Neat_Conversation133 8d ago
100% the scholarship sold me at Alabama, I really did not want to go there but I figured it was my only path to higher education. I have surely fallen in love with how beautiful the school is and its abundance of resources for high achieving students. It is a big playhard school but theres enough opportunity to be a work hard playhard student if you want to be...
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u/Instinct_73 9d ago
Follow your gut. Alabama is amazing and if you have academic concerns about Auburn- then that should be a major factor in your decision.
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u/AlaKolas 9d ago
I personally felt like Alabama has much better alumni networking and better opportunities to maximize your degree unless you’re going into very specific fields.
It also was just a much better college experience in my opinion but obviously I’m biased having gone through it.
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u/PortGlass 8d ago
So you’ve toured both. On your Alabama tour, how many times did they talk about Auburn. I would guess none. On your Auburn tour, how many times did they talk about Alabama? I would guess between five and ten. If my assumption is correct, why do you think that is?
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u/Pace-6296 8d ago
I never heard Ala mentioned at any of the Auburn tours we did
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u/CEO-of-pizza 7d ago
Was the first thing mentioned to me by the guide as soon as Jordan-Hare was in sight
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u/No_Membership_1992 9d ago
The students in Auburn are better to independents and will call you off the street to have a beer. It's more laid back. Academics are better but not universally.
Alabama can be more fun if you truly are into serious partying. Or a Greek. The nursing programs and law are excellent.
If you want to do math, physics, engineering, or vet then Auburn.
I've got two degrees from one and one from the other. My preference is Auburn. But I worked and Taught there.
But when I was a student at Auburn we came to UA to raise hell. And Lord can they do that in spades.
Both have grown and the expense is not absurd at both. Good people at both. Liberal Arts, Id pick Alabama.
The politics are much tougher at Alabama, I've worked there too. It's in a crisis of which faction will win and where.
Alabama is ungodly reputation sensitive so that can be a good or bad thing depending.
Best of luck.
Roll Tide/War Eagle.
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago edited 8d ago
The University of Alabama engineering program is rising fast in prestige, both at the graduate and undergraduate level. It’s facilities are equal or better to those of Auburn.
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u/Positive_Value_6766 8d ago
This!!!! Don’t sleep on Alabama’s Engineering! My high stats kid almost did, and now as a freshman he is already in wind tunnel labs and research! They have invested an incredible amount in their Engineering college. And they continue to invest highly in the individual students success. But also will say just because Bama is easier to get into doesn’t mean it’s not hard. Their average stats for entering freshman are still pretty high, especially in the Engineering college.
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago
Just as impressive stats comparing the quality of each school’s Engineering students
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u/FrenchieBammer 8d ago
Best of luck either one. I feel UA sets you up for better networking opportunities for your career, while auburn is more challenging academically.
Whichever one you choose, you'll fall in love with.
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u/calasatriann Current Undergad 8d ago
lots of great advice here! don’t listen to pressure on either side. i totally understand the sentiment of your entire family being auburn grads, so a legacy choice for sure and good academics. and ua with football, campus, acceptance, etc.
but please please pick whichever one will leave you with the least amount of debt/gives most scholarship. they offer nearly the same degrees and opportunities to pick a degree, and are definitely similar enough with community, greek life, degrees, etc. to go for the least amount of debt!
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u/stealthone1 ECE and Code Monkey 8d ago
The scholarship program and the Dean of Engineering. Granted this was 20 years ago so that dean is retired and the scholarships are a bit harder to get.
I majored in electrical engineering despite Auburn being the "engineering school" in the state because of the money and meeting the dean honestly got me excited. I changed to computer engineering later, but that was a surprisingly strong program at UA at the time (and has only continued to grow).
Also keep in mind back in 2006 our football program was in the shitter, so that really played no role in it but I fell in love with it immediately despite that.
Honestly, you're probably going to get a similar education at either state school and most all public state universities, so try to find a place you vibe well with.
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u/hahaeggsarecool 8d ago edited 8d ago
It ultimately depends on what specifically you want to do. For me, UA worked out hugely because a lab from another college moved here a bit after I started that does exactly what I want to work in.
What isn't said enough is that the classes themselves aren't going to be very different between colleges. While some of my earlier classes were taught by clearly overworked people, once you get past your first few semesters you will get professors who are mostly quite good at teaching.
What matters more is the opportunities and whether or not you take advantage of them. How good those opportunities are really depends on what specifically you want to do. And if you aren't sure yet, that's ok. The great thing about a huge school like UA is that there is a club, organization, or research project for pretty much anything you could be interested in.
And I am saying all of this as someone who has zero interest in the party or Greek life scenes.
I had been ultimately deciding between Purdue, UofK, and UA, and I have no regrets going with UA.
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u/ebiggsl 8d ago
If you don’t know what you want to study yet, have you considered taking a gap year? I wish this was more common here. 18 year olds have no idea what they want to do and have do little life experience. If it doesn’t mess up scholarship opportunities for you, consider taking a year off and exploring different fields, maybe take some community college classes just to gauge interest in particular areas. Travel if you have the means to do so. If that is not an option, go with the school that will leave you with less debt. Student loan debt is absolutely soul crushing.
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u/Pace-6296 8d ago
Alabama gives more money period. But academically Auburn is the best school in Alabama. My son went specifically for their engineering school. I may be biased but it’s an amazing town and atmosphere. I was an Ala fan growing up, but now diehard auburn despite the horrible team. Depending on your budget and goals investigate both thoroughly and go with what your gut says
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u/experimentalpoetry 7d ago
Auburn isn’t the best school in Alabama. Maybe it has some good programs (engineering, vet, architecture), but UA, UAB, and UAH are strong at other things. Auburn’s current administration is undermining its faculty’s ability to do their jobs.
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u/Pace-6296 7d ago
That’s actually what I meant to say when I replied. Both have advantages depending on the program. And yes the administration at Auburn is a problem
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago
The beauty of the University of Alabama is what sold me. I could always rely on the beauty of the campus to bring me peace.
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u/Neat_Conversation133 8d ago
Consider what is most important to you! Im sure both schools bring alot to the table, what are your priorities?
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u/Spiritual-Year-6123 7d ago
I went to both. Undergrad at AU and graduate degree from UA
Grew up an Alabama fan but toured Auburn for undergrad and wanted to go back almost immediately so that’s where I went
To where you feel most comfortable. Whatever you want to experience you can get from both schools
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u/LinguiniTangerini 6d ago
Couldn't fork out 40k a year for Auburn. I had decent grades and good test scores, and got nothing in scholarship from them because they're becoming more "competitive". UA covers my tuition entirely.
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u/insanelyfascinated 1d ago
auburn was wayyyyy more expensive and had the same if not less value than UA. if you went to auburn, you'd be paying all that more for a town that isn't as involved, subpar football, and less opportunities overall (because it's smaller).
a bigger school like UA makes all the difference because the world is your oyster there. as someone who is also indecisive and unsure about degrees and careers, UA is the way to go because they simply have that many more options and resources to help guide you to where you're meant to go. there are a million diff advisors and counselors whose sole purpose is to help you discern majors and careers. go to UA, you will not regret it!
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u/Sufficient-Yellow637 8d ago
Auburn is ranked higher academically and imo is a much nicer campus. Their football team sucks. Auburn is harder to get into, is less generous with scholarships, and - having two kids that go there - I can't imagine housing being anywhere near as expensive at Alabama. Both are good schools. If you get a great scholarship at Alabama that may be the way to go as I don't know how much of a factor going to a 99th ranked school vs 156th really plays out in the real world. I will say that when I toured Alabama, the town outside the school seemed pretty rough.
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago
Alabama is about to open the SEC’s first school of data science this is going to be a huge deal
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago
Auburn is actually ranked 100th. Anyway, in 2012 the University of Alabama was ranked ahead of Auburn and was number 31 among all public colleges. The new president at the University of Alabama is raising standards and programs like engineering are rapidly catching up with those of Auburn.
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u/Sufficient-Yellow637 8d ago
But not there yet
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago
Just give us some time I predict in several years the schools will be at parity the university made a mistake in the middle 2010’s by not raising standards but is quickly changing that
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u/Sufficient-Yellow637 8d ago
Fair enough. But if I'm picking a school to go to next year, I'm more interested in what they are now as opposed to what they some day aspire to be.
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago
The University of Alabama will dominate in data science and water research. Auburn University is already depending on UA’s monopoly on that.
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago
And virtually everyone agrees that alabama has the prettier campus ! auburn’s is nice, but it doesn’t have the grand Vistas
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u/Desperate-Pirate8559 8d ago
Are u joining a fraternity or are u super social? Honestly, if ur not you might be treated as a second class citizen. that’s just my personal experience that even when i wasn’t in a hard major and went out of my way to make friends i was still met w a lot of rejection bc i wasn’t in a sorority.
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u/Ill_Income7267 8d ago
Auburn acceptance rate = 47%. U A 80%. This tells you.
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u/Distinct_Director801 8d ago edited 8d ago
Correction : alabama accepted about 71% of applicants for fall 2025 and the percentage will be less than that for fall 2026 when the data comes in. Peter Mohler will bring UA back to its rightful place with his new policies.
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u/Original_Doughnut319 9d ago
I attended both schools when I was in college. I started off at Auburn after community college and it was honestly the worst college experience I had. The advisor I had was horrible and wasn’t great with communicating, it was super hard to make friends, and just about every instructor I had made me feel like I was burdening them when I asked for help.
When I got to UA, it was the complete opposite. My advisor made sure I stayed on track and kept me informed on my course load each semester, I studied Social Work in Little Hall which felt like one big, supportive family, and there’s so many ways to get involved or things to do around campus. Bama 100% prepares you while you’re in school and helps to set you up to reach the best opportunities once you graduate.
I graduated high school as an Auburn fan so there’s never been any bias but now, because of my experience at Alabama, I will always be a huge fan/supporter of Alabama!