Auburn University

Date: Feb 03 2009
Major: PreLaw and Legal (This Major's Salary over time)
First and foremost to any prospective students, you need to understand that 75% or more of the "negative" comments on here were from well over 3 or 4 years ago. The campus since then has become a much more "pedestrian/walking" type of area and there have been numerous renovations to older buildings along with multiple new projects that will make campus even better. There has also been more restaurants, stores and bars that have also been built to help improve the college life.

For here on out starting in the Fall of '09, the residence halls will become elite with the completion of The Village (4 person, suite-styled dorms that will also have a ton of facilities included). The Quad is also very nice still regardless, so I would highly recommend choosing from those locations as a freshman or off-campus housing if you'd like since you can.

Auburn has immensely improved their academic overall standards over the past several years. A 3.0 or so in high school simply doesn't cut it anymore for the majority of the larger SEC schools anymore, and Auburn certainly is no exception. Don't expect to have much success in the classes here unless you had a 3.5+ GPA in high school and have very good study habits. Even if you slip in between the cracks with acceptance with scores significantly less, you probably shouldn't come here if you really don't want to improve your academic performance.

Academics are why you go to college and if you disagree and think it's all about the booze then I'd recommend going to Alabama.

Coming from an out-of-state (Ohio) school, I at first was a little worried about whether I'd have a hard time meeting new people and making new friends. From day 1 everyone seemed extremely nice and open minded from where people are from because simply it's just not like how it used to be here. It's not die-hard "old south" anymore like Alabama or Ole Miss, but it is certainly still very southern. Due to the academic improvement and higher acceptance standards that I explained before, Auburn has attracted much more students from around distant states that has certainly helped with diversity and overall comfort for those not from somewhere nearby.

I'm sure that many of you believe or have been told that it's useless to go to a southern school like Auburn if you don't want to join the Greek life. Yes, the Greek life is very strong here, but it certainly doesn't necessarily cause "social suicide" anymore if you decide it's not right for you. The Greek scene has also been affected by the higher academic standards. The Greeks have become much more academically inclined and I would argue that Auburn now has the highest Greek academic standards between the schools with just as strong (or better) Greek systems.

Even though I'm sure you've heard this from every school review, there truly is a place for everyone here at Auburn and you'll find many people just like yourself.

…

Overall socially, people love to have a great time and party down here just like the rest of the big SEC schools, but the difference here is that the people here know when and where is the right place. The majority understands that while having a great time partying they also need to keep up their grades. At other certain places with less academic standards (Alabama, Ole Miss, etc), students typically drop out because they focus only upon the social aspect of college rather than academics. At Auburn you don't have to worry about this because 90% of the social scene is also people who understand that academics are why they are even there, so many of your friends will keep you on track as well.

To put everything in a quick note:

Not what it used to be (Campus, Social Scene, Academically, etc)

Much more selective with admissions, thus bringing more attention and diversity to the school

Older buildings have been renovated mostly and newer facilities have extremely improved residence life.

Not much areas to park in the main areas on campus due to making the school much more pedestrian-friendly.

As for my own experiences though I have really indulged myself with the Auburn spirit and I am 100% satisfied with my decision to come here. War Eagle!