quote:
I have heard that UA does not count special enrollment students toward those numbers. There are quit a few of those students allowed in order to increase enrollment.

I always love that qualifier "I have heard". Forgets facts or hard data, I guess that's all that's needed to make something the gospel truth.

I assume the "special enrollment students" and their ACT scores are factored in. They're factored in with all students that made 29s, 30s, and 31s on their ACT therefore bringing the average down to 25.2. This is pretty typical at all schools. Alabama and Auburn, for example, have a very similar mean ACT average for the vast majority of students. The difference comes from Auburn decided to cap the low end at 23 whereas Bama capping the low end at 21. The ones making 21s on their ACT may have had really good GPAs and overall resumes but suck at taking standardized tests like the ACT/SAT. Neither approach is incorrect btw. It's just the difference between Bama's 25.6 ACT average and Auburn's 27 ACT average.

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Posted by 15sammy34

Auburn, AL

Member since Oct 2011

16137 posts

Posted on 1/3/13 at 2:29 pm to Govt Tide

I wouldn't trust the guy that told me what I posted previously on many topics, but academics at Alabama is one of them. Alabama is a good school, and you won't hear me argue with that unless I'm just trying to get a rise out of someone. I took his word as a UA graduate, an involved alumni, and an educator in the state.

Also, I feel like I've read that the two schools count their incoming class average test scores differently, but I'm having trouble finding the link on my phone. I'll try to remember to look it up when I get to a computer later.

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Posted by Irons Puppet

Birmingham

Member since Jun 2009

25901 posts

Posted on 1/3/13 at 3:16 pm to Govt Tide

quote:
I always love that qualifier "I have heard". Forgets facts or hard data, I guess that's all that's needed to make something the gospel truth

That is from talking to several HS Guidance Counselors when discussing UA va AU. Alabama has had a huge push to increase enrollment, as a result they have opened the floodgates on HS enrollment. In order not to slip in the ratings, they have offered much more money to the better students and have performed some creative accounting on "special enrollment students". Each school reports these numbers based on their own criteria, so there is nothing unethical with what they are doing. I was also told that these special enrollment students do not even have to meet the Universities minimum requirements. I am sure Bama will tighten it up once their enrollment goals are met.