re: High School Senior Recognition Day at Church - SEC Schools They Will Be Attending

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Question for you- why do you think that is? It is JUST the difference in academic requirements for incoming freshman or something else?

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I can't speak for AU as I'm a Bama grad; however, a ton of Bama legacies are going to AU at least in the Huntsville area for a couple reasons. The parents are concerned with the party atmosphere that UA tends to express. A lot of that is social media with how easy it is to video parties. Parties haven't changed over the years and AU parties too but it seems that UA suffers from a reputation standpoint moreso than AU. Momentum also causes more kids to go to one place more than the other. If a bunch of kids are going to one school a lot of their peers want to be with their friends even if they had no previous connection to said school. AU just has a better momentum with in-state kids at the moment. That is not to say that Bama won't come back around like when I was in school 20 years ago.
I've spoken to the new UA president and I believe Bama is going to start turning this around. We are already gaining in in-state students over the past 2 or 3 years to a point where the number of in-state kids at both AU and UA are almost the exact same. As I've previously noted though the in-state kids seem to come from the rural areas and this was the same thing AU did for almost their entire existence until the past 20 years or so and they ended up fine.

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In almost every state that has a Flag/Ag designation... And the communities they are in are not too dissimilar... The Ag school has way more in state students... and generally the Ag school basically routes the Flag school in terms of rural enrollment. The Flag usually does better with suburban students and out of state students.

Here in Oklahoma... OU only out recruits Oklahoma State for freshmen in state enrollees in only about four of the 77 counties... And the four that they beat OSU in are basically the ones right around Norman.

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That is actually interesting, and makes me feel better about UAs stance in state.

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Granted it's HIGHLY anecdotal but I live in Vestavia and it seems like the bama fans aroudn here outnumber the auburn fans like 10 to 1.

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That’s odd. Here’s been the split out of Vestavia for the past several years:

Fall 2024: 149 to AU / 90 to Bama
Fall 2023: 147 to AU / 107 to Bama
Fall 2022: 134 to AU / 84 to Bama
Fall 2021: 101 to AU / 85 to Bama
Fall 2020: 133 to AU / 91 to Bama
Fall 2019: 111 to AU / 97 to Bama
Fall 2018: 119 to AU / 69 to Bama
Fall 2017: 117 to AU / 70 to Bama
Fall 2016: 121 to AU / 97 to Bama
Fall 2015: 120 to AU / 92 to Bama
Fall 2014: 130 to AU / 85 to Bama
Fall 2013: 136 to AU / 98 to Bama

That’s a 60-40 split during a 12-year period. Homewood has been even more lopsided towards Auburn during this time period.

I grew up in Vestavia and it was lopsided towards Auburn when I graduated high school in the late 1990s. It’s getting to the point where kids who went to Auburn and then moved back home are now having kids who are looking to go to school and they go to the same place. Once that sets in it’s no longer a trend… it’s just the way it is.

Auburn focused hard on getting kids from the better Alabama high schools… the OTM area, Madison area, Auburn High, the better schools down in Baldwin County, and the Montgomery private schools….

While Auburn was doing this, Alabama was focused on attracting more kids from Illinois, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Those are probably great kids who are now successful, but because the state of Alabama doesn’t have the most thriving high-paying job market, most of those kids are moving back home to begin their careers. As a result, Auburn has gained the upper hand with students from almost every single Top 20 high school in the state.

Interesting, thanks for that.