re: If you got into all 14 SEC schools which would you choose to attend?

Assuming I'm still majoring in engineering and have a full scholarship to all:

1) A&M
2) Vanderbilt
3) Florida
4) Auburn
5) MSU
6) Georgia
7) Tennessee
8) Missouri
9) Alabama
10) LSU
11) USC
12) Arkansas
13) Kentucky
14) Ole Miss

I could have definitely got accepted into all of them, and probably a good scholarship to most if not all. I chose LSU, and I don't regret it at all

I could have gone to any of these schools and went to A&M.

I got my Undergrad and Masters at UGA, so I'll leave them out and not take into account my hatred for Florida and Auburn.

1. Vandy
2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. Auburn
5. A&M

3rd generation UGA grad, current Athens resident, so yea I'm biased. Leaving out UGA, I'd rank them like this:

1) Vandy-If you could go there for the same cost as any other SEC school, it seems like it would be hard to turn down

2) Ole Miss-Seems awesome from my friends that went there

3) LSU-Like the city, great sports, unique culture

4) Tennessee-Probably have this one a good bit higher than most people, I love mountains.

5) Florida-Great school, Gainesville is a decent college town, even though the Floridian culture is not my cup or tea

6) Texas A&M-Great school, I like College Station better than many people rank it as a college town, the lower female % is a negative

7) Alabama

8) Arkansas-Honestly don't know much about the school, but the area looks very nice and is growing

9) Auburn-Had plenty of friends go there, not my favorite college town, but like anywhere else, it's what you make of it

10) South Carolina
11) Missouri
12) Kentucky
13) Miss State

quote:

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6) Texas A&M-Great school, I like College Station better than many people rank it as a college town, the lower female % is a negative

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A&M is 51/49 Female to Male now. The days of being an "all male" school are LONG gone. Honestly I don't think there is a big difference between any of the SEC schools in terms of quality of social scene, each one is just a little different.

Lots of folks like to rag on CS but it is consistently rated as one of the best cities to live in and along with Oxford are considered two of the top college towns. The nice thing is that it has grown so much that now there really isn't much it doesn't have anymore and it is still 60 miles from Houston, 90 miles from Austin, 180 miles from DFW, and 150 miles from San Antonio. It's not as scenic as some of the other SEC schools because it is flat and we don't get the rain needed for the big trees and lush vegetation though. Still some really nice spots on campus like Research Park:



I think over time as more SEC folks make the trip out to CS they will be surprised. For instance a lot of people think it is a male oriented school with a heavy military bend that specializes in Ag and Engineering. It's just not anymore. Not only does it have a huge business school but the Bush Library and corresponding school also made the Liberal Arts much stronger over the last 20 years. A&M even holds one of the oldest "Cons" for Science Fiction writers and houses George RR Martin's (Game of Thrones) works (he is speaking there later this month). That's why the "cult" comments don't really speak to the school. In a way it is true but in many ways it is not.

Likewise I think a lot of Aggies will be blown away by some of the scenery at the other SEC schools and the Old South feel. So many of the SEC schools have a peaceful and traditional feel to them whereas A&M has such a mix of cultures and always seems to be under construction. Most of them also have hills and lots of big trees so they don't feel as wide open as A&M does. I went to the UF campus this last Summer and it amazed me how you can't hardly see more than a couple buildings at a time do to the size of the trees. Most of the SEC campuses have the same feel.

The biggest cultural shift between A&M and the rest of the SEC schools really isn't the Corps or history, it's Texas vs the Old South.