Quote:
Originally Posted by MdtwnATL
To be fair, we have to fight the name "Alabama" too. Even though we have an acceptance rate of just above 50%, people will make ignorant assumptions. Schools like Auburn and Clemson get to avoid that.
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Unfortunately, UA's acceptance rate is not anywhere close to 50%. I know UA reported for years an acceptance rate of between 50 and 60%, but they have updated their stats, and the acceptance rate has been around 80% for years! See
https://oira.ua.edu/factbook/reports...te-admissions/. Months ago, I emailed Admissions and politely asked them to explain this strange development, and I have yet to receive a response. I don't understand how they got away with claiming that UA had such a low acceptance rate for so many years, but regardless, as you can see above, UA is no longer making that claim.
I too was very proud of UA for becoming more selective, but once I learned that its claims of 50-60% acceptance rate had been either a lie or a mistake, it got me angry. Why are the caretakers of UA so self satisfied when the reputation remains sooooo bad? I know they are making strides to improve research programs at UA, but the most public steps they take to try to improve UA's rep, involve simple minded acquiescence to "diversity," which IMO just reinforces the narrative that Alabama is some bad place that must be punished.
UA Board can learn much from TPTB at Clemson, Auburn and UGA. The worst thing the UA board can do to overcome negative perceptions about UA is to let in many lower quality students.