Largest freshman class in school history this fall…

Yeti

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Way behind ole miss though. Not sure why except they take anyone
 

Maroon13

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Way behind ole miss though. Not sure why except they take anyone
I think it has to do with Greek opportunities for out of state. More specifically sororities.

We had 64% in state students total. They had 51%. Their largest out of state students are from Texas.

They have 16 sororities and have pledge classes of approximately 150. We have 12 sororities and cap pledge classes around 80-100. It's easier to get in a sorority at OM compared to UTx.
 

Duke Humphrey

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I think it has to do with Greek opportunities for out of state. More specifically sororities.

We had 64% in state students total. They had 51%. Their largest out of state students are from Texas.

They have 16 sororities and have pledge classes of approximately 150. We have 12 sororities and cap pledge classes around 80-100. It's easier to get in a sorority at OM compared to UTx.
Lots of truth in this, in that social status for families in affluent DFW, Houston, Atlanta, etc. who have kids that cannot get into UT, UGA, etc. Also, they dare not send their kids to a school with "State" in the title.
 
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Leeshouldveflanked

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When my daughter graduated from HS we received a ton of stuff, emails, phone calls, direct mailings, shirts etc from Ole Miss while getting very little from MSU. All of this despite both parents being MSU grads and her having a 4.0 HS gpa.
The good thing is she was not swayed and went to MSU and maintained a 4.0 gpa including her Masters and being a Stephen D Lee Scholar.
 

ChE1997

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Lots of truth in this, in that social status for families in affluent DFW, Houston, Atlanta, etc. who have kids that cannot get into UT, UGA, etc. Also, they dare not send their kids to a school with "State" in the title.
And Mississippi Colleges are cheap. Even with out of state tuition, the cost is comparable to UT or TAMU.
 

8dog

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I think it has to do with Greek opportunities for out of state. More specifically sororities.

We had 64% in state students total. They had 51%. Their largest out of state students are from Texas.

They have 16 sororities and have pledge classes of approximately 150. We have 12 sororities and cap pledge classes around 80-100. It's easier to get in a sorority at OM compared to UTx.
Yeah but thats been the case for a long time though so you have to ask what recently changed.
 

WilCoDawg

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When my daughter graduated from HS we received a ton of stuff, emails, phone calls, direct mailings, shirts etc from Ole Miss while getting very little from MSU. All of this despite both parents being MSU grads and her having a 4.0 HS gpa.
The good thing is she was not swayed and went to MSU and maintained a 4.0 gpa including her Masters and being a Stephen D Lee Scholar.
Better watch it! You’ll be accused of bashing MSU with such comments. It’s pretty pathetic how badly we recruit students from your situation to the situation I keep hearing about from kids up here when students actually tour campus.
 
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Duke Humphrey

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Better watch it! You’ll be accused of bashing MSU with such comments. It’s pretty pathetic how badly we recruit students from your situation to the situation I keep hearing about from kids up here when students actually tour campus.
Did you get a response from the Admissions person whose email was posted in your thread? Interested in what was said.
 

johnson86-1

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Lots of truth in this, in that social status for families in affluent DFW, Houston, Atlanta, etc. who have kids that cannot get into UT, UGA, etc. Also, they dare not send their kids to a school with "State" in the title.
This is a surprisingly huge deal. Tons of people outside the state of Mississippi don't realize that Ole Miss and University of Mississippi are the same school. Ole Miss has become an acceptable alternative for Texas parents that don't want to admit that they would balk at paying SMU or TCU prices.
 
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johnson86-1

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Way behind ole miss though. Not sure why except they take anyone
Are we way behind Ole Miss? It looks like they had 16,712 total undergraduates in 2022-2023. We had 16,497 just in Starkville. I'm assuming they had more than 300 remote or regional students.
 

Pilgrimdawg

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When my daughter graduated from HS we received a ton of stuff, emails, phone calls, direct mailings, shirts etc from Ole Miss while getting very little from MSU. All of this despite both parents being MSU grads and her having a 4.0 HS gpa.
The good thing is she was not swayed and went to MSU and maintained a 4.0 gpa including her Masters and being a Stephen D Lee Scholar.
When my kids were in high school 20 years ago we received a bunch of mail from UM too. Whenever they made the mistake of including a postage paid return envelope I would fill it with gravel and stick it back in the mail box.
 

She Mate Me

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When my kids were in high school 20 years ago we received a bunch of mail from UM too. Whenever they made the mistake of including a postage paid return envelope I would fill it with gravel and stick it back in the mail box.

I needed this laugh, thanks.
 
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Mobile Bay

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And Mississippi Colleges are cheap. Even with out of state tuition, the cost is comparable to UT or TAMU.
Add in that it is stupid easy to get an out of state fee waiver. But it's also hard to keep as a freshman.
 
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Yeti

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Are we way behind Ole Miss? It looks like they had 16,712 total undergraduates in 2022-2023. We had 16,497 just in Starkville. I'm assuming they had more than 300 remote or regional students.
Well last year they had over 4400 freshmen I don’t expect less this year so yea we are falling behind
 

maroonfriday

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Well last year they had over 4400 freshmen I don’t expect less this year so yea we are falling behind
Last year was the first fall in a while that we were behind Ole Miss in enrollment. They get the benefit of being able to count UMMC so their actual enrollment is still behind ours
 
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Duke Humphrey

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Last year was the first fall in a while that we were behind Ole Miss in enrollment. They get the benefit of being able to count UMMC so their actual enrollment is still behind ours
We also have a considerably higher transfer rate of students from CJCs than UM.
 

WilCoDawg

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Did you get a response from the Admissions person whose email was posted in your thread? Interested in what was said.
I never reached out. I wouldn’t be able to add anything to an email that wasn’t said in the posts.
 

greenbean.sixpack

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I think it has to do with Greek opportunities for out of state. More specifically sororities.

We had 64% in state students total. They had 51%. Their largest out of state students are from Texas.

They have 16 sororities and have pledge classes of approximately 150. We have 12 sororities and cap pledge classes around 80-100. It's easier to get in a sorority at OM compared to UTx.
I've sat through the recruiting pitches at TAMU, UTexas and UGA. Not only is it much harder to get into those schools, but the application process is very tedious. To get in a MS school, you just cut 'em a check.
 
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Duke Humphrey

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I never reached out. I wouldn’t be able to add anything to an email that wasn’t said in the posts.
So instead of reaching out to someone who is over recruiting, you take to anonymous message board to make blanket accusations when our freshman numbers appear to be the best they’ve ever been.

sounds like bashing to me
 

The Cooterpoot

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OM includes UMC. They had less than 20K on campus last year. It's a miracle we get the numbers we do with how the state board keeps their foot on our neck. Our undergrad enrollment is larger as is our campus enrollment.
 
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soccerdad

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On my twins, son went to UM daughter to State. My son said 25% of students were from Tx, Fl, Ga who couldn’t get in schools they wanted. He did say he was glad he went to private school MRA where he had to do his work because lots of people he knew had to take remedial courses because they couldn’t do basic work because all they were being taught was to take tests to score on ACT and State exams. He knew of several that had a 1.2 average in November but ended with 2.00 for the semester to keep them school eligible. Majority from out of state used good bit of drugs he said. That said, State didn’t recruit both really well only sending mailers every month. Our student scene has improved somewhat but that is what has held our school back. A consistent university symbol being changed ever few years doesn’t help.
 

WilCoDawg

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So instead of reaching out to someone who is over recruiting, you take to anonymous message board to make blanket accusations when our freshman numbers appear to be the best they’ve ever been.

sounds like bashing to me
What am I going to tell her that she surely hasn’t already heard or knows is happening?

I’m also not sure what our freshman class numbers have to do with pisspoor on-campus tours? One doesn’t negate the other or prove the other wrong. Imagine our classes if the tours weren’t handled by kids discussing Harry Potter nonstop.
 

8dog

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What am I going to tell her that she surely hasn’t already heard or knows is happening?

I’m also not sure what our freshman class numbers have to do with pisspoor on-campus tours? One doesn’t negate the other or prove the other wrong. Imagine our classes if the tours weren’t handled by kids discussing Harry Potter nonstop.
Because there is a big difference between a one on one conversation/email and someone complaining on a message board. One is far more effective. No one makes changes based on a bad Yelp review.
 
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WilCoDawg

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Because there is a big difference between a one on one conversation/email and someone complaining on a message board. One is far more effective. No one makes changes based on a bad Yelp review.
To be clear, I original post was simply asking the question if anyone else had noticed what I have heard from hs students in my area. What I gathered:

-yes, our on-campus tours suck

-our overall recruitment sucks compared to other schools

-we use Mullen-era type recruiting efforting

-we don’t offer near the amount of financial enticement other schools (and ole miss) do

I‘m not here to tell anyone how to do their job. If that person doesn’t know already, they aren’t doing a good job.

And I have reached out before on our awful efforting/strain to get kids in my area to MSU. It went nowhere and there seemed to be no concern about it.

This is why I won’t waste my time reaching out to anyone about our pisspoor recruiting strain. Feel free to run with it if you’re so disgusted by my “bashing”. Hint: I wasn’t bashing.
 

Villagedawg

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On my twins, son went to UM daughter to State. My son said 25% of students were from Tx, Fl, Ga who couldn’t get in schools they wanted. He did say he was glad he went to private school MRA where he had to do his work because lots of people he knew had to take remedial courses because they couldn’t do basic work because all they were being taught was to take tests to score on ACT and State exams. He knew of several that had a 1.2 average in November but ended with 2.00 for the semester to keep them school eligible. Majority from out of state used good bit of drugs he said. That said, State didn’t recruit both really well only sending mailers every month. Our student scene has improved somewhat but that is what has held our school back. A consistent university symbol being changed ever few years doesn’t help.
A little known fact is that if you can score proficient on Mississippi state tests, you are prepared to take on any class they throw at you as a freshman. These aren't the tests we took in school, I promise.

Edited to add: maybe not higher maths like cal unless you took it in HS.
 
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Forrest4Moore

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BamaRushTok. (No sarcastirics).

They have marketed well as a "party school" Their Sororities are just behind Bama ... Add a marketing tool like social media, that attracts many out of staters.
You’re right. Bama has seen a significant increase in female applications, admissions, and sorority rush participants the last 3-4 years. All due largely to the social media effect.

Interestingly, Bama female enrollment from Chicago area and the the Northeastern US has exploded as those girls have become attracted to the southern college Greek culture and social life.

Has to be an interesting dynamic for church obsessed country girls from Cullman, AL to be in the same pledge class as some trust fund/ 5th Ave shopping obsessed girls from Long Island and Connecticut.
 
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thatsbaseball

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Just looking freshman class size leaves a lot to be desired IMO. The make up of the class (ACT scores etc) and the likelihood of their staying in school and graduating is way more important to me.
 

The Cooterpoot

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Mississippi State doesn't like to get outside its ultra conservative comfort zone. That's leadership. Some like it, some don't. But it's over the top a bit and needs to loosen up some. Our students have fewer activities on campus because of it.
 

OG Goat Holder

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This is a surprisingly huge deal. Tons of people outside the state of Mississippi don't realize that Ole Miss and University of Mississippi are the same school. Ole Miss has become an acceptable alternative for Texas parents that don't want to admit that they would balk at paying SMU or TCU prices.
It really is. Status is the primary motivator with many, many, many of these parents these days. While the economy is still reeling from gaping holes in jobs and inflation, these people are still selling this dream of having a college 'experience' full of partying and fraternity/sorority life. It's literally Real Housewives sort of things.

Even people that are already rich chase, perhaps moreso than anyone else. Look at Lori Laughlin and all that stuff they got into, just to say they had a kid on a team in a certain school (or whatever it was).

Shallow, shallow people out there for sure.
 
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