re: Why does University of Alabama have so many out of state students?

Contrary to the bullshite that gets posted on here so much by the uga fans, a vast majority of the Atlanta kids that go to Bama or AU do so because they want to experience something different than high school friends. Out of the 15 or so kids from my graduating class, every one of them except me could have gotten into UGA. I didn't apply to any Georgia schools because I wanted to be well away from home. And my reason for going to AU was chasing a girl like a dumbass, who ended up going to Clemson which was tougher to get into. It's just a thing around Atlanta that a portion of kids are drawn to the two main Alabama schools. They want to be far enough away from the parents to be independent, but close enough to go home when they want. Athens is a fun town, but no way would I have chosen it over Auburn, and I'm sure the Atlanta area Bama kids would say the same thing. All three campuses offer different things that resonate with certain kids.