MSU recruiting…

msugrad2003 · Friday at 7:57 AM

No. This is not about athletics or sports recruiting. This is about recruiting students to attend MSU.
my oldest is about to begin senior year of HS. So we are going through all the college prep stuff. Also, our friends have kids that same age or slightly older. Maybe it’s just my small corner of the planet (or state) but a lot, and I mean a LOT, of our friends who attended and bleed TSUN have kids who are going to school in Starkville. One friend who lives in Georgia is a big Auburn fan and graduate. His son starts MSU this fall. I asked him why the chose State and he said it was the incredible job they did recruiting his son (again this isn’t an athletic topic). He said their son loved the small town atmosphere of Starkville and the university as a whole. They have already purchased season tickets.
TSUN will get theirs but it’s interesting to see this shift of kids deviating from what their parents did
Well done to our university for the recruitment of new students.

dawgstudent · Friday at 7:59 AM

msugrad2003 said:
No. This is not about athletics or sports recruiting. This is about recruiting students to attend MSU.
my oldest is about to begin senior year of HS. So we are going through all the college prep stuff. Also, our friends have kids that same age or slightly older. Maybe it’s just my small corner of the planet (or state) but a lot, and I mean a LOT, of our friends who attended and bleed TSUN have kids who are going to school in Starkville. One friend who lives in Georgia is a big Auburn fan and graduate. His son starts MSU this fall. I asked him why the chose State and he said it was the incredible job they did recruiting his son (again this isn’t an athletic topic). He said their son loved the small town atmosphere of Starkville and the university as a whole. They have already purchased season tickets.
TSUN will get theirs but it’s interesting to see this shift of kids deviating from what their parents did
Well done to our university for the recruitment of new students.

It's funny to me hear these stories because for every one that says our student recruiting is outstanding - you read one where it says it sucks. There is hardly any consistency.

horshack.sixpack · Friday at 8:12 AM

msugrad2003 said:
No. This is not about athletics or sports recruiting. This is about recruiting students to attend MSU.
my oldest is about to begin senior year of HS. So we are going through all the college prep stuff. Also, our friends have kids that same age or slightly older. Maybe it’s just my small corner of the planet (or state) but a lot, and I mean a LOT, of our friends who attended and bleed TSUN have kids who are going to school in Starkville. One friend who lives in Georgia is a big Auburn fan and graduate. His son starts MSU this fall. I asked him why the chose State and he said it was the incredible job they did recruiting his son (again this isn’t an athletic topic). He said their son loved the small town atmosphere of Starkville and the university as a whole. They have already purchased season tickets.
TSUN will get theirs but it’s interesting to see this shift of kids deviating from what their parents did
Well done to our university for the recruitment of new students.

In Mississippi my perspective is it has always been a graduating class dynamic as much as anything. For whatever reason some classes go majority UM or MSU.

GloryDawg · Friday at 8:14 AM

I know two twins. Both grew up Ole Miss fans. One went to state and one went to Ole Miss. It all came down to scholarship money for their major.

HRMSU · Friday at 8:15 AM

Anecdotal, I'm in TX, but when I hear parents tell me their kids go to ole Miss or state I ask how they like it and I've yet to hear any replies that they don't like state or they are transferring/coming home. I have heard the opposite about ole Miss, of course I've asked more ole Miss parents because the volume I've experienced is more. We just need a visit and we have a great chance.

greenbean.sixpack · Friday at 11:04 AM

HRMSU said:
Anecdotal, I'm in TX, but when I hear parents tell me their kids go to ole Miss or state I ask how they like it and I've yet to hear any replies that they don't like state or they are transferring/coming home. I have heard the opposite about ole Miss, of course I've asked more ole Miss parents because the volume I've experienced is more. We just need a visit and we have a great chance.

My oldest son toured TAMU, the difference between academic standards at TAMU and State/OM is crazy. I mentioned this to some other parents, they said UT was even harder to get into.

wasabaka · Friday at 11:10 AM

msugrad2003 said:
No. This is not about athletics or sports recruiting. This is about recruiting students to attend MSU.
my oldest is about to begin senior year of HS. So we are going through all the college prep stuff. Also, our friends have kids that same age or slightly older. Maybe it’s just my small corner of the planet (or state) but a lot, and I mean a LOT, of our friends who attended and bleed TSUN have kids who are going to school in Starkville. One friend who lives in Georgia is a big Auburn fan and graduate. His son starts MSU this fall. I asked him why the chose State and he said it was the incredible job they did recruiting his son (again this isn’t an athletic topic). He said their son loved the small town atmosphere of Starkville and the university as a whole. They have already purchased season tickets.
TSUN will get theirs but it’s interesting to see this shift of kids deviating from what their parents did
Well done to our university for the recruitment of new students.

Nice try, Mr. MSU Admissions Counselor. Good luck on your performance review!

John Deaux VII · Friday at 11:23 AM

msugrad2003 said:
No. This is not about athletics or sports recruiting. This is about recruiting students to attend MSU.
my oldest is about to begin senior year of HS. So we are going through all the college prep stuff. Also, our friends have kids that same age or slightly older. Maybe it’s just my small corner of the planet (or state) but a lot, and I mean a LOT, of our friends who attended and bleed TSUN have kids who are going to school in Starkville. One friend who lives in Georgia is a big Auburn fan and graduate. His son starts MSU this fall. I asked him why the chose State and he said it was the incredible job they did recruiting his son (again this isn’t an athletic topic). He said their son loved the small town atmosphere of Starkville and the university as a whole. They have already purchased season tickets.
TSUN will get theirs but it’s interesting to see this shift of kids deviating from what their parents did
Well done to our university for the recruitment of new students.

I doubt it's much different from athletics in that the quality of the recruiting job depends on who does the recruiting. Think about all of the assistant coaches we have had over the years - some were great recruiters and there were some that were horrible.

Not everyone can be the John Hevesy of student recruiting..***

OG Goat Holder · Friday at 11:24 AM

msugrad2003 said:
Maybe it’s just my small corner of the planet (or state) but a lot, and I mean a LOT, of our friends who attended and bleed TSUN have kids who are going to school in Starkville. One friend who lives in Georgia is a big Auburn fan and graduate. His son starts MSU this fall. I asked him why the chose State and he said it was the incredible job they did recruiting his son (again this isn’t an athletic topic). He said their son loved the small town atmosphere of Starkville and the university as a whole. They have already purchased season tickets.

If these other school loyalists actually have an option, let's not fool ourselves and pretend they are choosing State because we recruited them better. If that kid had gotten into Auburn and the price was anywhere comparable, he's going to Auburn. Never underestimate a parent's ego when it comes to their kids.

Take this board for example, folks love to brag on that kind of stuff, how high their ACT was, etc. You never hear the other way. We make it sound the best possible. It comes down to this:

- Opportunity
- Money (and major, if known)
- THEN......all the feel good stuff like small town, etc.

You choose between your options. I have a friend in Huntsville who is a big Auburn guy too, and his kid went to State. Likes to pretend they chose it over Auburn. Nah, doesn't work that way. Let's face it, like I said before, a lot of parents chase status, and if they can say their kid is going to an SEC because they chose it for this and that, they still feel they look good.

That said, we should use this to our advantage. Even if we are the 2nd choice, we are creating more State fans. Maybe some of them will stay instate and live. Over time that grows the alumni and fanbase. Opportunities for athletics and economics follow that. Then once you get to critical mass where there's not a whole lot of difference in us and our peers, we can start raising academic standards.

But to be honest we still aren't doing the best we can. Why we haven't dropped OOS tuition to border states, GA and TX (or even just the ATL and DFW metro counties) is beyond me.

BIGDAWG44 · Friday at 11:37 AM

You bring up an interesting market that no one else has done.. season tickets for parents that have kids enrolled at a discount.

scdog1 · Friday at 11:44 AM

greenbean.sixpack said:
My oldest son toured TAMU, the difference between academic standards at TAMU and State/OM is crazy. I mentioned this to some other parents, they said UT was even harder to get into.

This is fact. My son got into TAMU engineering, UT said no. The difference in the ranking isn't that different but UT is very hard to get accepted into the engineering program.

eckie1 · Friday at 11:46 AM

greenbean.sixpack said:
My oldest son toured TAMU, the difference between academic standards at TAMU and State/OM is crazy. I mentioned this to some other parents, they said UT was even harder to get into.

TAMU and UT are two of the most sought after universities in the country. UT has to admit any TX student in the top 5% of their class and TAMU uses top 10%. And that’s just to enroll, not even considering acceptance into the major. In TAMU’s case, they will often defer a student to a satellite campus.

They’re both entirely too big, but what can they do? The have to cull tens of thousands of amazing students every year. I have heard from many alums of both schools that they barely recognize these places anymore.

I’m just glad State offered my son such a good package. He deserves it…. And he’s sure as hell better hang onto it!

00Dawg · Friday at 11:52 AM

Germane to the topic: I did have a family discussion at a wedding this past weekend. Between my first cousins, spouses, and I, 7 out of 10 people are State grads. Between us, we have 8 kids old enough to attend State. We're at 1 for 8. There are 5 more kids coming up in the next decade, so we're not going to get the same percentage even if we bat 1.000 the rest of the way, and we won't.
Some of the kids weren't college material (nothing wrong with that as they move into other productive careers), but the remainder are all headed to smaller schools like my daughter with Jax State (notably, 3 are/were in Mississippi and still chose other schools). Scholarships and cost certainly played a role, but there were other things mentioned mostly centering on how different State is now culture-wise vs 20 years ago. I think most of that is true of a lot of schools, so I'm not looking to dive into that.
What am I am noticing is that a multi-generation Bulldog family went from 70% participation in gen 3 to probably not topping 25% in gen 4 when all is said and done, with matching or exceeding decreases in season ticket purchases and giving. I doubt that's a good thing.

OG Goat Holder · Friday at 12:09 PM

00Dawg said:
Germane to the topic: I did have a family discussion at a wedding this past weekend. Between my first cousins, spouses, and I, 7 out of 10 people are State grads. Between us, we have 8 kids old enough to attend State. We're at 1 for 8. There are 5 more kids coming up in the next decade, so we're not going to get the same percentage even if we bat 1.000 the rest of the way, and we won't.
Some of the kids weren't college material (nothing wrong with that as they move into other productive careers), but the remainder are all headed to smaller schools like my daughter with Jax State (notably, 3 are/were in Mississippi and still chose other schools). Scholarships and cost certainly played a role, but there were other things mentioned mostly centering on how different State is now culture-wise vs 20 years ago. I think most of that is true of a lot of schools, so I'm not looking to dive into that.
What am I am noticing is that a multi-generation Bulldog family went from 70% participation in gen 3 to probably not topping 25% in gen 4 when all is said and done, with matching or exceeding decreases in season ticket purchases and giving. I doubt that's a good thing.

A big part of it is MSU grads having to move out of state for jobs. Then of course that complicates kids getting back to State because of OOS tuition, whatever that happens to be. Not to mention they may want to go to college with their friends, etc. We're lucky that Memphis, Huntsville and Birmingham are close enough to grab a big chunk of those people, but it's still not ideal. Those state lines matter, if for nothing else, college finances and ingrained loyalty, especially in the south. No telling how many MSU fans I talk to that have semi-converted to Alabama/Auburn because their stupid friends say wHeN yA mUh MoVe HeRe Ya MuH hAfTa ChOoSe. Then those same people, even if they stay MSU down deep, go to games at Bama/Barn to hang out with their 'frooonds'. That's people that AREN'T going to State games. Now I'm not friends with these clowns, to be clear. But I've lived a lot of places, and heard a lot of things here and there.

We need to Make Living In Mississippi Great Again. Or just Great. Or just Better. I don't think data centers alone gonna get it done.

gtowndawg · Friday at 12:17 PM

I've will say it again, it's crazy how many kids from Memphis goes to State. So somebody must be doing something right.

idog · Friday at 2:12 PM

scdog1 said:
This is fact. My son got into TAMU engineering, UT said no. The difference in the ranking isn't that different but UT is very hard to get accepted into the engineering program.

it's not academic standards, it's the volume of competition applying for limited spots in the program. an engineering degree from State is not second rate.

Re: recruiting students
my son is a rising soph at State and has friends from oxford, baton rouge, etc. State's environment is down to earth, friendly and family oriented. that attracts a lot of kids and their parents. most of the kids going to ole miss are not looking for those qualities and i'm fine with that staying in oxford and not invading Starkville.

aTotal360 · Friday at 2:39 PM

I'm going to say this again for the 1000000th time...

It all depends on who your area recruiter is. And keep in mind, State churns through these positions because they don't pay enough to all the good ones around. The good ones end up moving to a school that pays more, or they enter the corporate world.

If you are lucky enough to have a good recruiter in your area, you will tons of postcards, calls, and invites to functions. If you have Croom in your area, you won't hear jack.

OG Goat Holder · Friday at 3:02 PM

gtowndawg said:
I've will say it again, it's crazy how many kids from Memphis goes to State. So somebody must be doing something right.

That's kind of low hanging fruit, don't you think?

I mean a lot of people from east Arkansas and the Missouri bootheel also come to State. It's because it's the closest school for Ag/Engineering. We'd probably get a lot more if we'd take advantage of this fact.

OG Goat Holder · Friday at 3:03 PM

aTotal360 said:
I'm going to say this again for the 1000000th time...

It all depends on who your area recruiter is. And keep in mind, State churns through these positions because they don't pay enough to all the good ones around. The good ones end up moving to a school that pays more, or they enter the corporate world.

If you are lucky enough to have a good recruiter in your area, you will tons of postcards, calls, and invites to functions. If you have Croom in your area, you won't hear jack.

If it's truly dependent on that, then we do not have a very good plan. "Just go out there and croot" does not work for us.

dickiedawg · Friday at 3:26 PM

00Dawg said:
Scholarships and cost certainly played a role, but there were other things mentioned mostly centering on how different State is now culture-wise vs 20 years ago.

How is MSU different culture-wise than 20 years ago?
Obviously 20 years ago the students were (relatively older) Millennials and the students today are (younger) Gen Z, but that has to be true at every school.

HWY51dog · Friday at 3:47 PM

My son just graduated. OM has the most out of his class. I think a lot of it in my area has to do with Northwest CC and OM working together.

OM also has one of the highest dropout rates for kids after the freshman year.

aTotal360 · Friday at 4:23 PM

OG Goat Holder said:
If it's truly dependent on that, then we do not have a very good plan. "Just go out there and croot" does not work for us.

It truly is. It's everyone's plan, though. Boils down to execution from the individual recruiter. Recruiters are given a vast amount of materials to mail out. Some of them mail them out, some don't. Our issue is paying people that are good workers. My wife did it for a few years. She loved it. After about a year of doing the college fair circuit at all the high schools, she was offered the same position by another school that paid her almost twice as much. Of course, she took it.

hailmari1 · Friday at 4:27 PM

OG Goat Holder said:
If these other school loyalists actually have an option, let's not fool ourselves and pretend they are choosing State because we recruited them better. If that kid had gotten into Auburn and the price was anywhere comparable, he's going to Auburn. Never underestimate a parent's ego when it comes to their kids.

Take this board for example, folks love to brag on that kind of stuff, how high their ACT was, etc. You never hear the other way. We make it sound the best possible. It comes down to this:

- Opportunity
- Money (and major, if known)
- THEN......all the feel good stuff like small town, etc.

You choose between your options. I have a friend in Huntsville who is a big Auburn guy too, and his kid went to State. Likes to pretend they chose it over Auburn. Nah, doesn't work that way. Let's face it, like I said before, a lot of parents chase status, and if they can say their kid is going to an SEC because they chose it for this and that, they still feel they look good.

That said, we should use this to our advantage. Even if we are the 2nd choice, we are creating more State fans. Maybe some of them will stay instate and live. Over time that grows the alumni and fanbase. Opportunities for athletics and economics follow that. Then once you get to critical mass where there's not a whole lot of difference in us and our peers, we can start raising academic standards.

But to be honest we still aren't doing the best we can. Why we haven't dropped OOS tuition to border states, GA and TX (or even just the ATL and DFW metro counties) is beyond me.

The wet blanket of truth.

tired · Friday at 4:29 PM

I have 2 Srs at State who visited multiple schools. They'll tell you State put on the best show & it wasn't particularly close.

I'm biased, of course, but State is really good in several areas other schools just aren't.

landscpdog · Friday at 5:49 PM

I have one at MSU and one headed to Auburn

im paying 2 plus times as much to send my kid to Auburn generally same GPA and same ACT score. Auburn is proud for no reason other than the GA money they are making.

OG Goat Holder · Friday at 8:50 PM

landscpdog said:
I have one at MSU and one headed to Auburn

im paying 2 plus times as much to send my kid to Auburn generally same GPA and same ACT score. Auburn is proud for no reason other than the GA money they are making.

What state do you live?

HRMSU · Friday at 9:19 PM

eckie1 said:
TAMU and UT are two of the most sought after universities in the country. UT has to admit any TX student in the top 5% of their class and TAMU uses top 10%. And that’s just to enroll, not even considering acceptance into the major. In TAMU’s case, they will often defer a student to a satellite campus.

They’re both entirely too big, but what can they do? The have to cull tens of thousands of amazing students every year. I have heard from many alums of both schools that they barely recognize these places anymore.

I’m just glad State offered my son such a good package. He deserves it…. And he’s sure as hell better hang onto it!

Congrats!!

eckie1 · Saturday at 2:06 PM

tired said:
I have 2 Srs at State who visited multiple schools. They'll tell you State put on the best show & it wasn't particularly close.

I'm biased, of course, but State is really good in several areas other schools just aren't.

Cool story from our orientation in June…

We met a family from NJ whose daughter is attending in the fall. They knew an Alabama fan and they checked them out based on his advice, but it felt way too pretentious to them…. Campus tour guides in suits and ties, etc.

They decided to tour around the area and hit State up. Within 15 minutes of seeing how we do things, they were all sold…. None more so than the daughter! We have become friends with the family, closed down Dave’s one night and the Garage in Ocean Springs a few days later!

As bad as the optics can be with certain things lately, State has the luxury of letting the whole ecosystem sell itself when people come visit. It really is a unique place. It’s not for everybody, but anybody that wants in can thrive here. 100%

patdog · Saturday at 2:23 PM

eckie1 said:
Cool story from our orientation in June…

We met a family from NJ whose daughter is attending in the fall. They knew an Alabama fan and they checked them out based on his advice, but it felt way too pretentious to them…. Campus tour guides in suits and ties, etc.

They decided to tour around the area and hit State up. Within 15 minutes of seeing how we do things, they were all sold…. None more so than the daughter! We have become friends with the family, closed down Dave’s one night and the Garage in Ocean Springs a few days later!

As bad as the optics can be with certain things lately, State has the luxury of letting the whole ecosystem sell itself when people come visit. It really is a unique place. It’s not for everybody, but anybody that wants in can thrive here. 100%

Sat next to a couple from Maine at the MSU-UMass game in Foxboro. They had just returned from their 1st trip to Starkville helped their FR son move in. They liked it too.

landscpdog · Saturday at 3:47 PM

OG Goat Holder said:
What state do you live?

I’m IN Alabama. That is what is so frustrating. Should NEVER cost more for an instate school than out of state.

MSU recruiting…

Senior

Heisman

All-American

Heisman

All-Conference

All-American

Junior

All-Conference

Heisman

Senior

Redshirt

All-Conference

Senior

Heisman

Senior

Freshman

Heisman

Heisman

Heisman

All-Conference

Sophomore

Heisman

Junior

All-Conference

Redshirt

Heisman

All-Conference

All-Conference

Heisman

Redshirt