missypie

I've lived in Texas since 1981, but I haven't even heard of most of the public universities in Texas. UT and A&M seem to be the goal of lots of kids. We know a few UNT students. My daughter has been to camp at TWU and we've driven by Texas State. UTEP was in that basketball movie. Tech is having some well publicized troubles.

Does anyone have anything good to say about any of the Texas public universities that are not UT, UT Dallas or A&M?

crs1909

Yeah, Texas schools suck. I have a few friends who go to Houston and they really like it. Definitely don't let your daughter go to UT Arlington, the school is a joke. ~67% freshman retention rate and like a 12% graduation rate in 4 years.

MidwestMom2Kids_

12%? Seriously?

noobcake

Assuming 70% retention rate + failure, I would say over four years, 12% sounds pretty believable

crs1909

It was 12% when I was a freshmen. I remember this because there was a tshirt at UTa that was like "12% of UTa freshmen are Maverick Scholars and 12% graduate in 4 years...You do the math" or something like that. Point is, there are a lot of unmotivated slackers that go there. It's just a bad environment.

silverchris9

UNT pwns at jazz. Also I have an aunt doing night school at TWU; she seems pretty satisfied. (Also... UDallas isn't public, but it's pretty good too)

crs1909

I wouldn't just apply to Texas publics, because sometimes its cheaper to go to privates. Baylor gives a lot of aid. There's actually a formula for scholarships that you automatically qualify for. I think I qualified for like 28,000 over 4 years. TCU can be really good with aid packages. From what I've heard from people, SMU isn't too great with aid. If your daughters grades are good enough, Rice is a really good school.

missypie

Thanks, everyone. I look at the lists of the publics and see exotic names like "Sul Ross State" and wonder if among those names there is a hidden treasure. (I agree that UNT is a treasure for music, but won't be my son's major.)

bandnerd91321

UNT is tops(or close to it)in the USA for jazz majors.

missypie

That's exactly the type of indo I'm looking for though...Do any other state schools have great reputations in any particular areas?

bandnerd91321

A girl I know is going to Tech for nursing. Swears it is well known for that. I don't know if it is true. And TWU(TX Women's)is supposed to be known for music therapy. I know someone in that, too. You are talking PUBLIC schools, right? Houston, Rice, SMU, Baylor are all privates. And UT Arlington is really close to being a commuter school/community college, so grad rates don't surprise me. Don't hate on me for saying that....

missypie

Right, I'm looking for hidden gems among the lesser known Texas public schools.

dsultemeier

UT San Antonio is growing by leaps and bounds but is still really a commuter school. We went there several times on Friday afternoon and the place was deserted. I want my kids to go to a school with a community feel so that is really the only school I am discouraging them from going to. I have heard of more students going now to Corpus Christi and Galveston (not sure if they are A&M or UT) although sometimes it's mainly to get the 3.0 GPA to transfer to A&M or UT. At our high schools in San Antonio it seems like Tech and Texas State are the most popular after A&M and UT Austin. I really can't think of any hidden gems.

prefect

If by "Houston" you mean University of Houston, it is a public school.

fireflyscout

Corpus Christi and Galveston are part of the A&M system. While each public university has its strengths (Sam Houston - criminal justice, UofH - hotel and restaurant management, etc), I can't think of any hidden gems either. I am starting to hear some good things about University of Houston, though.