anyone in Texas? help rank C schools in Texas!

cookiecar · 10-04-2009, 11:14 AM

I am interested in Texas and want to know how people think about the colleges within this state.
as far as i know, top tier Texas schools can be:
1. Rice
2. UT-Austin
3. TAMU

4. SMU
5. Baylor
6. TTU

but how do people rank the C schools in Texas? Listed below:
*UT-Arlington
*UT-Dallas
*UT-SanAntonio
*U of North Texas
*Texas Southern U
*U of Houston

anyone tell me which C- schoos are popular in Texas and have relatively better reputation?
I am really interested in your choices.

Rh. · 10-04-2009, 12:31 PM

1. Rice - Despite being a very prestigous university, very few people consider this as prestigious as it really is. If you're going to simply get a regular job after undergrad you'd be better off going to TAMU with less debt
2. UT-Austin - Pretty expensive, people view it about as rigorous as TAMU in texas.
3. TAMU - TAMU is seen as much more prestigious than it truly is. TAMU has wonderful connections after graduation. I believe most of the people in office in Texas right now went to TAMU. If you enjoy drinking and don't mind a conservative college town then this is a school for you. I have a few friends who go here and they don't really like it. There is very few opportunities for typical premed or prelaw extracurricular activities here.

4. SMU - ive rarely heard of this school
5. Baylor - most people here in Austin view Baylor as a pretty prestigious school
6. TTU - It's alright. There is no body of water close to the town. The town smells like cow manure.

*UT-Arlington - Lowest ranked, it's most peoples last resort if they cant get into any other Texas campuses.
*UT-Dallas - People consider it less prestigious than UTSA. I don't think they have dorms, if they do by sophomore year you will be living in an apartment.
*UT-SanAntonio - A lot of people like this particular school. I've been on the campus for school competitions and dont particularly like it. Most people try to transfer to UT-austin. I have 2 brothers who go here. One transferred here, he could have easily gotten into a better college, but money is tight, so he chose UTSA. It's not expensive really, so it's a good choice if you're on a budget. Campus is kept clean and the facilities are nice. Not a lot of parties going on. Almost all students live off campus. If you have any specific questions about this you can message me and i'll ask my brothers.
*U of North Texas - Pretty good. Most people consider it about as good as Texas Tech. My german teacher went here and he loved it. Not too expensive to get a masters. Pretty good connections within the state.
*Texas Southern U - haven't really heard much about this college
*U of Houston - haven't heard much about this college

By the way you left out Southwestern university. I perfer liberal arts college, so i'm biased. It's a wonderful school with great facilities. A lot of the students i know love going here.

vivelavieboheme · 10-04-2009, 04:05 PM

I disagree with Rh. on a lot of these. These are based on people's general opinions where I live, in the Dallas area.

Rice is like the best of the best here, pretty much. It's on par with Duke, Vanderbilt, etc.

UT Austin the best public school in the state, and it's academics are great, but it's ridiculously hard to get into if you're out of state. Generally very liberal, Austin is one of the few Democrat majority large cities in Texas.

A&M is like UT's more conservative, less prestigious older brother (A&M was established before UT), academics are generally good, but there isn't much to do if you aren't into Greek life or football.

SMU and Baylor are really good academically (private schools), and also very wealthy. People are generally more conservative, and frats and stuff are big. TCU (Texas Christian University) is pretty much a carbon copy of the others, good academics. Of the 3, Baylor is the really hardline Christian one, I think chapel is mandatory there.

From what I've heard from friends, Tech is like an extension of high school. Parties are everywhere, but some departments are really good, not sure which though.

UT Arlington is for people who couldn't get in anywhere else. UNT has an amazing music program, but that's about it, it's basically a safety school for people.

UT Dallas is second only to UT Austin in the University of Texas system. This school is really really strong academically. The average SAT score of incoming freshmen is the highest of any other public school in the state. It's science and math programs are top-notch. No, I don't go here :P I just have no idea where Rh. got his/her info from.

I don't know anything about the other two, sorry, but I hope I helped!

Rh. · 10-04-2009, 04:56 PM

I wasn't judging the academic rigor of the school. I was simply telling the OP the general perception of the school by all the respected nurses, doctors, businessmen, and teachers who i've talked to in the Austin area.

cookiecar · 10-05-2009, 11:17 AM

Thank you, friends!

MomofWildChild · 10-05-2009, 11:21 AM

You are getting some really bad information here. I would recommend ignoring just about everything Rh has posted. Seriiously.
Tech is an excellent university and has a strong Honors college. Rice is highly regarded all over the country- more so in the Southwest, of course.
The fact that Rh as rarely heard of SMU indicates how valid his information is. I am not a fan of SMU, which truly IS an extension of high school for many Dallas students, but it is a well-known university.
Bottom-line- unless you are planning to take a couple of years at a non-flagship campus and then transfer to UT, A&M or Tech, I would not seriously consider the other UT campuses for a complete college experience.

missypie · 10-05-2009, 11:40 AM

Some random thoughts:

Living in north Texas, lots of students go to UT Arlington and UNT. I feel like most attend UT Arlington for financial reasons (can live at home while attending a 4 year public.) UNT is similar. The only thing I really hear they're "known for" is music - that is a difficult program to get into.

I just don't hear anything about Texas Southern or U of Houston.

Lot of folks like Tech. My son has a friend there but she's been a bit too honest about the weather (hot!!! cold!!!) and size of the campus (huge!!!) so that's sort of discouraged my kids from looking there.

UT Dallas attracts a lot of smart kids. They are trying so hard..throwing lots of money around, hosting college application seminars, etc. They've built new dorms that have attracted local attention.

Education majors should consider Stephen F. Austin State U and Texas State. Both are in pretty parts of the state.

I've heard that UT San Antonio is going to get a football team, but I don't know how far in the future that is.

cookiecar · 10-05-2009, 01:10 PM

^ Thank you very much!

fireflyscout · 10-05-2009, 01:35 PM

University of Houston has some strong programs - Hotel & Restaurant management, Optometry, Engineering, Creative Writing. They've been working on developing more campus life, and have built more dorms, but it is still largely a commuter campus.

TSU has been through so much management and financial turmoil that I couldn't recommend it.

missypie · 10-05-2009, 02:24 PM

Now that you mention it, I do know a young lady in the hospitality program at U of H.

In this economy, I think you will find really bright kids at all of our state Us, as well as the community colleges. There are a whole lot of families who make too much for need-based aid, but don't have $16,000-$20,000 a year to send their kids away to a state school. So their kids are enrolling in the nearest school, living at home, and making the best of it. Two of our top 09 grads are at UT Arlington, I assume for financial reasons.

pugmadkate · 10-05-2009, 03:24 PM

vivelavieboheme has a lot of good information.

As someone who moved to Texas in her 30s, these are my notes after a decade in the Lone Star state.

If it comes down to UT-A vs TAMU, you need to consider three things.

1. Do you want to stay in Texas after graduation? In Texas, those Aggies have an alumni network that is second to none. Outside of Texas, UT-Austin has a better reputation.

2. What is your area of interest? If it's engineering, TAMU. If it's not, UT-Austin.

3. What are your politics? Liberal? UT-Austin. Conservative-TAMU. Somewhere in the middle-either.

There are other things to add in as well, but I would start with these questions.

You need to know that getting into UT-A as an OOS is very difficult. The majority of slots at UT-A are taken by Texas high school students who were in the top ten% of their class. Rice is also very difficult, this past year they had 12 applicants for each slot.

Best of luck to you.

MomofWildChild · 10-05-2009, 04:53 PM

UTexas is actually very strong in engineering. I believe it is ranked higher than A&M.

brewerfan99 · 10-05-2009, 06:12 PM

UTPB > UTArl

pugmadkate · 10-06-2009, 12:40 AM

Quote:

UTexas is actually very strong in engineering. I believe it is ranked higher than A&M.

You are brave woman if you would say that at a party in Texas! Fight's on!

UT-Austin is very strong in engineering. However, in Petroleum and Agricultural engineering TAMU is considered better (UT may not even have AE.) UT is considered better in other ares of engineering. Many of the other areas of engineering are up for debate (sometimes long, long debates.)

Basically, an entire party can get derailed by these questions!

jr1038 · 10-06-2009, 02:18 AM

Out of the "C-schools" you mentioned, UT-Dallas is definitely tops. U of H and UTSA would follow behind UTD. Depending on if you want more of a "college experience," you might check out Texas State, too, but I'd rank it behind these three.

Your "top tier" rankings look good, though I'd add emphasis on the gap between A&M and SMU and another big gap between Baylor and Tech.

Also, I'd like to point out the bad piece of advice by pugmadkate: UT-Austin, if anything, has a better overall engineering school than A&M.