So, UT Dallas…
The weather was muggy as all get-out, but we missed most of the rain.
Overall, I - the mom - was very impressed. There are tons, metric and otherwise, of opportunities for students at this school. Evidence (posters) of student research is *everywhere.
The campus is laid out compactly, with concrete buildings that are mostly non-descript if you’ve seen a research park before. There are several soaring glass entryways to break up the concrete, and there are plenty of trees, including a spectacular double line of magnolias flanking a long reflecting pool, and other greenery.
If I could use only one word to describe the campus vibe, it would be “bustle.” Students seemed focused, engaged and energetic.
The campus is very diverse, with lots of Asian, Indian, Hispanic, African-American and Muslim students. We heard several different languages being spoken, and there were many posters for various ethnic student groups - Bangladeshi, Pino/a, Mexican, Trans and many more. The purple hair factor (I think that’s what poster lindagaf calls it) was much higher here than at UNM.
The dorms are great. Each dorm room has three single bedrooms with lockable doors, a small living room area, a storage closet and a bathroom. The bathroom has the toilet area separate from three sinks (one for each bedroom), and separate from the shower for minimal bathroom interference between the residents. Laundry is free. There are also apartments in a variety of configurations located around a very nice swimming pool complex.
The dining hall rivals the Lido deck on any cruise ship. It has a wide variety of stations - one for pizza, pasta and Caesar salads, another for hot and cold sandwiches, a dry cereal and granola/yogurt parfait station, a burger station, an Asian section, two entrée-of-the-day stations where you might get something like an herbed chicken breast with green beans and rice pilaf, or a carving station with hand-carved roast beef. The salad bar was large and offered many selections. The bakery / dessert section two kinds of cookies, and the staff rang a bell when hot ones came out of the oven. There were also puddings, cupcakes, muffins, and slices of what looked like a Boston Cream cake. The dining hall isn’t 24/7, and the meal plan is based on swipes, not unlimited access like UNM.
The honors / Nat’l Merit and McDermott kids will be absolutely showered with special attention - separate computer and study lounges, internships, no-cost meals with faculty, theatre / symphony / opera tickets, research opportunities, etc. It was extremely clear that having invested financially in these students, the school was then going to do their utmost to see that each and every one of them had whatever resources they needed to reach their full potential.
The student rec cen was an entire complex with pools, basketball and squash courts, climbing walls and stuff I’m probably forgetting.
If I were doing the choosing for myself as a student, I would choose UTD over UNM. But I’m not the one choosing, and S didn’t feel this school was a fit for him, probably to the point that he won’t even apply.
Here are his negatives:
The Dallas metro area is too big and too urban. S has spent most of his life in a town of 1500 people.
There are some aspects of - I’m not sure how to put this - Texas business culture? maybe business culture in general? - that rub him the wrong way. Lots of men wearing full business suits on campus, including many students and the first two men we met with. Handshakes that are firm to the point of coming across as a dominance contest. An interviewing style that can come across as aggressive or dismissive. In particular, when S told one of the people we spoke to that he was interested in pre-med, the person’s response was “No, you’re not.” Not in those exact words, but close.
S was surprised and taken aback. Me, I was somewhat taken aback, too, but I had a suspicion that the interviewer was testing S, pushing him on purpose to see how he’d respond, but it put S off in a big way. S persisted, and the interviewer softened a bit, saying that a lot of kids who are interested in medicine are interested for the wrong reasons - prestige, money, God complex, etc.
It made things worse that this was the interviewer’s opening conversational gambit. Interviewer: So, what brings you here? What would you like to study? S: I’m interested in being premed. Interviewer: No, you’re not.
Anyhow, S was concerned that if that’s their model of what a successful man is and how he acts, and if they were then going pour their time and resources into molding him into a successful man, that he didn’t want to become what the model seemed to be.
On the upside, he very much liked his meeting with the pre-health advisor and particular male professor who wasn’t so Alpha-male and was more your standard professorial academic type.