mfek57

Admitted to both. ND ranked 2 in the country and UT ranked 10. But UT has Business Honors Program that is only 100 or so top students. Small classes, MBA type training (case work, presentations, team projects, etc) and it is pretty amazing. Anybody familiar with both that can share thoughts?

Sux2BUCuzUNotMe

The two thing McCombs (at UT) has above Notre Dame is 1.) lower tuition (unless you're out-of-state...in which case UT is mad expensive) and 2.) Accounting program. However, Notre Dame is #4 and Texas is #1 or #2 so it is negligible.

Overall, it has to do with what your preference is for the future. If you want to stay in Texas the UT will be sufficient. However, a business degree from ND will get you in ANYWHERE (especially the heavy financial sectors in places like NY, Chicago, Boston, and LA).

Can't go wrong either way...but ND is a special place. Good luck!

CoffeeAddict9716

Austin = more fun, better internship opportunities in the area, more liberal (duh)

Since both are pretty similarly ranked, probably go to Texas unless you're an uber devout Catholic or something...but Texas has a great campus and prestige, just as much as Notre Dame does...i feel like the Honors Program at Texas could help you get ahead as well...

both are great schools, but it seems like Texas has more pros than ND does for your case.

kevdude

You don't have to be "a super devout Catholic or something" to go to Notre Dame.

CoffeeAddict9716

Of course I know that, I was just saying unless a religious campus was important to him, I don't see why he should choose ND over Texas...

kevdude

There are plenty of other things besides "being super Catholic." The unique residence life system, the beautiful campus, that opportunity to learn from some of the best professors in the world, our astonishingly strong alumni network, etc etc.

Sux2BUCuzUNotMe

UT is a good school and I almost went there for my Master's even but prestige-wise...ND trounces UT. You can go so many places after ND it's ridiculous.

It's not just some catholic place, by any means.

mfek57

Cost is an issue, Texas resident but hope to get money from both places. Don't know about financial aid or scholarships yet. But if UT and ND business are closely ranked (and I agree they are) do you feel that the honors program makes a difference? ND doesn't have business honors do they? Will being in that higher sector at UT command the same respect as ND?

snwrider2007

ND by far - you will get the name recognition no mater where you go. ND carries this love/hate relationship with it, viewed as a stigmatism by some but that just shows you how respected of an institution it is. For a school of just over 8K students to be known throughout the globe - it's redic. I would chose ND for sure. But if money is an issue, be wary. I want to go to ND more than anything but am at UMich - AA bc of cost. comparably ranked institutions. But you just dont get the same feel at UM as you do at ND.

It's ultimately your decision. no matter what you decide it will be with you for the rest of your life. chose wisely, if you dislike it, transfer - if you love it, you wont regret it (even if it means a little or a lot of debt)

JWT86

Guys, on what planet??

Academic prestige-wise, UT absolutely TROUNCES Notre Dame. Look at ANY academic rankings... ALL of UT's academic programs - not only in business, but in the liberal arts, natural sciences, applied sciences, architecture, law, communication, public policy, etc., - are at LEAST in the top 10-20 in the country. Notre Dame comes nowhere near that type of academic accomplishment. Yes, Notre Dame ranks higher on the USNWR overall undergrad ranking, but that's only because of the non-academic factors that favor selective privates (student/faculty, alumni giving, etc.) And even in the USNWR UNDERGRAD rankings, UT has the higher peer assessment score. In terms of pure academic department rankings, Notre Dame doesn't come close to UT in terms of overall academic breadth and depth. Check NRC, AWRU, USNWR individual department rankings, etc. To say that Notre Dame is more prestigious than UT shows a gross ignorance of perception in academia. More selective, certainly. While this main translate to "more prestigious" to a lay person, it by no means changes the fact UT has a much stronger academic reputation.

hawkswim09

You can't argue with the rankings, but it is important to realize that when you are at the top, there is very, very little differences between schools, and in certain cases, some schools are hurt by the rankings due to their uniqueness (aka ND's architecture program).

Academics at ND are challenging, but I am sure at other schools, they are way more competitive and intense, but the majority of students that attend ND go there because of the college experience and community based atmosphere that it has.

BPKO43

JWT, UT is quite a good school. It is not as good as ND

BPKO43

student/faculty is ABSOLUTELY an academic factor

JWT86

Ok, perhaps poor choice of words. I do agree it is a factor. The point I was making is the USNWR overall *undergrad* rankings do not look at faculty quality, research, departmental rankings, international prestige, etc. AT ALL - areas where UT clearly excels. The only factor that remotely encompasses this is the peer assessment score, which is a nebulous composite of undergrad and grad prestige in academia (yet UT still even has a respectable 4.0 here)

Perhaps at the undergraduate level, since ND is smaller and more selective. But I still don't see any basis supporting this at the overall institution level, when almost every academic program at UT is ranked higher than at ND. There's not really a debate here - just look at the most recent individual professional and individual academic programs rankings in the latest USNWR grad school rankings.

irish68178

JWT, your argument is flawed in several ways. First of all, you are saying that to rate faculty you should look at research, departmental rankings (which look at graduate studies), and international prestige (confounded with research). Basically you are just looking at who is producing the most/best research. While this is important to academics, it is negatively correlated (in my opinion) with quality teaching. I am working on my Ph.D. and we are instructed that teaching should be our LAST priority, with research number one. This is because in order to be a top researcher, you have to put everything you have into research, and your teaching almost always suffers. Therefore, just because Texas may have better researchers does NOT mean they will have better teachers. I don't know about you but I learned in undergrad from professors, not their articles.

Second, you mention that many UT programs are ranked higher. However, this is at a GRADUATE level. Trust me, night and day difference. I am at an institution with a top-tier department in my field although the university is ranked as a third-tier institution for undergraduates. The reason why is because the majority of the effort is put into teaching graduate students. Virtually all of the undergraduate courses are taught by undergrads and the grad students are taught by the faculty. The emphasis is on the graduate education, so we reap the rewards and in some ways the undergraduates get the short end of the stick.

ND is not like this, ND emphasizes undergraduate education (and frankly in many programs has poor graduate programs). This benefits the undergraduate because they receive more opportunities. I was very active in research at Notre Dame and was treated like a graduate student instead of as a research assistant. I got to run my own projects, use the lab to collect my data, etc. I even had weekly meetings with my advisor. That wouldn't happen at my graduate school and I am pretty sure it wouldn't happen at UT.

Long story short, better graduate programs does NOT equal a better undergraduate education. In fact, I would argue that the two are often negatively correlated. Additionally, having top faculty doesn't always mean anything either as very few of those top faculty will teach undergraduate courses.

ND is a great undergraduate school, not a great graduate school (though they are working on it). It is important to look at the two separately.