A&M or UNT?

Okay so I’m about to be a junior in college, & I attended A&M my freshman year, & UNT my sophomore year. I’m currently at a bit of a crossroads however on whether I should go back to A&M or stay at UNT. All I know for certain about my future is that I’d like to go to grad school for Higher Education Administration & work in student affairs. I’ll try not to get too into details or too crazy but:

At A&M, I’d be a Communication major with a certificate in Strategic Comm, & a psychology minor, starting back with a 2.77 GPA, which is what is was when I left the school. I like all of the organizations available to me (such as being an orientation leader again), the traditions, & the overall atmosphere of CStat, along with a lot of my better friends being there. I left because of some issues with registering for classes & lack of confidence in what I was studying at the time due to the slight stigma against liberal arts majors, I don’t even know. Was a rather hasty, emotional decision tbh. I’d also have to spend $2k on a summer class to readmit, but I do have better financial aid here it seems.

At UNT, I’m in Journalism with a concentration in Public Relations, & have minors in history, music, & psychology. My GPA is a 3.89. I like that I’m academically successful, have really enjoyed my profs/classes, fit in pretty well in a socio-economic status way, & I think have a good chance at having leadership positions in organizations, along with a good chance at having a successful sorority rush in the fall, which is important to me. I don’t have to take summer classes to finish anything, so I could do an internship or even do orientations in the summer, but I am slightly afraid I’ll maybe be a little less happier here socially.

I suppose what I want to know is, is the reputation/ranking of a school more important than just a high GPA or a certain major? I’d pretty much considered that if I stay at UNT, I’d go to A&M for grad school, but I really would like to have more options for grad school, but that would include going back to A&M & potentially not having my GPA as high as I would like it to be or as much leadership/involvement as I could have. I’m wondering if just living in an area with a lot of Aggies & very few UNT alum makes me think too much about tiers or do a lot of “rose colored glasses” seeing?

Neither one seems better than the other in either future or present situations & an outside opinion of adults or professionals would be helpful. I’m afraid my decision to readmit in the first place might have been also somewhat emotionally driven so I’m trying to only focus on the academic/grad school/job aspects. If there’s something else I should mention just ask!

Will A&M just let you come back for junior year or have you already submitted for transfer?

If you know for certain your going to grad school the reputation/ranking of the school means little. Did you put in the same amount of work at each school to gain those GPA’s. It sounds like you enjoy the social life at A&M more but have better opportunities at UNT. I would rather be a big fish in a small pond instead of a small fish in a big pond if grad school is in my future.

carachel2 - Yes, I applied at the beginning of the year & was accepted back as a Readmit.

Part of me is just considering maybe even taking a semester off & going somewhere different, but I feel like that’s really not a great idea. Either way I go, I do have to pay for this summer class, which works for A&M but doesn’t amount to anything at UNT, & I guess that doesn’t really help decide things either.

Very much in agreement with @Grainraiser. If graduate school is part of your plan, then the environment where your GPA can stay well above 3.0 takes precedence over any concerns about the particular prestige of your undergrad school. Yes, A&M has somewhat more prestige, but not 1.22 grade points worth.