Freshman experience; breaking the ice

MaineLonghorn
Mon, 25 Jul 2011 22:45:56 +0000

Wow, austinareadad, I am surprised you would make such a sweeping accusation of UT-Austin since your experience with the school is so irrelevant now. Your statement, “At UT, they throw you in the deep end, without a life preserver, and you sink or swim on your own,” is just not true. Let me fill in your knowledge gap for you.

All freshmen are encouraged to attend orientation the summer before school starts. It is a longer, more organized event than when I attended the school in the early 80s. Each student is advised and given the opportunity to sign up for classes on the computer. If he or she does not get the ideal schedule, more classes open up each week, and it is not difficult to sign up for them.

In August before school starts, freshmen are invited to attend Camp Texas, a three-day event held at Camp Balcones Springs. If you click on this link, you’ll see what a great experience it is.: [What to expect - Camp Texas 2011](http://www.texasexes.org/camptexas/expect.asp) Several professors volunteer every year to speak to the students. The students go through lots of team-building exercises, and just have fun together. Lots of students make friends they remain in contact with the rest of the school year.

The day before classes start, Freshman Reading Round-Up is held. About 60 professors who have been inducted into UT’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers pick a book that is put on a list ([Admission - Freshmen | Be a Longhorn | UT Austin](http://utdirect.utexas.edu/bal/roundup_search.WBX?s_event_type=BOOK&s_event_signup_url=read_reg.WBX&s_generic_event_name=Reading_Roundup)). Students sign up for a small discussion group on the book of their choice. Note that these groups are held by the BEST teachers at UT.

New students are all invited to be part of the FIG (Freshman Interest Group) program. One branch of this program is the one hkem123 mentioned, but it covers all areas, not just English. Students live in the same dorm, participate in activities together, and take some of the same classes. Students not in the residential program can still participate in a FIG. When they sign up for it at the beginning of the year, they are assigned several classes together, and also take a no-credit FIG “class” every year. This class is specific to their major. Some weeks they hear a lecture by an expert. Other weeks, tutors come in to help them with a particular class. One week, they took my son’s engineering FIG class to the art museum for a tour. Another time, they ordered in pizza.

I don’t know if all departments are set up this way, but all engineering students are entitled to FREE tutoring. The kids DO NOT just sink or swim.

My son just finished his freshman year at UT. I don’t want to go into detail, but he has gone through significant physical and mental illness this year. Since we live 2,000 miles away from Austin now, I was very concerned with how he would do. I have been VERY impressed with the school, from its student health center to its advising program to its level of instruction. Due to his extenuating circumstances, I decided to contact our son’s advisor directly (believe me, something I would NEVER do normally!). My son told me her name, and when I looked her up, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that she wasn’t a professor assigned a bunch of kids, but rather a staff member with the title of “Undergraduate Advisor.” I was still curious whether she would remember my son well and if she would be sympathetic to his situation. Oh, my, was she ever! She said, “Oh, I like your son so much! He told me all about his high school running and his injuries. He hadn’t told me about the other issues, though. Please tell him that ANY time he has difficulty in a class for any reason, he can come see me and I will talk to the professor for him.” We must have talked 20 minutes. She said she will be glad to help him with an “extended” schedule since it appears that he will need more than four years to graduate. She even contacted a tutor who will be helping my son this fall. I came away from that conversation very pleased that my son is not “just a number” at the University.

I could go on, but hopefully you get the picture.

I believe austinareadad’s mischaracterization of UT is why students and parents have to be so very cautious about using the internet as an authoritative resource. Do your homework and talk to people who actually know about the subject.

Oh, as far as selectivity goes, just try getting into the engineering or business school, or any of the honors programs. My son was accepted into Amherst and Wash U in St. Louis, but chose UT after seeing its outstanding resources. He started doing research in the biomedical engineering lab his first semester. Even with all of his difficulties this year, he is happy to be at UT. Of course, we told him we would be happy to help him transfer to a school closer to home if he wanted to, but he insisted he wants to stay in Austin.