Trinity U in San Antonio vs UT Austin (Plan 2) for Classics Major

barleycup
Mon, 26 Jan 2026 16:45:24 +0000

From what we heard from professors, Trinty has from 3-10 Classics majors per year, and UT-A has more like 25-50 (depending on if you count double majors and minors). Both depts are small, relative to the size of the uni, and both are good.

I think the issue is whether my daughter should choose the school with the culture/size she prefers (Trinity), or if she should go with what seems like the more academically challenging (Plan 2/UT-A) and perhaps better for getting into grad school (the professors have told her she can take grad classes as an undergrad).

She realizes Plan 2 provides a smaller cohort within UT-A for making friends and developing close relationships with professors, but you’re still living on campus, sharing dorms and campus with thousands of other students (freshman class is 9,000+ compared to about 600 at Trinity). There are lots of big parties and huge tailgate parties for football, which she’s not interested in, etc. She realizes she’ll find her people at UT-A but thinks won’t feel as part of the community as a whole.

Her current high school is a big public Texas school that is similar to UT-A; she’s found her way but I think she longs to feel more a part of the mainstream culture/community, which she thinks she’d feel more at Trinity.

I appreciate the advice of others who say students tend to do best (academically and emotionally) at schools where they like the general ‘vibe’.

Also we’re still waiting to hear back from more schools in March so this is a little premature, but Trinity and UT-A have been her top choices because she likes the idea of staying in-state.