<p>Dh and ds2 toured there last week while they were in town looking at Rice and were surprisingly impressed. Yea for safeties! Anyone have any direct knowledge of the school? I know it’s getting an infusion of money from the state. And the football team is up and coming, so that always bodes well for a school.</p>
<p>My main problem with it is I’m assuming it’s a commuter campus. No one I know who went there lived on campus. But dh was impressed with the honors college set-up; I know nothing about it.</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Boy do I wish you’d posted this a week ago. We just got back from a reunion/celebration/retirement party for H’s Ph.D. advisor in Madison. It was attended by many of his former students, one of who is a prof at U of H. H actually knows him (has visited him on campus when we’re in Houston), but I wasn’t formally introduced to him (was busy catching up with the people I DID know and hadn’t seen in almost 25 years).</p>
<p>Two of my daughter’s closest friends attend U of H.</p>
<p>Friend #1 chose U of H because it had a strong program in her major and also a sweet deal for National Merit Scholars. She lives on campus and seems content with her choice. Smart girl.</p>
<p>Friend #2 attended college in NY her freshman year. She didn’t particularly like the university in New York. Anyway, she transferred to U of H last year. She also lives on campus. She seems happier than she did at the school in NY. She’s not quite as strong a student as friend #1 above - but then not many are.</p>
<p>And one of those irrelevant tidbits:</p>
<p>Rumor has it that James Franco plans to attend</p>
<p>[James</a> Franco to Pursue Creative Writing PhD From University of Houston - FoxNews.com](<a href=“http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/04/22/james-franco-pursue-creative-writing-phd-university-houston/]James”>James Franco to Pursue Creative Writing PhD From University of Houston | Fox News)</p>
<p>^^^ They mentioned that on the tour, apparently!</p>
<p>I think I might start a new thread that hits at the heart of my concern – what’s it like for an on-campus student at a commuter school. Is there any sense of community? School spirit?</p>
<p>Well, back in the heyday of the early 80s, when their basketball program was top-notch, there was a LOT of school spirit!</p>
<p>DH is a prof at UH. They’re trying to be more residential and are building more dorms. They’ve always been ranked well for graduate programs, but they’re improving the undergraduate experience now. I think there is school spirit, but like a lot of schools in cities, there is so much to do outside of the university that people might not want to spend all their time on campus.</p>