I have just finished applying to UT Austin, but that’s a reach. Looking into some safeties now.
I am primarily interested in visual/studio arts and English/literature/creative writing. I would ideally major in one of these, or perhaps even double major, I don’t know.
I would also like to be able to take electives/minors in stuff like classics, or any courses I may happen to be especially interested in.
UTD seems to be considered a better school overall, but it also seems heavily STEM-oriented and, this may be just an impression (I have yet to look at everything in-depth), but the liberal art programs seem… weirdly organized? And maybe a bit underdeveloped? Again, possibly a mistaken impression.
UTA seems to be said not to be that good, but their programs and courses maybe seem to be more straightforward.
Maybe someone here who knows a lot more than I do about this stuff could tell me about it. (Application fees aren’t cheap, either…)
I can not speak specifically to either schools’ liberal arts program, but I think you have correctly determined that neither school has liberal arts as its primary focus at this time. Because of that I fact, I would choose UT-Dallas.
UTD continues its steady rise up the rankings and is starting to gain attention both state-wide and nation-wide as not only a great academic school (including more selective admissions) but also a great value.
It is very likely in the years to come that UT-Dallas will not be considered just a regional satellite in the UT system but a destination school in its own right…much like UCLA is not considered a satellite to UC-Berkeley in the University of California system.
If UT-Dallas continues its rise you may find your UTD liberal arts degree to be worth much more in the future than you may think it would be today.