<p>First off I know this is very late considering that acceptance for both schools was due May 1st. But I accepted both. Anyways to the point, what school should I go to? I have visited and stayed the night at both. I did not really get a good vibe from A&M. The campus just felt like they didn't care if you were there or not. It all felt like an institution that just wanted you to get through and get out if that makes sense. Obviously TCU's campus is much more visually appealing than A&M's. My environment can definitely have an impact on my mood/happiness. But I am scared that TCU is too focused on fraternity life. I plan on joining a fraternity at TCU, but mainly to meet/make friends and get involved. You can party anywhere. Sports are not a big deal to me. The fact that TCU has a good football team is a bonus but would not deter me. Soooo confused.</p>
<p>Also forgot to add that I am going into business. Considering going to law school. Money is not an issue as I have a scholarship to TCU.</p>
<p>Since you’re majoring in business, TCU’s Neeley school of business is only ranked a little higher than A&M’s Mays school of business. So nothing big there. A&M has a great network compared to TCU if you’re looking for a job right out of undergrad. If your mood and happiness can be affected by the environment, A&M’s campus is usually very friendly (even though it’s visually unappealing) while TCU might not be as friendly. A&M has a decent sport teams (football is going to suck though for the next couple years) and has some frats that you could join and party like TCU. I don’t really see that much of a difference besides the money (since TCU is a private school and cost like 40K?) and size of the schools. A&M has almost about 50k while TCU has 9k. Don’t know if you like big or small/mid sized campuses…</p>
<p>I think the frat situation might be a little different at A&M than TCU. I’ve talked a lot to a guy who is in a major frat at TCU and he says there is NO hazing or forcing people to drink. Since TCU is a smaller environment, this can be enforced more. At A&M, I would think that the frats would be full of more “typical frat guys”. I could be wrong about this.</p>
<p>On a different note, I have been going to small schools my entire life. I have had no more than 120 in my grade. While this won’t be the case at either schools, I do feel that I can learn better in a smaller environment. That being said, I have been told classes at TCU are no larger than 50 (in intro, freshman classes). And at A&M I am admitted into General Studies (too many in business already I guess). So I would have HUGE classes the first 2 years.</p>
<p>Basically, the huge incentive I have for going to A&M is that I would get this unique college experience and have huge school pride. Is that enough to base a decision on? Or should I put myself in a type of place I will learn better?</p>
<p>There is/are little Greek Life/Frats at A&M if any at all lol. I’m pretty sure frats at A&M wouldn’t force drinking or haze people either. The “typical frat guys” are probably more at UT, where there are LOADS of Greek Life/Frats and probably hazing or drinking involved.</p>
<p>If you learn & focus better in a smaller environment, then A&M probably wouldn’t be the best choice to go. Intro classes here are like 150+ kids so you will not get as much attention (if any) than you would at TCU.</p>
<p>A&M has a great network after you graduate that would give you hookups on jobs and would also provide a unique college experience while also giving you that school spirit & pride. It’s your choice on where to attend, but go where you’ll feel that you’ll succeed and learn better, as that’s the most important thing.</p>
<p>No hazing or forcing people to drink at TCU? I guess it’s changed a lot then from the days my cousin was in SAE. It was shut down while he was there.</p>
<p>We haven’t done an official tour of A&M yet (that’s later this month), but we did one at TCU a year ago, and it was the only school that ds eliminated after a tour. You can probably search and find the campus visit post. It was from July of last year. The short story is that it was too conservative, too preppy and too white.</p>
<p>Not true at all. I’ve been through rush and have friends in fraternities. It’s just like frats anywhere else, with the only difference being the size of fraternities are smaller… thus their presence at A&M is also less.</p>
<p>Back to the OP. If you envision yourself happier at TCU, and money is not an issue as you said, you should go there. I honestly don’t know why you are posting this as you’ve said nothing positive about A&M (which is perfectly fine), and everything positive about TCU minus the frat deal. A&M’s honors college is smaller and can give you a more personal experience with your professors so also keep that in mind. A&M’s network is stronger than TCU’s in my opinion, but TCU will give you plenty of great opportunities. That’s all I can really comment on. Your friends will be the ones you chose, and frats at TCU are only different than A&M’s by how much more they carry their presence on campus.</p>
<p>Xcellerator - Well I want to involved in some sort of group that will allow for friends and connections forever. A small common interest club usually won’t do this. As far as the network, I plan on at least starting out in the DFW area. My dad has a lot of business connections which are all in business fields. Most of these are in DFW, but also around Texas. While it certainly won’t be as extensive as the Aggie Network, I think I have a good amount of connections considering I will be a business major. I have ADD and find that small classes help force me to pay attention to the material. So I would think TCU’s class size would be a better fit.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay-The guy I stayed with was a Sig Ep and he said most if not all of the frats have no hazing or forcing to drink. It is just too much of a risk/insurance problem. Regarding the campus visit, if you are a lower/middle class, minority, liberal, then you will NOT fit into TCU at all. I am conservative (A&M is VERY conservative btw), white, and preppy so that is not my issue.</p>
<p>I’m hoping that because A&M is so large, ds will be able to find a group of like-miinded (liberal) friends. A&M is increasingly popular with kids at his HS who can’t get into UT, so I’m guessing the demographic is changing a bit.</p>
<p>I think that because it is such a large school you will have that. While A&M is very conservative, it is very large. There are all kinds of people there, but majorities are all that is talked about. Going to a smaller, conservative school (like TCU) won’t allow for as many friends that are liberal. Who is “ds” btw?</p>
<p>So the advantages for A&M would be having a unique (hopefully great also) college experience, and having a huge network? Anything else I don’t know about or forgot to point out?</p>
<p>Having an Aggie Ring. It’s a big deal.
Honestly, A&M is full of people who want nothing more than to be at A&M. 48,000+ of them. I don’t believe you visited at A&M if you say “The campus just felt like they didn’t care if you were there or not”. I just don’t believe you.
If you can’t decide between TCU & A&M based on what you have said so far - just go to TCU.</p>
<p>“I don’t believe you visited at A&M if you say “The campus just felt like they didn’t care if you were there or not”. I just don’t believe you.”</p>
<p>I can’t prove to you that I spent the night and went to some classes with an old friend I used to go to school with. Nor do I have to. Maybe it was because of the type of person I was with. He was not the most popular or a jock or whatever. But he LOVES A&M. I think its because he has finally found a place where he is accepted no matter what. So I thought that would give me a good idea of life there. He said hi and knew a total of about 5 people in between classes. Out of THOUSANDS. Maybe its the type of environment I grew up in, but I don’t like that idea.</p>
<p>I guess another reason I am considering A&M is because I got in and so many other people in my grade didn’t. I feel like its a honor (which it is but so is a lot of schools) to get in and if you do get in, you need to go. I know this isn’t the case but did anyone else feel like that?</p>
<p>Xcellerator - I can’t go from A&M to TCU. Too much money if I don’t have scholarship. But isn’t it pretty hard to transfer to A&M? I’ve heard that like 75 people are able to transfer. So what kind of GPA would it take to transfer? 3.8?</p>
<p>klparker312- Believe whatever you want. I have no reason to lie. This is my future. Why would I lie about that. Are you saying I am TCU material because I am not 100% in love with your school? It’s hard to tell peoples true intentions over the internet.</p>
<p>ResurgamBell - I don’t think you understand where I’m coming from. I am from a grade with just over 100 graduating. While I know that both these schools won’t be anywhere close to this, I just find that knowing so few people out of 40,000+ to be a HUGE jump.</p>