<p>well said Shadow. UTD is changing, and past stereotypes about the school are outdated. Schools can change over a period of time, and the residential hall has accelerated this process at UTD.</p>
<p>Sorry to dig this up but is it true that UTD students have weak social skills? And the social life is quite there?</p>
<p>sure there are some oddballs here and there, but overall, i wouldnt say utd students have weak social skills. the social life is improving though. you can def see a big change with the residential halls. they have really changed the dynamic of the school.</p>
<p>How close is UTD to Frisco? Is Frisco south of UTD? I’m still trying to get a picture in my head of where everything is in location to other places.</p>
<p>Also, people keep saying UTD and SMU are totally different yet I would hope that a conservative Christian or an athiest could be happy on either campus. UTD does have religious groups and I suspect SMU, being Methodist, is pretty open to any religion or no religion. Am I right in my assessment?</p>
<p>UTD has been on my son’s school list for a while. While it’s a financial “safety” in one sense, it sounds like it would be a good fit for my son should his other colleges reject him. He’s nationally ranked in chess for his age, he takes advanced college math and physics courses, and our chuch planted a church in Frisco so he has friends nearby. And, the dorms sound fantastic! My son’s very social, really into music, plays baseball and enjoys having a good time but definitely isn’t into drinking parties. He’s been to Dallas once and though he doesn’t like heat, he was ok. I wish he’d been able to visit UTD but it’s not financially possible now.</p>
<p>The only negative I’ve seen for UTD is that on Rate My Professor, a number of the math and physics professors had poor ratings. Anyone care to explain?</p>
<p>UTD is south of Frisco. Frisco is pretty close, though. Maybe about 12 miles to Frisco’s southern edge? And there are fast-moving highways between the two places.</p>
<p>We looked at both SMU and UTD. They ARE totally different. I think you’re right in your assessment regarding religion, but there are other preferences a person might have that could make one campus a good fit and not the other. The two campuses really are strikingly different. </p>
<p>Both schools used to be on one of my son’s lists, but he eventually took UTD off in favor of other financial safeties. It has a very different feel to it, in our opinions. It feels small and sedate to us. Social options are not readily apparent there, but that son was into just “hanging out,” and basketball, and kind of creating his own fun with his friends. Not into partying either.</p>
<p>UTD has a very different feel to it, for sure. I would think it warrants an eventual visit – to be sure it feels right to your son. We visited several times. We liked the school. My son liked the feel of it … but he later began to worry that it felt too, idk, non-campusy? like a studious, smart, clean, gigantic, public high school? like a corporate headquarters? It’s hard to describe. I’m not saying it’s bad. It’s just really different, in our opinions.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the poorly rated profs! Interesting.</p>
<p>UTD is basically located in Richardson, TX. Yes, it has a Dallas address, but it is just steps from Richardson (basically across the street). Frisco is about 15-20 minutes north on the tollway. But you would need a car to get to Frisco. In fact, a car would be really helpful in general at UTD. Less necessary at SMU.</p>
<p>To me (and I live about 5 minutes from UTD and attended SMU) one of the main differences b/w SMU and UTD is that one is a suburban school (UTD) and the other (SMU) is located in more of an “urban” area - access to DART rail, buses, walking distance to shops, movies, restaurants, etc. SMU also has the traditional campus feel - trees, older buildings, the long avenue of trees, etc. UTD’s campus, while they have made improvements and added water features and trees, is more utilitarian. (and both are very open to all religious groups)</p>
<p>^Yes! “Utilitarian” is the perfect word for what I was trying to describe! UTD does seem utilitarian to us, too. We liked the school … but it is a little different. And it didn’t ultimately stay on the list…</p>
<p>My son’s acceptance to UT Dallas arrived very late. The letter said if my son decides to accept admissions to UT Dallas, he would find out after committing to the school if he would get a scholarship. I think it is better to notify students at time of acceptance if you get a scholarship or not because it makes a financial difference in the decision. Do not know if this is general policy, or just in my son’s case.</p>
<p>they usually give the scholarship around the time of acceptance. since the acceptance arrived late, and they might be running out of funds, so they have to see if you would be coming or not? same thing happened with my friend who applied late also, but she got a scholarship afterwards</p>
<p>My son applied early in October to UT Dallas. He was accepted to 5 universities and we did not understand why UT Dallas was so late with their response. UT Dallas was originally a top choice school and see many unique advantages to this university, but by the time the acceptance came in late April, my son had already committed to a fine in state university.</p>
<p>Do you have any current update? Trying to decide between UTD & UT Austin for COmputer Engineering.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Just came upon this thread. I know the comment above was made a long time ago, but it is NOT TRUE that “nobody lives on campus.” That certainly is true of most grad students and upperclassmen, but campus dorms (14) are all quite full every year. There are also several large dorms which, while not officially on campus, are on the very fringe and might as well be considered on campus.</p>
<p>I’ve always thought of UTD as a commuter school and not the typical college experience. I’m glad to hear that they are trying to move away from that and offer a more traditional experience while preserving their strengths.</p>
<p>I lived in a women’s dorm across the street from the UT campus. I was there all four years of my undergraduate career, then I got an apartment while I worked on my master’s degree. Until I came on CC, I didn’t even realize my dorm was “off-campus!” </p>
<p>For a long time, Jester Dormitory’s claim to fame was that it was the largest dorm in the world and had its own zip code. I don’t think it’s the largest anymore, but it is huge.</p>
<p>^^^^^^I lived at Jester for one semester. That was enough for me. I was able to get a spot in a suite in Kinsolving dorm for women for the spring semester, and I loved living there. :)</p>
<p>^Nrdsb4, I stayed at Kinsolving for a week for two summers while I was in high school, for a piano workshop. I liked it! I lived in SRD, right down the street from Kinsolving.</p>
<p>My son and I were just at UTD for the McDermott Scholars finals weekend. We were both very impressed with the school. I thought the campus was beautiful. They’ve added tons of new building and the dorms are amazing. Not too many schools have a separate room for each student in a dorm! (My son was more interested in the dorms than the apartments but I thought the apartments were cool, too.)</p>
<p>Also, if you are there on scholarship, whether it’s AES or the McDermott, there are tons of opportunities for you there. There is a lot of money and connections flowing in the school and specifically, into the McDermott Scholars program. The honors college is also very strong. I think last year’s McDermott Scholars averaged 1525 on the SAT Math and CR, and I think the SAT I scores average are higher in math than at UT Austin.</p>
<p>They seem to be very strong in sciences, poly sci, CS, and business but are building a new arts building. </p>
<p>Their goal is to be a tier one school and they are well on their way.</p>
<p>We were there on the weekend and the campus was pretty empty, so I would say there’s still more of a commuter feel but that didn’t really bother my son since he’s used to that kind of campus.</p>
<p>How would you characterize the workload? Particularly for premed and psychology students?</p>
I know its old thread, but won National Merit to UTD, or U of KY, or U of Central FL… Wants Comp. Science. How was UTD for you? Dorms? Commuter school? Good career path in Comp Science?
MODERATOR’S NOTE
Please use old threads for reference only. Please post your questions in a new thread.
Thank you.