<p>taa23 - First, congratulations on your excellent credentials. Second, I commend you for considering applying to the honors programs at solid state universities such as University of Houston. Having acceptances from state or private university honors programs among your options along with University of Texas (if you are admitted there) will give you excellent choices. If my bias isn't obvious yet, I think being a big fish in the small pond of honors programs is preferrable to being a small fish in the great sea of 38,000 very good undergraduate students at University of Texas. You will be treated as someone "special" on the campus of any honors program.</p>
<p>Now to a few more recommendations - if you are considering SMU and Baylor, be sure to put Texas Christian University on your list as well. TCU has a huge endowment (over $800 million) with which to support merit aid (and lower tuition than SMU); 7,000 students versus 11,000 plus at SMU and Baylor; and a pretty campus in the dynamic city of Fort Worth with lots to do. </p>
<p>Another favorite of mine to recommend to solid students like you is the University of Tulsa (TU). TU is very similar in its offerings to SMU, but has these additional tidbits: an 11:1 faculty/student ratio with almost all classes taught by full professors; the second lowest tuition of private universities in the top 100 rated by U.S. News; a student body of 2700 undergraduates (with 1300 grad/law students); a huge endowment of $750 million that supports many merit awards; and its students regularly do well in national scholarship competititons (such as Goldwater Scholarships for science/math students). Couple this with the very attractive and fun offerings of Tulsa (with 400,000 or so population which is often compared to Austin) and TU is an attractive option.</p>
<p>If liberal arts colleges are your cup of tea, be sure to consider Southwestern University in Georgetown (20 miles north of Austin) known for its great academics and excellent merit aid; Trinity University in San Antonio (a handsome hilly campus of 2500 students wiith excellent merit aid); and Austin College in Sherman, Texas (about 30 miles north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex).</p>
<p>One last suggestion, Texas Tech's Honors College. My son is a "rising sophomore" in their Honors College and loves it. You may say, "Lubbock, no way no how!". My son initially had the same reaction before he visited the Tech campus and Lubbock. When we were done with this visit, his view toward Tech and Lubbock had changed. He said that large parts of Lubbock (about 200,000 population) reminded him of the Dallas suburb we live in (the mall, movie theaters, restaurants, etc.) and he was impressed that rock groups regularly come to Lubbock (Metallica was coming to perform a couple weeks after our visit). As to Tech's campus, it has the largest (and one of the newest) student recreation centers of any university in Texas; its student union is very attractive; and the campus as a whole is well-kept. </p>
<p>As a freshman, my son lived in the honors dorm just a quarter mile from the football stadium. On home game days he just "rolled out of bed" and could saunter over to the tail gate parties before each game. He also said the basketball games (with Bobby Knight as coach) were amazing at the relatively new 15,000 seat basketball arena. </p>
<p>As to Tech's Honors College itself, it is 1,000 students strong; has about 1330-1340 average SATS for incoming freshmen; is one of only four public universities in the country that has faculty whose only appointment is in the Honors College; is one of only a few universities that offer degree programs for specifically for their Honors students only (a Natural History and Humanities degree and a "generalist" liberal arts degree); and has special entrance requirements to Tech's Medical School and Law School for Honors College students.</p>
<p>"Nuff said for now.</p>