<p>I think most Aggies loved their time at A&M even if the town wasn't the greatest. A major reason for why they love(d) it so is the school spirit, much of it fostered through the strong athletic programs and the strong social life that many students enjoy there. Academically, I can't place Texas A&M in the same group with Stanford/Duke/Northwestern/Vanderbilt/Rice, but the college experience (albeit on a much larger campus with 36k undergrads) would be more similar to those schools than what one would find at Cornell/Brown/Dartmouth/U Penn/Columbia.</p>