Come all ye faithful

Colleges and Universities A-Z Texas Tech University
1

<p>To get myself psyched for an upcoming campus visit, I started looking at Texas Tech related Videos on "You Tube". Besides the football and basketball vids, I was struck by the Christian fundamentalist group and club videos including street corner preaching on campus. </p>

<p>Yes, I know about and support freedom of speech and freedom of religion.</p>

<p>What I'd like an opinion about, from someone who either attends or attended Tech is: What's the campus climate like for non-Christians? Am I going to be able to make friends and fit in or will I be looked upon with derision because I don't end my sentences with "Praise God"?</p>

<p>Is it uncomfortable for non-Christians during the winter caroling tradition?</p>

2

<p>youarenumber6 - With 28,000 students at Texas Tech, your niche will be whatever you'd like (including non-Christians) with plenty of others sharing your views. Go visit Tech and I think you'll come away impressed. Browse through the beehive of activity at the newly refurbished student union, sit in on a class or two, have lunch at one of the cafeterias. You will see thousands of students of all stripes (including many foreign students) with many faiths and no faiths. Remember that Christians have as a tradition recruiting others via the Word so preaching at a street corner is not that unusual for them.</p>

3

<p>In the more "don't let youtube freak you out" mode regarding religious proselytizing on street corners, here's a quote from MomofWildChild in another thread:</p>

<p>"I would take a closer look at Tech. It is big enough that there are going to be plenty of liberals (it isn't UT Austin, though, for sure). The Honors College is excellent, and it has big time sports. As a bonus, you get Bobby Knight. Seriously- ask poster LonestarDad about it. His S goes there. I have heard some academicians saying it is the gem in the system- the two flagships are just too big for many kids."</p>

<p>By the way, my son is one of the liberal leaning bunch at Tech. Substitute the words "religious" or "not religious" for "liberal" and the same words apply: Tech "is big enough that there are going to be plenty of XXXX (but it isn't UT Austion, though, for sure)."</p>

4

<p>Thanks for taking the time to answer. I appreciate your enthusiasm and trust in TTU. I have a two day visit with my own lone star Dad coming up. One day will be a guided tour/admitted students thing and the other day we're just going to walk around, look and listen. I'll update my impressions afterwards.</p>

5

<p>youarenumber6 - If you are considering Tech's Honors College, see if you can drop in and say "hi" to Dean Gary Bell. He is a distinguished academic yet down-to-earth with the students' interests at heart. Dean Bell is one reason my son ended up going to Tech and he has gotten to know Dean Bell personally over the last couple years (including working for him). Also, try dropping in on Michael Harrington on the Honors College staff who helps coordinate the Freshman Experience programs and chat about what it would be like being a freshman on Tech's campus. Also (and I should have written this before) review several of the Honors Voice e-newsletters over the last couple months on the Honors College website and see the variety of interesting intellectual events and talks going on (such as the weekly current topics group that meets for lunch on Fridays) and see how far away from the street corner preaching image that the Honors College can be. For instance, they encourage foreign student visits very much. Finally, go to the International Center (that might not be quite the right name) but it's across the highway from the medical school and see the very large variety of international programs Tech supports. (My son took a class from the head of the International Center who was a former ambassador to Ethiopia.) Tech has some amazing opportunities if you scratch just below the surface.</p>

6

<p>Stop already... I'm on a roll. Tech has tremendous undergraduate research opportunities working with faculty in all kinds of areas (engineering, the sciences, social sciences, etc.) As a live for instance, Dean Bell's son did biology/medical related research at Tech, became a Goldwater Scholar (competitive national college/university scholarships), and now is attending UT Southwestern Medical School (one of the best in the country). Again, scratch the surface and you'll find out interesting stuff.</p>

7

<p>lonestardad: Wow. You either are really stoked over the Tech/ A&M game or you've just emptied a 4 pk of Red Bull. </p>

<p>I applied to Honors last month. They sent me an e-mail today saying I'll hear by April 1. If I like Tech when I visit, I may call and talk with someone because waiting until April may mess up my chance for Honors Housing. </p>

<p>Any recommendations for places to eat in Lubbock?</p>

8

<p>i live in lubbock. lubbock has good food. lubbock has weird weather. my favorite place to eat good food is at thai pepper, it is near the campus. it is excellent. chili's is always good. outback steakhouse is always good as well. lubbock has good food.
although i am leaving lubbock for either austin (to hang out with "steers and queers" as lubbockites say) or Uchicago next year, lubbock will always have good food. i like food.</p>

9

<p>Here are a couple more possibilities (I'm not into fancy food). Try Two Guys' Pizza across from campus on University Avenue (a couple blocks north of the campus entrance at University and Broadway). Then just north of Two Guys' on University is Spanky's for a nice big thick burger. A new Chili's is just north of Spanky's also on University and all walking distance from campus. If you can, try staying at the Hawthorne Suites just across the street from campus on 19th and University. They have great breakfasts on the house and evening munchies. For typical suburban lots of choices restaurants, drive down to 50th and Slide Road (near the mall) and you'll see any type of food you could want.</p>

10

<p>If you're not a non-Christian, you will be fine. Texas Tech is not a hugely religious school but the religious groups do make themselves known. You gotta realize that Lubbock is so boring that really the only thing to do there is drink. So, for the religious types that don't drink, having nothing else to do amplifies their strength in their religion.</p>

<p>But seriously, if you can get into another school in Texas, like UT or A&M, I'd go that route. I was at Tech for a semester and hated it because besides drinking and going to the handful of bars there, there isn't much to do in Lubbock. It's too far from the rest of Texas anyway.</p>

<p>Lonestardad, that Chili's had a bunch of problems with students parking when they opened up last August. I think they ended up having to barricade the lot during the football weekends.</p>

11

<p>"If you're not a non-Christian, you will be fine". I smiled to myself as I read this..</p>

<p>OK, so this Texas Jewboy got back from a campus visit last week. I was impressed with how friendly everyone was and how nicely run the Honors program seemed. I liked Gordon Hall. There is a small synogogue in Lubock and supposedly a Hillel (Jewish Campus Organization). The advisor is a Doctor at the Med School but there's no physical address for Hillel ie:no building or office. Other than that, no one had any information and we didn't make it the focus of our visit. We had a positive trip.</p>

<p>Texas Tech has a lot of advantages but something else has me concerned. More than a few of the students I met mentioned that they were leaving. It looks like some of the posters here-with the exception of lonestardad's son areleaving or are planning to leave. Lookiing up TTU's graduation rates, they're like 25% in 4 years and somewhere in the 50% range for 6 years.</p>

<p>Let's switch from religion to retention.</p>

<p>Why do so many leave?</p>

12

<p>Hmm. I don't know, but I will see if I can find out when we visit at the end of the month. They have an 82% freshman retention rate, and had a 54% 6 year graduation rate using the '99 cohort. I know they are working to try to increase the 4-year graduation rate with a graduation plan that kids sign. Some of the retention rate may be the type of students it attracts? UT Austin has a 93% freshman retention rate, and a 74% 6-year rate... We'll see if we can find out and share. We do know kids there that are very happy, and plan to stay longer than 4 years!</p>

13

<p>One comment on graduation rates (and I am a tech supporter and alum). Tech has -- I believe -- a mission more in line with classic State Universities. In effect to give more kids an opportunity at a college education. Some take great advantage of this . I beleive I was one of these .. others don't and move on after a year... </p>

<p>I would be itnerested in more numbers on this isue</p>

14

<p>"Why do so many leave?"</p>

<p>Well, since I was at Tech for a semester and I left, I'm probably qualified to answer this question.</p>

<p>Gosh, where do I start? There's so many ways to answer this one. Here's the reasons why I left.</p>

<p>First off, in Texas, Texas Tech has a lack of prestige and and respect. The alumni network at Tech is nowhere near as big or powerful as Texas A&M or UT. If you get a good degree at A&M or UT, you really don't even need to look for a job; you just need to know other A&M or UT graduates and you'll find a job through them. In that way, Tech is no different that most of the other universities in Texas.</p>

<p>That and Texas Tech just doesn't have as much respect as A&M and UT, which isn't surprising since A&M and UT combined have several times more students. Hell, even the law school at Tech is a joke. A lot of the top lawyers in Texas went to UT or Baylor.</p>

<p>Then there's the location. Lubbock is in the middle of nowhere, hundreds and hundreds of miles away from everywhere else. They are no festivals and few outdoor activities in the entire area. So if you come to Tech you better like drinking a lot because that's all there is to do there. Frankly that gets really boring to me. I rather go out and hunt, fish, or SOMETHING besides sitting at some dude's apartment or swimming pool and drink around total strangers.</p>

<p>The actual town of Lubbock SUCKS. It's basically a welfare, section 8 town with a large university in it. The area around campus is starting to see new construction, as well as the southwest side of town but that doesn't negate the fact that there's nothing else to do in town besides drink. Part of the reason the Christian groups at Tech are so big because they have to be to stay busy; they don't drink and there's nothing else to do.</p>

<p>Then there's the fact that Tech's admission standards are very low. Now, I don't have a problem with schools with low admission standards, hell some of them are actually good schools, but the problem with Tech is that it attracts kids that want the big school party experience but can't get into A&M or UT. So, there ends up being some real idiots and low lives at Tech. On more than one occassion while I was up there I've had more than a few student drivers come close to wrecking into me with real bonehead moves. One idiot even pulled a U-turn in a public street right in front of me. Then there was another guy who flew into a parking lot, almost ran into me, and then got loud at me. I told him to get out of his car and fight me then, but he didn't.</p>

<p>I'm not going to deal with a whole bunch of idiots while I'm in college. College is supposed to have a little more class than high school. The kids get into Tech, can't handle the coursework, and then they end up flunking out. THAT'S why so many of them end up leaving Tech. The coursework at Tech is almost as heavy as A&M or UT but the admission standards are so low.</p>

<p>Lastly, the school is pretty expensive when you don't consider it a flagship school. I think right now 15 semester hours at Tech is about $3,200. At A&M, excluding the enhancement fees, is around $3,500. Not only is A&M in a nicer part of the state with more stuff to do, a degree at A&M has more weight so it's much easier to get a career as an Aggie graduate. You are actually getting more for your money at A&M.</p>

<p>The girls at Tech are pretty but a lot of them are shallow. Too many of them are overdressed blondes. Personally I think the girls at UT are just as good looking as a whole and there's less girls at UT that are shallow.</p>

<p>So if you combine all of those reasons, that's pretty much why I left. To me, Tech is an overpriced regional school way too far away and I'd worry about getting ahead career-wise with a degree from Tech. Personally I think you would be better off going to a smaller state school with no reputation instead of Texas Tech, which has a bad reputation to A&M or UT graduates. A lot of the guys that are hiring have graduated from A&M or UT, so I don't want them to think badly about me before the interview.</p>

<p>Sorry if I offended anyone who goes to Tech or has a child whose going to Tech. Tech isn't a bad school and you won't starve to death with a degree from Tech. Just in my situation it wasn't the best choice of a school for me.</p>

15

<p>Hi-Power- Thanks for the post. Appreciate the input.</p>

<p>"Too many of them are overdressed blondes" </p>

<p>I am actually looking for a school with many underdressed blondes.</p>

16

<p>Everyone's experience is different. Even for people transferring, Tech can be a positive. More anecdotal, but last year a Tech honors sophomore (who grew up in Lubbock) decided to transfer because Tech wasn't deep in his Economics specialty. And he transferred successfully to Rice and got merit and need aid as well. (I don't recall his screen name or I'd give it to you.) Two years ago another Tech Honors student active on the CC board transferred to Penn. Not bad. And Tech's very low SAT average for all students is about 1130 on the old scale of 1600 and between 1325 to 1350 for the Honors College (goes up and down in that range each year). That's a fairly competitive bunch.</p>

17

<p>Also, there are over 400 student organizations active on Tech's campus (go to the second floor of the student union with the scads of organizations and their offices) and there is nothing to do.</p>

18

<p>From another law school forum, here was a March 4th entry from an accepted student (with a scholarship)</p>

<p>"Just wanted to share my experience at the Tech day for accepted students with scholarships that was held this past Friday. Not sure if there is another thread out there regarding this event or not. Basically, I was blown away by the reception we received at Tech. We had lunch, sat in on a Con Law class, were given a tour by 3L's, had a question answer session with current 3L's, observed a mock trial by the Board of Barristers, and had dinner with faculty. Everyone, faculty included, was warm and welcoming. The fact that the faculty took their personal time to sit and visit with us and have dinner with us was awesome. The Dean and his wife were there as well and took time to meet and visit with each and every prospective student. One of the things that the Dean said was that if the faculty cares so much about prospective students, imagine how much they will care when you are enrolled in their class. Also, in the the Con. Law course that we observed, the professor knew each student by name! The whole experience was VERY different from other schools I have visited."</p>

<p>See a theme here re Tech including earlier posts on this thread?...friendly students...interested, caring faculty, etc. And my son is one of the fortunate ones taking the Con Law class in the Law School as a junior in the Honors College. Oh, I forgot...the Law School is a joke too.</p>

19

<p>Sorry, youarenumber6, I meant to say that if you ARE a non-Christian, you will be fine at Tech. </p>

<p>But to boil down the issue of retention into one sentence: Texas Tech has low retention because their admission standards are lax compared to the course load and thus many students simply flunk out.</p>

<p>I liked "The Prisoner", by the way.</p>

<p>lonestardad, I was involved in some student organizations while at Tech. Half of them met at the same bars in Lubbock I would go to at night. And since all there is to do in Lubbock is go to the dozen or so bars in town, to me there wasn't much to do there at all. That and Lubbock is so remote that you can't just leave and expect to have fun someplace else.</p>

<p>My idea of fun is maybe going to the lake, sport shooting, fishing, maybe some tubing in the river, eating at fancy restaurants, going to small town festivals, etc. Can't really do any of those in Lubbock. A&M and UT have student organizations as well, and since there's a lot more to do in College Station and Austin, I just don't see how Tech has any advantage in this area. There's so many frats and sororities at Tech because there isn't anything else to do.</p>

<p>Also, I didn't call the law school at Tech a joke without any merit. Lawyers that went to UT or Baylor are recruited heavily, not so much for Tech. It's just not as respected as other law schools in the state.</p>

<p>Sorry to burst your bubble about Tech. If you went there and got what you wanted out of it, the more power to you. But this board is for experiences with Texas Tech and my experiences with the school are less than stellar. I thought the school wasn't a good bargain for the money when I could go to A&M, have more to do, have a strong alumni network, and still pay about the same amount for tuition.</p>

20

<p>Hi-Power - I'm sorry your experience at Tech was not a positive one and I hope your next undegraduate experience is more to your liking. With that said, I try to support my positions with facts or quotes wherever I can. In this regard, here's an example of where you are off-base in "I didn't call the law school a joke without merit. Lawyers that went to UT or Baylor are recruited heavily, not so much for Tech." First, the University of Texas Law School is in a higher class by itself relative to all Texas law schools without question, but with that said Tech's Law School is indeed very competitive with every other Texas law school - Baylor, SMU, Houston, South Texas College of Law, etc. Here are some facts to squelch the "joke". In a thread on another law school forum which concerned law schools that were "underrated", one poster noted (and if anyone cares to private message me I will tell you exactly where I found this quote):</p>

<p>"I'd say University of Houston (#70) and Texas Tech (TTT)" are underrated per US News and World Report rankings "at least when looking at job prospects and comparing them to the two higher ranked private schools in Texas (Baylor at #51 and SMU at #43). In the previous 10 pages, someone suggested public schools suffer in the ranking game, and I agree.</p>

<p>I'll preface my support by saying my analysis focusses on job prospects, and I didn't really look at any faculty quality ratings (if they even exist for lower ranked schools).</p>

<p>Salaries (25/50/75) with % reporting (if, of course, you put any faith in USNWR numbers)
SMU ($52K, $77K, $123K) with 68% reporting.
Baylor ($55K, $70K, $105K) with 84% reporting.
Houston ($58K, $90K, $110K) with 78% reporting.
Texas Tech ($39K, $69K, $118K) with 72% reporting</p>

<p>The schools have similar bar passage rates (85% to 91%), similar regional appeal (86% to 96% stay in state), and similar employment rates (96% to 98% employed within nine months).</p>

<p>For anyone that can get in to these schools but not UT, Houston and Texas Tech will almost always cost less (with Texas Tech providing quite a few full scholarship + $300/yr stipends)."</p>

<p>Care to toss back any facts supporting your "joke" assertion about Tech's Law School?</p>

<p>I also have the facts to back up my assertions about Tech's Honors College as another for instance. One's individual experiences - good and bad - at any college/university are indeed worth sharing and have legitimacy. It's just the broadbrush comments not supported by verifiable evidence that I dispute.</p>