My daughter has applied to UT Austin and is excited to hear back from admissions. A couple of friends had children attend other schools in Texas and they wound up transferring because they felt a bit excluded. Does anyone have any insight on how OOS students get along at UT Austin? Is this an issue for most large flagship universities?
There’s no denying it with Texas–so few OOS students are admitted–that the first semester can be daunting with so many Texans hanging out with their high school or local Texas friends talking about HS football teams from Midland or Houston or Corpus Cristi. But after that first semester or so, other groups get formed around interests, majors, activities. And there are a LOT of interests in a place like UT (and an awesome diverse city of Austin with many people from everywhere). I wouldn’t let the worry of exclusion be a primary driver of NOT choosing UT.
There are plenty other factors for OOS students–the high OOS tuition, the low percentage that get accepted, the lack of significant scholarship money–that can make attendance at UT potentially less desirable than other schools for OOS students.
My son felt welcomed when he attended UT from Maine. He said, “Mom, everyone is so friendly!”
A lot of my high school classmates attended UT as I did. I never saw any of them! The school is so big that you tend to hang out with the people in your dorm and your classmates.
@eng111 @MaineLonghorn Thanks for your thoughtful replies.