<p>I'm a senior in SC and I've always felt drawn to UT for some reason, but I worry a bit about the size. It is obviously HUGE. For students who are there now - how do you feel about the size? Do you feel like a cliched "number" or does it not seem to matter so much? Like I was thinking if I was to go to South Carolina or Clemson that would still be about 20,000 people which is still a lot, so once schools become big do you really notice a difference between 20,000 and 30,000? I don't know I would just be nervous because I wouldn't know anyone or have a car or anything so.... also if you feel like chancing me while you're at it that'd be lovely.
ACT: 29,
SAT(math&cr): 1270,
GPA w: 4.5, GPA uw: 3.5,
APs: 12 (AP Scholar)
rank: 36/439,
top 10%,
OSS female,
President of: Beta Club and French National Honor Society
Also in: Young Democrats, NHS, Club International, Dance for 13yrs and competitively for 8</p>
<p>Do not worry. After a while UT will indeed feel very small and familiar. The saying goes, “There isn’t a place on campus that’ll take more than 15 mins to get to on foot” (of course that leaves out the IM Fields – but theres a bus of course".</p>
<p>Think about starting early in the summer – it’s what I did and I think it was all worth it because I got to adapt to my surroundings before the big crowds arrived. </p>
<p>And – after a while if you get into a routine you’ll start to notice the same people on your way to class and such.</p>
<p>It’s not that bad, really it isn’t.</p>
<p>There were 48,000 students at UT when I attended in the 80s, only a couple of thousand fewer than now. I always tell people it never felt big to me - it’s not as if you see all 50,000 students at once, except at football games! Since I was an engineering student, I spent most of my time in ECJ, the civil engineering building. I had a small group of friends who studied together a lot. What I loved was how much there was to do on campus - I was never bored.</p>
<p>My FAVORITE class at UT, American History with George Forgie, had 300 students. He was such an amazing lecturer that I looked forward to going to class. He was also happy to talk to me whenever I wanted to - he tried to convince me to switch my major to history, lol! He’s still teaching, so take him if you get a chance and don’t mind a challenge! My point is that BIG classes aren’t necessarily evil. :)</p>
<p>Oh, I liked UT so much that I was thrilled when our oldest decided to apply OOS and was accepted. He’s a freshman from a small town, but he’s adjusting well.</p>
<p>I didn’t have a car until I was a senior and got by fine. The Austin bus service is free for students, so you can get around easily - their website is very helpful for figuring out routes.</p>
<p>I’m an incoming freshman this year and at first I was afraid because of all the things I had heard about being overwhelmed by the huge size, but honestly now that I’m here it doesn’t feel that bad at all. It doesn’t feel bad in my classes, even with my UGS class that has 300 students in it. I talk to my professors and make sure they recognize my face, even if it’s not regularly enough for them to remember my name. I luckily have a class where there’s only about 25 students in it, so I get to have a little bit of that small classroom experience and we’re all pretty close. </p>
<p>I would definitely reccommend joining a FIG if you can find one you like. I’ve made most of my friends through that and so hopefully it’ll work out for other people too. I also have a study group with them so it’s pretty cool. </p>
<p>I actually like the large size because I feel like I have the chance to meet new people and there’s always something going on. And it’s never empty (except sometimes on Sundays, which always feels really weird.) I also find that I see a lot of familiar faces and so it makes the community feel smaller.</p>
<p>Overall, I don’t think the size is a huge deal, as long as you get to know your professors and find a good group of people to hang out with. And get involved, you meet a lot of people that way too! Hope this helps :]</p>
<p>Huh?? Are you asking if I feel overwhelmed because there are a lot of people here? Um…no…There are many other things that make UT overwhelming…seeing a lot of faces is not one of them. O.o</p>
<p>By the way, there are <em>many</em> locations on campus that take more than 15 minutes by foot, and I live in “centrally located” Jester. Sometimes you work a sweat just trying to get around campus. </p>
<p>Just keeping it real :/</p>
<p>no. i dont.</p>
<p>It’s not overwhelming at all!! You meet so many people so quickly and I’m constantly seeing people I know all over campus! I never thought it would be like that before. And the people I’ve met are just from my classes and clubs that I’ve joined so it’s not like I was going out of my way to meet tons of people. </p>
<p>I have no problem getting to all of my classes or anywhere else, and I live in Duren which is on the edge of the campus. </p>
<p>I would say that the only overwhelming thing is the intensity of the classes. But then again, I’m a freshman taking sophomore classes because I had a lot of AP credit so it is slightly different for me.</p>
<p>If you live in Texas, and you like the mean girl (and mean guy) culture, you might well enjoy UT. But UT, despite it’s huge size, or maybe because of it, is made up of many small groups that often hate on “outsiders.” SC, don’t even think about going to the cowboy university! It will kill your soul. Go to a smaller college where you can come to know the community, not “a community” which has far too many groups of kids that hung together in high school and stayed firmly banded throughout college, excluding most newcomers. And no, this didn’t happen to me. I just know many kids who went to UT in the last few years and experienced what I described. Most transferred because of the nastiness of the UT culture. In general, of course.</p>
<p>Great first post, jknows! Wow.</p>
<p>i have not noticed a “culture of nastiness” at UT so far…</p>
<p>but i am not outgoing so i don’t know anybody well enough to know if they are nasty or not</p>
<p>The only ******bags are the frats and sorority girls. Everyone else is really nice, unless you are competing for jobs. Jknows doesn’t even go to UT.</p>
<p>OK, lets not call all people in the Greek system ******bags. I have met some who are down to earth and nice. This may be the exception, but still.</p>
<p>I found they were nice on-on-one! I just had difficulty with them when they were in a group for some reason.</p>
<p>Get over yourself dan. You have your opinion, I have mine.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman at UT right now, and I can say that jknows is right. I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the clique-ish vibe at UT. It’s frustrating, especially if you really want a fresh start and leave all the high school stuff behind. But that being said, it’s not impossible to overcome. It just takes a LOT more work than say, if you went to a smaller college with a more diverse geographical population. You have to actively work to establish a “community” of friends here; it will not happen automatically. </p>
<p>But like previous posters said, if you’re going to go to UT, it’s a good idea to get into a FIG, the Honors Program, the smaller dorms (like Whitis or Roberts/Moore-Hill/Brackenridge), or really get involved in extracurriculars.</p>
<p>“Get over yourself dan. You have your opinion, I have mine.”
I never said you couldn’t have your opinion. Maybe they are “******bags” to you because you jump down peoples throats without warrant.</p>