Hey Everyone,
I got into both schools, but forgot to apply to UT Austin’s honors program (mainly because I thought I would never go there).
I’ve been accepted into Texas A&M’s engineering honors program.
Both of them will cost the same. I don’t really have a preference for either.
Should I go to UT Austin since its ranked a bit higher and is better known outside of Texas? Or should I go to Texas A&M because I’m in their honors program?
Thanks,
smh3005
Are you certain of your major, or is it likely that you will change major?
At UT Austin, are you directly admitted to your desired major?
At Texas A&M, are you admitted to the engineering division, and have you checked the entry to major requirements for your majors of interest?
Sorry I should have clarified this.
I got into EE/CE at UT Austin
I got in ME honors at Texas A&M
I applied to UT Austin later than I applied to Texas A&M, and during that time I went from wanting to do mechanical engineering to computer engineering.
find out what the process is to change majors at Texas A&M. If it is simply a matter of asking that’s fine. If they have any kind of gpa screen and/or force you to wait until a few semesters have gone by, I’d take Austin for sure. I had a friend in college that didn’t know what he wanted to do in engineering, and after eenie-meenie-miny-moe chose ChemE. In his soph year he realized EE was really the right one for him, and he was getting good grades in it. However his gpa in ChemE wasn’t so great. The school only allowed a small number of kids to change, ranked by gpa. He didn’t make the cut. He dropped out of engineering. Had he listed EE on his college application he would have been an engineer. Not a happy story.
The difference in student culture at the these two schools is enormous. That might be something to explore. I agree you should look into what would be required to change majors at A&M and make sure it is possible and will not delay graduation. Honors at A&M will get you better advising. You are already accepted into your major at UT; that’s a bonus. If you do well it should not matter for future plans whether or not you were in honors.
Do you want to go to grad school? if so, honors looks better
That’s a good point because I am considering grad school.
Thanks for the responses.
What evidence can you cite for this? Can you give one link of a grad school saying this, or an adcom at a grad program saying this?
All things equal, sure, its probably better to go to an honors program. But that is a weak argument because all things are never equal. And, more importantly, the things that are not equal dwarf the tiny effect of an honors program.
Assuming the OP wants a grad program in engineering then any ABET acredited program in the country is good enough. The grad schools will look at your GRE scores and GPA. Letters of rec play a big role, too. The kid that went to “honors” and never got to know any profs loses bigtime to the kid that has a few profs that can really go to bat for them. And if you’re aiming at a PhD then having done research shows you know what you are getting into, plus should lead to a rec from the lead researcher (usually ghostwritten by the postdoc that actually knows you, but that’s a different story). And you don’t need to be in an honors program to hustle around to find a research position.
And to be honest if we’re talking about a MS degree the real qualification at most schools is the ability to pay for it. Including places like Stanford. Any engineer that wants a Stanford MS in engineering, and I literally mean any, can get it. Many people that get a MS at Stanford do so thru an employer sponsored program. See https://gradadmissions.stanford.edu/programs/hcp The only real qualification is your employer is willing to pay for it. Nobody cares if you went to some honors college.