I have a Few Questions about UT at Austin..

Colleges & Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am currently a High School junior and will graduate in May of 2009, I have recently started looking at UT at Austin as a place where I might attend. I have a few questions I would like to have answered before going any futher. </p>

<li><p>What is campus life like, what kind of atmosphere does UT at Austin have, is it laid back, academics- driven, or Athletics-driven.</p></li>
<li><p>What majors are good to pursue at UT, from what I’ve UT’s business school is very good, I am interested in studying either Computer Science or Liberal Arts, would UT be a choice for me?</p></li>
<li><p>What kind of stuff is there to do in Austin/ what is the nightlife like?</p></li>
<li><p>If there is anything else that you like to add, please feel free.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I hope that your responses will help me to make a more balanced decision about where I want to attend college, </p>

<p>thanks.</p>

2

<p>Student:</p>

<p>User Name: Entase
Gender: M
Location: Canyon, Texas
College Class Year: 2013
High School: Public
High School Type: sends many grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.10
GPA - Weighted: 3.20
Class Rank: top 50%
Class Size: 248</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>ACT: 25</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Leadership positions: served as class historian
Volunteer/Service Work: Volunteered at local library, helped organize summer activites</p>

<p>Colleges of Interest:</p>

<p>College: The University of Texas at Austin, Choice #: 1, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply</p>

<p>Desired College Characteristics:</p>

<p>Location type: Urban
Size: Very Large (Over 18,000)</p>

<p>Area: Midwest
Importance of cost: Very important</p>

<p>what do I need to change to improve my chances of getting accepted to UT, remember I have 1.5 more years to improve! =]</p>

3

<p>Entase, UT is the largest university in the nation, and among the highest rated public universities. It is situated in Austin, Texas, a very progressive city. We live in San Antonio and go to Austin a lot. My son now attends UT and loves it. There is a LOT to do in Austin! Just do a search on Austin culture and you will find lots of info. There is much diversity in the city and at the college, so no matter what your interests, you should find groups of people you can fit in with. Football is huge there, but it is oh so much more than that. My son is not into sports at all and lots of UT students are not into sports; the college is NOT all about sports like some colleges are. There are plenty of other interests to pursue.</p>

<p>In answer to your specific questions:</p>

<ol>
<li>All of the above</li>
<li>I believe UT excels in most areas. I know that when my son attended an engineering seminar last year, they gave him some stats about the engineering program and UT ranked #8 in one of the engineering areas and #13 in another, and #4 in another. I don't remember the specifics but overall they were right up there with Rice. I know liberal arts is strong, as well as computer science. A field my son is interested in is Computational Linguistics, and they are one among very few universities even offering that at all. Business is strong. Those are the only ones I know about specifically; others on this forum probably know more about the specific majors. But I've heard they are strong in pretty much everything so you can't really go wrong.</li>
<li>Oh wow, where do I begin? UT is known as a party school, but then, which school isn't, really? My son's best friend's parents criticized my son's choice of UT and said it was just a 'party school' but when their own son went to Rice, he told my son that after just the first weekend, he was exposed to every drug imaginable, as well as tons of alcohol. So based on that, I would surmise that partying is to be encountered no matter what school you go to (except maybe BYU!) So yeah partying is strong, but UT is huge enough that there are plenty of subcultures of students who aren't into partying. As for nightlife, Austin is known for its famous 6th Street, which is a mecca for culture and music. Austin is also known as the 'Live Music Capital of the World.' It has wonderful shops, restaurants, artisans, hippies young and old, right alongside high-technology businesspeople. Just all sorts of diversity in Austin. Oh, and plenty of parks, nature trails, lots of biking and hiking, swimming, rivers...I LOVE AUSTIN! The books I recommended said one of the biggest challenges faced by students is that there is TOO much to do!</li>
<li>I admit I'm a bit biased but Austin is just such a cool place to live, and being that one of the country's best universities is located there, it was an easy choice for my son. People have bumperstickers and t-shirts saying 'Keep Austin weird' and that about sums it up.</li>
</ol>

<p>Here are a couple of books that provide more details about UT as well as other colleges (important details like what is the nightlife like, the amount of partying, etc. in addition to academic details):</p>

<p>Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 331 Most Interesting Colleges 2005 (Unofficial, Unbiased Insider's Guide to the Most Interesting Colleges) (Paperback)
by Kaplan</p>

<p>Students' Guide to Colleges: The Definitive Guide to America's Top 100 SchoolsWritten by the Real Experts--the Students Who Attend Them <a href="Paperback">BARGAIN PRICE</a>
by Jordan Goldman (Author), Colleen Buyers (Author) </p>

<p>Also, I suggest you search this forum for 'UT' and 'Texas' and 'Austin' - you will find lots of threads containing lots more info.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>must must must improve your rank, top 50% is not good enough, either that, or concentrate on really improving your ACT/SAT scores or try and do something very big in estra curriculars.</p>

5

<p>Yes, unless you improve your rank and ACT/SAT SIGNIFICANTLY, you will be admitted to the CAP program. CAP is great for many kids who want to go to UT Austin but aren't academically ready yet. You'd go to UTPB or UTSA or UTA or another campus (I think all of them but UTD participate) and if you get a 3.2 you are automatically accepted to UT for your sophmore year.</p>

<p>UT is what you make it. There are kids who try to take 24 hours and kill themselves academically. There are kids who just chill and smoke and drink all day and try to barely make grades. There are kids who are in love with intramurals, club sports, the gym, and the Horns. Horn spirit is huge--everyone cares how UT does in sports, especially in football.</p>

<p>UT is pretty good at EVERY major The business school is especially well regarded. Honestly, if computer science is really what you want to do, I'd recommend trying to get in to UTD. The Turing scholars program is very good but I don't think you could get in to that, and I'm not sure about the normal CS program. Liberal Arts is a huge field. Some of the programs are excellent, such as the #1 Latin American history program, while others aren't as well renowned but are still quite good. 2</p>

<p>The nightlife in Austin is AMAZING! It's the live music capital of the world, there are a lot of cool clubs on 6th Street as well. You can hear good music any day of the week. You can find great parties. You can find something no matter what you like. Simply put, Austin is the nightlife capital of the Southwest.</p>

<p>My advice to you is to try hard in school the next year, try to get the scores up quite a bit as well. If UT is truly your dream school, go to CAP and work hard and you can go to UT for the last three years.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>