I will most likely be attending UTD: Just had a few questions!

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas Schools (Other Than Austin
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<p>Here's my situation, live in NY, go to HS in NY, and my parents are moving down south (Houston), at the end of the year. I hope to stay close to them so applied to primarily Texas schools (Baylor, Trinity, Rice, TAMU, UTD) etc!</p>

<p>Anyway, got into UTD, and today they sent a letter saying I get a 7k scholarship along with instate tuition, so my COA is 13k!</p>

<p>That is unbeatable, since all the others I applied to are private, and TAMU will give me nothing since I missed the Dec 1st app deadline, as my parents got their job offers around Christmas!</p>

<p>UTD will by far be my cheapest option, and it seems to be on the rise big-time!!</p>

<p>Anyway, I had a few questions.</p>

<p>A) How is the UTD Pre-Med program? If I do well, will I be able to get into some good med schools? How is the rigor of the classes at UTD? Challenging, easy?</p>

<p>B) What is this no social life I keep reading about UTD?</p>

<p>C) Finally, why is the graduation rate so low, 39% for four years? Wow...</p>

<p>D) How do I maintain my AES Scholarship?
<a href="http://oue.utdallas.edu/aes/maintaining-aes-scholarships/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://oue.utdallas.edu/aes/maintaining-aes-scholarships/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I saw that, and it says I need to keep a 3.0. but what does this mean:</p>

<p>"Complete a minimum of 15 unique UT Dallas credit hours per semester and complete a total of 30 unique UT Dallas credit hours before the conclusion of their freshman academic year"</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

<p>Alex</p>

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<p>I just got an amazing scholarship from UTD? Full tuition and fees + 7K a year. I’m from MI and have never been to UTD. What’s it like? Any info would be great,</p>

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<p>Any info would be great!</p>

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<p>A. I’ve heard some good things about premed at UTD. I know someone who took a full-ride at UTD over many more prestigious schools as a premed. You might want to look into this: [Green</a> Fellowships](<a href=“http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw/cda/dept21010/files/235773.html]Green”>http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw/cda/dept21010/files/235773.html)</p>

<p>C. I’d guess that the graduation rate is low because a) commuter schools often have more students taking limited course loads and working, b) UTD is still fairly new and has only recently become more selective, and c) tuition is cheap enough that many people are willing to stretch out their educations.</p>

<p>D. That means that you have to take a full course load at UTD every semester in order to keep your scholarship. So, you can’t take only one class at UTD and four others at a community college or something like that. They expect you to earn 15 credits a semester through the school. This is a typical arrangement and is not unusual at all.</p>

<p>Can’t help with B as I’m not a student. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Think about applying to Texas Tech. Good pre-med program (if you apply and get into honors college you are pretty much automatically accepted to the TTU med school). If you get ANY academic scholarship (google texas tech merit scholarships…tells you exactly what you need for each level)…you automatically pay in state tuition…not out of state. COA will be very similar and you will be getting more bang for your buck. UTD is not bad…but I think you will not regret going to a great school like Tech. At least apply, you never know. Still lots of time for Tech (still time for financial aid, admission, honors college (not sure, i think so), housing, everything). Good luck. wreck em!</p>

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<p>you missed the “general scholarship” deadline for tech but the merit scholarships are automatic and don’t end. almost no one gets “general scholarships” unless you are at tech for a year or two (so you could apply next year).</p>

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<p>Congrats on your scholarship offer!
A) The pre-med program is pretty rigorous, from what current UTD students have told me. The pre-med acceptance rate I believe is 67% (higher than the national average). The academics at UTD are pretty challenging–especially if you are planning on taking classes like biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, etc. The class sizes are somewhat large too, but UTD does offer great tutoring services at no cost.
B) There is little social life at UTD, because most of the students are commuters to campus. Therefore, it is more like a high school where most people come and go for classes. But, I heard it is getting better. The dorms are super nice too–I have seen them and they are brand new.
C) I never heard about that stat about the graduation rate. On the contrary, UT Dallas has some of the smartest students. “Entering freshmen average math and critical reading SAT scores are consistently above 1200 and are among the highest of the public universities in Texas and the highest in the state for fall 2010.” ([State</a> of The University 2010 - Office of the President, UT Dallas](<a href=“http://www.utdallas.edu/president/state-of-the-university-2010.html]State”>http://www.utdallas.edu/president/state-of-the-university-2010.html))
d) No idea on that one lol
Hope this helped!</p>

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Here’s a review from a 4th year Pre-Med Student:

A) The pre-med program here is absolutely amazing! I have very close friends and acquaintances who graduated from UT Austin and wish they had completed their pre-med at UTD. They see my coursework and say that they’re just now learning these topics in Med School…Followed by the “Why didn’t UT Austin teach us this??” rant.

Most of your upper level course instructors will be current/retired UT Southwestern Professors/Researchers so there will be a few professors that will put you through Med School rigors. If you want to learn as much as possible before Medical School, UTD is absolutely outstanding. When you go to upper level professor office hours, the research facilities where their offices are say “UTD. UT Southwestern Research Center.” If that doesn’t make a statement regarding the quality of eduction at UTD, I don’t know what will.

OVERALL, if you do good in a UTD Pre-med program, there are facilities specifically for pre-med students here to help you get into good med schools. Warning: The coursework is NOT EASY. There may be a few courses that you’ll get with really good professors resulting in an “okayish” curve but overall, if you slack off here, you’re going to pay the price (same thing with any other good university).

When you’re in the first few semesters at UTD as a Biology major, do your best and study as if you were in med school. This is important because once you start your major related upper level courses, they will be much more difficult (night vs day), and some instructors (very few) give all grading authority to TA’s so you’re left at the mercy of your TA.

B) This “no social life” you hear about at UTD refers to how this school is for serious students only. THIS IS NOT A PARTY SCHOOL! At UTD, everything, and everyone is focused around success and molding outstanding future professionals. If you want to have fun, go off campus with friends.

C) I’m not sure why the graduation rate is so low. The only reason I can think of for this (This is only my opinion), is that there are seniors who take courses like Genetics and A&P1 in their last semester. These courses have a very high drop rate depending on which professor you have. Either that, or UTD is one of the most expensive public universities in Texas so maybe students need to take time off to work jobs?

D) The other comments explain it better than I could.

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@Bimmerx53, this is an old thread which might explain the low graduation rate for 4 yrs. I believe it is over 50% now.