I live in Dallas with my family right now. We have always lived together and are a closely attached Asian household. Is UT Austin good enough for me to leave Dallas and live in Austin ? The other option is UT Dallas. Should I stay home and pick UT Dallas or get moving ?
There are many reasons to pick a college - strength of the major, financial, fit, opportunities within and around the college to excel and to get the end result you want - job/graduate school. Another goal of going to college is to mature, to start making independent decisions (with parental advice), and to learn to take care of yourself. UT Austin is a great school, in a great city with lots of opportunities but it is large and you would be a small fish in a big pond. UTD is a great school in many areas - STEM and business, it is a smaller environment but has many opportunities within the college and the community. You need to consider which school would give you the most opportunities and is an environment that you could succeed in.
That being said, if UTD is the better fit, I would recommend staying in the dorm vs at home, if finances allow. Again, I think college is about maturing and taking care of yourself. Don’t go home every weekend and explore DFW vs staying in areas that you already know.