<p>First, let me start off by saying I am not here to start a flame war or offend anyone. I understand that 90% of the student body has to be in-state because of state law. </p>
<p>I am a senior in Northern California (the land of granola) and I am relatively liberal, both socially and politically. Several family friends have moved to different parts of Texas (Dallas and Houston) and I've heard from the kids who were my age just how different things are there. I know Austin is a lot different than the rest of Texas, but with the student body coming from all over, would someone like me be happy here? I love football, and I'm pretty social so those aspects of the school excite me, what I'm more concerned about is the attitudes of the students here toward outsiders. </p>
<p>I'm especially interested in responses from those who are/were out-of-state, especially West Coasters!</p>
<p>i am from southern california. i have lived in dallas/ft worth for a few years now. i’ve visited austin twice for a few days. everyone tells me it’s the most “like california” place in texas. how much that really says, i am not sure. everywhere else in texas is VERY different than california. my physics teacher here says that austin is “like the area around berkeley”… but i think he has no idea what he’s talking about and things that are different scare him. i do not like texas very much, but austin doesn’t seem too bad. the campus itself is so big and has such a diverse population that i don’t think any of it is very “texas” if you ask me.
BUT with walking around austin a bit i have seen quite a few “weirdos” that remind me of being in santa monica or some such. it can attract the hippie type, there are quite a few bums there than other places in texas (but not more than you see in cali). mostly i think it attracts the hipster hippie type… and then people who just want to go to ut austin. there is a western hill country area of austin, and a lot of celebrities live there: sandra bullock, matthew mcconaughey, etc. it’s a ritzier place and very beautiful.
but i really don’t know much since i’ve only been there a few times.</p>
<p>Thank you for your insight! I certainly don’t mind weirdos as long as they don’t force themselves on you, I’d certainly prefer that to someone who openly carries a firearm. If you don’t mind me asking, what is it about Texas that you don’t like, having lived there for some years.</p>
<p>I live in Texas almost my whole life and I don’t see what is wrong with it. Whenever I visit other states, there seems to be a hate/dislike towards Texas. Why do people hate Texas?</p>
<p>I live in a small, conservative suburban town right near Houston (less than 20 miles away) and it SUCKS. I’m a politically and socially liberal Middle Eastern, so perhaps that’s why. Where I’m from, it’s pretty quintessential Texas and I totally understood the dislike towards Texas for the longest time. I don’t even like downtown Houston much- except for a couple of areas, there’s not much for people to do there. I also have family in Dallas and it’s an incredibly boring place. Austin is starkly different. It’s the first place in Texas I’ve been to where I really love being. (I don’t attend UT yet, but I have a bunch of close friends that attend and I’ve been on campus many times over the years- most recently, for orientation and then a week-long summer program.)</p>
<p>There are still “Texas-y” things, like the architecture and food and the usage of “y’all” and other Southern mannerisms, but it’s not the negative aspects. The people themselves are very friendly and tolerant because it’s fairly socially liberal. It’s no Berkeley, but I don’t know a single person from outside Texas who thinks Austin is too Texas-y for their tastes.</p>
<p>“MistaDee, is there a degree program of interest at UT that UNC at Chapel Hill doesn’t offer?”</p>
<p>UNC would be excellent, but it’s more of a reach for me.</p>
<p>“I live in Texas almost my whole life and I don’t see what is wrong with it. Whenever I visit other states, there seems to be a hate/dislike towards Texas. Why do people hate Texas?”</p>
<p>It’s not that I hate Texas, I simply get the impression that things are very different there, not that they are worse, just that I might feel out of place or uncomfortable, just as a Texan might feel at UCB.</p>
<p>"I live in a small, conservative suburban town right near Houston (less than 20 miles away) and it SUCKS. I’m a politically and socially liberal Middle Eastern, so perhaps that’s why. Where I’m from, it’s pretty quintessential Texas and I totally understood the dislike towards Texas for the longest time. I don’t even like downtown Houston much- except for a couple of areas, there’s not much for people to do there. I also have family in Dallas and it’s an incredibly boring place. Austin is starkly different. It’s the first place in Texas I’ve been to where I really love being. (I don’t attend UT yet, but I have a bunch of close friends that attend and I’ve been on campus many times over the years- most recently, for orientation and then a week-long summer program.)</p>
<p>There are still “Texas-y” things, like the architecture and food and the usage of “y’all” and other Southern mannerisms, but it’s not the negative aspects. The people themselves are very friendly and tolerant because it’s fairly socially liberal. It’s no Berkeley, but I don’t know a single person from outside Texas who thinks Austin is too Texas-y for their tastes."</p>
<p>Thank you! This is just what I was looking for. Great to hear and congratulations on being accepted.</p>
<p>There’s not much to do in downtown Houston? Maybe not downtown proper, but the inner loop absolutely destroys Austin as a city, and that’s just the inner loop and not counting the beltway. There is an insane amount of museums, restaurants, clubs, parks, and attractions inside the loop and it sounds like someone barely left the bubble, I mean the suburb. </p>
<p>Dont get me wrong, Austin is an amazing place, and UT is an awesome school, but dont count out the other cities in Texas because there are areas in Houston and Dallas just as liberal as Austin. Once you get out to the suburbs you do get a huge dose of Texas conservativeness and its the same in Austin as well.</p>
<p>And to the OP, if you can’t handle being around Republicans then you need to steer clear of Texas and you might need a reality check, you’re always going to be around people with different ideologies. Dont get me wrong, im the epitome of a liberal, but im really tired of Californians coming here with the “austin” fantasy. If you attend UT you should be grateful because the Texas economy is the most healthy in the country, and being a longhorn means something, especially to employers. </p>
<p>I’m originally from Southern California and moved to the Austin area a few years ago. At first its a big difference but I’ve grown to love Austin more than California! Everybody here (well most people) are pretty open minded and welcome outsiders with big open arms!</p>
<p>i don’t want anyone to feel attacked or defensive, so let me preface this by saying i do not generalize all texans to be a certain way. if i did, i would’ve moved back to california and i wouldn’t be in a serious relationship with one. but when a majority of people are a certain way, then there are cause for stereotypes.</p>
<p>even with that said, i know i am going to get attacked for my opinions. so be it. texas is mostly not a place where you are allowed to think differently than others or to criticize anything remotely related to texas or what they consider “patriotism”. someone said it best when they said, “everyone in texas grew up under a rock, and they want to tell you about how big and awesome their rock is.”</p>
<p>i have encountered quite a bit of backlash over anyone here knowing that i am in college. they seem to take it as a personal attack that i have a larger vocabulary than they do or that i want to do something with my life other than pop out three kids with three different fathers and have multiple short, consecutive marriages with wedding dates set before the last divorce is finalized. how dare i make something of myself instead of neglect my children and live off of my multiple child support checks and refuse to work. “what yew goin to college fer? yew think yer better than me?”</p>
<p>i gotta say that that culture and the men you would expect to participate in it are the main reason why i do not like texas. it’s just this prideful and completely ignorant to reality attitude that a lot of people have. now, i am not even generalizing it to just texas. i seem to confront this same attitude when people talk about their favorite sports teams or their own children. it’s the kind of place that refuses to believe in the laws of physics or that global warming/sea level rise is taking place because it conflicts with their religion. i guess you could surmise that the way people drive here is on account of their non-belief in physics. otherwise, i really can’t explain it. i have never in my life encountered such terrible drivers, and i’ve driven in los angeles and new york many times. just expect people to not be aware that there is a single person on the road other than them, that the lines dividing the lanes do not exist, and that cars here are not manufactured with a turn signal. nevermind that you are on a toll-road that you must knowingly PAY to be on and therefore you know the speed limit is 70 or more, people will be driving 55 in the fast lane and refuse to move. every day is a sunday drive. but you will hear people complain about their 15-20 minute a day commute because they have no idea that it’s normal to commute one-way to work an hour or more each day everywhere else. these same people will get upset when they find out they can’t smoke in an establishment or a public park/beach. if you are from anywhere else, you will be shocked at the amount of people who smoke here. don’t get me started on the chewing tobacco. many will become anxious if you suggest driving somewhere more than 2 hours away. but do not dare try to find out why people do any of these things; do not ask them any friendly questions even if you’re just trying to find out why they think the way they do, not to change the way they think. you are an outsider and they have been taught to regard outsiders (especially californians and vegetarians) the same way that chinese people are taught to regard westerners: they are a threat to our way of living. everyone here for the most part is completely proud of who they are and do not want to even hear suggestions or experiences of anything else. is that admirable? maybe, if you agree with their way of thinking. to everyone else it is just very, very frustrating. and their response to that? “move back to california if you don’t like it.” even if people aren’t overly religious here, their upbringing was still similar–everyone on the outside is evil and will try to take you away from your family and who you are.
and they wonder why everyone dislikes texas.</p>
<p>i really hope that austin is different. i have reason to think it may be. we went to a club on 6th street that is very un-texas and across their marquee it read: “welcome to austin. please don’t move here.”</p>
<p>No problem! I hope my advice was helpful. I know several people from California who attend and they all love it. Most still prefer California- but I mean, it is their home state and all.</p>
<p>@robertrulez
I did say “except for a couple of areas”- like that and Montrose. Austin definitely has a better public transportation system than Houston. In addition, the natural attractions offered by Houston do not remotely compare to the ones near Austin. I do agree that some areas of Houston are as liberal as Austin, but it’s not the uniform sense I felt in Austin. Overall, IMO and as far as I can tell, being in college in Houston is not the same as being at UT Austin. I think it’s the open campus style of UT as well as the fact that UT’s so huge; you can always find students wherever you go and easily find a friend who’s willing to explore the city. Perhaps that has to do with UT more than Austin itself; nonetheless, it contributes to how much you enjoy Austin as a college student. Either way, I never said I hated Houston - just that I didn’t like it much, and this is definitely a sentiment that is shared among many of my older classmates who decided to attend college in Houston.</p>
<p>No place in Texas is more liberal than Austin. That simply has no bearing whatsoever to what someone thinks California is all about. </p>
<p>Texans do say what they think and irrespective of all the weird stuff anexia seems to be spouting (“they seem to take it as a personal attack that i have a larger vocabulary than they do” - huh? Has this person read a single post by the ultimate rural texan Curmudgeon on CC who has a vocabulary that is not even written in the dictionary but very clearly understood by anyone reading?) people are opinionated and express themselves to the extreme. Houston elected an open gay mayor who supports gay marriage - twice and it is a much much larger city than San Francisco. If anyone has not been reading papers in California, please be aware that California actually voted against gay marriage irrespective of all the liberal polling data to the contrary by them polite people out there. </p>
<p>Having said all that, unless someone is willing to spend 200k coming all the way from california, UT is not a place you should be considering. The reason I say that is because UNC is not that much better than UT (UT is far superior in engineering) and if you are not confident of getting in there, you can get into UT only if UT is admitting you because of OOS tuition. Lot of the state schools are allocating a portion of seats in order to get more money and UT is number 1 in Texas for that.</p>
<p>OP, I goofed when reading your original post and mistakenly put you in North Carolina instead of California! But the point I intended to make is the same. As good as UT is, California’s leading publics will offer a top notch educational education in any field of interest at a much more favorable cost. You need to have a compelling rationale for paying OOS tuition to be at UT, particularly considering you don’t know if it’s a good social fit for you. Moreover, as you said, only 10% of freshmen are non-Texan. If UNC at Chapel Hill would be a reach, UT will likely be a reach, too–the competition for the few OOS spaces here is fierce. If I recall correctly, California sends more freshmen to UT than any other state. To have been admitted, they are necessarily quite a bright and talented lot! I’m sure you have a lot to offer, or you wouldn’t be investing so much effort in researching UT. But do bear in mind that UT is never a safety and not often a match for OOS applicants, i.e., for most OOS applicants, it’s a reach.</p>
<p>A lot of students and families look to other state schools when they conclude, for whatever reason, that their own state schools are off the table. It happens to Texans who feel shut out of UT and TAMU because of our own “top percent” laws. The thing is, other publics use OOS students to make money! So, with a few exceptions, they aren’t generally fiscally responsible options. It’s usually better to investigate private colleges.</p>
<p>^ You make a very compelling argument. What are some good privates that would be similar to UT? I have USC as a reach and LMU as a safety, but there doesn’t seem to be much in between.</p>
<p>@Anexia,
Yes, we’re Texans. We love Texas, and we’re proud of our state. You make it sound like this place is full of rednecks and ignorant folks. You’re not going to find a place where everyone agrees with you. There are lots conservatives, but what’s the problem in that? The cities in Texas are not the stereotypical Texas towns. It’s a good mix of different people with different views. Austin is great, it’s very liberal and it’s beautiful.</p>
<p>hmm, let me put it this way:
when someone found out the country artist carrie underwood supported gay marriage, they tweeted, “@carrieunderwood Is a disgrace. Being vegan and supporting gay marriage doesn’t seem very country at all.”</p>
<p>There are thousands of good colleges in the US. Some, you have heard of; many others, you haven’t…yet! The more time you devote to figuring out your personal pro/con factors, the better results you’ll get.</p>
<p>“Being vegan and supporting gay marriage doesn’t seem very country at all”</p>
<p>And what is the problem with that? Country music is closer to being redneck than larry the cable guy. You do know what they say about opinions and everyone having one? Your opinion is not superior to someone else’s just because you feel superior to people in your surroundings. No one in Texas gives a rodent’s behind if Cher or Angelina Jolie want to support gay marriage or be vegan but Carrie Underwood is as close to country royalty as they come and country music has certain type of followers.</p>
<p>If you read the headlines, you realize it is not just people in Texas who are not happy, it is most of her fans, so much so that she is claiming to be not a soapbox?</p>
<p>^I realized after I posted this that it might have come across as being rather rude and I apologize for that. What I meant is, if you have to question whether or not Texas is “too Texas” for you, then it probably is. </p>
<p>However, it’s obviously not “too Texas” for the thousands of Californians who are moving here weekly.</p>