<p>First of all, I'd like to congratulate everyone who are able to ask what colleges to choose from between like Georgetown, JHU, Harvard, WashU, blah blah. I had my mind set on attending UChicago if I got in but today I was rejected :( So now I only have 3 options remaining.</p>
<p>University of Kansas
University of Tulsa
University of Texas at Austin</p>
<p>I want to do a bio major. Currently, I am leaning towards UT Austin. I visited the campus earlier and I liked the city/location, campus, student body size, and general social scene. I have been to TU (Tulsa) many times and I would receive lots of IB credit there, but social-wise I like UT over it. I don't think TU is any better in bio than UT would be but I'm not really sure. I haven't been able to find any info on the specifics of their bio departments. TU is small in terms of student body size, so most will probably say should UT then if I want a big campus. I think I want that, and I know I'd love the social scene, but I cannot attend just for that. Academics come first. For KU, I haven't visited but I have this thing against it b/c it's in-state. Money isn't really any issue, although I know my parents would pay for KU over UT if the bio of KU is better. I've heard good things about the KU med program, so I know it would be decent, I guess. I just want to get out of state, meet lots of new ppl, etc. I would already know faaar too many ppl at KU.</p>
<p>Based on the 2005 Rankings done by US News and World Report, UT Austin is ranked about 45 and both TU and KU are ranked about 90. I want to know more about the specifics on the bio departments, though. That's what's really going to make my decision. Thanks!</p>
<p>Okay, I live in Austin, and I cannot stress enough to you how good of a school UTAustin is, I would hands down choose it over your other two. Im sure the bio departments are ranked very high, I know the med is, the school is just great and most of its programs are ranked fairly high. I'm also assuming it has a more prestigious bio department than TU and KU. If you want to know anything about UT in general, just pm me.</p>
<p>thanks! yea, I visited UT last October and I liked it. I just really need to know how the bio departments compare because I can't just make my decision based on a better social scene. I'm out-of-state so it'll cost more than KU would. Tulsa would be about the same price as UT but Tulsa has offered me like half of its tuition paid for thru scholarships, not to mention all the IB credit I'd get by attending Tulsa. UT gives IB credit but only for HL exams. Tulsa gives IB credit for SL and HL and you don't even need to score toooo high on them to gain the credit haha. I could graduate in 3 years from Tulsa but I'd rather just use it to take more classes in the 4 years.</p>
<p>about UT, though, how is the housing/dorms? two of my friends are going too and we wanted to room together. we'll probably choose the dorms but we heard you could only have 2 ppl per dorm. is this true? I know this is something I can figure out by calling the univ. but right now I'm just taking my time and trying to see what school is academically better, especially for bio. Money really isn't an issue, but nonetheless, my dad wouldn't want to pay more for an academically worse school.</p>
<p>@ UT, get apartment, not dorms. It's cheaper, better in terms of social lives. Food at UT isn't that good.. at Jester dorms feel like... prison..</p>
<p>UT science department is considered lower than business or engineering department, but certainly isn't bad at all. If you are going to live in the South, UTA will have widespread reputation. BTW, you can apply for honors your sophomore years. Honors students will get tuition discount (counted as in-state)</p>
<p>I don't know much about the bio program, but I can tell you a bit about the dorms. I'm a UT prospective and older brother attends. Living in Carothers. Last summer I visited Carleton, Mac, & U Chicago and none of the dorms seemed as nice as Carothers. It has hardwood floors, 3 stories, big rooms, piano downstairs...a nice place, as far as dorms go. There are some others like it in a quad. I think for one you don't have to be in the honors program. Contrastingly, Jester, one of the big ones, is definitely not the greatest dorm I've seen. Small rooms, lots of floors, etc. All the dorms have restrictions on appliances, I think, but it's not too big a deal. Also, there's a LOT of apartment opps, so you could do that if you want to live w/ 2+ other ppl.</p>
<p>Academically, UT is great. Make sure you get an early summer orientation to get the class times you want.</p>
<p>Yeah, I haven't even applied for housing yet, mainly b/c I haven't decided if I'm attending for sure. I need to know more about the bio program :\ I'm hearing that UT is a better school hands down but that's not necessarily true for the bio department. I know UT kicks ass in engineering and pretty good in compstudies, but what about biiiooo? haha thanks</p>
<p>lol well basically b/c I want to go into med school and I like bio. part of the reason i plan to major in bio is b/c it'd prepare you the most for the MCAT/med school, right? the other part of the reason is b/c i really like bio and science in general. I don't have to do a plain bio major but perhaps biochemistry or something, I dunno. when i visited UT the lady working in the bio info office actually encouraged me to do something other than bio for med school since bio is so common. she said all you really have to do for med school is fulfill the med requirements in your elective spots and could even major in like English. the thing is I like bio, tho, and I want to major in it haha</p>
<p>Give University of Tulsa a really hard look. They are a sleeper in this area and offer a much better academic program than most people give it credit for. Take a look at the number of National Merit kids they are attracting these days - I believe it was 1 in 10 last year but could have that statistic wrong. They offer great research opportunities to undergrads which might/might not be available at UT Austin. Tulsa also appears to have good merit aid - especially for top students. Anyway, it's worth a closer look IMHO.</p>
<p>I'd bet Kansas residents have a leg up at getting into KU medical school. You might want to check with the med school and see if you can find out what colleges it's students come from. It wouldn't suprise me if KU undergrads have a big edge there. But I don't really know.</p>
<p>Other than med school considerations, it might be nice to get out; see another part of the country. If you feel that way.</p>
<p>In my experience, National Merit Finalists don't choose a school simply for the $'s. There has to be something on the Academic side also. University of Tulsa, socially, is very different from UT Austin and KU. It's still worth a look. We know several National Merit kids who currently attend and they love it. To each his own.</p>
<p>Yes, the reason Tulsa attracts so many national merits is because they offer them full-rides. On top of that, Tulsa attracts a lot of students due to IB and/or national merit. They give ridiculous amounts of credit for IB, including SL. You only need 28 points total and you can receive 20-30 hours of credit, I think. Tulsa also has one of the happiest campuses in the US ranking in the top10. I know a lot about Tulsa b/c my bro is a freshman there and I've visited him several times. Unfortunately, I haven't learned much about their bio program b/c he's taking a history/law route so I haven't seen any science or math classes.</p>
<p>KU has a good med school and it is much easier for its undergrad students to get in it. I'll feel like I wasted my HS career in IB if I go straight to KU where they offer barely any IB credit and where anyone can get into. But as someone above said, it'd nice to go somewhere else to try out another area of the country. That's what I want to do and can almost guarantee I'm not going to KU. UT is the best option for that. I think I'll enjoy making fun of Texan accents and conservatives, haha. I know UT is a lot better socially if you're into the party scene and whatnot. Tulsa is much smaller and only has like 5-10,000 students both undergrad and grad. UT has 50,000 undergrad haha. I just want to get out. Tulsa is like Wichita, where I live in KS. Actually, I like Wichita better than Tulsa as a city and defintely want to move the hell out of this city for college. All I need to see is evidence comparing UT and Tulsa's bio programs and then I'm set. The thing I noticed about Tulsa is the faculty really cares about you, somewhat...haha I doubt it's like that at UT. The professors seem really helpful to ther students, not like the professors that I hear about at places like JHU. How are the UT professors? Does the big school effect make them not care about their students? hehe I dunno, depends on each professor I guess.</p>
<p>heyy, I looked into the apartments and they said the on campus ones aren't allowed for freshmen. whaaaa? My 2 friends and I want to room together. does anyone know how this would be possible at UT Austin for freshmen?</p>
<p>and I also need hard facts as to why UT is better than Tulsa and KU in terms of a reason that involves going to med school after. I have my mind set on UT but my parents don't. so if anyone could provide with real evidence rather than opinion then i'd greatly appreciate it. it has to be academic proof, not social/living reasons.</p>
<p>My own opion: state-run med schools favor residents of their own state for med school admission. If I'm correct, your best chance for med school admission after undergrad would be KU med school.</p>
<p>I don't know if Texas med schools treat out-of-state UT grads the same way they treat in-state UT grads. OR if KU med school prefers in-state KU grads over in-state UT grads. I suggest talking to someone who has an informed opinion about this.</p>
<p>UT could actually be better for med school if it expands the number of places that consider you "in-state" to two states. Or it could be worse if it dilutes the preferential treatment you might otherwise get at KU.</p>
<p>Another factor: it's probably harder to stand out/ do very well at UT.</p>
<p>I can absolutely relate to the feeling of wanting to "get out" of conservative Kansas.</p>
<p>With that said, I really think you should give KU a second chance. It'll give you a full ride plus a yearly stipend for Nat'l Merit, and Lawrence is a really funky city... kind of its own little liberal sanctuary.</p>
<p>A minority view here...if you are not in one of the honors programs at the University of Texas, from an academic perspective I would say University of Tulsa (TU) is the winner. TU has an 11:1 student faculty ratio and only 2700 undergraduates. Full professors teach virtually all your classes. At UT-Austin there are 38,000 undergraduates with a 21:1 student/faculty ratio. You will have introductory courses with hundreds of students with your primary contact being Teaching Assistants in smaller sections. The prof will be the little guy way down on there on the stage.</p>
<p>You will get personalized attention at TU that would be difficult to replicate at UT Austin unless you are in an honors program. UT-Austin does not even have enough dorm rooms for all their freshmen (thus the private dorms). UT-Austin is a fabulous school with wonderful, highly ranked programs; a great social life in Austin; and great sports teams and alums. However, if you are one of the masses of students, the academic bang for the buck is better elsewhere like TU.</p>
<p>Another thought...if you went to University of Tulsa with some misgivings, you could always transfer after your freshman or sophomore year to a UT-Austin. You have raised some excellent questions. You have seen yourself that the TU profs seem quite accessible to students. Just due to sheer numbers (38,000 undergraduate students) this can not be the case (i.e professors ready and willing to mentor you) at UT-Austin. Also, the research opportunities for undergraduates at TU are impressive. Note how many TU students win national scholarships such as Goldwater Scholars (math/science) and Truman Scholars (two this year alone). You may have more fun in Austin, but you will get a better education at TU.</p>