<p>I've seen a couple of posts wanting to know about life at UTD and lots of answers have been posted from people who have never attended. I understand that UTD is a younger University and I wanted to help clear up some of the misconceptions, so heres my two cents. Ive seen several people comment that they had heard UTD was a commuter school. The University has made great strides in recent years to change that. Even before the new residence hall is completed, UTD is on par in terms of on-campus students (UTD 24%, A&M 24%, UT Austin 20%, TTech 25%). I anticipate that this percentage will go up considerably in the next couple of years. UTD has also started living-learning communities which immediately plug you in with a group from your area of study. This is great for networking, building study groups and friends that will be with you for your full 4 years. </p>
<p>Ive also seen comments discussing the lack of activities on the weekend. I think that this may need to be put in perspective. For example, if youre in College Station, Lubbock, Ann Arbor or South Bend, Indiana, theres much more of a need for activities on the weekend than if youre at a University in a great city such as Northwestern, NYU or MIT. Dallas is a fantastic city that is getting more interesting every year. After having lived in the UK and in LA, I found Dallas to be outgoing, user friendly and theres something there for everyone. It would be silly for the University to spend inordinate sums on activities on the weekend when students are going to want to experience Dallas. Due to UTD's proximity to Dallas, not only did I thoroughly enjoy the city, but I had great internships and jobs. In addition, there was always support from very desirable companies that participated in job fairs, guest speaking events and as mentors. </p>
<p>As far as academics, I stayed inspired, challenged and worked hard. For grad school, I was accepted to 2 out of the top 3 schools in the country for my program. I got into every grad school program I applied to, including ones in the Northeast, Midwest and an Ivy. I have no regrets about starting at UTD and know that I might not have stayed as focused if I would have started at a large party school. </p>
<p>When our President, Dr Daniel, addressed the question if wed ever have a football team, his response was that it was his goal to be excellent at anything UTD does. That being the case, a nationally competitive football program would probably not even be realistic without a $50 Million initial donation for athletic facilities to compete with other Texas football powerhouses. Due to UTDs strong commitment to academic excellence, he said he probably wouldnt even consider accepting such a donation unless such an individual also pledged an equal amount to academic programs. That gives you an idea of this Universitys priorities. Its a place where youre more likely to meet a future Rhodes Scholar than a Heisman Trophy winner and Im proud to be associated with it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight. Did you by chance participate in the honors program? Any feedback on honors would be appreciated. Best of luck in grad. school! Also do UTD undergrads get accepted into their grad programs?</p>
<p>Yes, I knew quite a few people that got into Grad School at UTD that also did their Undergrad work there. Some also got into big name programs but decided to stay at UTD, others only applied to UTD because they either wanted to stay in Dallas, wanted to continue with the same research team or because their major offered a fast track program. I also know quite a few people went off to Med School, Law School or Business School at top-notch programs around the country. </p>
<p>The honors program is competitive but many people enjoyed the challenge. My guess is that if you can do well in the honors program, you’ll have no problem finding just the right Grad School. That being said, Honors is not neccessarily manditory for your success, but you’ll definitely be surrounded by the future trailblazers.</p>
<p>I would agree. This has been my experience so far. Heros at UT Dallas are not just the jocks, they’re everywhere. There are people who excel in research and spend time in labs at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Others excel at Mock UN, debate, stock trading competitions or business plan competitions. We also have good Division III sports teams…and yes, the best chess team in the country. Since I’ve been here it seems like everytime I pick up the campus paper, or log onto the website someone here is winning a competition, a research grant or pushing the frontiers of science, art and new media. </p>
<p>I’ve made good friends here and yes, I really like Dallas. With the money I saved from my scholarship, I’ve been able to go to restaurants, concerts, museums etc. I will admit, it seems like every weekend I have friends who went to college in Waco, Lubbock or Norman, OK who call me wanting to come spend Saturday night in Dallas. While they’re driving back and fourth, I’m in the library.</p>
<p>No matter what your interest is, you’ll be able to leave your mark here.</p>
<p>I have one son who went to UT Austin, one to A&M and my daughter went to UT Dallas. All of them really enjoyed their choices (I think that being happy has more to do with the person than their environment) . It’s fun to hear them banter with each other. When UT won the National Championship in football that’s all we’d hear about. My daughter, however, stayed a little more focused academically and was very busy in activities like the ones mentioned above. She accuses my son of spending his college years being a “spectator”. Both got into good Grad Schools. She did exceptionally well, getting into UNC-Chapel Hill and UVa.<br>
UTD’s campus has changed significantly since she started and it’s been impressive to see what they’re doing there. My youngest is a junior in high school and I know that UT Dallas and UT Austin are at the top of his list.</p>
<p>TEX, are the new additions to the campus the main reason for the steep increase in tuition over the past couple of years? I was looking into grad school at UTD and I was pretty shocked that tuition was more than double most of the schools in the UT system (UT Austins site is down right now so I could not check it).</p>
<p>Is UTD that much better, academically, than UT Arlinton IYO? Enough to justify over twice the tuition? You seem really proud of UTD so I was wondering if you would share your thoughts. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Thanks for the question. I want to answer this carefully because I don’t want this to become a mudslinging post between other UT campuses. However, I would feel confident comparing my old classmates at UTD as being on par with those that I’ve met in Grad School that came out of really big name programs. I think they have the intellect, they’re creative, fun and down to earth. I do think that they are a bit edgier and want to challenge technological, commercial and intellectual boundaries a little more than some of the people I know that went to big name liberal arts schools. </p>
<p>The tuition difference is somewhat artificial. I believe UT Dallas’ quoted rates are for the guaranteed tuition plan. Therefore, your tuition gets locked in at that price for the full time you’re there. Other campuses don’t offer this. Therefore, the tuition they quote you today is almost guaranteed not to be what you’ll be paying down the road.</p>
<p>Hope this is helpful. Best of luck wherever you end up.</p>
<p>rb, for Grad School, I chose Healthcare Administration. I was accepted into programs at the University of Michigan, University of North Carolina & Cornell. I was fortunate to get out of Undergrad debt free. My choices for Grad School would have been significantly limited had I graduated with a large debt load. Good luck in your decision.</p>
<p>Hi. First, thank you for the post!! I am currently a UT Austin student, majoring in electrical engineering and thinking about applying electrical engineering graduate program in UTD. How hard is to get accepted to UTD graduate program? I know it’s a stupid question, but I really want to go UTD graduate school. I am worried about my gpa being only 2.8 and don’t have much experience except being a research assistant for one semester at UT Austin. Do I have any chance? I have one friend who got accepted with 2.9 gpa, but he actually had 6 or 7 months of work experience as an engineer. Any advice would help me so much. Thank you.</p>