<p>If it matters, while Trinity strips out the weighting, Southwestern leaves it all in and gives good merit aid. I will say that the social life at SU revolves around parties at the frat houses (for members and non-members.) Not a lot to do in Georgetown, esp if you don’t have car.</p>
<p>University of Dallas is often on the “ugliest campuses” lists. It is nestled between two highways, both of which are in the midst of major construction projects. I’m not saying it’s not a good school - just saying it won’t be love at first sight.</p>
<p>Others may differ, but I really liked Oklahoma City University. Small and great merit aid. </p>
<p>If you want a smallish state school, you might take a look at Stephen F. Austin. It doesn’t appear on many of the “best” lists, but I don’t know a student there that dosn’t like it.</p>
<p>If you can stand a whole lot of religion, Abilene Christian is really a pretty good school, and more affordable than most private schools. (But it has mandatory daily chapel, curfews, etc.)</p>
<p>We visited Midwestern State and I wasn’t impressed. It looks terrific on paper (public LAC and all) but I didn’t get a good vibe from it and it didn’t seem all that great academically).</p>
<p>University of Tulsa gets a lot of good press, but I took two of my kids to visit it and both knew immediately that they didn’t want to be there. I actually like the campus, but the surrounding neighborhood is used car lots, pawn shops, etc. </p>
<p>Hey, yeah is response I am all in favor of my D attending a smaller college but she herself is leaning towards a larger campus, however i want her to have lots of choice which is why i like Univ of Alabama and TT (the Honors colleges for both seem great), Texas doesn’t seem to have the wide variety of smaller colleges that either of the coasts do :(</p>
<p>Some schools have a smaller “feel” because their buildings are closer together. University of Kansas and K State have roughly the same number of undergrads, but KU is impossibly spread out and K State is compact. K State seemed intimate and doable and KU seemed huge and daunting. [Note: These are the personal opinions of my kids and I.]</p>
<p>My S is looking at texas schools. We visted Southwestern and it was great, just a bit too small (about 1,300 students) for my S. Trinity and TCU were also very impressive.</p>
<p>I had read that St Edwards was a bit of a commuter school…is that not correct? It has a great location in Austin.</p>
<p>another alabama school is UAB in birmingham [url=<a href=“http://www.uab.edu%5DWelcome%5B/url”>http://www.uab.edu]Welcome[/url</a>] </p>
<p>Total cost of attendance for oos student is 20-24K</p>
<p>Welcome</p>
<p>OOS costs:
Fall 2011 First-Year Freshmen Estimated
First-Year Freshman Out-of-State
Tuition and Fees* $14,256
Books and Supplies** $1000
Meal Plan $450 - $3,894
Total $15,706 - $19,150
Residence Hall (Blazer/Camp Hall)*** $5,200
Grand Total $20,906 - $24,350</p>
<p>OOS Merit (also has full rides for national merit, achievement and hispanic scholars)
Blazer Elite Scholarship
$15,000/yr
Based on academic achievement (28-36 ACT and at least 3.0 GPA)
Blazer Gold Scholarship
$10,000/yr
Based on academic achievement (26-27 ACT and at least 3.0 GPA)
Blazer Pride Scholarship
$5,000/yr
Based on academic achievement (24-25 ACT and at least 3.0 GPA)</p>
<p>tier 1 research university</p>
<p>urban campus</p>
<p>11k undergrads</p>
<p>ranked 5th for diversity, 11th for student happiness</p>
<p>wonderful honors colleges</p>
<p>great dorms (suite or apartment style)</p>
<p>150K sq ft rec center with huge climbing wall, lazy river pool</p>
<p>Interesting that Oklahoma City University came up. Whenever DS or I do a computerized “college search” it always pops up as a school he should look at. I remember when it was in the news for giving a full tuition scholarship to a musical girl who’d had some really bad luck - I don’t remember the details of the story but I remember thinking, what a kind-hearted school. I’m sure we’ll never get to look at OCU now. November of senior year. DS says it is too late for him to think about anything new. :)</p>
<p>mowc… uab and ua are very different type a schools, uab 11k students, more diverse…26%AA, only 6% greek, urban campus, larger city, known for its sciences and research opportunities or anything health related, only about 12% oos students. merit a bit more generous for lower gpa.as well as overall cost is lower so perhaps more affordable. </p>
<p>UA is 33K students, 35% greek, about 10K more expensive, 12%AA, more traditional campus, football, known as party school (not that thats bad) UA has large oos population</p>
<p>I am very familiar with both schools, and I can’t think of a reason this Texas student would look at UAB. UA has an excellent honors college, more out of state students and, frankly, a more fun college experience. I think UAB has some excellent programs, but it isn’t going to appeal to most out of state students except for some from contiguous states.</p>
<p>well i’ll disagree with you…the honors programs at uab imo are much more cohesive, not just a bunch of honors classes , but rather a group of students that work together for 4 years… UA’s most selective honors programs offer that, but not the general university honors… but do agree that it is a very good program, just different. A different college experience does not necessarily make it a more fun experience. My S2 would much rather be in a lab, or climbing a rock wall than be in a football stadium…to each his own… depends on what the students wants or feels most comfortable with. The OP asked for some suggestions and mentioned alabama, thought i would offer her an alternative to the huge better known alabama schools that are basically the same vibe (UA and Auburn)… if she doesnt like it, thats fine but at least she will now know its there. sorry you dont like it but doesnt mean the op wont. </p>
<p>The OP’s daughter likes Baylor and UT. She wants to go to law school, so a lot of lab time is probably not in the picture. Yes, UAB offers an alternative to a big state u campus. I’ll give you that.</p>
<p>Since you’re in Dallas you’ve at least got to take a look at Austin College an hour north of you in Sherman. AC, Southwestern, and Hendrix over in Arkansas compete for a lot of the same students, and your daughter is a viable candidate at any of them. Trinity in San Antonio is a little different because they’ve got big engineering and pre-health programs, and are about 3000 students compared with the other three around 1350. Of all these schools I think Hendrix has the most active pre-law program.</p>
<p>Arrrgggh for the Southwestern Pirates! DS1 is there now and loves it. He has not been without struggles this fall, so it hasn’t all been rosy, but the struggles have been his fault, not the school’s. It is small (slightly bigger than half the size of his high school) but he likes that part, and the campus is gorgeous. Georgetown is really growing, lots more shopping and restaurants just in the past few years, so you don’t have to go into Austin. You should at least try to visit.</p>
<p>St. Edward’s isn’t exactly a commuter school in the way that term is usually used. You are required to live on campus your first year unless you live with your parents in the Austin area. Not with Aunt Sally or Cousin Jim, but with parents. This was my son’s second choice school. St. Edward’s offers a lot of “alternative” programs on weekends and evenings for people looking for an MBA, etc. so they are open to all types of students. Son’s admissions counselor and fin. aid counselor were both easy to communicate with on the email or phone. </p>
<p>Trinity was son’s third choice, but he was waitlisted there. We didn’t take a visit there though. If he really wanted to go there, I think we could have gotten him there. But he was also factoring in a sport, so that ended up working out better at Southwestern.</p>
<p>Austin College is in Sherman. Is that enough said? It’s a cute little campus in a fairly residential neighborhood in Sherman. I think it is an excellent school. One of our school’s recents vals went there…for free, I assume. I know some alums who ADORED the school, but my son couldn’t get past the Sherman part. (And if I’m offending any Sherman residents, would you have wanted Sherman to be your college town?)</p>
<p>Fourth cheer for Southwestern. My D went there and loved it. I have family at Trinity which is also a great school, just with a different atmosphere.</p>
<p>dallaslovingmom, if you have concerns that your daughter may not get accepted by Baylor, then the excellent Texas colleges suggested as alternatives - Trinity, Southwestern, Austin College - may pose a challenge for admission as well, especially Trinity. By the way, I second MomofWildChild’s recommendation of Texas Tech Honors College as a worthwhile alternative that provides small liberal arts type classes and all the perqs while the major university is there with a buffet of majors if, and more likely when, your daughter decides on a change in major is warranted. My son attended Tech’s Honors College and took a Constitutional Law class in Tech’s Law School as a junior so he could get a taste of what Law School would be like. (Ultimately, he decided on a Business major.) You can’t get this at a strictly liberal arts college.</p>
<p>dallaslovingmom, Tech’s Honors College also provides the “nurturing” environment that good liberal arts colleges are noted for. The faculty and Honors College admininstrators are always there with a listening ear and good advice to students. Finally, Tech has a Phi Beta Kappa chapter which only colleges and universities with strong liberal arts curriculums receiver. UT and A&M are the only other public universities in Texas with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.</p>
<p>Good suggestion here! We know kids at Schreiner and St. Edwards, and they love both schools. The St. Ed’s students we know love Austin and they enjoy the benefits of being near the UT campus (the music scene, many coffee shops, etc).</p>