<p>@C8ntW8t I did look into UTD; however, I did not have a good experience there and interacting with the people. I wanted to be close to home, but not give up all the opportunities that a main campus has to offer. </p>
<p>@happymomof1 The scholarship requirement is to maintain full enrollment and a GPA higher than 3.0.</p>
<p>@ordinarylives Yes, after looking very closing at the cost this would be how much it would be. Without any scholarships, the cost would be around 62k so in retrospect, it does take a big dent out of the price tag.</p>
<p>After reading these posts, I now see this more as a no brainer. If I’m going to approach this as a business decision, obviously now it looks like the public school is the right choice. Do y’all agree?</p>
<p>I would encourage you to spend more time at each school before you make a decision. Sit in on classes, hang out in the cafeteria or coffee shop on campus, spend the night with a student in a dorm, etc. Are the people friendly ? I mean the people outside of admissions office that aren’t paid to be friendly to you. Attend a sporting event, a cultural event, etc. People watch and imagine picking out potential friends from the folks that pass by. Can you see yourself there, getting involved in clubs? How do the school dorms compare? </p>
<p>Cost is a big factor, and I applaud you and your parents for being realistic as you look at this decision from so many different perspectives. Only you can know for sure what you can and can’t live without. And kudos to your parents for working so hard through the years to get you to this point that allows you to make this choice.</p>
<p>Based on what you’ve said, I would lean towards A&M. It seems like it will have better job possibilities than SMU would have, plus it costs less, which seems like a win-win. Outside Texas I think A&M has more name recognition than SMU.</p>
<p>Texas A&M. Great program, Save your money. That big school feel can become much smaller when you are in an honors program. Great alumni network. The savings allow you extra opportunities to do study abroad if you choose since your parents can then afford it more easily.
As for location close to home–if you enjoy the social/academic life of college you won’t be home much!</p>
<p>OP, you seem like a very reasonable and rational person who’s done his homework. One other factor I haven’t seen discussed is the quality of the faculty and the overall EDUCATION you would receive at each school. Are class sizes comparable at the two schools and are you someone who needs smaller classes to excel?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone that has posted! It really helps make the decision a lot easier when getting different opinions besides close family and friends! </p>
<p>For everyone that has posted here, I have another question. In the next few days, I will be hearing back from UT-Austin and whether I am accepted into their regular business program. If I were to compare UT and A&M, two great business school what do you think is the better choice. UT has more of the environment I’m looking for, it’s similar to SMU in regards to some aspects, like urban and connections with a city. But then I won’t be in their business honors program. I know that UT is higher up in the rankings, but I won’t be in any special program, like BHP. Do you think UT would be a better option? </p>
<p>@LucieTheLakie I think both schools overall have great educations. SMU would have smaller classes than A&M, and I do like smaller classes more than big lectures, but I’ve never had that experience so I couldn’t really make any decision based on that. I like to think that I am pretty independent and efficient so I don’t think that will be a problem. And I did post that a few months ago before I created a new email and CC account a few days ago. I asked pretty much the same question in both A&M and SMU’s discussions, but I wanted a more unbiased opinion so I thought that adding a new thread in the parent forum would be better. And now that my parents and I have done a lot more research and a full-ride is no longer on the table. Also sometimes parents can help answer questions regarding money better than students I think</p>
<p>Great that you are going public. You will need to weigh the two Texas publics, see which one is the overall best fit for you. If you do have the choice- is the regular program at one school better than being in Honors at the other? Check on the benefits of being in Honors at each school, including the courses available to you. Also check to see what it would take to later be in Honors if not as an entering freshman. And, of course, remember that you could choose to change your major later so make sure the overall academics and other experiences suit you.</p>
<p>@anonemuss I do want a big social life, but right now I’m not interested in going greek. I don’t think we could afford any more extras at SMU so it would be off the table, but I’m keeping in open mind at the publics. I know that SMU has almost a third of its students in fraternities and sororities. But I’d like to be in different organizations and stuff, so I’m hoping, especially with business honors at A&M or SMU I will be able to make friends more easily because its a smaller community. At UT though, I’m afraid that without a special program I’m directly a part of, it might be harder to start friendships, even though I know a lot of people at my school who are going to UT.</p>
<p>Tx A&M is NOT 26K/year. I have 2 students there now and costs are more in the 18-20K range including misc. expenses. Keep that in mind when you make your comparison.</p>
<p>@Debbie7452 For most students at A&M the cost would probably be in the 18-20k range, but with the dorm that we have chosen and the study abroad trip, the cost goes up. Also the business honor students go on many trips to corporate headquarters so we added a lot of the extras that bring the cost up considerably. The estimates we have are probably a little higher because we did put future inflation into the equation.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t assume that’s it’s easier to make close friends at a smaller school than a larger one. While, yes, you have a better chance of knowing a lot of your classmates, if you don’t fit in to the general culture of the school or if the student population is heavily skewed towards any particular type of student, it can feel very isolating. It was something that I hadn’t thought of until I spoke to several of my friends from high school who graduated from small schools. They all found their place, but they spoke of several students who never quite found their place (some of whom committed suicide, some of whom transferred, some of whom stayed), of the drama that circulated because the school population was small enough that you could have drama and gossip with people outside of your immediate friend group, of the general freshman hazing, and sometimes of the lack of opportunities in certain areas because they didn’t have the large general population to support it. I’m not saying all smaller schools are like this or that this is a common experience (my friends all met great people in college and had great experiences), but it happens. You can’t necessarily assume that you’ll find a solid friend group just because the school population is smaller, especially if you’re already unsure if you will fit into the atmosphere there.</p>
<p>@mtmt32 I saw on the UT forum you were accepted. What major did they place you in? McCombs is a very tight knit community but you will have the opportunity to transfer into McCombs at a later time. If attend the College of Liberal Arts and major in Economics, you can always get your McCombs Business Foundations certificate. As far as UT vs A&M, for a student like you that loves Dallas, I see Austin as being a much greater fit than College Station. You also have to be careful of SMU. If your family is a kind of family that will be stretching the budget for you to go there, it could be a tough run for you. SMU known as Southern Millionaire’s University is just that. Yes, the school has some middle class kids, but the reality is they spend the majority of the time on the outside looking in.</p>
<p>My kids love A&M. I have one in Mays(but not Honors) and the other is in University Honors but not Business. My kid in Mays is in the Professional Program where she is graduating in 4 years with her Masters. It included a very useful internship and she accepted a job offer from that company for after grad. She’s known since Spring of Jr. year that she has job after graduation with the company that she wanted. It takes a lot of stress off. Companies recruit heavily for these Mays Aggies. She had her pick of them for the internship semester. Good Luck!</p>
<p>@Debbie7452 thanks for sharing!! I was wondering if you could tell me how the internship process was for your kid at Mays? I know that College Station doesn’t offer a lot of business connections itself, so did she do an internship in Dallas or Houston over the summer?</p>
<p>She had her pick of cities. She chose Houston because we live here and she lived at home during the internship. As far as the process goes: she got interviews with I think 4 companies. They paid for her to drive to Houston, put her in fancy Hotels, gift baskets and very nice dinners. It was more like they were competing for her rather than the other way around. She got 4 generous offers after the interview process. Some included big signing bonuses. Her friends from Dallas did their internships in Dallas. Hope this is helpful. </p>