Potential transfer to UTSA-I have a few questions about Biology Department

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas Schools (Other Than Austin
1

I am currently attending a small university in Oregon and don’t really like it, so I’m thinking of transferring to UTSA (I’m from San Antonio). I am a biology major with a computer science minor and my goal is to go to medical school. I just had a few questions about the UTSA biology department and the overall feel of the school.

  1. Is the biology department very hard at UTSA? How are the professors and the classes overall, especially like OChem/Lab Bio-Chem/Lab, and Genetics/Lab? Is it easy to meet with professors for office hours and get help?
  2. Are there good resources at UTSA for tutoring in bio/chem classes?
  3. Is there much opportunity for undergraduate research, if so how and maybe any personal experiences?
  4. How is the feel of UTSA overall, are there many medical related clubs, volunteer opportunites, or other ways to get involved?

I guess overall I’m a little scared of transferring to a bigger school where the classes are bigger and less one on one time with professors. I’ve been killing it so far grade wise and just don’t want my GPA to be hurt much by the potentially harder classes so any word of adise or encouagment would be great! Thanks.

2

I went there. They have a very strong biochemistry department that does a lot of joint research with the UT Health Science Center. They built the biochem building about 10 years ago. They’re also doing construction for a massive science and biochemistry expansion building. I’m not sure about tutoring and undergraduate research, but I do know that they have a strong biochem department.

As far as professors, teaching is a big strength there. They hire professors based on teaching ability. Even for big classes, I’ve noticed professors are approachable and helpful.

UTSA is a fairly large school, but it really doesn’t feel that way. The buildings are close together, so it actually feels like a much smaller school than it is. It’s really friendly and it has a lot of school spirit. You should’ve seen the first inaugural football game back in 2011. It was nuts. It had 56,000 fans in the Alamodome, which set the NCAA attendance record for an inaugural game. There is school spirit, but it’s really not a party school. There’s not much need anyway, Fiesta Texas is a 2 blocks away