<p>If I go to Texas I will be in the BHP (Business Honors Program) at the McCombs school which is absolutely awesome, but I feel like I fit in better at A&M where I have been accepted into their Engineering Honors Program. I'm not much of a partier (although I'm pretty social, I just don't drink), and I love the friendliness and laid back atmosphere of A&M. Texas obviously has the better academic opportunities, but socially I'd be better at A&M I think, so I'm struggling with the decision! Aggies, I'm looking for any reasons why you think A&M is best and how strong the Engineering and Honors are, thanks!</p>
<p>You should totally go to A&M. It’s such an awesome school. I don’t currently go there, but I will be in Engineering Honors as well. And I’m picking it over tons of other prospects(including Texas) for a bunch of reasons:</p>
<p>(I apologize for any grammar/spelling errors, I’m pretty tired)</p>
<p>Jobs- Huge game changer for me here-A&M has the second most sought after graduates for job recruiters according to the wall street journal. Heres the link: [WSJ:</a> Texas A&M Second Nationally in Producing Top Grads Texas A&M News & Information Services](<a href=“http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2010/09/13/wsj-texas-am-second-mationally-in-producing-top-grads/]WSJ:”>http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2010/09/13/wsj-texas-am-second-mationally-in-producing-top-grads/)
Texas isn’t even in the top 10. A&M’s also beating major players in the engineering field like GA tech and Carnegie Mellon. They’ve also has been in the top 5 of National Universities in research spending in the past 5-10 years or so. And you’ll definitely get some time in the lab with the Engineering honors program. It’s definitely a very sound investment. Plus with the awesome career centers and the aggie network our prospects only go up. I was really impressed here, jobs are probs the most important thing to consider. </p>
<p>People- Aggies are just friendlier. From the constant "Howdy"s to the more than 800 student groups on campus (Yes 800, the most popular of which are Christian Groups and pre-professional societies, and people have nothing but good things to say about both), it just seems like there’s a sense of togetherness and social fluidity on campus. It also has much more laid back, traditional student body rather than the many activisty-live-in-my-dorm-studying-all-the-time kids that show up a lot at U.T I recently did an overnight visit in an Honors dorm where around 70% of the students were engineering/hard science majors. I can’t say enough good things about the kids in Clements hall. It was a really neat experience. Everyone was incredibly friendly and welcoming, and they were all really interested in what they were learning. It seemes like a place where everyone was cool with everyone. Not to mention they were geniuses. Except like, cool, modest geniuses. Not like, in your face reciting binary code geniuses. Literally everyone I hung out with was a National Merit Finalist. And even though they received some pretty hefty scholarships, they made it clear to me that A&M was not just a fall back school for them, it was simply where they wanted to be. </p>
<p>Academics- I wouldn’t say Texas “obviously” has the better academics. When you look at statistics/rankings, they’re pretty similar. Texas has the edge in a pretty good amount of categories, but if you take the time to look closer, it’s a pretty small lead. US News department rankings in engineering are in the top 20 for both schools, both have median SATs in the high 5s to upper 6s, etc. Plus when you think of the time-scales of each university it seems almost trivial. UT has been a public flagship university since its founding in 1883, with all of the research capacity and opportunities granted to a university of this status. Meanwhile, A&M has held this status only since 1963, as it had previously been a pseudo-military institute. Aggies must be doing something right to have come this far in such a short time. </p>
<p>Social Environment- I live in Austin and have friends at UT. The two schools could not have more different social environments. UT is much more bar-heavy/fratty than A&M. People tend to say that weekends revolve around bars on 6th street and frat houses almost exclusively. Meanwhile, A&M has much less of a greek scene, and COllege Station simply isn’t big enough for a bar scene on par with Austin’s. Like I said before, Aggies are just friendlier, and the aggie environment will really make it easier to have a social life for non-drinkers. </p>
<p>…This got pretty long. Haha. </p>
<p>But things like these were major factors affecting my decision as well. As you can probably tell I thought really hard about this and did considerable research about plenty of schools. A&M is truly a unique school, the culture there is incredibly laid back and friendly and big businesses just can’t get enough of their grads. In-state tuition is a bargain, and if you’re in honors you’re bound to get scholarships. It’s just too good of an opportunity to pass up!</p>
<p>I hope this helps your decision!
Gig em!</p>
<p>Are you more interested in business or engineering? For engineering you can’t really go wrong with either one- both are very highly rated. Like the above poster mentioned, A&M has great recruiting and research opportunities.
For business though, it would be hard to pass up BHP. Recruiting at McCombs is amazing- and it is recruited heavily by several bulge bracket banks. Mays is good, but there is a pretty big gap in recognition when comparing it with McCombs.
With regards to Location/ social scene, I would go by fit. The above post describes the atmospheres pretty accurately. Do you prefer a big city experience or a college town?
You generally can’t go wrong with either…good luck! </p>
<p>Sent from my Desire HD using CC App</p>
<p>My gf passed up BHP at UT too. Honestly, don’t make the same mistake. The Business Honors here is really good…100% placement in fact, and I’m sure Tamu Engineering is just as good. But that goes without even mentioning at UT’s Biz Honors. BofA, Goldman and every industry WANT you. It’s the toughest undergrad program in Texas to get into and on par with an ivy league. Lol, just saying.</p>
<p>I was accepted to UT out of high school, but ended up getting accepted to A&M after trying to transfer a year ago. I love it here, its harder to transfer in later than most people think. Its really a diverse school. I’m from a small town so, this environment suits me a whole lot better.</p>
<p>Here’s a curveball for you to think about. My recommendation if you want to have a great career in business it to go to Texas A&M and major in Engineering. Many of the top business consulting recruiters attend the National and TAMU recruiting fairs looking for business talent. Ask yourself why? u.t. is a great school. Austin is a great city. If you think you can handle the Engineering rigor, go to TAMU.</p>
<p>I think the first question you need to answer is whether you wish to pursue Business, or Engineering. They are very different fields. </p>
<p>You can’t go wrong majoring in either of those degrees at either school, so go where you feel most comfortable.</p>