Sales Pitch for A Canadian

Colleges & Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
1

<p>What's up Longhorns, and future Longhorns? I'm a Canadian who has established Texas residency (gonna get my in-state tuition). I am in grade 11 right now, but UT is one of my top choices based on many factors. I WILL be a PREMED student wherever I end up going. So.....let me hear it. A sales pitch for UT.</p>

<p>I have heard some bad things/discouraging things about UT, such as:
-huge class sizes
-major weed-out classes (ouch..there goes the GPA)
-poor pre-med advising
-huge campus can be intimidating
-so many parties that it's hard to focus </p>

<p>So, are these things that I have heard true or false? And what can you say to promote UT to a premed student? Not just any student, but what's in it for a premed? I know research opportunities are great and that there are a lot of classes (so you can your pickaprof to help find easy classes). </p>

<p>However, I don't know much more, except that I will be at every single football game if I go to Texas! Go longhorns! (isn;t it a shame that McCoy got injured in the BCS Bowl? ugh, I was so pis**ed).</p>

<p>Some other schools I am considering are:
-Texas A&M
-Baylor
-Rice
-a diff. UT campus? (Dallas?Arlington?)</p>

<p>Also, is there any benefit to go to a different UT campus (like Dallas or something)? Or would it be unwise. I was just thinking that it might be easier to make a higher GPA at those campuses, but then again, UT-Austin has the name recognition and it a really solid school all round. Help me out guys. Anything you know about UT, other schools I mentioned, pros, cons, about dorms, teachers, research, diversity, anything you know about any of those schools, and especially UT.</p>

2

<ul>
<li>huge classes
they get smaller every year as they focus more on your major. so you will just have to get over that the first year.</li>
<li>major weed-out classes
…wouldn’t this be at many schools??? maybe i’m wrong.</li>
<li>poor pre-med advising
it’s UT, wou told you that nonsense??
-huge campus can be intimidating
a lot of people have the same feeling at first, but get involved and join clubs and you get a smaller comfortable feel :)</li>
<li>so many parties that it’s hard to focus
the parties don’t come to you, you have to go the parties…so you can avoid them, just don’t be weak and give in to the temptations lol. and what college doesn’t have students who party?</li>
</ul>

<p>thats pretty much all i can give you. hope this helped :)</p>

3

<p>A&M: a cult. Blindly follow traditions for the sake of tradition including this: [YouTube</a> - Aggie Nut Squeeze](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AOgN-4QnZ4]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AOgN-4QnZ4). Close-minded, & conservative. They also have a weird infatuation with sheep bordering on beastiality.</p>

<p>Baylor: Small, very conservative Southern Baptist school, not academically well-known.</p>

<p>UT>all the satellite campuses. The other campuses don’t have the course offerings, the academic and career opportunities, the resources, and on and on that Austin has. They are also commuter schools so they won’t be the true college experience.</p>

<p>Rice: Elite private school that’s not that well-known nationally except amongst academics.</p>

<p>Your decision should be between UT and Rice. Rice offers more prestige, lower student to faculty ratio, more attention. UT offers a fun, complete college atmosphere with a strong brand name in the state.</p>

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<p>-huge class sizes
It really depends, if you can get into an honors program, the class sizes will probably be a lot smaller than if you don’t, and really the larger classes just mean your prof won’t know you, and that (at least in my experience) isn’t an AWFUL thing
-major weed-out classes
These exist at every university worth mentioning, but if you have the right dual credit/AP classes you can get away with not taking these courses. (PS: seriously consider taking calc at the JuCo level or else you’ll really hate yourself anywhere you go)
-poor pre-med advising
Can’t really speak to this seeing as I’m pre-law, but i’m sure you guys actually have a pre-med program (there is not pre-law at UT)
-huge campus can be intimidating
You have your classes, and your friends, the size of the campus isn’t really much, and the fact that it’s so compact just negates this, also joining clubs and things like that make the campus feel a whole lot smaller
-so many parties that it’s hard to focus
UT is a party school, but the majority of parties are in West Campus or Downtown, meaning YOU have to GO to THEM, and it’s easy to not go out if you really need to study. If nothing else you can study all day and then go out at night if you really need to party.
Compared to the other schools, UT is the best public university in Texas, Rice and Baylor are both private so in-state tuition doesn’t matter there, they’re both damn expensive (though Baylor does have good scholarships), but other than Rice none have the academic capacity of UT. And personally, I’d rather spend four years in Austin than Houston.</p>

5

<p>Ok, thanks a lot guys. So, basically BAYLOR is scratched off my list. I will consider A&M is I get a good scholarship or get into some program or something that is very persuading and makes it worthwhile to go there. But, as of now, it’s at the bottom of my list. And I guess I’ll forget about UT-Dallas, but I’ve heard that they are good for the sciences…</p>

<p>@mkose1, I have no APs or anything here to use for college credits (not offered). And what does taking Calc. at a junior college level mean? Like taking it at a community college? Calc. would be part of my Science/Math GPA for med school, and they care about where you took it (wanna see you take it at your primary/any other good institution). So, wouldn’t I be screwing myself over by taking it at a junior college?</p>

<p>I know there are weeder classes at other schools, but I heard that they are hard at UT because they try to get rid of so many premeds that should’ve reconsidered before they even got themselves involved in it. Also, I read that UT is one of the hardest places to get a high GPA? True or False? Can pickaprof.com basically coast you through 1st and 2nd year science classes? </p>

<p>Also, how much room does UT have for electives? Like is there a core curriculum and how intensive is it (courses+difficulty)?</p>

<p>Also, help me out guys. I need some more advertising for a PREMED. What’s UT got besides research. Like, I know A&M is in the middle of nowhere (compared to a city like Austin), but really what’s the big differences (besides the city/campus and things like that). I’m talking about GPA, volunteer opportunities, doctors, hospitals, clinics, leadership positions on campus clubs, intramural sports, and things a premed would want near them. So, what does UT offer in terms of those things I mentioned that TAMU, and Rice do not?</p>

<p>@TXhorn, I lol’ed at that video…that alone made me think twice about TAMU</p>

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<p>If you are a good student, the weeder classes will be hard, but not too hard. I think I’ve seen your stats before, and you should be fine. I will generalize a bit, but the weed out classes usually just weed out the top 10% kids with ~1100 SATs from mediocre high schools who come into UT with the intention of being pre-med but find out that it isn’t for them because they can’t compete with the high scoring/smarter kids from Sugarland/Plano/Westlake/etc. OK, they also do weed out some people from the suburbs who find that pre-med ain’t for them. Weed out classes do a serve a purpose though. They usually weed out the people who needed to be weeded out. </p>

<p>There are far more hospitals and volunteer opportunities available in Austin than in CS. It is a very liberal city and you will find many opportunities to help the poor, because there are plenty of poor NAMs living in East Austin. Whereas in CS/A&M, school is dominated by ROTC and Christian orgs.</p>

7

<p>Ok, thanks navyarf. My stats are up to par I guess with top/good students, but I never get cocky or arrogant because I know for every person I am smarter than there is always someone smarter somewhere.</p>

<p>I have a question about the Honor programs. So, I will be in the Natural Sciences department for sure. So, let me get this clear. The Honor’s program for the Natural Sciences dept. is the Dean’s Scholar’s program, correct? Also, I read about a newer Health Science Honors program for people who are interested in health care professions after undergrad. You also have to apply to this program to be accepted. </p>

<p>Now I have a couple q’s based on this. You guys said the class sizes will be smaller, which is great. BUT, wouldn’t it be harder to to well? Since, you are in a small class of overachievers? Would it be harder or easier to get the A’s? I have read about all the other benefits of these programs (research, class size, meet prof’s, etc., etc.).</p>

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<p>Deans Scholars is a great program, but it is difficult to gain admission. The newly formed Health Science program (read on CC and seems to be true I suppose…) seems to be for students who are good, but not quite good enough for DS. Definitely apply to both. </p>

<p>And regarding grade deflation/competition in honors programs, participating in an honors program will by no means lower your chances of gaining admission to medical school. It will boost them significantly. They aren’t cutthroat communities, they are more learning communities of talented and dedicated students. If you can get in, by all means do it. Stop focusing so much on the “A’s” as if that is the only thing that matters.</p>

<p>UT doesn’t have a core curriculum. They have basic requirements, which are very flexible. You can take whatever you want, and there are lots of fun and easy choices. You can even take these courses for credit at community college or online if you want to save some time and money. </p>

<p>You can find “easier professors”, but for science classes, all that really means is that the teacher is good. You can’t use pickaprof to abuse the system for premed the same way you can use it to pick easy courses in a liberal arts major. Sorry.</p>

9

<p>All state universities in Texas have a core curriculum. There is a lot of flexibility and each major’s website has suggested courses to meet the core curriculum requirements. Here’s info about the basics: [Common</a> Transfer Credit Issues - Core Curriculum](<a href=“http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/ate/problems/core.html]Common”>http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/ate/problems/core.html).
Many students receive credit for a number of courses through AP testing [AP</a> Cut Scores](<a href=“http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mec/cbe/cutape.html]AP”>http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mec/cbe/cutape.html)
or CLEP [CLEP</a> Cut Scores](<a href=“http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mec/cbe/cutclep.html]CLEP”>http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mec/cbe/cutclep.html)</p>

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<p>Weed out courses weed out the lazy and undetermined. If you are truly interested in the subject and put in the effort, it’s easy to be at the top of the class. UT, being located in a big city like Austin, and also the Capitol (policy) and a number of hospitals & clinics has far more experience-opportunities than College Station.</p>

11

<p>in 2009 baylor was ranked 80 out of 262 national universities, so academics are good. business is ranked like 38 and engineering is 12… according to US news and weekly so i think Baylor is obviously a pretty good school, UT in my opinion is known nationally because of the Texas Longhorns football team. i think if u take away sports UT would be very similar to Rice,…</p>

12

<p>an UT Dallas is the best option as far as other UT locations. they are ranked in some of their programs</p>

13

<p>I don’t know anything about pre-med requirements, I am after all a pre-law person, I was able to take it dual credit in high school and I no longer have to meet my math requirement, you can probably take the math placement test at orientation and it may get you out of some of your math requirement, but I really can’t help you much further seeing as I’m also a liberal arts major. JuCo and Community College are the same thing, but if you know for certain that the med schools want to see that you took calc at your primary school, then by all means take it at your primary school, but if you find that it doesn’t matter then I’d take it at a JuCo or CC level, assuming you aren’t able to test out of it during orientation. (and this is all going off the massive amount of complaints that my non-liberal arts friends make about calculus and them wishing that they wouldn’t have to take it.)</p>

14

<p>SMU>Baylor if you’re going to go a step below UT & A&M</p>

15

<p>awesome info. everyone! Now, I have an urgent question. I’ll try to call UT, but I wanna ask you guys too. For the 0.5 Economics credit that is required, what courses count as part of this? I need to pick my courses by thursday afternoon btw!</p>

<p>Economics 0.5: Student may select from economics/free enterprise, microeconomics, or macroeconomics. (this is what is says on UT’s site).</p>

<p>This is a course I have the option to take next year:
BUILDING FINANCIAL SECURITY:
This course investigates financial management, capital markets, and the ways in which capital is acquired. Students will use diverse information skills, resources and technologies to gather information related to a variety of Canadian and international financial institutions, investigate the conceptual and mathematical foundations of increasing net worth, and examine investments in the stock market (i.e. the risks and safeguards in stock trading, stocks as investments, creating investment portfolios.) They will also analyze the social/ethical impact of personal and corporate investment decisions and will learn to solve problems through theoretical investigations, systems thinking approaches and case studies.</p>

<p>Nothing else comes close to an economics course. Also, this is my next year schedule (I need to pick one more course…choosing between Business Leadership and Building Financial Security):
Biology- Enriched
Chemistry - Enriched
Physics - Enriched
Advances Functions (math) - Enriched
Calculus and Vectors - Enriched
Data Management
English - Enriched
(and the last course will be between the 2 mentioned before)</p>

<p>How does my next year’s schedule look? It’s such a heavy workload, tough. Data management math is an easy 97%+, but idk if I have too many maths and sciences (6 all together out of 8 courses). I’ve met all required courses except the economics 0.5 credit.</p>

16

<p>is that course description close to an economics course? Anyone? High schoolers? Were your econ. courses similar to what the course description in the above post says? ^^</p>

<p>Please help me out, UT says they would not know right now what counts and what doesn’t and that requirements are going to change for next year. I need to pick courses by tonight for next year! Help me out Longhorns!</p>

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<p>ViggyRam, they changed the requirements last year AFTER my son had already picked his senior classes. He checked, but there was no way he could fit the economics class in. I think they also required more social studies. We called admissions, and they said he can satisfy any deficiencies this summer, at a community college or even online. So don’t stress out about it too much!</p>

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<p>I live in Canada, so it is not a big deal that I don’t have Econ? Thing is, I could take a course that <strong>might</strong> fulfill the credit (it’s called Building Financial Security and looks at stocks, portfolios, banks, etc, etc.), but I really don’t wanna take this course. It is a new course and no one knows if it’s gonna be hard. All we know is that it is a university prep course (U-level course). </p>

<p>I would like to take an easy course since I already have a heavy workload. So, I wanna take Business Leadership. So, what do you suggest I do? I called UT and they said they wouldn’t know if it would count or not and that requirements are going to change again next year, so its all up in the air for now. So, do I:
a) take the course, which means more workload and a lower mark in this new course, and it may not even count
b)take biz. leadership, have to complete the econ. online or in community college for sure, but get a better mark tough in this course</p>

<p>I called everyone at UT. The deficiency people that work there, left messages, got call backs, etc. No one knows, so it’s like hit or miss. Idk if the pros outweigh the cons though…</p>

<p>I will have also met every other requirement that they CURRENTLY have. If they add some more things, then I probably will not be able to meet even more things. agh, why can;t they post this stuff earlier???</p>

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<p>That’s the same question I was asking last year! If it were me, I would skip taking that tough course and just plan on getting it in next summer. But you’ll have to decide for yourself!</p>

20

<p>Ok, I ended up taking Business Leadership lol. Not even close to economics. I will fulfill that credit at the end of high school i guess. How long does 0.5 credit take to complete? I play really competitive baseball (equivalent of Junior A hockey…like the same stuff Windsor Spitfires, Plymouth Whalers, Saginaw Spirit,etc. play in…but just convert that int baseball), but I am not good enough for a good DI school (ie. Rice, Texas, etc…maybe a school like Harvard, but let’s forget about that for now lol).</p>

<p>So, I wanna play in my senior year and in the summer at the end of senior year, but if I have to make up this econ. credit (and probably others, once they revamp the requirements again) will I even have time to play baseball? Like, how time consuming are these college courses? Thanks!</p>