<p>What are your thoughts on SMU?</p>
<p>What is the atmosphere like? School Spirit?</p>
<p>I plan to apply to UMiami, UCSB, LMU, USD, Pepperdine, SDSU, and ASU. So which school or schools would you compare SMU too?</p>
<p>Also how hard is it to get into SMU? Is it around the same level as some of my other schools?</p>
<p>Thanks...</p>
<p>SMU is a very urban campus between downtown Dallas and affluent north Dallas. They have been on a building spree in recent years with many new buildings. Heavy Greek influence. Not alot of school spirit, more self involvement with social groups. Good education. Decent EE/CS with lots of Dallas industry involvement and good co-op opportunities. Good B school. Not that hard to get into. Ranked around 75 or so.</p>
<p>I am not a big fan of SMU except for certain majors and if money is needed (merit award). I think it is pretty mediocre and has the atmosphere of the rich high school directly to the south of it. That said, the grads have good Dallas connections/network if they stay in Dallas.</p>
<p>Highland Park H.S., grade 13 ;-) Cox biz school is actually quite impressive, however, and has a fairly national draw.</p>
<p>I live in the Plano area and a lot of students from our really rich neighborhood high school (of over 1000 per graduating class) go there. The school attracts a lot of wealthy students.</p>
<p>I don't mind SMU. It is what it is. I think that it has good Dallas connects . It is still the only school I have ever heard of where some parents bring their interior designers with them to "do the kid's dorm room". Truly bizzare. Sometimes more than a few $K , too. LOL. I believe it would be in the middle of your pack of schools. </p>
<p>I like the campus. Have known kids with very good results from there. It is not a bad option given the right kid.</p>
<p>Back in the 80's, in SMU's football scandal heyday, it was a wicked party school, a 4 year Disneyland tour for rich kids, if you will. While there have been many positive changes, the party reputation still lingers, of course (such reputations die hard, just ask USC or W&L students, for example). Not to say you can't find a drinking companion any night of the week, but the reputation is a little unfair. The campus grounds are gorgeous, from my few brief visits in and around SMU. </p>
<p>Comparing SMU to the schools you listed, it is easier to get into than UCSB, Miami, and Pepperdine... about equivalent to USD and LMU... and tougher than SDSU and ASU. I would say that SMU generally enjoys better name recognition and respect than USD, LMU, and probably even Pepperdine, however... those schools receive many more applications simply b/c of their oceanside location. (And it would certainly be more fun than Pepperdine) </p>
<p>Hopefully that is a little helpful - I don't know a ton about SMU outside of second-hand info and a few visits to the law school, but maybe others can elaborate.</p>
<p>Thanks for the opinions. </p>
<p>So for a lot of students it is the 13th grade? </p>
<p>Are you saying it doesn't really feel like college, but high school?</p>
<p>I wouldn't say that it is "13th grade" in terms of academics. It's just that it is located in Highland Park, and a lot of Highland Park students enroll at SMU, so there are quite a few students who attend who grew up together. And will probably marry each other and continue to live in Highland Park.</p>
<p>I can't say much about the academics, but I live in the neighborhood. It is not an urban school at all. It has a very nice environment with a well defined campus and a safe and affluent surrounding neighborhood. The comments about the Highland Park kids has more to do with the mindset of some of the kids in the neighborhood than anything inherent in the school.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>SoCal18, if you are looking for school spirit and athletics, and aren't set on a business major, TCU in Fort Worth would probably be a better bet. Plus the coeds there are ridiculous ;-)</p>
<p>I agree with Art about TCU , except on the coeds part I ...uhhh...hadn't ....uhhh...... "no comment".</p>
<p>If you want to pump up the academics a bit look at Trinity U in San Antonio. Kind of the same feel as some of your schools with tougher admissions and tougher academics, too.</p>
<p>Its reputation, in some quarters, is that's it's the kind of school that your kid can go to if he couldn't get into better schools, but you could still talk about it without embarrassment at the country club. That is, it may not be as selective as as other places, but still has a decent reputation, and even some cachet.</p>
<p>I guess that sounds pretty snarky. I know SMU alums who are smart and talented, and who had a very good time there.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I wouldn't say that it is "13th grade" in terms of academics. It's just that it is located in Highland Park, and a lot of Highland Park students enroll at SMU, so there are quite a few students who attend who grew up together. And will probably marry each other and continue to live in Highland Park.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually, SMU is in University Park, the town that traces its origin to the need to create housing for SMU's teachers. </p>
<p>There are indeed many negatives, but the school has also a lot of tradition. Fwiw, I am not so sure that the reference to the continuing "in-breeding" for HP and UP residents is still true today. The cost of living in the area has continue to skyrocket and is well beyond the means of many families that moved there when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Few of the truly wealthy who own the largest and priciest homes in Dallas send their kids to public schools, and especially HPHS. As far as HPHS, the battle is not so much about getting into SMU as it is to secure a top 10% ranking guaranteeing the elusive ticket to UT-Austin. This would help understanding the pecking order. The toniest schools in Dallas do not rank and are excluded from the 10% game. The attraction of HPHS is that it is a public school in the middle of Dallas but outside the Dallas ISD, since HP and UP are separate towns. </p>
<p>A snarky comment --which probably makes sense to locals only-- would say that HPHS and SMU are not what they used to be as they lost of lot of the positives but kept all the negatives. Except for the amazing revitalization of the entire neighborhood around SMU. We still do BIG things in Dallas, especially in commercial development. </p>
<p>PS Anyone familiar with the story and saga of the Phantom Prof should also know that SMU has allowed some pretty morally bankrupt characters to teach at the prestigious school.</p>
<p>My very bright sister graduated from SMU in the 70's. There were no academic slouches among her friends, and she was able to easily complete a PhD at UTexas with her undergrad background.</p>
<p>I visited her several times there and also spent a good part of one summer in the dorms there while I was training for some diving competitions. It is definitely a generally affluent campus. Very pretty. Nice area of Dallas. Not sure about the current state of academics there though.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the opinions. I don't think I'm interested in applying to SMU anymore. I was hoping SMU would offer me something more than my other privates (LMU, San Diego, Pepp), but I don't think it does. And I really don't want to live in Texas either.</p>
<p>So thanks for the help.</p>
<p>All I know is that as a Texas resident - SMU has a major reputation for being snobby and a place where the rich Texan kids go. </p>
<p>I hear its a nice place to go marry into money though.</p>
<p>it is literally high school all over again. bmw in the parking lots.</p>
<p>SMU, TCU, Baylor, Tulane, Tulsa, Trinity (SA), are all pretty similar. Medium-sized, expensive, regionally-known private universities. They don't serve the same markets as HYPS, or UT-TAMU. By definition, PhD-granting institutions like these are not chopped liver. A well-prepared student who applies himself can get a great education at a school like this and have a good time while doing so.</p>
<p>There would be no reason to come all the way from California to go to one, though. California has its own group of schools like this, including Santa Clara, Pepperdine, etc. It is worth noting however that this group of schools gets a lot of students from the upper midwest, Illinois, Missouri, etc, that want to get away from the miserable winters up there.</p>
<p>SMU is generous with both need-based and merit-based aid. Some of the stereotypes tossed-out above are as wrong as they are shallow.</p>
<p>This thread is old, but I thought I might shed some light on the subject for those worried about the next four years. I’m a Finance major at SMU, and I can say nothing but praise for the way this school is run. I was accepted to UT Austin business, USC business, and a few other lesser schools, all for business. I chose SMU because, even thought they may be ranked lower than the others (UT is #7 overall according to US News), I thought I would thrive in this sort of environment… I was right. </p>
<p>My father went here in the decadent eightes, my grandfather went here in the…staid fifties, and now I’m here partying like its 1925. I don’t regret a thing</p>