<p>I've been accepted to both TCU and SMU, but just can't decide. I've toured SMU and will be touring TCU next week. I'll be studying Pre-med.</p>
<p>I think TCU will be a better school for me because of the school spirit and the atmosphere, but SMU is a lot more focused on academics. I plan to pledge a sorority also.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any suggestions??? please help :)</p>
<p>Hi. My son has also been accepted to TCU and SMU. He has chosen SMU. It helps if you put all the pros and cons down on paper or on a white board! 
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<p>He chose SMU because their engineering program is better than TCU. They also have an engineering school with more majors to choose from. TCU was his 2nd choice. </p>
<p>He also wants to go to a small school where he will receive attention from the professors. SMU is much smaller than TCU. Over a thousand more students attend TCU and that is a lot in comparison to SMU’s size. </p>
<p>When he visited SMU he told me it fits. He liked the others but it wasn’t a perfect fit. </p>
<p>He has not visited TCU. </p>
<p>SMU is definitely the best place for my son. In fact a dean from another school that he has been accepted to told Jarret of the three schools that offer engineering he should go to the best which is SMU. He said TCU was 2nd best and his school was 3rd. That was really nice advice.</p>
<p>SMU is a better match for my son. He also wants to attend a conservative school. He is a big Bush fan and he has raved about SMU since his visit and hasn’t wavered. There is a lot to be said for those feelings or instints. </p>
<p>Here are some other pros and cons: </p>
<p>SMU food is better which I’ve heard is a big deal!
TCU facilities (dorms) are better however SMU will be building more dorms.
Both campuses are beautiful.
SMU is much harder to get into than TCU.
SMU has 50% of the students from TX; wheras TCU has over 70%.
SMU has an incredible job placement
SMU cost more than TCU</p>
<p>I’ve also been told that students usually can tell which school they want to attend when they attend admittance day.</p>
<p>Good luck and congratulations on your acceptances! Let me know which school you decide to attend when you figure it out. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>You probably won’t go wrong with either one. But you ABSOLUTELY should visit both of them. I agree emphatically with newjersey17 that most students can tell immediately which school they prefer after a visit, which includes sitting in on a class or two.</p>
<p>My daughter prefers TCU. Just a lighter, more enthusiastic atmosphere. We parents joined on both campus tours with our daughter, and the TCU visit was markedly more impressive. It really does boil down to personal preferences. I expected those two schools to be more similar than they are, but each had a decidedly different aura.</p>
<p>Thanks arrdad… We were going to visit TCU but after visiting about eight other campuses prior to SMU, my son said it was hands down his absolute FAVORITE so there was no reason to keep looking. He even told me he would apply ED if they had that option. It is like a when you see an absolutely stunning ball gown that you cannot pass up and on top of that it fits perfectly. There is only one size and it obviously is waiting for you and you absolutely have to have it. It doesn’t matter what else is out there. (By the way, it happened to me!) That is how he felt and he said it will be extremely hard for TCU to beat SMU. So yes, I agree with you it is very personal!</p>
<p>“That is how he felt and he said it will be extremely hard for TCU to beat SMU.”</p>
<p>Not when it comes to football!</p>
<p>certainly visit both.</p>
<p>I live just outside of Fort Worth but looked at both schools as potential backups yet I decided on TCU because I liked the school atmosphere as well general style of living in Fort Worth as opposed to Dallas. Really it depends on the kind of person you are, they are different types of campuses but more importantly the cities they are located in are very very different. I think picking whether you would rather live in Fort Worth or Dallas plays a big part in many people’s decisions between the two schools.</p>
<p>Hi hAMBERger101!</p>
<p>I went to TCU for undergrad and now go to SMU for grad school. They are both wonderful institution, but I have to say, I could never imagine going to SMU for undergrad. The school spirit and friendly fort worth culture was so much nicer than the arrogant, uptight, snobby Dallas personality. SMU law school is great, but the graduate atmosphere is much different it seems like than undergrad. For example, I know there is a lot of cocaine use among undergrads at SMU, I never saw any hard drugs at TCU, and I was a pretty social guy at TCU. </p>
<p>If you’re about school size, both do a great job at making the academic experience very personal. TCU professors are so nice and will always go out of their way to make sure you are actually learning. TCU is not significantly bigger than SMU like a previous mom posted on the thread. There is a 1500 student difference, and TCU faculty is larger than SMUs. </p>
<p>Graduate school professors are difficult to discribe, since education is so much different and focused on your field of study. </p>
<p>I had an absolutely amazing time at TCU, and there is no way SMU can ever match the school spirit and sense of community TCU has. </p>
<p>Go Frogs!</p>
<p>We visited TCU and SMU with our son, also a prospective Engineering student. Hands down, TCU was his favorite. He really enjoyed the presentations in the Engineering school at SMU, but TCU had more of a balance of great academics and a positive social atmosphere for him. SMU was very snobby while TCU was more laid back and welcoming. TCU’s school spirit is quite strong as other posters have mentioned. It certainly helps that their football team has had such success in recent years. On our tour, we were told TCU has connections with many businesses in their engineering program. Local businesses hire TCU students to work on a project so it is “real” world training. The TCU campus is also quite lovely. A private donor takes care of all the landscape maintenance so no university monies go towards planting colorful flowers (weekly, we’re told), lawn mowing, hedge trimming or tree pruning. Their campus layout is also more convenient with the rec center close to the campus dorms. I wish you the best in your school choice.</p>
<p>My son also feels stronger about TCU. He went on a trip to tour SMU and some other colleges, and I insisted he see TCU since it was so close. We knew nothing about it but have a cousin at SMU. He walked on campus and immediately texted LOVE THIS PLACE to me. Very friendly, down-to-earth, driven community of students. He then went to tour SMU and also liked it but it didn’t have the sense of school spirit that he is looking for in his college experience. Since you are studying pre-med, I would go to the school that offers the total experience you want for undergrad. It is a fast four years and you have a lot of school ahead of you. Let us know what you think after you tour TCU.</p>
<p>sorry for such a late reply, but i thought i’d get an email notification when others posted!! anyway…in the end i picked TCU i just liked the overall atmosphere a lot more! I’ve got a completely split family with half from TCU and the other half SMU so it took me forever to decide! now im in the process of picking my residence halls, which I’m not sure which ones are better haha</p>
<p>Thanks everybody! :D</p>
<p>HAmberger101 can you update us on how you like TCU? My son was just accepted!</p>