I have been accepted to both schools, and I was wondering which one you all think is better? I am from New Hampshire, and really want to live somewhere other than the East Coast! My family all lives in MN, so it would be amazing to be close to them.
I have seen both, and love both. I know they are very different, but I just love certain things about both, and hate nothing. I hope on rushing a sorority, also. Texas’ housing seems better to me, but I like the idea of being in Minneapolis. I like the “Aggie Tradition,” and their sports teams. But, I am somewhat worried I would feel out of place here coming from out of state.
The cost of attendance will be about the same for both, so there isn’t much comparison there. AP credit is almost identical…
I would be majoring in Neuroscience at the U of M and Microbiology at TAMU, and plan to go on to med school… I know both schools are strong in these fields.
So, which school would you go to and why? Which one has the friendlier, happier students? When I visited, Texas seemed a bit more welcoming, but I didn’t have a problem with MN by any means. As for weather, I like the cold and I like the hot… Haha I will wake up one morning wanting to live in the cold and the next morning wanting hot. It is so confusing.
Please add any opinions/experiences you have had with either school!
My son is OOS from Arizona at A&M. He likes it very much. But, because of legislative requirements, it is 97% Texans. Texans are very friendly, but Minnesota has 26% OOS students. Both are very good schools. Minnesota is very urban. TAMU is in a relatively small-town. You can fly directly to Minneapolis with many options. You have to fly through Dallas (American) or Houston (United) and there are relatively few connections.
Being close to family is a strong driver, or it would be for me anyway. Now with that considered, you may think about this. Name brand recognition. This is true - I’ve never heard of the University of Minnesota. My guess is that if you randomly surveyed 100 people in the business world today, the Texas A&M University name would be much more recognized than the University of Minnesota. Does holding an undergraduate degree from a highly recognized college name interest you? Something to think about.
If you’re ultimately headed to med school, undergraduate degree may not be of importance . . .
Sorry, I love TAMU, but Minnesota has been far better known for just about forever nationally for its academics. Only in the last few years has TAMU closed the gap. Minnesota’s academic reputation is still stronger in the East, Midwest, and West.
Having 26% of the student population from out of state really does make a difference! OOS kids at TAMU often feel like they are the only one. College Station is a 2 hour drive from Austin, and 1.5 hours from Houston.
I have had 2 OOS students at A&M. My oldest had criteria of large, well known universities with good academic programs- the list was long initially but did not include U of Minn., so it did not make her cutoff criteria for that particular list (whether or not that is actually true, it did not come across in her research). So, I don’t have an opinion of U of Minn, except that (for what it is worth), in our exposure it isn’t as well known. We wear A&M attire quite a bit and travel the world, it is amazing how you hear Gig Em as you pass by people in different countries & states! We are always a bit taken aback, but the Aggie Network is alive & well in many far away places!
She also rushed a sorority her freshman year - it was a wonderful experience & has been very helpful for landing jobs --she graduated in May. She had no problem with friends especially going the Greek route - she was welcomed with open arms from day one! Fraternities recruit later, so my son had a little tougher time for the first week -then he was right in the mix. Neither one has regretted their choice of university - we gave them the option of picking anywhere & they both independently selected this school. Being out of state is a novelty however, what really matters at this school is being an Aggie.
As far as being friendly & happy, this was voted the #1 happiest school in the nation. We have personally experienced the friendliness by students - it is a big campus & getting lost is a parental past time for the first several visits… we had many students stop & help us find our way. The other thing we liked is the welcoming attitude the students have towards parents. It is quite the family atmosphere, and the school even refers to you as the Aggie family as well.
Regarding location, it is a college town and not plunked in the middle of a city. Like many universities we looked at in college towns, it isn’t located with tons of transportation access but it does have a small airport & a transport van that takes you to Houston Airports. There are also lots of students that live near Austin, Houston & Dallas airports so you can often catch a ride with one of your friends once you begin at A&M.
Good luck with your decision & congratulations of your acceptances!
Congratulations on your acceptances! My son, from the mid-west, was also choosing between TAMU and a Minnesota school (but not the U - it was a small private school). He is extremely happy at TAMU - he just completed his first semester in Engineering there. He was looking for a school with solid academics, strong traditions, good sports, friendly students and good weather. A&M checked all of those boxes. Commuting isn’t as bad as you’d think - there is a reasonably priced shuttle to the Houston airports as mentioned by a previous poster. He is participating in a fraternity and found that to be a great way to meet kids as well as another club - other friends are in FLOs (Freshman Leadership Organizations). Also - playing rec sports has been another way he met some friends. A&M has an excellent New Student Conference and something they call Fish Camp that are two events that he participated in over the summer so he was able to make some friends before he came the first week.
“We have personally experienced the friendliness by students - it is a big campus & getting lost is a parental past time for the first several visits… we had many students stop & help us find our way. The other thing we liked is the welcoming attitude the students have towards parents. It is quite the family atmosphere, and the school even refers to you as the Aggie family as well.” – AGMomx2
This was our experience as well when we visited campus. TAMU is known for strong engineering, traditions and the “Aggie Network”.
In response to someone “not knowing” about Minnesota, I think that is a very unfair comment. UMN is an amazing school, with amazing academics (which is likely why you applied). And rankings wise, they are only two spots away from each other.
So as fate would have it, I’m actually a Texas A&M student out of state from Minnesota, so naturally U of M was looked at and considred by me. I didn’t choose the U of M because I didn’t like how it was in the middle of Minneapolis, and I liked how TAMU had its own town. However, I have friends that go to U of M and they LOVE it! Both schools are strong acadmically(if not the same), so you really don’t have to worry about that. Both schools aren’t known for their greek life, but I’m willing to bet that it’s going to be stronger at U of M. As for being out of state, I haven’t had any problems making friends at TAMU because the students are very friendly, and I’m sure that isn’t going to be a problem at U of M( Minnesota nice, anyone?). As for school spirit, TAMU has got that in the bag. When I was doing a campus tour at U of M, I saw three guys wearing shirts from different schools, and one even had an University of Iowa shirt on( major rival). Sure, you see that at TAMU, but far less often. Football games for both schools are fun, but the Aggie games are better. I liked the on campus housing at TAMU better, even though I did get stuck in a crappy dorm. I was on Blinn TEAM, so my expenses and tutition for TAMU was actually cheaper than the U of M, and if you get a scholarship over $1000 for TAMU, you get in state tution. So in conclusion, I chose TAMU over U of M because of the college town feel, as well as the spirit TAMU has. But if you choose whether to be a Gopher or an Aggie, you can not lose because they are both great schools with great students.
I am a TAMU student that was actually considering a couple of BIG 10 schools. It is one of those things where you either love it or you hate it. I can attest to the the aggie spirit and however deluded my peers may be, it is real. If you are being interviewed by an aggie grad and you are and aggie competing with a student from Berkeley you will get the job regardless if your GPA is 2 points lower. The comment about Minnesota not being well known is a complete joke and sad to say is a typical aggie response when other universities get brought up. If you want to stay in texas, A&M is probably the best school you could attend in the whole country. If you plan on leaving the state it will just be Texas’s little brother in sports and academics. I have my biased views but I hope this helps a little. Oh one more thing you will meet people here that you will wonder how they got in (top 10% rule) and then you will meet people that you are wondering why they’re not studying at MIT.