<p>The reality is that recruiters will go for Rice/UT/A&M grads first. These days, a lot of these kids aren’t getting job offers, so I’d imagine it would be even worse at TSU, as the poster mentioned above. </p>
<p>If your son or daughter is interested in teaching, graduate school, etc, then TSU is great. But if they want to get a job straight out of college, not so great.</p>
<p>LW: I’ve noticed one inconsistency that maybe you have not realized. You have mentioned that your daughter is still waiting for UT admission, which she undoubtedly will get since she is clearly top 10%. But you also said that they don’t give much scholarship money and you were concerned about the cost. You have also said that Trinity is your top choice for her. While Trinity does offer merit scholarships, if I am remembering correctly their top merit scholarship is about 18,000/year. I believe that the balance is still significantly higher than the UT cost without a scholarship. You might want to research this further before you try to get her to love Trinity.</p>
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<p>No - the OP made it very clear that the question he wanted answered was </p>
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<p>Why others want to tell the OP he is wrong, that he asked a broader question, that his daughter’s coice is a poor one, that their favoprite pet school is better, etc, etc is beyond me. I guess some folks just like being difficult</p>
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<p>Well said brackettallens</p>
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^^You got that right, bb. As someone eloquenlty posted both here and in another thread (and I am paraphrasing), these threads are learning opportunities for <em>all</em> who read them. Someone commented that they post for the lurkers. Great perspective. Even in the “colleges” section of cc where threads are about individual schools, posters talk about those schools and other schools by comparison. This is the norm. No one owns, controls or directs a thread. Even in the example you cite above, Emory is mentioned. This could lead someone to start talking about Emory (great school, btw) and off the conversation goes in another direction. What is enjoyable about this site is the willingness of posters to talk about lots of things. The oposite is what, to me, is “difficult”. LW tried to start a new thread about TSU when this one started to meander off course. It got maybe 4 posts, 3 of which were his. This thread is of interest to many more reasons for a variety of reasons, as suggested above. Perhaps, rather than trying to control or direct, if posters relaxed and enjoyed, they’d still get their questions answered. JMO</p>
<p>limbwalker</p>
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<p>I would strongly urge you not to make the decision for your d. Or even push her in one direction. That could be disasterous long term if it doesn’t turn out well. I realize you would like her to be more involved at this point, but it is very possible she is as involved as she wants to be and is most comfortbale with her two choices - TSU or UT. Thats not a negative. Some students know they want to attend a certain school and don’t look at more than one or two other options. Other students have to check out multiple options to be sure they made the right choice. Neither approach is right or wrong. It is up to the individual student.</p>
<p>Your daughter may just be the type who is perfectly fine with saying these are the one or two schools I want to go to. Nothing wrong with that at all and I am sure she will be perfectly happy at TSU and have a great experience. At this stage, you have taken her to see other colleges and she has made her choice. I would say let her manage the process going forward as she sees fits and support her in her decision</p>
<p>All the best</p>
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<p>How are you so sure of that? Many, many kids are not happy at their colleges and transfer. I would give this a 50/50 chance of working out. That’s fine. The girl can transfer after she gets tired of the “idiots” (her term, not mine). It IS her decision (subject to what the parents want to fund), but I still think this sounds like a kid who is very afraid of college and the whole concept of leaving home. That’s fine, too, but kids can change rapidly.<br>
I have a good understanding of the job market, too, and would not want to be coming out of Texas State- even in 4 years. That is just the reality. Grad school buys you some time, but the economy is not pretty right now no matter how many success stories we can cite from the past.
But some people like pain, right berryberry?</p>
<p>I believe alh’s post 188 contained the best advice. I don’t believe a 17 or 18 year-old is equipped to make this decision independently without guidance. His DD was crying out for guidance – not just advice and suggestions, but guidance. Guidance that results in action. </p>
<p>I like Texas State and I think it has a bright future, but lets face it - it is just not a good fit for a shy kid with a 4.0 and 2100 SAT. </p>
<p>LW, you’ve been receiving really excellent advice since last May on this issue. So, what have you been doing for 6 months? You should have been demanding that your DD complete those applications to Rice, Trinity, Southwestern, etc., early in the fall. By now, you should be comparing offers for aid from all of those schools. Being accepted and sought after by a school – and having a real choice - can have a big impact on your DD’s thinking and attitude.</p>
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<p>I’ll confirm this, as both my son and daughter applied to Trinity and received top scholarships. I didn’t investigate in detail, but I heard that the scholarship amount remained static while cost of attendance usually increased - which is probably standard, but something to remember when considering costs. Both my son and daughter liked Trinity, but in the end decided to accept full scholarships elsewhere.</p>
<p>I hear about Texas State more often lately - and most of what I hear is positive. I do know that Texas State hopes to shake its party reputation and attract stronger students, in part through merit scholarship.</p>
<p>As a Houstonian, I guess I’ll add my two cents re the discussion on Rice. Undeniably well-regarded and the students we know personally who attend are academically strong. Rice would not be considered in “inner city” Houston, but it is also undeniably in the middle of the 4th largest city in the U.S. and across the street from the world’s largest medical city. The campus is walled and the homes surrounding the walls - on the sides not facing the medical center - are pricey as many doctors, researchers, etc., live in the area. Traffic in the area - well, let’s just say that Houstonians know to add extra time to get anywhere around there. </p>
<p>Anyway - wow - in general - on this thread. Definitely an interesting read.</p>
<p>Trinity now gives some full tuition scholarships, but they require a separate app., and that date has passed. The deadline for RD is 2/1, and the general merit scholarships are up to $15,000 (no longer $18,000) and can still be awarded in the RD round.</p>
<p>Giddy,</p>
<p>Most students still can’t compare aid, as EA and RD aid hasn’t been sent yet by most schools.</p>
<p>“You have mentioned that your daughter is still waiting for UT admission…”</p>
<p>Not sure why I would have said that, since she got her acceptance letter to UT quite a while back… But maybe it sounded like I was saying that. Regardless, she was accepted (naturally) to UT.</p>
<p>I hear what you’re saying about Trinity and the costs. Sorry to hear the deadline for merit scholarships has passed. Guess I should have known that. Geez I feel like a “dumb” parent sometimes… </p>
<p>Gloworm, it’s my goal to at least talk her into getting an application into Trinity by 2/1. I think she’s agreed to do that. Looks like a good weekend project for her. You can be sure we’ll be talking about it on the trip to San Marcos. And probably on the trip home too 
If she doesn’t get a merit aid offer from Trinity, or if she does and it’s still too expensive for us, then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I wouldn’t break our finances for her to go to UT vs. TSU, but an opportunity for her to go to Trinity may be reason for us to consider other options… At least give it a good hard look…</p>
<p>“You should have been demanding that your DD complete those applications to Rice, Trinity, Southwestern, etc., early in the fall…”</p>
<p>Sure, her mom and I certainly could have been more demanding of her through all this. Guess we’re just not that type, and with three kids and two full time careers, some of this gets lost in the day-to-day shuffle…</p>
<p>“I would strongly urge you not to make the decision for your d. Or even push her in one direction. That could be disasterous long term if it doesn’t turn out well…”</p>
<p>Talk about conflicting advice! LOL! </p>
<p>I guess we’ve taken berry’s approach, letting her set the pace. It’s a slow one, I can promise you… :rolleyes: but we have prodded her a little. But not so much that she hates talking about college now. In fact, she and I are going up to TSU on Friday to talk to some of the faculty and take a closer look. She’s actually “excited” about that. I figure a 17 year old girl that’s excited about a trip to visit a college with her “dumb” old Dad is a good start…</p>
<p>“Your daughter may just be the type who is perfectly fine with saying these are the one or two schools I want to go to…”</p>
<p>Yea, I think if you’d ask her, that’s exactly what she would say… It’s not like she hasn’t seen her share of colleges and talked about them all with us…</p>
<p>Again, thanks to all who have been so willing to help. Some very good advice here…</p>
<p>John.</p>
<p>glo, that is true for need-based aid, but I know that this time last year my d had multiple merit awards to consider, and it had a drastic, positive impact on her attitude towards those schools. Too bad about the Trinity full ride…</p>
<p>Goodness! I couldn’t believe that a thread about TSU would generate >200 replies & >5000 views! It didn’t take reading many posts to figure out why, but I admit I got hooked & have now actually read the whole thing.</p>
<p>LW, I don’t know whether you will find my thoughts helpful, but perhaps they will be of value to someone else if not you. Apologies to all for the length of my post.</p>
<p>I started college at TSU (albeit a long time ago, so perhaps things have changed). My family moved to Texas in my senior year. Though I was a top student with great test scores and some nice national awards, I was clueless and advice-less when it came to college admissions. The TSU campus appealed to me more than UT, so off to San Marcos I headed.</p>
<p>I accelerated and took all sophomore level & honors courses my first year. I liked everyone & everything just fine AND I was sooo ready to leave after one year. I couldn’t name it at that time, but I now know that I was just plain bored. I wasn’t restless, because I am a pretty content person and enjoy all kinds of people and places and experiences, but that year was just very <em>flat</em>. </p>
<p>Did I understand what was happening and make a dramatic change? No. I transferred to Tech because my sister was in Lubbock & I could share an apartment with her! (MOWC: lol; SATs aside, I did think Tech had a generally stronger faculty, and I met more kids I related too, many from the architecture & engineering programs.) </p>
<p>Do I think either TSU or Tech was a good match for me and a great college experience? No. Do I think it kept me from being a happy, successful adult? No. I have been blessed with every kind of success & happiness, as has my very-proud-to-be-a-tier-3-Kansas-State-Wildcat husband, who is one of the top people in the country in his profession. But I will also say that after H & I sat in on a lecture at our daughter’s top-notch college, we walked out, stared at each other with mouths agape, and said almost simultaneously: “What a gift to have a college experience like this!”</p>
<p>In terms of creating a great college experience for herself at TSU, your daughter has a lot of advantages over me. She really wants to go there; she has you to prompt her to seek out the best professors and courses; she is undoubtedly much more educated about how to get from TSU to a top grad program–you get the idea. But I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if she is content but not thrilled at TSU, and I applaud you for pushing her to at least give herself some options.</p>
<p>If $$ are an issue, I would agree that it would be better to take advantage of the scholarship at TSU, then transfer to UT if she needs/wants a bigger “pond.” It’s unlikely that she will be passing up scholarship bucks at UT by starting at TSU. </p>
<p>But the same thing is not true in the case of the private schools. If she starts at a more challenging school with merit $$, then wants to transfer, TSU or UT will still be relatively affordable. If she starts at TSU then decides she would like to go to Trinity or equivalent, it will likely be too late to get merit money.</p>
<p>Another thought: I wonder whether the distance constraint can be loosened? I understand the desire to be close to home. But if she gives it more thought, might she be ok with any school that is close enough for her to go home on Friday and return on Sunday? If so, I second giving UD and Austin College a look. Too late, I think, for the big scholarships, but merit money available at both. (And don’t forget to ask about smaller awards available to students who excel their freshman year.)</p>
<p>BTW, having said all that, I am encouraging my niece (who is not quite the student your daughter is) to seriously consider TSU. Good luck to your daughter, wherever she goes!</p>
<p>@ignatius,
You totally cracked me up with this line: "Anyway - wow - in general - on this thread. Definitely an interesting read. "</p>
<p>This silly thread has been at or towards the top of my list every time I do a search of threads I’ve previously visited. I usually won’t go back to it because the tone of the darned thing gets me edgy. Instead, I ignore it.</p>
<p>I have, however, checked back maybe 3 times since the ONE time I posted, and it pretty much looks the same each time! I’ve promised myself with each peek that I’ll read just one page and then get back off the thing before irritation or confusion sets in. With each peek, it’s always the same! Same characters. Same veiled or not-so-veiled hostility. Hilarious! What is it about this thread?!</p>
<p>Welcome to the “alternate universe” known as the TSU thread. Where up is down and down is up. Where seemingly normal people are doggedly pursued and seemingly hostile people appear to feel justified or vindicated at every wrong turn. I can’t figure it all out! Who needs primetime TV?</p>
<p>Anyway, you sure cracked me up with that understatement of a line! Thanks for the laugh!</p>
<p>Wow, lonestarmom…
What a great post! Well said!</p>
<p>I haven’t been in your situation but, if my kid got a full scholarship to a school, loved that school and I could see it as a positive learning environment I would be doing cartwheels!!! </p>
<p>Undergraduate is just the first step and being a top student in a class of students who are not as strong can probably translate into outstanding undergrad opportunities. My kid also had great numbers but had a strong yen to go to school out of state and would not even apply to any school that was likely to give him big money to attend. Don’t get me wrong I am thrilled that he is where he is and loves it. I think he held back some in HS… He seems to thrive by being just another smart fish in the pond. Everyone has different needs and it is a gift when a student can find and go to a school where their needs are met.</p>
<p>You said your daughter is shy, and likes being close to home. For now this campus probably provides some of the key things she is looking for and this may help her to thrive academically. This isn’t to say that Trinity couldn’t provide a similar situation but only if she feels comfortable there. I found it hard to predict what type of vibe my son would get from any school that he visited but I always respected it. </p>
<p>Having money left over for graduate/professional education can be a huge plus. My son will have to earn his way when he gets to the next level. That trade off was worth it for him…but if he was as happy as he is and was growing academically at a school I could drive to, and didn’t have to pay tuition for, I would think we won the lottery!</p>
<p>If when you visit you feel that this is a place that she can grow academically and also become a confident, happy young woman I would say be thankful and go for it…Then again transferring is always an option if it doesn’t work out, and no matter what you will have the substancial savings from freshman year.</p>
<p>Lonestarmom, good post. I feel the same way you do about a lot of this…</p>
<p>I sat down with her last night for a while and we talked some more. I asked her if she was comfortable with only having applied at TSU and UT. She said she was. I again asked why she wasn’t all that interested in the “more challenging” schools, and she didn’t really have an answer. And it didn’t appear as though she was trying to hide anything either… </p>
<p>All the reasons she gave me for liking TSU and San Marcos so much were social reasons (liked the campus, liked the location, etc.), not academic. I pointed that out to her, and she said “Hmmm, I guess you’re right…” But she still seemed okay with that. I told her I still wanted to see her apply to Trinity, at least, as that would be my most logical fit for her and she agreed to. </p>
<p>I asked her to come up with a plan for tommorrow, and she decided that we should visit TSU and UT again. She spent a few hours online researching both campuses and programs some more, and she looked at other schools too. We’ve got a plan and she’s excited to be spending the day with “dad” looking at “her” choices of schools… </p>
<p>Interestingly enough, she discovered that one of the anthro. prof’s at TSU has a PhD in linguistic anthropology (her specific interest) from UT. So I suspect he will be able to offer some very good advice…</p>
<p>Spectrum, it’s not a “full” scholarship, but it’s a very good one that pretty well took care of any financial concerns we were having… So no worries (at TSU anyway) about how we’re going to pay for things now, or any future student loan debts for her.</p>
<p>And yes, once it sunk in, I was doing cartwheels… 
She’s darn well earned it IMO…</p>
<p>During our conversation last night, she was asking a lot of questions about the area, about the Catholic student center, about the dorms, and generally about non-academic matters. Right now, these are the things she’s most concerned about. I guess it’s my job as a parent to think about the academics too, but we need to make her comfortable before she can learn anything. If she is there a year and then decides the place isn’t for her, then I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it…</p>
<p>John.</p>
<p>Not to further confuse things, but if you’re Catholic, have you looked at the University of St. Thomas in Houston (yikes! dreaded Houston!). My goddaughter got a full ride from UST, and your dd’s stats seem much like hers. She was as sheltered a girl as you can imagine and just blossomed there. After graduating, she joined a missionary-type group that had her traveling all over the U.S. I really know very little about the school, but she very much enjoyed her time there and is now principal at a Catholic school.</p>
<p>Youdontsay, thanks. We talked about Catholic colleges, but she didn’t express that much interest in them. Just likes the idea of an active Catholic student program at the school she attends… Which makes her dad pretty happy :D</p>
<p>John.</p>
<p>So, I have appointments for tommorrow with Chair of both the Anthro. and Languages dept’s., and I reserved two spots on the morning campus tour. </p>
<p>Any suggestions about what to ask the dept. chairs? </p>
<p>Incidentally, I could only “maybe” get some time with a 20-something year-old Advisor in the UT Anthro. dept… </p>
<p>Am I already beginning to detect a pattern?</p>
<p>John.</p>