I’m currently a high school junior and these are my top 2 colleges. I’ve visited both and really like them. I’m gonna major in finance and both business schools seem really good. I love to hunt and fish and do many outdoor activities and both colleges seem to be good for this. I love to ski and I like how Tech is a few hours away from NM, but I also like the Ozark Mts in Arkansas. So if anyone wants to give there opinion on these colleges that would be great.
Would you rather live in Texas or Arkansas after you graduate?
Are you “pistols up” or “wooooo pig…”?
Is there much of a difference in cost? If you aren’t sure, run the NPC.
Finally, have you looked at available classes and class sizes? Maybe one school has the edge in those areas.
If they are tied after this analysis, I would go to Arkansas: it is the flagship of that state. Tech, while respected, is not the flagship of Texas. Granted, there’s more opportunity in Texas, but there’s also a lot more competition.
@zachrogers80 I saw that US News has expanded their “ratings” game to now rank “Best Places to Live.” I don’t know all of the stuff they throw into their “ranking formula,” but I saw that Fayetteville, Arkansas, was ranked No. 5 in the USA on their list. I am not sure if Lubbock, Texas, was on the list as I only looked thru the top-25 or so to see if my town made their list. I have traveled for business to Northwest Arkansas, and that area is really booming. With Wal*Mart, Tyson, and all those national freight, logistics, and trucking companies up there (J.B. Hunt, ABF, etc.), the growth in that part of Arkansas from Fayetteville up thru Rogers and Bentonville is quite remarkable. It’s fairly pretty country up there too, as the Ozarks provide a nice backdrop, and the hills are gorgeous when the trees change color in the fall. Unfortunately, I have not been to Lubbock, so I don’t know much about it at all. I think both schools are decently regarded, and both would have the big sports feel and all the social life you’d expect from a big state school. Honestly, if you were in state for Tx Tech, I’d probably lean that way; likewise, I’d lean to U of A if you’re in-state Arkansas. As the other poster said, which do you like more – the Razorbacks or the Red Raiders? I suspect both universities are pretty comparable academically, so it comes down to the surroundings and other intangibles. Good luck… nice to see a poster asking about non-Ivy schools for once!
Fayetteville has made the various “Best Places to Live” and “Best Small Cities” lists for most of the last 15+ years. It has been considered a top-tier “college town” for decades—maybe not Bloomington or Athens level, but very good. The exponential growth has been with the communities between Fayetteville and the Missouri border—Springdale, Bentonville, Rogers, etc. Those use to be distinct small cities, and now you really can’t tell where one of them ends and the next begins. Inner Fayetteville itself is nicer but not that different; the University has expanded in size by about 50% in last 20 years but has same overall “feel” as it always did.
Unless there was a specific program-related or financial reason to choose Tech, I would choose UofA over Tech without a second thought.