UC-Boulder v. CAP -UTSA

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
1

<p>Hey everyone! I'm in the middle of making a VERY difficult decision in regards to college...I'm going to make a Pro-Con list for both schools..Input is greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>University of Colorado at Boulder
Pros: beautiful campus, new people (I'm from TX so I won't be surrounded by high school peers), fresh start, a "public ivy" (however, I have read mixed reviews on this college, although it's second in the state after Mines), liberal, new environment, sports, high quality of living, close to Dennver (jobs!), I love photography and the scenery will enable me to continue my hobby, will recieve 17 credit hours thanks to credit by exams (AP exams)</p>

<p>Cons: My second choice, notorious party school, not sure if this is valid but I have heard it is a haven for potheads and alcohol (not my scene), EXPENSIVE!, out of state tuition is ridiculous, lack of diversity (known for white rich jerks or stoners), if I don't like it I can't transfer after a year (parents), airfare would be expensive, I have heard it is like high school</p>

<p>CAP at UTSA
Pros: transfer to Austin in a year (great academics, diverse, liberal, fun and exciting place to live, my dream school!), Make stellar GPA (I achieved a 4.1 in high school, missing the top10% by a small margin), 3 hours from home (I can come home more frequently), easier transition to college life, make friends who are transferring to Austin in a year, San Antonio the city itself, classes should be a breeze as I have taken AP/PreAP all four years in high school...good dorms I hear, I can afford to got to UTSA/UT Austin without going into debt!</p>

<p>Cons: I have taken AP exams and made 4s/5s on them, but they don't go toward the 30 hour requirement (meaning I may have to retake classes I tested out of to make the requirement), coursework is too easy, transitioning to Austin may be more difficult, aLRIGHT campus...</p>

2

<p>I would choose CAP. You will save a lot of money that way and UT is more of a public Ivy than Colorado. I have been to Colorado and they do have a nice campus, but it seems like it would be a real hassle for you to travel all the way out there. What do you intend to major in?</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much for replying! This process is so confusing :confused: I plan to major in English with a minor in physcology or education. I have read some of your posts/threads, do you mind if I PM you some questions about the CAP? UTSA has been really uncooperative and won’t answer my questions, especially in regards to academics…so making a decision is very difficult</p>

4

<p>Sure, you can PM me.</p>

5

<p>Go with the CAP</p>

6

<p>cap! i go accepted to boulder last year. don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful campus but the tuition is already much higher from last year, almost 40k! and it IS a party school (but so is UT) and there are a ton of people who smoke weed (its practically legal, if not legal in colorado?) and its a big part of the campus.</p>

<p>although the cap program doesn’t seem that great, everyone i know in it says its worth it. tuition is a huge factor for everyone, and honestly, i’m in an out-of-state school right now and i wish i had stayed in texas, i hate it here! but hopefully i transfer in the fall. it’s very expensive besides tuition (traveling, no car, shipping all your stuff here…) it adds up. and not being able to go home just for the weekend is truly awful (like this weekend, everyone went home for easter, but i couldn’t because its so expensive to fly home for one weekend. the campus was empty and it sucked). if UT is your dream school then go for it :)</p>

7

<p>Thanks Smahanru! What are the factors apart from monetary ones causing you to hate CU-Boulder? I have heard it’s really cliquey there? What are the classes/people like there? Best wishes for transferring in the fall. Are you trying for UT?</p>

8

<p>It depends on what you want to major in. If you want to major in the more competitive majors at UT and feel like you are unlikely to get in that major,** I vote for CU-Boulder**. </p>

<p>You should find out how long you’ll have to pay the OoS tuition or how to get in-state tuition. I know in Texas, if you own land in Texas, you are consider in-state. CU is a much better school than UTSA. Your major is more indicative of your earning potential and happiness than the school. If you can only get in COLA at UT but wants to do engineering/business, doesn’t make sense to go to UT over CU.</p>

9

<p>I’m planning on a liberal arts major at UT. Also apparently with the 30 hours I have to get a year from now I will be transferred to UT Austin with about 60 hours (APcreds +30 hour minimum). It’s a lot cheaper to do UTSA and get into the school I orginially applied for COLA.</p>

10

<p>well i don’t go there but i applied senior year and i go to purdue in indiana now. just going out-of-state isn’t what it seems. the people are different, which isn’t bad but its a lot to get used to. i’m sure a ton of people at boulder go skiing and snowboarding a lot because the mountains are right there (i don’t do either of these). i didn’t hate it, i just knew it wasn’t for me. they also have very basic majors, and at the time i wanted to do graphic design and they didn’t offer it as a major so that was a big factor in my decision. and if you want diversity, there isn’t much there (or here at purdue either). it’s just a lot to consider. you could always go there a year and then try and transfer to UT (this is what i’m trying to do for this fall). </p>

<p>in my opinion, making good grades at a competitive university like boulder will be better if you want to apply to transfer to UT. think about it, thousands of people are trying to transfer from community colleges or small schools in texas to UT. but you would be applying from boulder, a pretty highly ranked university. if you have a high GPA, why would they pick the community college transfers over you? they most likely wouldn’t and you would probably be picked over and before them. UT wants other universities top students and if you went to boulder it would help a lot if you decided to transfer.</p>

11

<p>Ah I see what you’re saying. Unfortunately, my parents have decided that if I go to Boulder one year I have to stick it out and can’t transfer. It’s heinous, but they aren’t changing that condition… UTSA does offer automatic admission so I think it would be a lot safer transferring from UTSA than CU.</p>

12

<p>CAP - you can always go OOS for grad school. There are many like minded students planning to get to UT the following year which means you will have the support both academically and socially. If you went to CU for a year and transferred, you would be starting all over. If UT is your dream school, it really is worth going to UTSA.</p>

13

<p>just go ahead and do CAP, hopefully you can beat the system and get your ap credits</p>

14

<p>You will be able to find classes to take that will not duplicate your AP classes. Consider the Honors program at UTSA while you are there. You only need to take one honors class per year, the dean and staff are VERY supportive and the professors are good. You don’t have to register for classes online - they will do it for you. You can do honors and be in CAPs at the same time.</p>