UMD or UT for journalism

I’m trying to decide whether I should attend the University of Texas or the University of Maryland. I’ve been admitted as a journalism student to both the Moody College of Communication at UT and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at UMD.

I think I would really like UMD’s journalism program but I love UT and Austin and have a bunch of friends going to UT. I’d probably go as far as to say the only thing I like about UMD more than UT is the journalism program – granted that is probably the most important thing.

With all that said I do have a few concerns about UMD that hopefully someone can address.

1.) I hear about UMD students interning for the Washington Post, USA Today, etc. Since UMD is right outside of UT I’m sure that UMD has better internship opportunities than UT. But how important are internships in the field of journalism? Also can any UMD journalism students give any political journalism internships they’ve done/heard of students doing?

2.) Greek Life: I want to join a frat in college and at UT I have decent connections and would easily get a bid to a good frat. At UMD, I would know no one. So how easy is it to get a bid at UMD and rush?

3.) Scholars: I’m in media, self, and society. But to be honest, after researching and attending a session at UMD about it, the program doesn’t seem that cool… Everyone affiliated with UMD keeps telling me how great these programs are. So could anyone in media, self, and society tell me about your experiences with it?

Thank you to everyone who replies to this post! And in the meantime: Hook 'Em Terps!