Hi, so I’ve recently been accepted into A&M and UH. I was wondering what kind of student life atmosphere each of these schools have. are they as boring as others say it to be?
I have friends at both schools. They both seem to enjoy it. Having said that, A&M seems to have more “school spirit” and has considerably (quite a bit better) network in the state.
In all honesty, either school is what you make of it. I attend U of H right now and I can earnestly say that I don’t want to return in the fall. The campus is dead on the weekends, the students are pretty disengaged, and the classes just aren’t very rigorous (even at higher levels). However, my opinion is not necessarily the norm. I have a lot of friends here who feel adequately challenged and think that the level of student involvement is fine.
A&M is definitely seen as the more prestigious of the two, but that shouldn’t be the deciding factor; outside of Texas, people don’t really care about any or our public schools (save for UT Austin). While it has a lot of good academic programs, I know two people who transferred to community college after one semester because they HATED the environment. They said that the “party-or-leave” atmosphere was obnoxious and that they felt that ostracized for not participating in a lot of student activities.
At the end, just ask yourself what you want out of college. I don’t really like either of them, so I can’t give a solid recommendation.
I currently attend UH right now; I’m a freshman. I chose UH over a lot of other schools, and I don’t regret it at all. 
Now, I don’t know much about A&M (as an out-of-state applicant, the reputation kind of scared me away), but if you’re into the party/Greek scene, A&M may be better suited for you. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of parties and whatnot at UH, but they’re probably not as easy to find as at A&M. But, Houston>>College Station
I’m a biochem major, and I’d say the classes are pretty challenging (I’m a National Merit Finalist BTW). Our chem professor just gave our class a chem test from another university(a top 65, Big 10 school)because he wanted to see how we’d do, and he was concerned that the tests he had been giving out for the past few years were too hard. Our class average on that test was 71; the average for that school was 60%, so academics are solid.
Student engagement is pretty good, in my opinion. The only time I’ve noticed it’s weak is in required classes, like US history and stuff, where most people in the class aren’t majoring in anything close, and are therefore disinterested. You should apply for the Honors College; this is where the really engaged students and engaging faculty are. The Honors College is pretty awesome, and they throw a kick-butt Halloween party every year (watching your professors get drunk is always fun).
Go Coogs!