<p>I am an in-state student in the state of Texas, and if I don't get enough financial assistance from private schools, I'll go to either one of these 2 schools (I am currently a junior planning ahead for applications and etc.). I don't mean to come off as arrogant, but these 2 schools are basically my "safety" schools, since I'm in my school's top 2% and have high test scores as well. However, if I apply to UT Austin, the only schools/majors I'm considering are honors business or pharmacy. For Texas A&M, my only interest is in their honors pre-med program, which I heard is one of those "6-year programs", if you know what they are. So if those were my two scenarios, which do you think I should go with? My biggest factor in choosing a school is academics, but the campus life, environment, and all those things are pretty important, too.</p>
<p>UT-Austin has better academics, prestige, and campus life than TAMU.</p>
<p>For BHP, it used to be top 2% get auto acceptance, but I think nowadays, it’s only top 1%, and the top 2% fill out the rest of the slots designated for the auto acceptance.
Although the general stats for UT is average, the stats for its honors programs is rather high. I wouldn’t assume that you get auto accepted to the honors programs.</p>
<p>I’ve been told that TAMU’s pre-med field is one of the best in the nation, and also helps you get through med school and everything in 6 years. Is this true?</p>
<p>The atmosphere at these two schools is vastly different. You should take the opportunity to spend as much time as you can on both campuses.</p>
<p>I could be uninformed, but I’ve never heard of TAMU’s pre-med as being one of the best in the nation. Schools well known for great pre-med advising are like JHU, Duke, etc. Pre-med isn’t a major, the good schools provide good advising for pre-med students. In these schools you usually have to apply for the pre-med program. I’m not sure if TAMU does that or not. </p>
<p>I know UT does a pretty crappy job at pre-med advising. You basically just take the required courses like O Chem, etc. And apply to med school when you graduate. However, the natural science honors program (Dean Scholars) will provide excellent support and advising for those interested in pre-med, but DS is pretty competitive, it accepts ~60 students/year.</p>
<p>From your post, it seems like you don’t know what you want out of college, which is okay. Most kids don’t know what they want to do either. If this is the case, UT would give you more options if you change your mind later, since it’s better than TAMU in just about every field.</p>
<p>I second liu02bhs. You seem rather indecisive when you speak of either business or pharmacy at UT but premed at A&M. If you are uncertain, UT offers a higher quality across more fields than does A&M. </p>
<p>MomofWildChild makes a very valid point. The atmosphere of the two universities could not be more different. A visit to each of them could clear up any questions you may have. A&M has some excellent departments but it is not for everyone.</p>
<p>I’ve visited and toured UT Austin and really liked the atmosphere there, but unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to tour A&M unless I’m actually serious about attending there. Is the atmosphere completely different from Austin? I liked the fact that UT was really laid back and sorta carefree…and I’ve heard that A&M is almost like a cult…what is that supposed to mean?</p>
<p>If you live in Texas, surely you can find a way to visit A&M in the next two years.
A&M is generally a more conservative student body than UT (exceptions abound, of course) and has the Corps of Cadets. I have a lot of respect for A&M and know many grads (awesome alum network), but find the campus to be stunningly hideous. Austin is a really cool city and much more fun in terms of things to do outside the university.</p>
<p>OoovooO: your perception of UT and TAMU are correct. UT is a much liberal school than TAMU. Students are more laid back and open minded. A big portion of TAMU students are in the corp, which gives the “cult” reputation. Corp cadets hang out with each other and have a very uniform view of the world.</p>
<p>sorry if i sound ignorant, but what is the Corp at TAMU?</p>
<p>The corp is TAMU’s version of ROTC program on steroids. Half of the school is in it.</p>