UT Tyler vs. UT Austin

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

<p>Here's my situation:</p>

<p>I applied to UT Austin engineering and got CAP'ed due to several (almost silly) reasons (high school graduating class size is 8 so no top 10% and 29 on ACT when UT Engineering average is 30; other than that, I have straights A's, tons of committed extracurricular and 70 college credit hours from dual credit). I accepted the CAP program and decided to attend UT Tyler, since it's only an hour away from me. Just recently, UT Tyler offered me their University Regents scholarship which is $4,000 per year, reoccurring for up to 3 years, summing up to $16,000.</p>

<p>My original plans were to go to UT Tyler then transfer to UT Austin (or possibly UT Dallas), but now two things are making me consider staying at UT Tyler and going to UT Austin or another bigger university just for graduate school.</p>

<p>1. The $16,000 scholarship is really nifty, but if I transfer, I'll lose it. Maybe I can get a similar scholarship from UT Austin or Dallas if I do transfer, though?</p>

<p>2. Many people, including my parents, the academic advisor at UT Tyler, and a friend who use to work as an Electrical Engineer, have suggested I stay at UT Tyler because it's a smaller school. Basically, I can get closer with the professors and get more hands-on and personalized research/learning experience and maybe find it easier to get letters of recommendation come time for graduate school/job hunting. Plus, some have told me that, because of the more personalized (closer) experience, getting better grades (possibly a 4.0 GPA) might be a little easier and will be more attractive than a graduate from UT Austin with a 3.5 GPA. My thinking is... Are these things really true? In all reality, will going to UT Tyler (or even UT Dallas) give me the same (maybe even better) undergraduate education as would UT Austin?</p>

<p>I originally started looking at UT Austin because, (please don't hate for this) yes, the national rankings were attractive. But for undergraduate, does it really matter that much? Will going to UT Tyler get me into, say, an Ivy League graduate school if I choose to pursue that, given I have straight A's, lots of research, etc.?</p>

<p>Any insight on my situation will be helpful. I'm thankful that I have these opportunities in front of me, :) but sometimes they can be a little hard to decide on. Haha.</p>

2

<p>It’s really going to come down to what you want. If you are really into social activity Austin is obviously going to be a better choice. You seem to be very studious and care about your grades. It’s true, it would be EASIER to get a 4.0 because it is going to be far less competitive and there will be less distractions at UT Tyler. The money aspect is something to consider as well. Just go with your gut. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>This is probably just because I’m a student in the English department, but I have had plenty of opportunities to get to know my professors. One of them, I’m welcome to come hangout and chill in his office with shag carpet before class. This school may be ginormous, but if you just make an effort, that statement gets completely ruled out. </p>

<p>All I know is all the grad schools at UT Austin are freaking hard to get into so I am just really really grateful to be here for my undergraduate and get the best All-American feel of a college education. You’re in great city, great people, some from from all over the world, and it’s got all of it’s weirdness and music.</p>

<p>You’d probably have to try harder for an A at UT, but it’s not impossible. You have to want to make yourself stand out. </p>

<p>My theater teacher back in high school really wanted me to go to a small university out in west Texas, so I can relate. The big school just seemed so much more exciting and I think it turned out like that too.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the reply guys!</p>

<p>As for the social scene at Austin, I’m not necessarily into UT Austin or Austin in itself because of the that. I’m not a party person at all. I’m definitely focused on school, among other avocations. In fact, I’m often too busy to get involved in anything like that anyway. Despite the presence of a large party scene, I do like bigger cities and the fast-paced, often (in some respects) more advanced feel of them, if you know what I mean. I’ve lived in a small town in Texas for about 8 years now, but I’m originally from Miami, so I know how big cities really are, yet I get excited when I’m in one. In that, I don’t mean that I get “party excited.” Rather, I get excited about the things going on in the world, business-wise, and knowing that I’m living in the heart of a place where big company HQ’s and offices are located. It’s an excitement for the future and for success!</p>

<p>Also, I like UT Austin because it’s a top-notch institution. However, I’m still scoping how important this is for an undergraduate degree. Do you guys have any insight on the “weight” of a degree from either institution?</p>

<p>And about the GPA… So, assuming I study hard and stay focused, is it possible to achieve high grades? Keep in mind this is the Electrical Engineering department. I’m SURE I will be stumped in several classes, but I don’t give up easily, if at all, by any means. Plus, I might be able to have 1 less class each semester throughout my undergraduate experience because of 70 dual credit hours that I’ve earned. It looks like about 30-40 of them might transfer, and because of this, I’ll have most of my basics out of the way and will be able to spread out my last couple years more, also meaning I’ll probably start as a sophomore. This leads me to another question (sorry for such long posts >_<)… How would you compare the size of UT Austin’s third and fourth year classes with an experience at a school like UT Tyler? From what I know, the class size during your third and fourth years decreases quite a bit. Is this decrease significant? …30, 20, 10 students possibly?</p>

5

<p>I am also a CAP student here at UT Tyler.
I’m not here to completely influence your decision, it’s up to you if you want to stay or not. I’m having a tough time myself deciding if I want to stay.
If you do decide to continue here at UT tyler in engineering, you won’t be nearly as stressed out, that’s for sure. You’ll have more one on one with your instructors (and get letters of recommendation from them for grad school) which will keep your grades high. And high grades would look good on your transcript if you decide to go to graduate school. Speaking of graduate school, it’s a good idea to go to a cheaper school for undergraduate because the expenses are going to be big for grad school.
Anyway, everyone knows that Engineering at UT is extremely difficult, but if you do manange to survive, you will definitely get a job after you graduate because having an Engineering degree from UT Austin looks really good. I’m sure you’ll be fine with one from UT Tyler though. I have an engineer major as a friend who goes here (UT Tyler) and she knows that she would have been unhappy doing engineering at UT Austin since it’s known to be stressful, but that’s just her opinion. If you deal well with stress and you wouldn’t mind having a degree from UT Austin, maybe you should go. That’s just my insight. You’d probably be fine either way, it’s up to you.</p>