UT vs. TAMU

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

I’ve been dreaming about TAMU for the last few months and have auto admit but I’m suddenly not too sure about it. I love the fact that they’re huge on school spirit, have great networking, great traditions, and is an overall tight knit community. I am however aware that UT is definitely better academically-but are they too much better is my worry about UT? I’ve heard about people’s gpa’s completely dropping at UT. I’m an overall good student-my class rank and grades just dropped a lot junior year due to extreme family circumstances and adjusting to a new school and state. I have a good sat and am still in the top quarter at a highly competitive school however and have usually been “a smart kid.” I still don’t know if I can handle the course work with a premed major such as public health. Is it really that difficult at UT? I know that I won’t be stopping at undergrad and will either go on to pursue a master’s in public health, genetics, or go to med school. How difficult would that be at Austin vs. TAMU?

What concerns me at TAMU is the small conservative town. As a minority who comes from a very diverse background (third culture kid) would that kind of atmosphere be difficult to thrive in? I’m also super into music definitely know that Austin has a lot more to do than college station. Then again, college station is much closer to home (houston) which is a huge pro.

I have only visited the TAMU campus and really liked it- it is also ranked the nicest campus in Texas.

I should get my TAMU acceptance letter soon but should I hold off on accepting and wait for UT’s response? I hear a lot about the lack of diversity and acceptance at TAMU, but is it really an issue?

2

I don’t think there is much difference in the difficulty in the classwork between UT and A&M. I do think the work gets alot harder when you attend the university vs HS. I saw that with both of my daughters. Both were NMF, 4.0, many AP classes in HS and when they got to their respective universities, Pitt and UTD, they really had to work at it and sometimes struggled to get a B, especially in the honors classes. It is not unusual to see 4.0 GPA HS students get lower grades, the work is just alot harder.

A&M does have a more conservative student body and is in a more conservative town. If you go there wanting to be an active Aggie which I mean following their traditions, I think you will be fine. If you go there and not want to participate in their traditions, I would think it would be a tough place. Both of my DDs decided not to go there because they did not want to immerse themselves in the Aggie culture and wanted a better a music scene.

You can definitely wait to respond to A&M until you here back from UT. The only issue might be housing. I don’t know if there is any way you can put down a small deposit to hold your place for a dorm until Feb./March. I know UT does that and normally you apply for housing with your application. You might want to ask that question on the A&M forum.

3

Once accepted at A&M you can signup for housing ($75). This gets you in-line for when housing opens April/May. You will forfeit the money if you do not attend. We did this for my daughter to make sure she would at least have on campus housing.