UT vs UTD vs A&M

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

<p>So yeah, I have a day left to decide and I'm basically more stressed out now than I've ever been in my life.</p>

<p>Here's where I stand: I'm a National Merit Finalist and I have until tomorrow to change my first ranking and get National Merit scholarship money for a college.</p>

<p>With that scholarship and other scholarships, this is about how much each college would cost me:</p>

<p>UT Austin- About $25k a year. My current major is Biology, but I'm trying desperately to change it to Computer Science... I've contacted admissions and they've told me that if I can change it, I won;t find out until mid-May, after I've declined other colleges' offers. The problem is, if I'm stuck with biology, I'll be wasting $12.5k on a semester since I'll likely have so many AP credits there aren't many other core classes I can take....</p>

<p>UT Dallas- Free plus a $4000 a year stipend, current major is Computer Engineering</p>

<p>A&M- About $10k a year, current major in Engineering</p>

<p>I should have enough AP credits to enter as a sophomore. The problem is, as you can probably tell from my various majors, I am VERY indecisive about what major I want to pick (in addition to being so indecisive about what college to go to). I am almost definitely going to change my major once I'm in college... perhaps more times than one. And then there's the issue of graduate school... UTD or A&M are probably the best if I want to go to graduate school debt-free, but I'm honestly not sure if I should even go to graduate school. I don;t believe graduate school is really necessary for computer science, correct me if I'm wrong/</p>

<p>All this considering, does anyone have any advice for what college I should go to? I've visited all three and loved Austin the best (by far)... I wouldn't even be typing this out if I didn't love Austin's campus so much lol. But the fact that they seem so strict about changing majors, coupled with the fact that I've gotten a grand total of $0 of financial aid or scholarships from Austin is making me question whether or not it's worth it.</p>

<p>And I was wondering: how plausible is it to go to UTD for free for maybe a semester, then transfer to UT once I have this major business figured out? Is that a good, or a terrible, strategy? </p>

<p>I would seriously appreciate ANY advice or input you guys might have, please and thank you!</p>

2

<p>The cheaper option is always the best option. Utd us a great. school. Ut not worth 100k over 4 years. You even got extra money from it’d, you can’t pass that up man.</p>

3

<p>A free education is great, but I think there is a difference in the minds graduate school counselors. </p>

4

<p>Go with the cheaper option. The school is what you make of it. If you got a full ride at UTD I would’t consider anything else an option.</p>

5

<p>Exactly then go yo UT for your graduate school with no debt. Trust me you will be one of the few like that.</p>

6

<p>debt is over rated, it’s not a bad thing, and frankly I don’t see how one is coming up with 25k. But here is why one might choose UT over UTD even with debt. The quality of education is not what the professor teaches you but also what you learn from the student population. Moreover, I highly doubt you will get into UT grad school with a degree from UTD. Heck UT students barely get into UT grad schools. The reason it is important to get into a good grad school is because when you graduate you get paid better, you get better teaching jobs, you get your foot in door in more places, you know more people across all areas of the country. The question is will UTD provide you with more opportunities afterwards, probably not. But some people want to stay close to home, that’s good to, so go to UTD, get a good job in your neighborhood. Main point if opportunity and to some degree quality of education is not important to you, then save the money. </p>

7

<p>There’s no preference in where you come from for grad school. It’s based off grades. Take it from a dude who is best friends with someone who works at the graduate office admission. So whether he comes from utd or Texas a&m it is based off grades. Of course ut kids barely get in its hard they choose students from other schools making it even more competitive. Also if it was true about preference to schools then utd would help you get in considering its a subunit of the university of Texas system. </p>

8

<p>there is absolutely a preference, 160 or so students in one grad department that am very familiar with, not one of them comes from a regional university, and the reason why is everyone who applies for grad school has a high gpa and high entrance exam scores. If your education did not give you the experience that will show up in the interviews. Frankly speaking the larger well-rounded universities put out better quality students, not all the time of course but they tend to do so. It can not be overstated, grad schools, like UT and other top tier grad schools have their pick of the litter. </p>