What don't you like about UT Austin?

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
61

<p>//Yet instead of talking about racism at UT (which would have been in line with the purpose of the thread), you chose to confirm another posters ignorant remarks about A&M by posting an article about racism at A&M from ABC News.//</p>

<p>A remark is not ignorant if there's evidence to support it. Choosing to turn a blind eye to the problem is ignorant. I chose to confirm another poster's remarks because that poster was called an idiot for voicing his concern when indeed there was a news story about racism on campus. If you feel strongly about the validity of those claims I suggest you contact the news reporter & the A&M Professor & demand a retraction of the news story. </p>

<p>//But when A&M is used as a punching bag to somehow make UT look better, then I feel compelled to respond. //</p>

<p>That was not my intention to use A&M as a punching bag to make UT look better, your responses were misguided.</p>

<p>//The logs required for bonfire actually numbered in the hundreds, not thousands. //</p>

<p>Just to show that I did not make those numbers up, here's a link to the one in 1999:</p>

<p>1999</a> Aggie Bonfire</p>

<p>A quote from Wikipedia: "Over 8000 logs were used each year in the late 1990s..."</p>

<p>Aggie</a> Bonfire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

<p>//kwyml, I sure hope you’re not asserting that I wrote those things, because anyone who has actually taken the time to read my posts would know that I have never used any of those terms directed at another poster.//</p>

<p>My comments were not directed at you.</p>

62

<p>
[quote]
A remark is not ignorant if there's evidence to support it. Choosing to turn a blind eye to the problem is ignorant. I chose to confirm another poster's remarks because that poster was called an idiot for voicing his concern when indeed there was a news story about racism on campus. If you feel strongly about the validity of those claims I suggest you contact the news reporter & the A&M Professor & demand a retraction of the news story.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>kwyml, you posted that article BEFORE the poster you are referring to was ever inappropriately called an “idiot”, so please do not tell me you were just coming to his/her defense. And btw, I’m not in the habit of turning a blind eye to racism - EVER. In my first post in this thread I referred to those students at A&M who made that video as “racist morons”. They are absolute scum, and do not deserve a place at Texas A&M. But, when the topic of campus racism comes up why is that A&M so often seems to be the focus? You are not the first person that has posted that article in an effort to take a subtle jab at A&M, nor I’m afraid will you be the last. Why is that? This was supposed to be a thread about what people don’t like about UT, so why is no one talking about incidents of campus racism in Austin like the ghetto fabulous party or the egging of the MLK statute at UT? Please, I really want to know. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Just to show that I did not make those numbers up, here's a link to the one in 1999:</p>

<p>1999 Aggie Bonfire</p>

<p>A quote from Wikipedia: "Over 8000 logs were used each year in the late 1990s..."</p>

<p>Aggie Bonfire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Thanks for posting this. I don’t always know whether to trust Wikipedia as a source of credible and reliable information, but if it is indeed accurate then I retract what I wrote. Fortunately at least it confirms what I had said about the logs being from land that was going to be cleared anyway.</p>

63

<p>Kyler, I'm sick & tired of coming here to hear about name-callings & a general lack of anger management by a certain individual. As someone already said long ago, abrasive personality really does not belong in here. Back to your comment about me bringing in that quote before Dbate was called an "idiot", if you look back, a few more threads/pages. It's not the first time these emotional outbursts were directed indiscriminently at anyone who happened to disagree. Where else on CC do you see such a lack of civility? </p>

<p>I do not intend to respond any more to anything that has nothing to do with the title of this thread.</p>

64

<p>This is all tangential in referring to the lack of diversity and integration at UT. My stats are being used to show that UT is significantly more diverse than people seem to think, while refuting the claims that A&M is just as diverse. I'm not saying that either school is better or that one is prejudiced. From my experience most Texans are quite tolerant of other races. They may not interact much with them simply because the "minority" population largely lives in the inner cities, while the white population is suburban and rural. It's really silly to refer to them as minorities though because there are more "minority" Texans than white Texans. Any "minority" student, to answer the original question, would be welcomed and feel safe at either school. They might feel more comfortable with a larger number of students from their same background, however, which is why the rural environment at TAMU is a turnoff to many "minority" applicants.</p>

<p>My percentages are coming from the numbers that the Daily Texan uses, particularly in their articles about the effects of Hopwood and Top Ten which they seem to reuse at least twice each year. I don't know where they get them from, or whether they're accurate, but I'd assume they are. The institutional numbers are not accurate because they don't include foreign students. They may also be using different methodologies to classify race (according to Census Bureau policy, Arabs and most Latinos are white, while they would be considered Asian and Hispanic, respectively, by most Americans). And the percentage of Asian students counting foreigners I believe is 17.9, which is closer to 20 than 15. Not that it really matters--there is little difference between 15% and 20%. There IS a big difference between 55% and 75%, the white populations of the two campuses. The fact still remains that you are much more likely to see minority faces at UT than at TAMU. It doesn't matter for this thread except to actually provide numbers to show the diversity of the student body at UT and to compare it to another common choice of UT applicants.</p>

<p>And the fact that A&M now has a San Antonio campus doesn't effect the Latino enrollment at College Station, just like the fact that UTSA has a lot of Latinos doesn't effect UT Austin's enrollment, or that UTPA and UTB and TAMUK and TAMIU are almost entirely Hispanic yet the flagship campuses aren't. When most people talk about UT and A&M, they're referring to the flagship campuses, not the system as a whole. I also highly doubt that a Latina president will suddenly bring droves of Latin@s to A&M. The campus still will resemble a state prison, the culture will still be devoid of any Latin influence, the access to the barrios and homes still distant, and the numbers still low. Most students comparing schools don't know nor care about who the president is. If you asked all of the applicants who the President of UT was, I bet the most popular answer would be either Rick Perry or Mack Brown.</p>

<p>I'm not comparing UT to Princeton. I'm comparing UT's endowment to Princeton's endowment, as they are about equal. And the fact that U of M and UC have small endowments are ofset by intelligent legislatures who supplement their endowments with state funds. Texas has a legislature who's economic policies are further right than Milton Friedman's. Tuition has been deregulated so funding could be cut and now almost eliminated. So UT's endowment is just about the only support it gets outside of tuition, whereas UC and UM have other subsidies to aid their endowments. UT System's endowment per student is really quite terrible when you realize that that money is just about all of the money they have access to per student.</p>

65

<p>
[quote]
Campus is too big in area.

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</p>

<p>Compared to what? SMU?! It's quite small compared to the campuses of A&M and Tech.</p>

66

<p>Dbate said:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Formidable the conception that you have to lock your cars is ridiculous I am black and have never committed a crime if you look at the probablity of crime based on socioeconomic status you would see that there is a high probabilty of a poor white person to commit a crime as well, and sadly there are more blacks in low income brackets which reflects the perception that crime is a means to escape. that is not an excuse but don't make idiotic rascist statements based on statistics with out comparative analysis.

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</p>

<p>I'm new to this thread, and was just about to address Formidable's racist statements when I saw that Dbate had already done so. Exactly as I would have said!</p>

<p>Formidable said:</p>

<p>
[quote]
wouldn't all the pot smoking that goes on in Austin also go against "green living?"

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</p>

<p>No.</p>

<p>
[quote]
A black man is much safer in a white neighborhood than a white man is in a black neighborhood. That's a fact no matter where you go in America and there's no way you can dispute it; the crime data and demographics are on my side.

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</p>

<p>Formidable, you said this AFTER reading Dbate's response? I am astounded at your blatantly racist remarks. Sure, the statistics are there, but you have to ask WHY and the answer is: socioeconomic. To say that it is because of race is inaccurate and racist. There are many factors as to why there is a higher percentage of blacks in the lower socioeconomic status.</p>

<hr>

<p>Formidable, I've seen you post on UT threads frequently before, and always you are arguing how much better A&M is. Since you are evidently an A&M student and are happy there, why do you feel so compelled to hang out at the UT threads?</p>

<p>Just wondering.</p>

67

<p>Back to the original topic:</p>

<p>My son is at UT and the main complaint he has is that a 4th semester language course was taught but an upper-grad student, who was a poor teacher compared to the wonderful prof he had at community college. He expected to have better instructors at UT, but he liked the instructors at SAC better overall. (Also the huge size of the classes, but he knew about that at least.)</p>

68

<p>Indeed there are many ways to learn about a school: The school's website, news reporting, comments & behaviors of past & current students...</p>

69

<p>You can go to one of the top graduate school in the country and you will still find instructors you don't like. It's a fact of life. </p>

<p>As for SAC, it must be an outstanding school because I just took some language classes at a community college (for fun) and the instruction wasn't very good. Maybe your son should just stick with an associates from SAC and enter the work force now.</p>

70

<p>lealdragon, just wondering but what language?</p>

71

<p>
[quote]
Maybe your son should just stick with an associates from SAC and enter the work force now.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Ha, funny. </p>

<p>Actually his language prof at SAC was exceptional. Not sure why he's at SAC. Something about him being retired and just teaching part-time.</p>

<p>No matter. Son is at UT now.</p>

72

<p>
[quote]
Kyler, I'm sick & tired of coming here to hear about name-callings & a general lack of anger management by a certain individual. As someone already said long ago, abrasive personality really does not belong in here. Back to your comment about me bringing in that quote before Dbate was called an "idiot", if you look back, a few more threads/pages. It's not the first time these emotional outbursts were directed indiscriminently at anyone who happened to disagree. Where else on CC do you see such a lack of civility?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I have already agreed with you that abusive and abrasive language does not belong here. Unfortunately CC is riddled with certain individuals who lack tact when they post. This is not just limited to people with ties to A&M, as there are posters associated with UT in other threads that have referred to A&M students by terms such as “Faggies” and have made crude jokes about incest and other disgusting things not to be repeated here. </p>

<p>
[quote]
I do not intend to respond any more to anything that has nothing to do with the title of this thread.

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</p>

<p>Seems like a good plan to me, though I’m disappointed that you never answered my question about why people seem to want to discuss campus racism at A&M (solely) in a thread about what people supposedly don’t like about UT. </p>

<p>
[quote]
This is all tangential in referring to the lack of diversity and integration at UT. My stats are being used to show that UT is significantly more diverse than people seem to think, while refuting the claims that A&M is just as diverse.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I’ve never claimed A&M is just as diverse as UT. The total overall percentage of minorities (however one chooses to define the term) is indeed much greater at UT, but that is primarily because of the large Asian population there. When it comes to actual underrepresented minorities (e.g. Blacks, Hispanics, etc.) there is not as big of a difference between the two schools as the overall percentage combining all minority groups would suggest. </p>

<p>
[quote]
It's really silly to refer to them as minorities though because there are more "minority" Texans than white Texans. Any "minority" student, to answer the original question, would be welcomed and feel safe at either school. They might feel more comfortable with a larger number of students from their same background, however, which is why the rural environment at TAMU is a turnoff to many "minority" applicants.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That A&M would be a turnoff to many “minority” applicants is your opinion. According to the actual numbers (besides Asians) the two schools appear to be closer in appeal than you seem to be willing to admit. Though it’s apparent we’re probably not going to be on the same page about this, so let’s just agree to disagree.</p>

<p>
[quote]
And the fact that A&M now has a San Antonio campus doesn't effect the Latino enrollment at College Station, just like the fact that UTSA has a lot of Latinos doesn't effect UT Austin's enrollment, or that UTPA and UTB and TAMUK and TAMIU are almost entirely Hispanic yet the flagship campuses aren't. When most people talk about UT and A&M, they're referring to the flagship campuses, not the system as a whole.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>loneranger, you misunderstand me. The presence of a new campus in San Antonio will likely increase awareness of the Texas A&M brand among many Hispanic students who might not have ever considered it before. Some of this interest is bound to overflow to the College Station campus, just as I would assume happens between UTSA and UT Austin. </p>

<p>
[quote]
I also highly doubt that a Latina president will suddenly bring droves of Latin@s to A&M.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I never said it will suddenly bring droves of Latinos to A&M, but it is not going to keep them away either. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. </p>

<p>
[quote]
The campus still will resemble a state prison, the culture will still be devoid of any Latin influence, the access to the barrios and homes still distant, and the numbers still low.

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<p>loneranger, you appear to be a very intelligent individual, aren’t these kind of blanket and somewhat ignorant statements beneath you? </p>

<p>
[quote]
I'm not comparing UT to Princeton. I'm comparing UT's endowment to Princeton's endowment, as they are about equal.

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</p>

<p>Yes, I was aware of that. I meant comparing a large public school’s endowment with that of a small private. </p>

<p>
[quote]
And the fact that U of M and UC have small endowments are ofset by intelligent legislatures who supplement their endowments with state funds. Texas has a legislature who's economic policies are further right than Milton Friedman's. Tuition has been deregulated so funding could be cut and now almost eliminated. So UT's endowment is just about the only support it gets outside of tuition, whereas UC and UM have other subsidies to aid their endowments. UT System's endowment per student is really quite terrible when you realize that that money is just about all of the money they have access to per student.

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<p>LOL, UofM’s and UofC’s endowments are only “small” by Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UT, and Princeton standards – otherwise their endowments are incredibly large by almost any definition. Look, this is an argument that I simply cannot win, because I don’t even know how to respond. You are the first person I have ever encountered who has claimed that UT lacks sufficient financial resources.</p>

73

<p>Kyler, you said:</p>

<p>//though I’m disappointed that you never answered my question about why people seem to want to discuss campus racism at A&M (solely) in a thread about what people supposedly don’t like about UT.//</p>

<p>The racist came to us, not the other way around!</p>

<p>Be a good listener, listen to Lealdragon!!</p>

<p>//I am astounded at your blatantly racist remarks. Sure, the statistics are there, but you have to ask WHY and the answer is: socioeconomic. To say that it is because of race is inaccurate and racist. There are many factors as to why there is a higher percentage of blacks in the lower socioeconomic status.//</p>

<p>Answer me truthfully, if you are sincere in the claim that you were against racism, you would have been offended. If you can't see it, I'm sorry. A lantern made of cow hide will never shine! & that's not an aggie joke!</p>

<p>Your conspiracy theory of people going on a rampage to trash your school is unfounded. If I am intent on doing it, you would have seen me on the A&M board, & everywhere else on CC talking about it. I'm simply not interested in that school, especially after seeing some of the alumni behaviours on this board. It's a waste of my time & everyone else' to even mention it any more than we have to, period.</p>

<p>You questioned the credibility of Wikipedia in the number of logs listed, yet, you readily agreed that Wikipedia "confirmed" what you had said about the logs being from land that was going to be cleared anyway. That just shows to me that you're arguing for the sake of arguing, sorry, you need to find someone to argue with you, & on a different thread!</p>

74

<p>
[quote]
The racist came to us, not the other way around!</p>

<p>Be a good listener, listen to Lealdragon!!

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</p>

<p>Kwyml, it was actually Dbate who first brought racism into this thread, and then you chimed in with the article from ABC News. It was only then that racism even became part of the discussion at all. And btw, with all due respect to Lealdragon, I wouldn’t look to Dbate as some sort of moral compass on racism. This is the same person who wrote “A&M just seems like a segregated environment partially probably bc A&M is more conservative and do not fully condone racial interaction”. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Answer me truthfully, if you are sincere in the claim that you were against racism, you would have been offended. If you can't see it, I'm sorry. A lantern made of cow hide will never shine! & that's not an aggie joke!

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. What can’t I see? </p>

<p>
[quote]
Your conspiracy theory of people going on a rampage to trash your school is unfounded. If I am intent on doing it, you would have seen me on the A&M board, & everywhere else on CC talking about it.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>kwyml, give me a break. Believe me, I’m not as dense as you apparently think I am. No one ever said anything about a rampage. But you and Dbate both took your pot shots at A&M with your posts about racism at A&M. I didn’t see either of you post with the same zeal about apparent racism at UT, in fact, I didn’t see you two post about it at all. </p>

<p>
[quote]
I'm simply not interested in that school, especially after seeing some of the alumni behaviours on this board. It's a waste of my time & everyone else' to even mention it any more than we have to, period.

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</p>

<p>Yeah right, you are so uninterested in that school that when Dbate said “I would say that UT is better because at A&M the only black ppl I saw were the basketball team and one girl, A&M seemed really racist type feel…” you actually went out of your way and took time to search for an article confirming racism at A&M. Or, you had that article at your fingertips. Either way, yeah, you seem to be really not interested. </p>

<p>
[quote]
You questioned the credibility of Wikipedia in the number of logs listed, yet, you readily agreed that Wikipedia "confirmed" what you had said about the logs being from land that was going to be cleared anyway. That just shows to me that you're arguing for the sake of arguing, sorry, you need to find someone to argue with you, & on a different thread!

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</p>

<p>kwyml, are you feeling ok? Usually the appropriate thing to do when someone admits their wrong and retracts what they say is to maybe be just a little bit gracious. I said that if Wikipedia is correct then I retract what I wrote. What more do you want? I mean really, show a bit of class. And btw, please don’t single me out and accuse me of arguing just for the sake of arguing. I am arguing because there have been things said in this thread that I genuinely disagree with…just like you are doing.</p>

75

<p>Feeling safe has nothing to do with racism. Your logic doesn't make sense to me. I go to UT and I'm sure their are racist people here but honestly I've learned to deal with it. I've finally realized they're whites and they're white trash.</p>

76

<p>To get back to the OP- I am a parent of a prospective student. My dislikes of UT Austin are: </p>

<p>Size of student body within a relatively small physical campus. The campus is actually beautiful, I thought, but way overcrowded. </p>

<p>Traffic in Austin- for parents and visitors- it is horrendous. I cannot imagine why a student would want a car there- the parking lots are in the outlying areas, which makes getting to them a hassle, only to then sit in a traffic jam. </p>

<p>Campus safety seemed to me to be a concern. Austin has a large and growing population of the homeless, who wander the streets and panhandle. It made me very uncomfortable. </p>

<p>The reputation of being a party school- it seems that it would be easy to get caught up in the party atmosphere and then find oneself in trouble academically or even socially. </p>

<p>Administratively, I found the university to not run well- many difficulties in course registration, getting proper information about requirements and general communication with students. </p>

<p>These are just my impressions and i truly have a bias toward smaller schools.</p>

77

<p>pipmom, those are all legitimate concerns and ones which both my husband and I thought about before sending our son there. I can tell you that, so far, our fears have not been realized; he has been safe, has done well academically, has learned to deal with the car issue, and has been able to get all his classes (one tip - register for a full load, even if you don't get all the classes you want, then wait 'til the first day of drop/add to fine tune - there are always a bunch of kids who forget to pay tuition and get dropped from their classes).</p>

<p>Any college, whether small or big, presents challenges to a new student (and their parents), it's part of the experience to learn to handle them.</p>

<p>Good luck to you and your child wherever he/she ends up! If it is at UT, I'm sure you all will enjoy the experience!</p>

78

<p>As a junior I've found that many of the things I expected to be true at UT simply aren't. If you can't find friends on this campus then you aren't trying. There's over 1000 registered student organizations - pick one and go to a meeting. Some of your professors will be distant and hard to get to know - but every school is going to have professors like that and once you get in to your upper division major courses your classes get a lot smaller (this is coming from a bio major). I expected to be distracted by the "party" atmosphere, and yes there are more than enough social functions to go around, but there are more than enough other students who stay in to keep me studying on most nights!</p>

<p>What I really dislike, however, is the ridiculous cost of living off- but close to- campus. Even an efficiency can run you $550 a month without any bills. I highly HIGHLY suggest finding roommates, living in an off-campus dorm or greek house if you don't want to be in Jester or San Jac.</p>

<p>Also, the Pre-Health Professions Office is a joke. If you're going to go in to college pre-med, pre-dent, pre-vet, pre-PA, anything, you're going to be doing a lot of work on your own. Granted, if you aren't willing to do that work on your own, you aren't going to succeed in those fields anyway, but it any research on schools and personalized things like that you'll really end up doing on your own. Helicopter parents would rip the poor advisers to shreds for sure and as such, they don't let anyone get close to the head advisers - you have to go through peer-advising and then make an appointment for three weeks later, etc., etc.
-Again, I don't really think this should be a problem. If you aren't willing to Google "how to apply to professional school" and figure it out on your own then you don't have the work ethic to enter these fields; however, many students will be surprised at the level of guidance they receive and I feel they should be prepared for that.</p>

79

<p>longhornatheart: If the pre-health professions office is a joke, then does the advising department does anything besides sending in letters of recommendation? Do they provide any "useful" advice to help students?</p>

80

<p>The office has a system online for you to check and see if your letters of recommendation have been received. They also have a few "workshops" on the admissions process - one on applications and one on personal statements. Other than that you're really on your own.</p>