What don't you like about UT Austin?

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
81

<p>Why in Austin do they not do something about the homeless? In Houston there used to be alot of homeless people, but the mayor or city got rid of them I am not sure where they are now I think they took them to jail or some place and cleaned up the city to the point where even in the city of Houston you hardly see any homeless ppl. Why doesn't Austin do something about the homeless too. I mean I was at UT for a debate tournament and I was approached and harassed by several homeless people in two days. It was scary, so when I go, by the grace of GOD. I might get some protection, it doesn't seem like a very safe place at night.</p>

<p>And the scientology building creeped me out. :(</p>

82

<p>they keep the rent down for the good music venues on red river</p>

83

<p>It is definitely possible to be in small classes if you are in an honors program. None of my daughter's four classes this fall (fall of freshman year) have more than 25 students. Three are under 20 and one has 24, I think. One second-year language class, two honors classes, and one of those UGS 302 small freshman classes.</p>

84

<p>First of all be advised i didnt read through all this thread.</p>

<p>My main issue right now is deciding between the 4 universities im applying to (UT and TAMU being two of them). What I may not like about UT is the "cramped" area. But then again its academics are great, which can make up for the cramped area.</p>

85

<p>
[quote]
The reason I didn't go to UT was because the campus isn't close-knit enough for me. It's a little bit harder to make friends at UT compared to other state universities. The student body overall isn't outgoing enough for my tastes. I think part of the reason is because UT attracts a lot of "bookworm" types.

[/quote]

that is exactly the opposite of what i've heard about UT - i.e. that it is a party school, not a study school. i've heard of drunken parties every weekend in the dorms, at off-campus apartments like longhorn landing, and even in the co-op houses. and this is the one thing putting me off from applying to UT (i desperately want to enroll in their asian cultures & languages program for a 2nd bachelor's). i loathe parties, to the extent that some folks might consider me a hermit. the quieter my living space, the better. i don't know how a person can be expected to excel academically when so many students spend every spare minute partying. and i know i'm just going to be miserable if i won't be able to get any peace & quiet. is there any on/near-campus housing that has some kind of "NO PARTIES" rule?</p>

86

<p>dietotaku, you would be hard-pressed to find a non-religious university in the united states where there are no parties going on. one of the great things about UT, in my opinion, is that there is both an academic and a party scene. students are able to choose whether or not they want to devote themselves entirely to their education, their social life, or finding a mix between the two.</p>

<p>it is not difficult to find a quiet area, even in large party hubs like jester. it is also not difficult to find a party. neither education or the party scene is forced upon anyone. i'm in a very demanding major, and this semester i studied for every test/quiz/final exam in my dorm room in jester. when i felt like taking a break, there were plenty of things to do within walking distance of me.</p>

<p>one suggestion (that you will hear countless times wherever you go) is not to fulfill your self-proclaimed prophecy of being considered a hermit. you do not have to go to parties to have a good time. there are plenty of non-alcoholic activities to do, and friends you make will inevitably be able to help your education in some way or another, especially if they are in your major.</p>

87

<p>I agree with lbs321. College is all about what you make of it.</p>

88

<p>my main concern is the noise level wherever i end up living. i don't want to have to go to the library or a designated study area to get some quiet, because what am i supposed to do when i want to sleep? i was worried that if so many students are partying, that i won't be able to get any sleep in my room with all the music and screaming and noise going on around. i lived on campus at the last university i went to, and was kept up past midnight (i'm an early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of person) at least once a week by the guys upstairs (my RA, no less!) having noisy parties.</p>

<p>maybe hermit isn't the best word to use... i'm just extremely introverted. i don't make friends easily nor do i feel the need to have a whole lot of friends, just a few close ones suit me fine. and i get most of my enjoyment doing things on the internet - like posting on discussion boards for example. ;) so i spend a lot of time in my own head, in some way or another, and find that difficult when there's a lot of noise going on. although maybe i should just invest in some good noise-blocking headphones.</p>

89

<p>It has a very elitist attitude that I find unnecessary.</p>

<p>DP</p>

90

<p>UT was my safety school and I am very disappointed with its academics. The classes here are a joke. Comparing the difficulty of the classes here to classes at better ranked universities, UT does not teach much to the students. I could get an A with just knowing very little thing on the class.</p>

<p>I think UT is not a good place for kids who want academic challenge</p>

91

<p>
[QUOTE]
Why in Austin do they not do something about the homeless? In Houston there used to be alot of homeless people, but the mayor or city got rid of them I am not sure where they are now I think they took them to jail or some place and cleaned up the city to the point where even in the city of Houston you hardly see any homeless ppl. Why doesn't Austin do something about the homeless too. I mean I was at UT for a debate tournament and I was approached and harassed by several homeless people in two days. It was scary, so when I go, by the grace of GOD. I might get some protection, it doesn't seem like a very safe place at night.</p>

<p>And the scientology building creeped me out.

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>It's really not as bad as you make it sound. You're post is just flat dumb "get rid of them...took them to jail or something" You can't be serious. </p>

<p>The Scientology building is creepy? It's Austin. Further, it's America. </p>

<p>Go to a private school.</p>

92

<p>rocketman88, you are clearly a lucky kid if you don't have to work hard for A's. You are also extremely modest, which is a good trait ;)</p>

<p>Maybe you are not in the right major, or maybe your choice of classes has put you in "easy" classes.</p>

<p>If it is just that you are too smart to attend your "safety school", then perhaps you should transfer to find the challenge that you are looking for.:)</p>

93

<p>LFC8, I heard Austin is a heaven for homeless people, that's why homeless from other cities actually flock to Austin. I wouldn't be surprised that homeless from Houston come to Austin.</p>

94

<p>ag54, I'm sorry, I'm just really angry at my situation right now.</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure I'm on the right major. I'm doing aerospace engineering but, the engineering honors doesn't really make me take many different classes than the normal majors.</p>

<p>But, perhaps I have been taking "easy" classes, let's see what comes next semester. Maybe, I really have to consider transferring.</p>

95

<p>If you are a freshman, then you are probably taking the typical prereq freshman courses. I know that my son has found that some are easier than others, and that it often depends on the professor. In his case, he uses "pick-a-prof" to try to find the easier teachers (the ones with the best grade distribution). He is trying to keep his gpa up to gain access to a program that he will apply for at the end of this year, and the average gpa of admitted kids is 3.7.</p>

<p>If you want to be challenged, use pick-a-prof to do the opposite - to choose the professors who are the hardest graders. There is a bunch of information about teaching styles, difficulty or course content, types of testing, etc on that site. Choosing classes can be an art form ;)</p>

96

<p>rocketman88, how about if you try sitting in on one or two upper level classes in your major (aerospace engineering) and see if you like them? Also, look for enrichment opportunities there in Cockrell. Could you perhaps get involved in one of the Engineers Without Borders programs? Engineers</a> Without Borders - UT</p>

97

<p>about that pick a prof thing...</p>

<p>are all teachers required to register on there? i don't want to pay for membership and end up not having teachers on there</p>

<p>and are you supposed to look up the teachers you want then sign up for them at orientation? vice versa? or wat</p>

98

<p>I'd like to jump in about the UT vs A&M thing that surfaced a few pages back....</p>

<p>First of all, I am a senior at one of the most rigorous, intense private schools in my city. There are less than 40 kids in our graduating class, which means the top 10% is....3 people: The val(me), the sal, and one more.</p>

<p>There are kids at my school with 2.8 GPAs but 1300+/1600 SAT scores. It's that hard.</p>

<p>Now, here's the deal: every year a bunch of kids go to UT, and a bunch of kids go to A&M.</p>

<p>At my school, which is definitely not representational of the general population, the UT kids are almost ALWAYS in the top half of the class, while the A&M kids are almost always in the bottom half.</p>

<p>Why? A&M has never rejected a single student from our school. Never. Even kids who are failing two classes and have Cs in all the rest get into A&M. This year, their representative came to our school, practically begged us to come, and stops by WEEKLY to see if any students have application materials that she can personally deliver to the admissions office.</p>

<p>UT never does that. They've rejected plenty of kids from our school who weren't top 10%. Now, is that fair? Aren't the kids in the bottom 25% of my school probably "smarter" and "more capable" than a top 10%er out in the middle of nowhere?</p>

<p>Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that A&M lets those kids from my school in, while UT rejects them.</p>

<p>So, in conclusion, I know plenty of kids who have been "forced" to choose A&M because they got rejected from UT. Some don't even apply to UT, because they know they won't get in with their GPA.</p>

99

<p>I don't know if all teachers are on there, but I don't think my son has run into any problems of not being able to find a professor's info. One issue though is where the professor shown during registration says "staff", then it is a crapshoot who you'll get because a specific prof hasn't been assigned to that class time.</p>

<p>What he did was set up 2 or 3 versions of schedules with times, classes and professors that he wanted BEFORE registration. Then when he actually sat down to register, he registered for the more popular classes first to try to get into them before they closed, then registered for the less popular. Sometimes he has to switch things around, so having 2 or 3 versions is helpful. Even then, he has not (after 3 semesters) been able to get every class he wanted or needed so he just registers for some random class to get over 12 hours (full time) knowing that he will drop it and add something better during drop/add. So far, this has worked for him and he has been able to get the classes he needs to stay on track.</p>

<p>As for registering with pick a prof, I watched him register last summer for this fall (it may have been drop/add period, I'm not sure) and he had one screen open to the UT registration site and another open to pick a prof and he switched from screen to screen, fine tuning his schedule to get needed classes with good professors at convenient times - although he did schedule a MWF managerial accounting class at 8:00 am to get the "better" teacher, YUCK!</p>

<p>If you have more questions about it, I can ask him in more detail - just specify what you want to know.</p>

100

<p>MidwestMom2Kids_, that's a good idea to get the feel of the upper div classes. By the way, I'm pretty sure that I want to venture into space programs for my career, that is why I chose aerospace engineering.</p>

<p>ag54, I did choose my professors using the course instructor survey, which is provided by UT. I chose professors with better ratings on communication and organizations. What I meant about the difficulty is not about how harsh the grading is.</p>

<p>Let's take an example of my multivariable calculus class. I am pretty sure that the syllabus is already set by the math department. What I learnt was very basic stuff like multi integrals, series, differentials, and so on. The very basics of the multivariable calculus. </p>

<p>On the other hand, my high school friend, attending a top college in the northeast, had to learn many more advanced theorems for his multivariable calculus class which is a lower division class too. I learnt that UT only teaches those theorems in an upper division math class, Vector Calculus.</p>

<p>In addition, not to mention the level of questions asked in the exams. My math exam did not require much thinking, the professor went through every single step in the lecture and he placed that very same question (without changing anything, not even the numbers at all) on the exam. I think that is pretty ridiculous for a math exam where concepts and thinking skills are to be tested not memorization.</p>

<p>and, anyway, I heard pick a prof can ask for the info of every professor and every class in UT and A&M since they are public schools either directly or through court order.</p>