<p>@ Ya Ya…
That is a horrible misconception about the standards of students at UTD. Yes, there are slackers, but there are also slackers at UT Austin. The top 10% rule brings a lot of students into UT Austin (and other state universities) who are not high achievers, based on the wide disparity between high school quality in the state of Texas. The acceptance of so called “top” students is mandated by legislature, and heavily biased to those who can pay for it. Not to mention, UT Dallas IS a tier 1 university, just like UT Austin.</p>
<p>I’ve been accepted to UT Austin, as a non-top 10% (in-state) student. I’ve been accepted into Plan II, Liberal Arts Honors, and Pre-Journalism. I attended the Honors Colloquium this past summer, and have made UT Austin my top choice school. But I simply cannot pay for it–$25,000 in LOANS is all I’ve gotten from them. UT Dallas has rolled out the red carpet and given me a full tuition scholarship, and the opportunity to interview for the Terry Scholarship. I’ve also applied to several other Ivy-Standard schools, and I know several students at UTD who did as well, but also chose to attend there because of finances. In this world where most bachelor’s degrees are no longer enough to get a job, it is foolish to go into debt to attend a “top” university before attempting to go to graduate school.</p>