<p>Yes, I know many consider UT better overall in academics over TAMU.</p>
<p>But why did some of you, if any, choose TAMU over UT.</p>
<p>I am an OOS prospective student to both TAMU and UT. I have family in both, so I already know some insider knowledge. I am looking forward to visiting both campuses later this week.</p>
<p>Why did some of you, if any, choose TAMU over UT?</p>
<p>Well, I'm not a student at either school. I have visited both and have applied to both schools as well. If I get into both programs, I would attend Texas A&M over UT. The campus at A&M is more spread out while UT is more of a city. I just liked the A&M campus more. A&M seems to have a more welcoming atmosphere while UT it's like you're just an insignificant part. Both are large schools, but A&M definatly feels more like home to me. You'll catch my drift when you visit the campuses. I also have a bunch of friends who are going to A&M so that's also a plus. Also, Texas A&M's engineering program is about the same as UT. So It's not like I'm losing anything going to A&M, besides a #1 ranked football team.</p>
<p>Hope you enjoy your tours.</p>
<p>DP</p>
<p>^thanks for your response. I know what you mean wen u say ill understand wen i visit the campuses. Having grown up in the suburbs of Miami (well between suburbs and center id say, but more toward suburbs) I may enjoy the setting of TAMU over UT.</p>
<p>Looking forward to visiting both this week.</p>
<p>THANKS AGAIN!</p>
<p>I applied to both A&M and UT 2 years ago as my top choices, and I got accepted to both. I'm from Austin, and both of my parents went to UT, but I gladly chose A&M over UT and would make that decision in a heartbeat if I had the choice again.</p>
<p>I've always found A&M a more friendly place than UT. As stated before, at UT you are just another number... people walk around day to day not really caring who you are. And you'd be surprised to find out that a school that's only 100-200 miles away and not that much smaller in students, is completely different. I've also learned more about the Aggie Network here at A&M, and that many graduates of this school proudly hire you b/c you are an alum and they know what rigor you went through in college. UT cannot say the same for their network. A&M has much room to expand, and they are doing so by currently building large new facilities and expanding our undergraduate base... UT however, being downtown, hasn't much room to expand and it's obvious by them attempting at decreasing student size.</p>
<p>Visit both schools and see which one you can better picture yourself at. Remember, both schools will give you great opportunities upon graduation no matter what discrepancies there are in the stats.</p>
<p>^I know wat you mean. I ACTUALLY FLYING IN Tonight TO VISIT BOTH ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.</p>
<p>im really looking forward to it.</p>
<p>gpowsang Can you please post your impressions of both schools in a new thread as I am applying to both schools but do not know which one will fit me better? Thank you I will be visiting A&M on Nov. 20.</p>
<p>I actually live in Austin and went to visit A&M last weekend.
Loved it!! I thought C. Station would be like Waco but it's really not.</p>
<p>The people are much nicer than people at UT. If you don't like to take classes at a crowded college pretty close to downtown, then A&M is your place.
Oh the Greek system is quite nice too. </p>
<p>I'm currently at ACC (Austin Community College) and will be transferring next summer.
I will have a 3.66 by then. I think that's good enough...although I haven't decided what department to transfer to yet..</p>
<p>A friend just transferred to the school of architecture with a 3.2 and 31 hours from UTSA. I was surprised he got in with a 3.2..</p>
<hr>
<p>The way I see it: it's not only about how good the school is. It's also about the people, town, etc.
I know a dude who got into Harvard and decided not to enroll because he didn't like the weather.
He said it was too cold. You might think he is crazy...</p>
<p>to nitinkarya : Id be glad to. Ill make one now with my impressions from TAMU and ill edit it tomorrow and do the same for UT in he first post.</p>
<p>Well, I'm going to throw my $0.02 in and give you my opinion.</p>
<p>While I got accepted to both UT and A&M, I chose A&M almost instantly. There's ALMOST no denying that UT has better academics than A&M, but it's quite marginal. The gap is closing in many places and it really comes down to marginal benefit over marginal cost.</p>
<p>I grew up around Austin and I just can't stand the environment. Leaving and returning to campus is a journey to Mount Doom. Traffic is awful and the people in the area can be quite rude frequently. The campus is beautiful, aswell as the dorms from what I hear, but the surroundings are just too hectic and even dangerous at times.</p>
<p>College station, in contrast, is a small town and some people would say that this would be a bad thing. However, it's a town built around the COLLEGE. As such, everything a college student would need is practically within walking distance of campus. If not, it's at least on the bus routes that pass through campus. Northgate, which is just across the street from north campus, has clubs, banks, restraunts, and stores of all kinds. The people are friendly, and many stores take "Aggie bucks" (our currency on our ID's). The town is really built for college students and the community is great.</p>
<p>But most of all, A&M has great traditions that create the "Aggie network." I'd explain the traditions but there are just SO MANY that it would take a post in and of itself, they are fun, wacky, and binding. These traditions go back generations, some from the first years of establishment. As a result, every Aggie can relate to every other Aggie. One of our biggest traditions is the "Aggie Ring" Like most colleges, we have the graduate ring. However, every Aggie has the same ring (save the class year difference), that way we can recognize a ring when we see one.
There have been interviews that have been practically finalized purely from the interviewer seeing the Aggie ring on the interviewee. The ring creates the "Aggie network" which, especially in Texas, opens up doors in virtually every field of work. You'll never be alone due to this network.</p>
<p>So basically, it's the environment and camaraderie that made me choose A&M over UT.</p>
<p>overdue bump</p>
<p>and GREAT POST THEYUS!</p>
<p>I visited A&M again last weekend. Had a great time!
I didn't know the university had a flying club...pretty sweet.
Hopefully I will be joining it if I get in.</p>
<p>Overall, A&M is a good school in a town full of great people and good looking girls.
What else could you ask for? A better football team perhaps.. :P</p>
<p>My ex-girlfriend was a freshman at UT. I got lost on campus one day and asked for directions but the students were a little too self-absorbed in studying to really offer much help. That doesn't happen at A&M.</p>
<p>I'm from Lake Travis and I did not want to live in downtown Austin or have to deal with all the traffic. UT's campus is too small for me size-wise. I like A&M better in that regard because College Station is a college town rather than a city with a college in it (Austin). It's much more easier for me to get to campus and go to class at A&M.</p>
<p>I also liked the people at A&M. I made a ton of friends the first semester I was there just from classes (which I hardly went to). There's a lot of students here from working-class backgrounds who are bootstrapping their way to prosperity. I got along with a lot of them like that. Plenty of kids here with social skills who can handle studying and drinking. It's also easy to avoid the introverted bookworm students, some of which you'll find in the engineering departments.</p>
<p>A&M also has a lot more degree plans and are more streamlined into what you will take at community colleges. </p>
<p>
[quote]
There's ALMOST no denying that UT has better academics than A&M, but it's quite marginal.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I disagree. The only program I know of that UT has that stands up above A&M is McCombs. I think Mays is starting to catch up but it will take a little while. Otherwise, the schools are neck and neck. The class of 2012 at A&M has seen quite a few students that you would normally expect at UT (which is good for our rankings but bad for the Aggie spirit).</p>
<p>Another reason I came to A&M is because it would have taken me a year longer to graduate with my major at UT and the job opportunities are the same. For me personally, I have more opportunities with a degree from A&M because my work experience (commercial construction) doesn't really tie into my major but A&M has a strong presence in construction and real estate development in Texas.</p>
<p>
[quote]
A&M has much room to expand, and they are doing so by currently building large new facilities and expanding our undergraduate base... UT however, being downtown, hasn't much room to expand and it's obvious by them attempting at decreasing student size.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is another reason why I think A&M will win in the long-run. Half of A&M's campus hasn't even been built on yet! West Campus is almost desolate. A&M has PLENTY of room to expand. UT has already hit it's peak.</p>
<p>
[quote]
It's much more easier for me...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>OUCH!</p>
<p>I hope you were just typing fast; or maybe English is not your first language.</p>
<p>Anyway, besides that, these are really good posts about why people like College Station over Austin. I'll direct my friends who have kids trying to make this decision to this thread.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input.</p>
<p>bumo for anyone thats interested in adding on to/reading</p>
<p>great article. </p>
<p>I think i everything is already there.
UT Austin-
Pro- Big City (broader view), more prestigious, better sports team, slightly more intelligent, slightly better life, #1 city for singles ;) according to 2 websites I've read (don't ask me where, search it on google)
Con- Notorious party school (yearly top 10), traffic, ruder, HIGHER cost of living (Austin is the exception to the low cost of living in Texas), less expansion in the future.
Texas A&M-
Pro- NETWORK. NETWORK. Yes, its network is the arguably the BEST in the nation. Not sure about the other schools, but A&M's Mays Business school has the highest employment rate (higher than Harvard, Yale, etc) after 9 months out of college. If I had stayed in Texas, I would have gone to A&M over UT for this reason. Better tradition. More unity and kinder people. Decent sport team (not as good as UT). Has plenty of expansion opportunities. Overall, better education over UT (UT=larger=more partying). More traditions.
Con- Small town, inferior prestige to UT, but the network more than makes up for it; after all, isn't the purpose of prestige to help you land a job?</p>
<p>Auto admit for both. Chose TAMU due to the attitudes and the people, the people, the people. Did I mention how AWESOME the people are here?</p>
<p>My mom lives in College Station, close to campus. She delivered some application docs for my son on Dec. 1st (for the honors program). My mom couldn't find the right building, so a student took the time to walk her to the right place. Then, this student gave my mom her phone number, in case she needed anything else. She spent quite a bit of time telling my mom what it was like being a student there, why her grandson should attend, etc.
We have been on campus quite a bit for science competitions. Without fail, the students are every bit as nice as that, all the time. I had no hesitation asking my mom to deliver the package, even though she's not that familiar with campus. I told her to just ask a student where to go and they'd make sure she got there.<br>
btw--- my mom does say traffic is getting pretty bad around the A&M campus. I doubt it compares to the Austin traffic, not yet, anyway.</p>
<p>cpq1xtbu is completely right. When I went back to College Station to visit with my friends, we had to ask for direction on where to park because it was a holiday and for some reason some of the parking lots were closed. Couple of students came up to this, said Howdy!, and told us the correct directions on where to park. Later on when me and my friends kind of got lost near the Engineering Department, a guy that was doing his masters there led us back to the parking garage because it was on the way and he gave us advice and wisdom about TAMU. My dad went to TAMU and he has always told me about the good environment, the friendly people, and the traditions that bonds aggies together.</p>
<p>I hear over and over about how friendly Aggies are, and on the surface there is no denying it. However, I have also never encountered so much bashing toward gays and lesbians as I have seen from students and alumni, even just fans. I am gay. I don't go around advertising it or anything, since I prefer to keep my private life private. Aggies I've met in person have made derogatory remarks in front of me. People on message boards have been especially nasty. Having said that, I must defend CC because I've never seen any such comment here. </p>
<p>Aggies are very friendly for the most part, but they do seem to show a different side to gays and lesbians.</p>
<p>This is of course from my experiences, and from hearing others around me. YMMV.</p>
<p>Funny how life circles around and around, generation after generation. Back in my day, dinosaurs/snow/uphill/etc., my #1 pick was A&M until I learned they didn't accept girls into the band. What, do we have cooties? It was all about the Corps and no one but guys could join. That was a slap in the face that I didn't need so sadly marked it off my list. I thought I would go a couple years elsewhere and then transfer back and forget about band. Nope, I found a home with my band friends at the other choice. </p>
<p>A few decades later and the current generation is now looking at colleges and the #1 pick was once again, TAMU. We parents were pleased - good morals, loyalty, friendly, great school, Gig 'em Aggies!... until D started looking at the band. Yep, there's the corps again but at least girls don't still have cooties, just everyone else has cooties. Once again, A&M gets marked off the list. </p>
<p>There's nothing wrong with having the proud tradition of the corps but you are turning away great students with the snobbery. After talking with D's grandmother, it seems she felt much the same sort of girls have cooties discrimination from A&M back in her college days as well. This makes 3 generations who have gone elsewhere and I'm sure we aren't the only family who has done the same.</p>