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Old 03-02-2011, 08:23 PM
 
5 posts, read 13,013 times
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I was wondering what your thoughts were on UTA. I will be getting my bachelors in May and will possibly be attending UTA for my master's degree in urban planning. Coming from a kid born and raised in the Minneapolis area, I am anticipating a major culture shock. On the negative side, I have heard Texans are very materialistic and arrogant about being a Texan (Everything is bigger in Texas, obsessions with square footage, etc.), and having never been to Texas, I cannot refute this claim. Aside from Texas culture in general, what are your thoughts on that particular area of Arlington?
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Old 03-02-2011, 08:27 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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The school itself is a good school, but it's not in the best part of town. Most people live elsewhere in the metroplex and drive in to school. Arlington itself is not a materialistic city. It's more of a touristy, suburban part of the metroplex with a few nice areas and a lot of run down areas.
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Old 03-02-2011, 08:32 PM
 
5,760 posts, read 11,550,601 times
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Commuter School.

Not a lot of arrogance or pride in that.

(did BS, MS, and ROTC, there).

Much of the upper level education in Texas is not too . . . Texan.

UTA Profs are from all over, and so are the students. We used to jokingly call the school the University of Thousands of Asians -- at least in Engineering, or sometimes folks called it the University of Total Apathy. And the ROTC officers who landed there called it Up The @ss.

Should be an interesting and amusing mix for Urban Planning and the City of Arlington, itself. Used to have the proud claim of being the largest city in the US with no transit system. A point of pride for some of the City folks in that they figured it would keep poor folks out.
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Old 03-03-2011, 06:24 AM
 
1,518 posts, read 5,271,044 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Philip T View Post
Commuter School.

Not a lot of arrogance or pride in that.

(did BS, MS, and ROTC, there).

Much of the upper level education in Texas is not too . . . Texan.

UTA Profs are from all over, and so are the students. We used to jokingly call the school the University of Thousands of Asians -- at least in Engineering, or sometimes folks called it the University of Total Apathy. And the ROTC officers who landed there called it Up The @ss.

Should be an interesting and amusing mix for Urban Planning and the City of Arlington, itself. Used to have the proud claim of being the largest city in the US with no transit system. A point of pride for some of the City folks in that they figured it would keep poor folks out.
That is a blunt, but accurate description of the school's reputation in the community. It's considered a commuter school, at best. Although there have been several graduates that have gone on to do good things. For example, I think I head that a couple Astronauts graduated from the school's engineering program.

Ironically, Arlington residents now are the "poor" people no one would want on a DART train.
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Old 03-03-2011, 08:20 AM
 
25,157 posts, read 53,959,965 times
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UT Dallas is way better. It ranks a lot higher too.
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Old 03-03-2011, 08:45 AM
 
Location: The Big D
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My husband attended and graduated from UTA. He lived in Arlington in apartments throughout his time there. From what we have heard they have added dorms and gotten rid of some of the really bad ones. UTA is a very diverse school and you going there and being American born is going to put you closer to being a Texan than most of the other students that are there.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Philip T View Post
Commuter School.

Not a lot of arrogance or pride in that.

(did BS, MS, and ROTC, there).

Much of the upper level education in Texas is not too . . . Texan.

UTA Profs are from all over, and so are the students. We used to jokingly call the school the University of Thousands of Asians -- at least in Engineering, or sometimes folks called it the University of Total Apathy. And the ROTC officers who landed there called it Up The @ss.

Should be an interesting and amusing mix for Urban Planning and the City of Arlington, itself. Used to have the proud claim of being the largest city in the US with no transit system. A point of pride for some of the City folks in that they figured it would keep poor folks out.
How's that football team going over there?
Oh yeah, they don't have one. LOL!!!
Sorry, couldn't resist
But they do have a really good baseball program.

Your description is pretty much spot on. Especially the "University of Thousands of Asians".

Quote:
Originally Posted by hamiltonpl View Post
That is a blunt, but accurate description of the school's reputation in the community. It's considered a commuter school, at best. Although there have been several graduates that have gone on to do good things. For example, I think I head that a couple Astronauts graduated from the school's engineering program.

Ironically, Arlington residents now are the "poor" people no one would want on a DART train.
Yes, it is a blunt and very accurate description. There is an article, one page, in the current issue of either D Magazine or Texas Monthly showing the percentage of Asian born students at UTA and the level of education. Didn't read it myself as I just skimmed over it the other night.

LOL! That is funny about the DART. Sad, but true.


Back to the OP. I do have to crack up over your comment about the obsessing over square footage. I'd say it is more the people that move here from OTHER states and even other countries that have this obsession. Just read this board and one will find plenty of examples of them all going on about how they want that BRAND NEW, BIG house with all these fluff things but who cares about the quality of the construction or the quality of life due to such a horrible long commute. You will find that most of us natives are more obsessed with being closer to cultural offerings in the city, short commutes, quality housing vs size, etc.

You are also going to find that the majority of the people you are going to meet are NOT from Texas. I want to say the last stats I saw were that the percentage of native born was below 50% in the Dallas/Collin County area.
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Old 03-03-2011, 09:15 AM
 
2 posts, read 4,746 times
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I went to UTA and graduated from there. Arlington is growing and UTA is growing with it. The president of the university just launched a new research facility along with a special events center. Dallas is about 20 mins. away if you want a big city feel. You will love the school if you take advantage of all it has to offer.
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Old 03-03-2011, 09:34 AM
 
1,518 posts, read 5,271,044 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by momof2dfw View Post
Back to the OP. I do have to crack up over your comment about the obsessing over square footage. I'd say it is more the people that move here from OTHER states and even other countries that have this obsession. Just read this board and one will find plenty of examples of them all going on about how they want that BRAND NEW, BIG house with all these fluff things but who cares about the quality of the construction or the quality of life due to such a horrible long commute. You will find that most of us natives are more obsessed with being closer to cultural offerings in the city, short commutes, quality housing vs size, etc.
As usual, you're correct. Most natives recommend living in Dallas County at the very least due to commute times. I believe a recent study said that about 70% of the jobs in our 12+ county metro area are located in Dallas.

People relocating seem to take the time to learn the names of suburbs, but not the names of Dallas neighborhoods. You can't just plop down anywhere in Dallas and expect it to be nice. But taking the time to learn Dallas will lead to a much more happy relocation than plopping down in a far flung suburb.
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Old 03-03-2011, 11:00 AM
 
271 posts, read 394,082 times
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So, I suppose, an out of towner came up with the "Live large, Think Big" motto for Dallas?
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Old 03-03-2011, 11:38 AM
 
16,087 posts, read 41,172,928 times
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The Urban Planning Department at UTA has a good reputation. I know it's a bit ironic that it's in Arlington.

I would suggest you check out North Oak Cliff as a place to live.
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