SMU Your opinion (Dallas, San Antonio, Austin: movers, condos, home)

[GABMER]

We visited several Colleges last week for a future relocation to the Dallas area. We totally fell in love with SMU, what a beautiful campus!
My son who will like to go to MED School in the future fell in love with it. Now I will like to hear your opinion about the school.
Thanks!

[GABMER]

And how do you compare it to UD

[getmeoutofhere]

SMU is one of the top schools in the country, especially for a business degree.

For pre-med, it would be great, if your son plans to practice in the D/FW area.

[Lakewooder]

The late Dr. Harold Jeske of SMU had a near-perfect record at getting his students into med school so the tradition established is very long and very strong - it continues today.

Lesson - SMU is a small school and you will be in chemistry class with the pre-meds - so beware neophytes!

[GABMER]

If SMU becomes out of our reach $$$, what would you consider the next best choice?

[GABMER]

Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere

SMU is one of the top schools in the country, especially for a business degree.

For pre-med, it would be great, if your son plans to practice in the D/FW area.

Thank you and yes more than likely that would be the case

[TurtleCreek80]

Biggest pros of SMU:
-connections to Dallas if your son wishes to settle in Dallas long-term. Alumni make up the movers & shakers in the legal, business, and philanthropic arenas in Dalllas
-rankings continue to climb, particularly Cox School of Business
-excellent arts department
-pretty generous with scholarships, especially for a strong student with leadership potential

Biggest cons:
-Extreme wealth of the vast majority of undergrads: talking, $70k Range Rovers, sorority girls wearing $2,000 couture dresses to parties, parents buying $500k+ condos in nearby Park Cities for kids to live in (often paid in cash), and weekend jauts to Aspen/Cabo/Paris are more the norm than the exception. In the past decade, students have included billionaires' kids and grandkids, kids of foreign heads of state, etc.
-Campus life revolves around the Greek system- fraternity & sorority tents line the "Boulevard" on game days for students and alumni, parties in the fall are open as rush is in January, Homecoming floats are mostly Greek sponsored, etc. If your son isn't interested or doesn't get asked to join, he may feel very left out of campus life.
-Alumni connections are based on what you did as an undergrad (see Greek life point above). I know of entire law firms and finance shops where most of the guys are all alumni of one fraternity or another over several decades' time.

All in all, it's a great school if you have an outgoing, social kid who believes in play hard/ work hard.

I wouldn't consider any other school in Dallas (asuming if SMU didn't work, TCU in Ft Worth wouldn't either). Check out UT in Austin, Texas A&M in College Station, or Trinity University (small private school) in San Antonio. University of Dallas is a very small private school. UT- Dallas is fairly strong academically, but is mainly a commuter school with more older/international students.

Just curious, does your son wish to go to college in the same town your family is moving to, or is that your idea? I know it's hard for some parents to let go and for some kids to leave the nest, but even going away to a school 2-3 hour drive away is best. The student gains independence, makes his own new friends & begins to figure out who he is and what he wants to do in life. If there's an emergency at home or school, 2-3 hours is a quick drive or cheap flight via Southwest.

[Rumble]

Undergrad:

Overpriced private school that hides behind an "elite" facade, but in reality will let just about any average student in (just look at their selectivity rating and undergrad test scores) whose family can pay the outrageous pricetag. Outside of DFW the alumni network shrinks exponentially, and outside of Texas you will be lucky to find any alumni at all, let alone people that know anything about the school.

Grad School:

Still expensive, but unlike their undergrad, they are quite selective and have great programs if you want to stay in DFW or Texas. I would probably shoot for UT Austin or A&M if you want to branch out of the state someday, however.

[getmeoutofhere]

For pre-med, I would also recommend Baylor. They have an excellent program.

Both cost about the same, money-wise. $18K - $22K a semester.


SMU is very much a "club", though. If he intends to practice in Dallas, then going to SMU will open a lot of doors for him.

They are a good school, but you go more for the connections than the education.

[GABMER]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Biggest pros of SMU:
-connections to Dallas if your son wishes to settle in Dallas long-term. Alumni make up the movers & shakers in the legal, business, and philanthropic arenas in Dalllas
-rankings continue to climb, particularly Cox School of Business
-excellent arts department
-pretty generous with scholarships, especially for a strong student with leadership potential

Biggest cons:
-Extreme wealth of the vast majority of undergrads: talking, $70k Range Rovers, sorority girls wearing $2,000 couture dresses to parties, parents buying $500k+ condos in nearby Park Cities for kids to live in (often paid in cash), and weekend jauts to Aspen/Cabo/Paris are more the norm than the exception. In the past decade, students have included billionaires' kids and grandkids, kids of foreign heads of state, etc.
-Campus life revolves around the Greek system- fraternity & sorority tents line the "Boulevard" on game days for students and alumni, parties in the fall are open as rush is in January, Homecoming floats are mostly Greek sponsored, etc. If your son isn't interested or doesn't get asked to join, he may feel very left out of campus life.
-Alumni connections are based on what you did as an undergrad (see Greek life point above). I know of entire law firms and finance shops where most of the guys are all alumni of one fraternity or another over several decades' time.

All in all, it's a great school if you have an outgoing, social kid who believes in play hard/ work hard.

I wouldn't consider any other school in Dallas (asuming if SMU didn't work, TCU in Ft Worth wouldn't either). Check out UT in Austin, Texas A&M in College Station, or Trinity University (small private school) in San Antonio. University of Dallas is a very small private school. UT- Dallas is fairly strong academically, but is mainly a commuter school with more older/international students.

Just curious, does your son wish to go to college in the same town your family is moving to, or is that your idea? I know it's hard for some parents to let go and for some kids to leave the nest, but even going away to a school 2-3 hour drive away is best. The student gains independence, makes his own new friends & begins to figure out who he is and what he wants to do in life. If there's an emergency at home or school, 2-3 hours is a quick drive or cheap flight via Southwest.

TurtleCeek, your post in very valuable I appreciate it, the idea came about moving out of Orlando, our oldest son just graduadet from Stetson University in Deland just 45 min away from home and I agree that a short distance is helpful and it give the kids the time they need for growth.