What's the difference between UT and A&M? (Austin: student loans, houses)

[rwr]

Originally Posted by L210

May I ask what their majors were?

2000 A&M Grad: Electronic Engineering Technology
2002 A&M Grad: Civil Engineering
2010 U.T. Grad: Sports Information(?)

[L210]

Originally Posted by rwr

2000 A&M Grad: Electronic Engineering Technology
2002 A&M Grad: Civil Engineering
2010 U.T. Grad: Sports Information(?)

That's the key. It probably had nothing to do with networking in this case. The UT grad earned a much less marketable degree.

[radiolibre99]

Graduating from any school, even an Ivy with a liberal arts degree just plain sucks. I know a guy that went to UPenn managing a bar in Wyoming. He's happy which is all that matters but still, that shows where most college kids are ending up.

[Westerner92]

To me, despite all the similarities like student population and shared history, UT and A&M have quite different personalities if when looking at the student population and student life as a whole. My choice between schools came down to between these two.

A&M is quite conservative. Their student council is quite literally dealing with a fringe conservative student group trying to impose moral majority regulations. It is VERY white compared to the rest of Texas and UT, and very disproportionately Catholic as well. College Station is almost universally regarded as a boring college town. Sororities are fairly popular, but not fraternities. Their engineering school has a plan to have 25,000 students enrolled by 2025, which is just about the most awful idea I can imagine an engineering school pursuing. That said, they have an awesome alumni network, and almost every Aggie I know is as nice and smart as can be.

I'm currently at UT. It is urban and diverse, so much so that students can and often do segregate quite easily. The student population doesn't seem as friendly as A&M's. Very much a work hard/play hard mentality. Especially in the engineering school, the students seem much more competitive and ambitious. Greek life is much more prevalent, making West Campus almost unlivable. Austin is quite expensive, but an ideal college town otherwise IMO.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Westerner92

To me, despite all the similarities like student population and shared history, UT and A&M have quite different personalities if when looking at the student population and student life as a whole. My choice between schools came down to between these two.

A&M is quite conservative. Their student council is quite literally dealing with a fringe conservative student group trying to impose moral majority regulations. It is VERY white compared to the rest of Texas and UT, and very disproportionately Catholic as well. College Station is almost universally regarded as a boring college town. Sororities are fairly popular, but not fraternities. Their engineering school has a plan to have 25,000 students enrolled by 2025, which is just about the most awful idea I can imagine an engineering school pursuing. That said, they have an awesome alumni network, and almost every Aggie I know is as nice and smart as can be.

I'm currently at UT. It is urban and diverse, so much so that students can and often do segregate quite easily. The student population doesn't seem as friendly as A&M's. Very much a work hard/play hard mentality. Especially in the engineering school, the students seem much more competitive and ambitious. Greek life is much more prevalent, making West Campus almost unlivable. Austin is quite expensive, but an ideal college town otherwise IMO.

Yes A&M is conservative. That reflects its history and focus on agriculture, engineering, and business.

Disproportionately Catholic? Do you just make stuff up?

College Station universally regarded as a boring college town? By who? UT students? College Station WAS boring many years ago. I would not classify it as anything like Austin. But for an 18-22 year old there is no shortage of activities, both off and on campus. Vastly improved food and drink from 20 years ago.

The engineering school enrollment idea is controversial. I'm not sure what to think of it. But at its core is a goal to produce more engineers, which is a national problem.

Someone above posted demographics for the two campuses. The primary difference between the two is the significantly higher percentage of Asians at UT.

[joqua]

For me, the lack of opportunity in the field of fine and performing arts at A&M is a major difference.

UT Austin has long placed emphasis on the arts, offering BFA and MFA degrees for many years, as well as PhD in Art History, Education and Musicology. A large amount of campus is given over to the College of Fine Arts, including the Bass Recital Hall, Harry Ransom Center, and most recently, Blanton Museum of Fine Art. The college of art library alone is as large as many a city main library. Overall, The University of Texas at Austin’s library system is the nation’s fifth-largest academic library and is one of the top 10 research libraries in the nation.

Texas A&M only awarded the first MFA degrees in 2012, and as yet still has a very limited fine arts program. Their concentration has been on media arts to date, under the auspices of the College of Architecture.

[radiolibre99]

Originally Posted by Westerner92

To me, despite all the similarities like student population and shared history, UT and A&M have quite different personalities if when looking at the student population and student life as a whole. My choice between schools came down to between these two.

A&M is quite conservative. Their student council is quite literally dealing with a fringe conservative student group trying to impose moral majority regulations. It is VERY white compared to the rest of Texas and UT, and very disproportionately Catholic as well. College Station is almost universally regarded as a boring college town. Sororities are fairly popular, but not fraternities. Their engineering school has a plan to have 25,000 students enrolled by 2025, which is just about the most awful idea I can imagine an engineering school pursuing. That said, they have an awesome alumni network, and almost every Aggie I know is as nice and smart as can be.

I'm currently at UT. It is urban and diverse, so much so that students can and often do segregate quite easily. The student population doesn't seem as friendly as A&M's. Very much a work hard/play hard mentality. Especially in the engineering school, the students seem much more competitive and ambitious. Greek life is much more prevalent, making West Campus almost unlivable. Austin is quite expensive, but an ideal college town otherwise IMO.

Catholic? Really? I would've thought over the top evangelical.

It's also true that A&M is a nicer campus with less competitive, less A type people. That's a good thing as UT Austin does have those types that are just super competitive, awkward and not as friendly. Its a typical top school in that regard.

[Trainwreck20]

It is probably worth noting that the major portion of both student populations are interchangeable. The differences are more at the fringes than people give them credit for, especially over the last 10 years or so.

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Yes A&M is conservative. That reflects its history and focus on agriculture, engineering, and business.

Disproportionately Catholic? Do you just make stuff up?

College Station universally regarded as a boring college town? By who? UT students? College Station WAS boring many years ago. I would not classify it as anything like Austin. But for an 18-22 year old there is no shortage of activities, both off and on campus. Vastly improved food and drink from 20 years ago.

The engineering school enrollment idea is controversial. I'm not sure what to think of it. But at its core is a goal to produce more engineers, which is a national problem.

Someone above posted demographics for the two campuses. The primary difference between the two is the significantly higher percentage of Asians at UT.

Please don't take my opinions as an affront to the university. I actually greatly respect the school and nearly went there. I'll admit that I don't have any statistics on Catholicism there. I'm largely just repeating what my good friend who's a Catholic Aggie has said, as well as my own experiences visiting. I could very well be wrong, but then again, the main places I'm comparing CS to are Lubbock and Austin.

My comment about College Station is actually me echoing what my Aggie friends say. College Station is comparatively a ghost town on non-game weekends compared to week days because so many are in Austin or Houston.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Westerner92

Please don't take my opinions as an affront to the university. I actually greatly respect the school and nearly went there. I'll admit that I don't have any statistics on Catholicism there. I'm largely just repeating what my good friend who's a Catholic Aggie has said, as well as my own experiences visiting. I could very well be wrong, but then again, the main places I'm comparing CS to are Lubbock and Austin.

My comment about College Station is actually me echoing what my Aggie friends say. College Station is comparatively a ghost town on non-game weekends compared to week days because so many are in Austin or Houston.

I didn't take your comments as an affront.

If A&M is dominated by a religion, it would not be Catholic. How did you observe during your visits there that the Catholics dominate? I can't tell by looking at someone that they are Catholic or Baptist or Methodist or something else.

(I have a child at UT and A&M right now).