What's the difference between UT and A&M? (Dallas: appointed, schools)

[joqua]

VS

The University of Texas System encompasses 15 educational institutions in the U.S. state of Texas, of which nine are academic universities and six are health institutions. The UT System is headquartered in Austin, and has a total enrollment of over 216,000 students and employs more than 87,000 faculty and staff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_System

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

No, no, no, I'm not getting into all that, but one thing that I just totally don't get is the class ring. A&M tradition dictates when someone is "allowed" to obtain a class ring, and then they are supposed to get so many people to turn it in whatever direction... and then they wear the rings the rest of their lives like it's more important than anything else they've ever owned before.

I understand having strong school ties, but don't understand the obsession of the ring and still "raw raw shish-boom bah" 20+ years or even 50+ years after graduation.

Hmmmm.....it isn't tradition that dictates when you can get a ring. You have to complete a specific number of hours of study before you can get one. Basically you need to complete your junior year (90 hours). There is no reason to allow a freshman to get one is there? There is only one style, and only one manufacturer - Balfour. Can't get one from a jeweler on Guadalupe.

As for the traditions tied to it - the ring elements all tell a story - related to the state of Texas and Texas A&M. Obsession with wearing it? It is a visible sign of your association with the school. It is a small thing really. It is just a ring. It isn't a tattoo. Aggies see it and know they have something in common with the person wearing it. Not matter if they are 70 years old or 22, they have something immediately in common. What's wrong with that? Most, but not all, Aggies are proud of their college. Maybe that is what you don't understand.

[Meyerland]

I went to UT, but I am in the minority in my vast family of aggies. ( most of my family are farmers)

Both schools are great, but they are different. They both give a solid education.

UT- slightly more diverse and "alternative", big city feeling, better access to outdoorsy stuff, less school spirit

A&M- more conservative and skews "white", small town feeling, tight knit, more school spirit, lots of traditions, aggies tend to hire other aggies

Visit both campuses and see which one feels right. That's what I did. I preferred UT because I liked Austin. I like the "weird" aspect and going to the lake, hiking, camping, 6th street, lady bird lake, etc...

I do think it's easier to make friends at A&M though.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by 979Texan

That's hyperbole, plain and simple. Really brings nothing to the discussion. I am willing to bet you're not even a Texas Longhorn graduate.

Most UT-Austin grads I know are mature enough to not belittle A&M. It's the Longhorn wanna-bes and Austin residents who ridicule Texas A&M.

Anyway, to bring the topic back on track:

Texas has A&M beat in most categories. Most of the engineering programs are a wash. McCombs is consistently ranked as the business school but A&M isn't far behind. Liberal arts is better at Texas and so on...

Each school has its place in this state, and both are still better than any other public Texas school and all private schools not named Rice.

Someone incorrectly identified A&M as having a larger campus. UT-Austin is larger acreage-wise (with varied terrain) than the flat Texas A&M campus in College Station. A&M likes to inflate campus size by including branches in Galveston and Qatar (which are direct extensions of the main campus, not A&M system branches).

As someone else mentioned, the ethnic make-ups in both schools are nearly identical. UT-Austin would have you believe they are the last bastion of diversity in Texas but that's not the case. A&M is not the agricultural school of your grandfathers anymore. In fact, more suburb types than rural types go to A&M now.

It really comes down to which school fits the individual better. Neither school has as much of a national brand as either would like to think. If you try to impress someone in Chicago or New York with either degree and you'll get a blank stare. LA folks would probably recognize a UT degree over A&M but that's weirdo Cali life, something that Austin loves claim too. Conversely, College Station and Bryan have trouble shedding the college town-only image.

Both have tremendous in routes to the big employers in the state and -- as a rule of thumb -- a job seeker has somewhat of leg up on getting hired over flagship schools from other states. Both schools have phenomenal alumni networks which extends to recruiting students from either school.

It may sound like I stated many similarities about these two schools. That's true, there are more similarities which UT and A&M share than haters of either school would like to admit.

**Disclaimer** - I have two degrees from Texas A&M.

I have just one quarrel about your post - campus size. Texas A&M Galveston is just 135 acres. Texas A&M-Qatar seems stupidly large for its enrollment - but perhaps it is lots of desert (!).

In any case I am confident the main campus of TAMU is larger than UT-Austin. The main UT campus in Austin is listed as 423 acres, plus the JJ Pickle research center and a few other parcels of land to get to 1700 or so.

By the way - I am not saying bigger is better. It is just different. The College Station campus is flat and spread out. The UT Austin campus feels far more compact.

[Meyerland]

Originally Posted by joqua

VS

I think both main campuses have similar enrollment numbers of over 50,000. I wouldn't count the extra campuses.

[Meyerland]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

I have just one quarrel about your post - campus size. Texas A&M Galveston is just 135 acres. Texas A&M-Qatar seems stupidly large for its enrollment - but perhaps it is lots of desert (!).

In any case I am confident the main campus of TAMU is larger than UT-Austin. The main UT campus in Austin is listed as 423 acres, plus the JJ Pickle research center and a few other parcels of land to get to 1700 or so.

By the way - I am not saying bigger is better. It is just different. The College Station campus is flat and spread out. The UT Austin campus feels far more compact.

I think the Austin campus is pretty compact, as I used to hoof it across campus when I had classes on opposite sides. Some of those hills were tough. A&M seems flatter and bigger, but I only went a few times.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Meyerland

I think the Austin campus is pretty compact, as I used to hoof it across campus when I had classes on opposite sides. Some of those hills were tough. A&M seems flatter and bigger, but I only went a few times.

When I went to A&M (more than a few years ago!) the MWF classes were on the hour. It was very possible to have back to back classes on opposite sides of the campus. You had to haul to make it on time if you had back to back classes. Good exercise.

[TT Dave]

Both UT and A&M are very good universities. As some have already mentioned, there are a few academic programs where one university might have a slightly better program than the other but that's about the only difference between the two universities in terms of quality of education.

My grandfather went to A&M. The Aggie network is incredible. It's a life-long affiliation and it opens a lot of doors. I also have several Aggie friends that are around my age. From what I can tell, the networking that occurs between Aggies has not changed over the years since my grandfather went there. A&M does have a lot of unique traditions. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it just might not be for everyone...lol. I have a few friends that went to UT as well.

Generally speaking, A&M is a more conservative-leaning university than UT. That might be one of the biggest differences between the two universities. Austin vs. College Station will also be a big difference. Austin is obviously a large, cosmopolitan city and College Station is a small city.

[BigDGeek]

I'm a UT-Austin grad. I never considered A&M because as an 18 year-old from Preston Hollow who was (I'll admit) a bit snobbish, I didn't want to go to college in the "boonies."

That being said, the biggest differences I've seen are cultural. That's it; it's just a different culture on campus. If you're not into the "school spirit" thing, then you might feel kind of left out at A&M. If you want to feel like you're part of something, you might have trouble finding your groove at UT-Austin.

Also, UT-Austin's alum network is a joke compared to A&M's...so if that's important to you, you should go to A&M over UT.

[rwr]

The " Aggie Network" is the most important difference in my opinion. Our 2 A&M son graduates had great paying jobs nailed down the semester before they graduated. On the other hand, our U.T. grad nephew is still trying to get a "career" job several years after graduating from U.T.