Is Texas State University Good?

[artsyguy]

Rankings have to do with fund raising and grant monies not customer service or a high quality education.

I bet if you poll a group of UT students and ask them if their education was overrated or mediocre most of them will say heck yes.

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Business Week ranks SMU>UT for MBA (Top 30). A&M is not in their top 30.

Business Week's 2008 undergraduate rankings show:

UT>SMU>A&M>TCU>Baylor in the top 50

Undergrad - BSchools

[macuser1320]

I am saddened by all of the negative rhetoric circulating Texas State on these forums. So, Let's bring this post back to life, shall we?

First off, Texas State is not a party school. Simply put. Being the 5th largest Texas university with 30,816 students, everything you hear is by word of mouth concerning a former reputation. Maybe some users attended Southwest Texas State University and contributed to the making of such character, but I will tell you this is no longer.

So, you want to talk about national rankings? Let the fingers point to two simple letters - UT. According to Playboy's "Top Ten Party Schools" 2009 edition, The University of Texas - Austin came in at 2nd while Princeton Review places UT at 7th. And with these rankings floating around, you STILL hear State being the "definition" of party school (as one Tech user put it). You can say whatever you want, but you have to look at the facts.

Similarly, many refer to US News and World Report to gather rankings on a school; when they do, they are not stating all of the information given. What is conveniently left out is that UT, Rice, SMU, Tech, and TAMU are all "national" universities (meaning they offer a wide variety of Master, doctoral, and post doctorate degrees - enough to compare with nationally like-minded schools). Texas State offers 9 doctoral degrees while offering 86 Masters; thus, it is deemed a "Masters" University. Such Universities are not ranked in the same group as "National" Universities; they are ranked by region and it just so happens that Texas State, a first tier institution, tied for 12th in Best "Master's" Universities (western United States).

Next, lets turn to the faculty. Texas State values the quality of their professors and faculty. The Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award Foundation annually honors fifteen professors in Texas colleges and universities for outstanding achievement in the teaching profession. The University of Texas bears 31, having had recipients since 1958. Texas State encompasses 17 dating back to 1962; of which, not a single award was granted from 1993 to 2001 (SWT's party days), yet it still happens to bear the second most, behind UT.

I believe the OP was looking into business programs. Let's face it, the SWT College of Business was not renowned, nor was it particularly good. However, Texas State's McCoy College of Business Administration is something else. The program has been completely revamped receiving a 20 million dollar primary donation, and is housed in newly constructed facilities. The program is AACSB accredited, but will take time to get over it's past image and on the map of recognized business colleges.

Additionally, Texas State admits, according to Collegeboard.com, 74 percent of those who apply. While this is not near UT's 44 percent, it is certainly right behind A&M's 70 percent and tailgating Texas Tech's 72 percent.

So Texas State is taking a different approach to the post secondary educational field and not going the route of a research buff university, get over it. I am not here to put down any other schools, but Texas State University is not what majority of posters say it is. Get with the times, learn the new name, and do your research.

After all, only average schools graduate former United States Presidents, right?


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_245601.html - Princeton's Party School (Top 20)
http://www.playboy.com/articles/top-...s-2009-top-10/ - Playboy's Party School List

[XodoX]

It really saddens me that some people just throw applications in the trash when the students graduated from whatever College. This is pure ignorance.
I'm not sure why some people brought up the "party school" thing and made it look bad. Last time I check, UT Austin was "Party School # 1" in the U.S ( Maybe the previous poser refers to a different ranking. Don't know.) But I guess since it's UT Austin it's not bad?
That is not a valid argument in my opinion. Then you should UT Austin applications in the trash as well.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

Rankings have to do with fund raising and grant monies not customer service or a high quality education.

I bet if you poll a group of UT students and ask them if their education was overrated or mediocre most of them will say heck yes.

I bet you they won't.

[artsyguy]

Oh wait. You are right. The brainwashed morons will tell you what they have been ordered or manipulated to say. You are right. I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by theloneranger

I bet you they won't.

[artsyguy]

UT Austin is trash. As a hiring supervisor I throw away every applicant that graduated from that so-called "college". It's more of a religion now. Forget God. You have the UT brand color and logo to worship.

Originally Posted by XodoX

It really saddens me that some people just throw applications in the trash when the students graduated from whatever College. This is pure ignorance.
I'm not sure why some people brought up the "party school" thing and made it look bad. Last time I check, UT Austin was "Party School # 1" in the U.S ( Maybe the previous poser refers to a different ranking. Don't know.) But I guess since it's UT Austin it's not bad?
That is not a valid argument in my opinion. Then you should UT Austin applications in the trash as well.

[spinx]

I received my undergraduate degree from Texas State just a couple of years ago and am now in a graduate progam there as well.

The party school reputation is way overblown. It used to be known for that, but has subsided and it is no more a party destination than any other college.

The campus is absolutely beautiful. I was accepted to several universities in and out of Texas (including UT), but I chose Tx St because of the atmosphere. The people were so nice on my first visit. When I was lost and looking at a map, more than a few people stopped to help me. At UT I was simply ignored and even elbowed out of the way once. It was a very unfriendly environment and that is not appealing to me. Ut = impersonal.

As a graduate, I have had no problem getting employment. I've had better luck than any of the UT grad friends I have.

[artsyguy]

Good for you. Texas State does have a beautiful campus!!

Originally Posted by spinx

The campus is absolutely beautiful. I was accepted to several universities in and out of Texas (including UT), but I chose Tx St because of the atmosphere. The people were so nice on my first visit. When I was lost and looking at a map, more than a few people stopped to help me. At UT I was simply ignored and even elbowed out of the way once. It was a very unfriendly environment and that is not appealing to me. Ut = impersonal.

As a graduate, I have had no problem getting employment. I've had better luck than any of the UT grad friends I have.

[drwright68]

I graduated frome Southwest Texas State University with a BA in Psych back in 1991. My Grandmother graduated from Southwest Teachers College with LBJ. Those are the two previous names of Texas State University. I spent 10 years as a stockbroker and education < charm! You certainly need education but where you spend those years is far more worthy. I am assuming the whole topic about where to go to school is about "how to better your life". Attitude is everything all things being equal. Sure all my buddies from UT referred to it as the University of Disneyland but then again, they were always in San Marcos for the weekend! San Marcos is a jewel of a town. The river is golden. Don't get me wrong, I am from Austin and the drag worms are choice. The music scene is key. The available FREE outdoor amenities in San Marcos are second to none in TX and closely behind none nationwide. UTD? Well being from Austin, I can happily shun Dallas as a whole. Sure there are $34,9999.00 millionaires everywhere but I would venture to say that Dallas might have the highest per capita of anywhere on the planet. Albeit, there may be a small island off the coast of..... For credibility sake my Mom Undergrad from TCU, My father the same. Grad school SMU both. My brother SMU undergrad and UCLA grad. My sister Baylor. I know that I had the best experience of all. That is my attitude and I am sticking with it! Oh, And I am back in grad school at Texas State on my way to a PHD in CS at UT! Peace and happy choices!

[mudbelly]

TxSt isn't UT, but it is nicely situated in the best natural part of Texas between 2 completely different major cities. This allows multiple opportunities for internships compared with say, Tech. This also opens up all outdoor possibilities from Zilker to the [sewer] walk in SA. Geography, Teaching, Business, and Health Professions are all good. When I went to SWT in the early 90's, almost everyone I knew failed out in the first year. They went to party and came home with a bill. Those who I know to have actually graduated are all doing very well (at least according to their facebook profiles). An excellent career move at TxSt is a health profession (PT,OT,ST,RT, nursing) coupled with a Health Administration degree. You are almost guaranteed a job at the start, and then your running the place in a few years. I had a UT Business grad in my health profession school because of the difficulty in finding a decent paying business job with no experience. He often commented how he loved our native English speaking professors...

On a side note - I was told there were 7 women to every man at SWT when I was in high school, so needless to say, I only applied there (this was way before the prominence of the interwebs). It definitly wasn't 7:1 but the girls there sure were a lot cuter than the ones we saw at UT then (maybe the lower admission standards helped, and UT was very Pakastani then - not to say these women are ugly, but I'm just sayin'... LBJ is a TxSt grad - which prez is from UT, Rice, A&M? Social development is just as important as academia - way too many smarties out there already who lack the charisma to close a deal or even interact with another human...