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I agree. And as you mention, SXSW is of course the bigger and more unique event. I don’t think it’s worse I just think it’s different as opposed to the ACL/Bonaroo genre of events. If there were an equivalent in Nashville, it would actually be the CMA Awards in my opinion.
I didn't particularly care for ACL's lineup this year either. They sell out both weekends every year without trying, so there isn't much incentive for them to be aggressive with the lineup. It's also the nature of the something-for-everyone format that a lot of the lineup real estate is spent on genres I don't care for.
For bands I really like I'd rather see them at a real music venue anyway. That said festivals are great for discovery and obviously fun to party at. I've had many good times at ACL.
1. UT's best programs beat Vanderbilt, but Vandy is better at the bottom being that it is a small more selective private school. It looks like UT ranks higher in most everything professional despite significantly higher enrollments. (Business, engineering, CS, Law, etc). Certainly UT has a much bigger and more successful alumni network. It's similar to comparing UT vs Rice.
2. Neither for a non-tourist, but I'd take Broadway over dirty 6 for the music. 6th Street as a whole (considering west 6 and east side) probably has more variety than Broadway. Austin has some other areas like Rainey and Red River that are a short walk from 6th which are more popular with locals.
3. Bonaroo isn't in Nashville, and SXSW >>> ACL. Bonaroo vs ACL would come down to whether you prefer a camping or city festival. Both have the same generic mega-festival lineups that can also be found at Lola, Governor's Ball, Cochella, etc. I prefer being able to sleep in my house rather than camping, personally, but the latter might be better if you want to go hard on drugs.
4. AUS is a very nice and well located airport, but I believe that BNA has a bit more traffic and a few more flights (AUS more regional competition with SAT and IAH being fairly close). I haven't been to BNA enough to compare, otherwise. My guess is that AUS is better for traveling to the west coast but BNA is better for the east coast. AUS has more international flights but neither has all that many.
I'm not entirely sure if usnews is accurate with their ranking system, but overall UT is ranked 40 compared to Vandy at 14. Yes, UTA might be better in Business, engineering, CS, Law, etc. The thing is Vandy's main focus is medical, and Vandy probably blows UTA out in that regard. Also to note, most students attending Vandy aren't going there to get their Bachelors, more than likely they're getting a masters or a PhD.
I’m just making a guess, but the reason that Austin may have higher tourists than Nashville might be because they’re smack dab in between two huge metros. When I was living in Dallas and Houston, all the natives claim Austin to be some sort of weekend getaway. At least from the sounds of it. Nashville could have higher national tourists being more centralized.
Calculating tourist numbers is a notoriously subjective and inconsistent practice. It's quite difficult determining whether it's ever apples-to-apples when making comparisons involving multiple cities.
Calculating tourist numbers is a notoriously subjective and inconsistent practice. It's quite difficult determining whether it's ever apples-to-apples when making comparisons involving multiple cities.
It just feels like Nashvilles downtown area has more foot traffic compared to Austin.
I'm not entirely sure if usnews is accurate with their ranking system, but overall UT is ranked 40 compared to Vandy at 14. Yes, UTA might be better in Business, engineering, CS, Law, etc. The thing is Vandy's main focus is medical, and Vandy probably blows UTA out in that regard. Also to note, most students attending Vandy aren't going there to get their Bachelors, more than likely they're getting a masters or a PhD.
UT's Austin med school is like 2 years old, so we'll have to wait and see where that goes in a decade. They are investing heavily into it so I fully expect it to become a top tier school.
It's not apples to oranges comparing overall rankings of a small private school vs. a 50k student public school that has state mandated auto-admissions. As I mentioned, the UT programs that are able to be selective outperform Vandy. Certainly the top 13k students at UT are better than the 13k at Vandy. Look at the # of CEOs, placement at top companies, etc for clear evidence of that.
We have the same debate in Texas for UT vs. Rice. Technically Rice is ranked higher overall but yet UT is ranked higher in almost every individual program. Even in areas like liberal arts UT has programs like Plan II honors that are ivy-level. UT is effectively the singular reason Austin is the tech hub that it is. It's definitely an important resource.
UT's Austin med school is like 2 years old, so we'll have to wait and see where that goes in a decade. They are investing heavily into it so I fully expect it to become a top tier school.
It's not apples to oranges comparing overall rankings of a small private school vs. a 50k student public school that has state mandated auto-admissions. As I mentioned, the UT programs that are able to be selective outperform Vandy. Certainly the top 13k students at UT are better than the 13k at Vandy. Look at the # of CEOs, placement at top companies, etc for clear evidence of that.
We have the same debate in Texas for UT vs. Rice. Technically Rice is ranked higher overall but yet UT is ranked higher in almost every individual program. Even in areas like liberal arts UT has programs like Plan II honors that are ivy-level. UT is effectively the singular reason Austin is the tech hub that it is. It's definitely an important resource.
UT has a great elite, innovative medical program. But it’s in Houston so not sure how that’s measured here. But undergrads seeking a medical future have it going one way or another.
UT has a great elite, innovative medical program. But it’s in Houston so not sure how that’s measured here. But undergrads seeking a medical future have it going one way or another.
I thought he was talking about the new UT Austin Med School.
I thought he was talking about the new UT Austin Med School.
Yep UT has the Dell medical school in Austin now. It's brand new and much of the campus is still under construction. I do expect them to turn it into a top ranked school but it will take some time.
Yep UT has the Dell medical school in Austin now. It's brand new and much of the campus is still under construction. I do expect them to turn it into a top ranked school but it will take some time.
I think so too. The number of meds schools in Texas doubled in the last decade or so but I think this one's reputation will grow the fastest because it will have the full weight of UT behind it and it is the first one for Austin.
The others are in smaller markets (such as the one in the Rio Grande Valley) or in competitive markets like Houston which opened 2 new medical schools to add to the 4 they already had.
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