Frisco and Plano....which is better?

[stan4]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

The most prestigious colleges like IIT (Indian Institute of Technology for you non Indians) have an acceptance rate that would make the Ivy League schools here look like community colleges, straight

Also I'm willing to bet that the 10% who were ahead of you were probably not doing all the extracurriculars that you did. In fact, I would go so far as to say that 10% were probably doing something closer to the all work no play regimen I described earlier.

Now you say that you got into UT anyway so all's well that ends well...but I wonder what would your outlook have been if you had not gotten into UT?
And here's the kicker; it's not as if you were a mediocre or even slightly above average student; you were an A student with honors, a national merit scholar for goodness sake. What do you tell a kid with those type of credentials if they dont get into the schools that they want? they were too lazy? didnt work hard enough? Again I say ask yourself if you would be as cheerful about your experience in Plano if you were stuck having to attend some crummy school in east texas or something because you couldnt crack the top 10% without giving up all the other things which combined to give you that rich experience you talk about.

LOL! My dad went to IIT! Not many people out of the country know about that school. Many of my relatives are at AIMS. Cool.

No, I get it. But actually, many of the top 10%ers in my class were in athletics or band/orchestra. And many of them went to A&M, Tech, and UT Austin, Baylor, SMU, and Rice. Just bc you are good at school doesn't mean your parents can afford Harvard...and sometimes there are legacies and family traditions.

I picked UT (they paid my tuition and books for 4 out of the 5 years I was there), but I did get into a lot of other good schools. I think that colleges know that if you are coming from a school like PSHS, your top 20% might be more prepared and more achieving than someone else's top 5%. My roommate at UT (valedictorian of her tiny high school) was a total badass, but the top 10% of her rural graduating class was not of the same caliber (these are her words, not mine).

I'm not going to tell you how to parent. And I am not going to argue that some asian people are total study automatons. But even the valedictorian (Chinese) and salutatorian (Indian) in my class had 'a life' outside of study. I know you are going to do the best to pick the best environment for your daughter. Cheers!

[stan4]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

I did say A&M is underrated. Many of the smartest, most successful people I know here in DFW are Aggies.

Two of the smartest people I have ever met went to A&M.

Ugh...can't believe I admitted that out loud.

Go, 'Horns!

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Big G

Look, I don't have a dog in this fight. I have no personal connections to any of the universities in Texas. But that's just not true.

I'm from outside of Texas originally, and I have long known of TAMU. One of my classmates from undergraduate (way up north in Minnesota) chose to attend TAMU for graduate school, as did the wild party-boy (think Van Wilder) who lived in the dorm room next to me as a freshman (and who is now an esteemed academic chemist). I doubt either of them considered it "not even an also-ran", seeing as how they turned down offers from Big 10 schools to go to TAMU.

Is TAMU as elite as UT? No. But to say that only UT is "acceptable" or "decent"? That's the mentality that broke the Top 10% program.

TAMU is very well regarded for certain programs- It is a top 20 undergrad Engineering school, right in the top 20 along with Rice & UT. The Business (undergrad) school is ranked #10 overall by US News (UT ranks #7 overall).

TAMU is a very well regarded national university by many corporations. The Wall Street Journal ranks the college recruiters' top picks of "work world- prepared" college grads each year and Texas A&M ranked #2 overall last year. Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ.com

Additionally, in the WSJ poll, Texas A&M students ranked #5 overall for Finance majors (behind Michigan, NYU, Berkley and Carnegie Mellon...UT not on list at all), #16 for Engineering majors (UT not on top 20 list), and #24 for Business Admin/ Econ majors (UT not on top 25 list) School Rankings by College Major – Job Recruiter Top Picks - WSJ.com



Interestingly enough, since I left for college in the late 1990's, UT's ranking has sunk lower and lower each year (from the 20's to #47 this year). A&M's overall ranking has remained stagnant in the 50's-60's, but the business school has climbed about 40 spots. SMU's rankings have also climbed tremendously over the past 10 years - currently 56th overall for undergrad and a top 10 Newsweek MBA program for ROI.

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

TAMU is very well regarded for certain programs- It is a top 20 undergrad Engineering school, right in the top 20 along with Rice & UT. The Business (undergrad) school is ranked #10 overall by US News (UT ranks #7 overall).

TAMU is a very well regarded national university by many corporations. The Wall Street Journal ranks the college recruiters' top picks of "work world- prepared" college grads each year and Texas A&M ranked #2 overall last year. Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ.com

Additionally, in the WSJ poll, Texas A&M students ranked #5 overall for Finance majors (behind Michigan, NYU, Berkley and Carnegie Mellon...UT not on list at all), #16 for Engineering majors (UT not on top 20 list), and #24 for Business Admin/ Econ majors (UT not on top 25 list) School Rankings by College Major – Job Recruiter Top Picks - WSJ.com



Interestingly enough, since I left for college in the late 1990's, UT's ranking has sunk lower and lower each year (from the 20's to #47 this year). A&M's overall ranking has remained stagnant in the 50's-60's, but the business school has climbed about 40 spots. SMU's rankings have also climbed tremendously over the past 10 years - currently 56th overall for undergrad and a top 10 Newsweek MBA program for ROI.

Please tell me you mean number 10 in Texas? there is no way A&M business school is number 10 nationally????
That being said, agree with you on UT's catastrophic fall...I remember when their accounting department was ranked tops in the nation...then other schools started raiding their department and now they've fallen off bigtime

Speaking of SMU, yeah they've really taken off over there. I attended TCU, accounting/finance major and the Dean of the business school would tell us how hard we were chasing SMU, trying to catch up with and eventually overtake them. I think it made him physically ill to hear of any improvements SMU business school had made...well he's still there and TCU is still chasing...

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by stan4

LOL! My dad went to IIT! Not many people out of the country know about that school. Many of my relatives are at AIMS. Cool.

No, I get it. But actually, many of the top 10%ers in my class were in athletics or band/orchestra. And many of them went to A&M, Tech, and UT Austin, Baylor, SMU, and Rice. Just bc you are good at school doesn't mean your parents can afford Harvard...and sometimes there are legacies and family traditions.

I picked UT (they paid my tuition and books for 4 out of the 5 years I was there), but I did get into a lot of other good schools. I think that colleges know that if you are coming from a school like PSHS, your top 20% might be more prepared and more achieving than someone else's top 5%. My roommate at UT (valedictorian of her tiny high school) was a total badass, but the top 10% of her rural graduating class was not of the same caliber (these are her words, not mine).

I'm not going to tell you how to parent. And I am not going to argue that some asian people are total study automatons. But even the valedictorian (Chinese) and salutatorian (Indian) in my class had 'a life' outside of study. I know you are going to do the best to pick the best environment for your daughter. Cheers!

Your dad went to IIT? Now that's badass right there, my indian buddies would tell me how people who failed to get into IIT would have MIT and Stanford as their backup choices!!! now that was just mind blowing to me

Yes until now I had thought it would have to be either my daughter chose academics or having a more rounded life...but it appears that you and many others in your day were able to do both...she's still young so time will tell how she turns out. It's been a great conversation with you, have a happy easter...

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

Please tell me you mean number 10 in Texas? there is no way A&M business school is number 10 nationally????
...

Sorry, read the link too quickly. A&M's rankings are:

MBA-
US News #14 public, #32 overall.
Businessweek #4 public & 9th overall for "graduates placed 3 months after graduation"
#1 Value MBA in US- Financial Times

Executive MBA is #1 ROI - Wall Street Journal

Undergrad Business Program
#16 public & #28 overall- US News
Accounting BBA - #20 overall - US News
Management BBA- #9'public, #16 overall- US News


I recruit on that campus and they are dumping money into the Mays Program. The building has a relatively new wing with a state of the art trading floor, multiple Bloomberg terminals, etc. Execs on campus every week leading classroom discussions as "visiting" professors. Huge retailing program backed by all the industry greats- you'd be shocked how many A&M grads have BIG roles at Neiman's, Macy's, Wal Mart, JCPenney, etc. Senior VP & up level jobs and dozens of A&M grads getting cherry picked for retailing programs each year. Additionally, very competitive Business "Fellows" program for the top .5% of each BBA class with extensive networking opportunities. It is very, very impressive program. The b-school at UT does not have the momentum & energy of the A&M program....at least from a recruiter's PoV.

[racehorse]

I looked at A&M for my executive MBA but they do not have a program in Dallas. I would have pursued it if they'd had a program here.

There are tons of A&M grads in the executive ranks of my company.