Houston is a lot like LA (Dallas, San Antonio: schools, live, office)

[Queen Palm]

i knew, i knew, i just knew when i clicked in the thread that it was going to go sour.....

it appears that whenever Houston is favorably compared to other big cities (i.e. LA, Chicago,Miami, NYC) that there is always, always the phrase: "Houston will never be like (insert city)".

Yet it when it is compared, it is typically in a negative fashion such as:

Who has the better amenities?:

*Houston vs. Philly
Houston vs. Boston
Houston vs. Los Angeles
Houston vs. Miami
Houston vs. Chicago
Houston vs. Atlanta
Houston vs. NYC

polled with the intent and/or expectation that Houston would be outranked on here.

it's always compared to these cities, no matter. ( Often told how it lacks what these cities have or have to offer, but at the same time told how it will never be like them) . Must be doing something right.


(* Looks like a friggin airport Departure/Arrival screen)

[SouthernBoy205]

Yeah it does! LOL! From what I've seen, Houston looks similar to LA and Miami. I can see Atlanta where there are pine trees and rolling hills. I'm basing my opinion on pictures.

[jasltx]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

No where did I say UH was better than UCLA academically. I would be fooling myself & everyone else.

What I did say however is that the diversity of both schools & undergraduate student population is very close which is a fact.

Pound per pound UH can holds its own against UCLA.

The University of Houston is one of the most racially/ethnically diverse public universities in the nation. Its also 2nd or 3rd largest in the State of Texas.

I don't understand where you are trying to go with your points. I agree with you regarding size and diversity. California and Texas are two of the minority as majority states, so diversity in either school is no big surprise. Especially in LA or Houston. And everything is bigger in Texas, so no surprise there either.

Then you go on to say that pound-for-pound UH holds its own against UCLA. Given that universities are judged on academics and research, this statement just isn't true. Making this generalization based on diversity and size is like assuming a Land Rover and GMC Jimmy are equivalent based on trunk space and sound system.

I don't want to come off as a UH basher; it's a good school with a chance to be a very good one down the road. But LA absolutely kills us in the realm of public universities and, because of the head start that UCLA has had, it always will.

[jasltx]

Originally Posted by robertobaggio

I didn't even know what UCI stands for until I looked that up on google. Enough said.

Your ignorance of the #41-ranked university in the US doesn't speak well of your authority on this particular topic. Your uninformed statement is more of an indictment of you than of UC-Irvine. Everyone knows Boise State because of its football program, but that doesn't make it a great school.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by jasltx

I don't want to come off as a UH basher; it's a good school with a chance to be a very good one down the road. But LA absolutely kills us in the realm of public universities and, because of the head start that UCLA has had, it always will.

Have to agree with this. Houston has some very strong areas - unfortunately, higher education is not one of them.

Moral of the story - once you get the degree from outside of Houston, then come on down and use it.

As to the Houston-bashers that want to elevate LA at Houston's expense - you are probably right. LA is so perfect that its people are moving here in large numbers to escape that perfection - it is just so blinding.

[Randy2931]

Originally Posted by BigBobby

someone is a troll because they bring the facts? WOW, you have to be the biggest houston homer on these boards

the fact is much like i stated before, the UC's second tier school's are better then the best public schools in Texas. don't get butt hurt, these are the facts

the only school worth mentioning in TX is Rice but they are private

That's why UT is a target school for companies like GS, MS, JPM, Barcap, Citi, DB, UBS, BAML, Evercore, Greenhil, Lazard, Centerview, etc. who all recruit for front office positions in New York and Houston along with McKinsey, Bain, BCG, top F500 companies etc. You should let the banks paying undergrads $140k+ straight out of school know that UT isn't worth mentioning, much less recruiting at. Not to mention one of the top PE programs in the country. I bet MBB don't even recruit at any UC schools except Berkeley and UCLA. Guess recruiters don't think much of those second tier UC schools

[jasltx]

Originally Posted by cBach

Ok, from US News and World Report rankings:

Stanford #5, Cal Tech #7 (LA area)
Rice #17 (SMU #56, Baylor #79, TCU #99)


UCLA #25 (by the way UC Berkeley #22, USC #23, UCSD #35, UC Davis & Santa Barbara tied #39, UC Irvine #41)
UT Austin #45 (ouch, our flagship university is beaten by the Tier 2 California schools)
Texas A&M #63 (ouch Aggies!), UTD #143, Texas Tech #159
UH not published - I assume because it was ranked so poorly it didn't get on the list. However, it's #100 on public affairs so let's use that as a fair basis.

Wow, the facts hurt huh Houston supporters?

National University Rankings | Top National Universities | US News Best Colleges

You make some valid points. If you didn't come off as such a d-bag in making them then maybe more people would take them seriously.

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Have to agree with this. Houston has some very strong areas - unfortunately, higher education is not one of them.

Moral of the story - once you get the degree from outside of Houston, then come on down and use it.

As to the Houston-bashers that want to elevate LA at Houston's expense - you are probably right. LA is so perfect that its people are moving here in large numbers to escape that perfection - it is just so blinding.

Well, I guess Houston isn't similar to LA after all. LA is too perfect while Houston isn't.

[DANNYY]

The only silver lining in terms of colleges and universities (at undergraduate level) is that Houston is one of the only three places in Texas with a "formidable" school with Rice University. The other two being Austin with University of Texas at Austin & College Station with Texas A&M University.

If this hurts Houston, which it does, because it should at least one or two more top level schools then imagine how much more this hurts San Antonio & Dallas/Fort Worth too.

[jasltx]

Originally Posted by BigBobby

someone is a troll because they bring the facts? WOW, you have to be the biggest houston homer on these boards

the fact is much like i stated before, the UC's second tier school's are better then the best public schools in Texas. don't get butt hurt, these are the facts

the only school worth mentioning in TX is Rice but they are private

US News rankings are not gospel. Statistically, the #41 (UCI) and #45 (UT) school are essentailly equivalent in the selcted criteria. There is always bias built into this type of subjective comparison based upon the metrics chosen to quantify the essence of an institution. If the metrics were changed to emphasize specific programs, campus life, surrounding city, or breadth of degrees available then UT would easily surpass most of the UC schools - except for Berkeley and probably UCLA. Rice would move up, too.

I think we've effectively established that California higher ed > Texas higher ed. Can we now let this subject lie where it is?