Decision: Texas Tech vs North Texas vs Texas State (Houston: apartments, rentals)

[CXPTexas]

Hello,

I am very unhappy at my current school and wish to transfer. I am currently attending a commuter school with a very poor reputation. Unfortunately due to various reasons, UT-Austin, A&M, UH, private, and out-of-state schools are not options for me. So even if there was a good match among those, they are not options. I am hoping I can get some advice about which school I should choose. I have read a large amount about each of them, but they all appear to have advantages and disadvantages, and I cannot afford to visit each of them, and I don't think that would help in my case anyway. I am just going to get straight to the facts:

Gender: Male.
Age: 24 - will be a Junior.
Major: Accounting - have not begun Accounting classes yet.
Financial: I do not have lots of spending money.
Transportation: No car.
Politics: I'm very progressive, though an Independent and open-minded.
Religion: None.
Alcohol/Drugs: None - nothing against them, just not interested.

Concerning reputation, academics, and employment prospects, any of these schools would be a step up from my current school. I am very studious and maintain high grades, and will continue to do so at my new school. However, as I am at a commuter school, there is practically no social life available at all outside of heavy drinking at a few frat houses. Having no social life is depressing and interferes with my studying. I also know it will come back to haunt me when interviewing and networking become important very soon. On top of that, the girls here are very uptight, conservative, and/or religious and everyone is interested only in long-term/serious relationships. I'm only interested in "just fun" or casual dating.

I'm fed up with it, and my number one criteria for my school choice is how much potential there is for social life and fun (both overall and girls-wise) for someone like me, a somewhat atypical, twenty-four-year-old college student that is not religious but still doesn't drink, and actually wants to balance social life and good grades, instead of going extreme one way or the other.

Any suggestions as to which of those three universities (TTU, UNT, Texas State) would be best for me and why?

Thanks!

[Austinite101]

Well that's really too bad that UT Austin isn't on the table because they have the #1 ranked Accounting program in the United States.

Texas Tech likely has the better Accounting program, followed by UNT, and Texas State.

Texas Tech will also have the most prestige to it and carries more degree weight that the other two.

Unfortunately for you, TTU is probably the least progressive out of the three, and is pretty solidly "Texas conservative" as far as universities go, though from the people I know who are going there, there is not as much long-term relationship crap going on.

Social life will be pretty good at all three of these universities.

[TT Dave]

I graduated from Texas Tech with my undergraduate degree and I had a lot of fun there. However, I drank a lot of alcohol back in those days so that may have had a little something to do with it...lol. Most of the women I met at Tech had no interest in long-term relationships, which was good because I was only interested in casual relationships as well. As Austinite101 said above, you should have a good social life at all three of those universities. If I were you, I would pick the one that has the best accounting program and go there.

[ImOnFiya]

Texas Tech may have a good accounting program, but Lubbock (overall) is not progressive. University of North Texas (UNT) is a cool town (or now should I say suburb) north of Fort Worth. Texas State is about 20 miles south of Austin, but the city and south suburbs (Buda, Kyle, Niederwald, Dripping Springs) have grown so much there is little discernible difference in and out of them before you hit San Marcos.

You would do good either at UNT or Texas State. At Texas State, you would be close to Austin. The "Austin effect" has hit San Marcos and demographics have made the town gained a growing progressive white and burgeoning hispanic populace. Very democratic town in a still Republican county.

Also you may not know, Austin Community College (ACC) has a terrific "automatic qualifying" transfer program to UT if you have a certain minimal GPA. I would contact them to see what courses you could take which the UT Accounting program would look favorable on (and then apply to transfer to UT). You could stay in West Campus (west of University of Texas) in the coops [which have people of all ages - just ask] and have loads of friends!

[TexasVines]

you are 24 which is older for a college student (not old by any stretch of the imagination or close to as old as SOME students will be, but older than most especially those worrying about a social life)

you are about to be a Jr and about to start ACCOUNTING classes.....that means books that are two inches thick, with type face that requires a magnifier glass to read and ZERO pictures

and you have no car

lets go over the points

1. the vast majority of people at ANY of those three schools are not going to beat you down with their religion or their politics especially those looking for casual fun so that makes that issue a push at any of those three schools

2. I would put social life as Tech and then a push with TxState and UNT...Lubbock is a much better college town than either of the other two period and has many more "college student" areas

TxState is improving on that factor, but they still have the issue of people that leave San Marcos (by car) to get to Austin and tear it up in the "mega college town" of Austin and to meet up with their UT friends.....this is changing for a number of reasons, but it is still a factor

Denton is VASTLY over rated as a college town period.....it still has a huge number of commuter students, the areas right around campus are not near as university focused as the areas around other major universities and the "music scene" is filled to the gills with chumps that are not in college and live in Denton to be around the "scene"....Austin used to really suffer from this, but at least Austin had ACC campuses all over the city and the cost of living and employment competition has driven much of that away from Austin and for the better

some areas around UNT are changing to have more students, but that is happening VERY SLOWLY and against the wishes of many of the foolish long term locals......many of the college kid apartments for Denton are located well away from campus and require a drive.....UNT has a horrible and near non-existent shuttle bus system

without a car your shopping options for food and other life necessities will be extremely limited in Denton and the closer you live to those options the further you will be from campus and the harder it will be to get back and forth to campus

Lubbock has several areas right next to campus and in easy walking or biking distance that are filled with students and that have some shopping options.....the Tech shuttle bus system is far from optimum, but it is at least designed around students and where students live and where they need to come and go from

Tech Terrace will have rentals and "back houses" (small rentals in the back of a property) and they have a grocery store at 24th and Boston and North Overton has a ton of new student housing and a new small grocery store as well and a walmart at the other end of the section (a mile by a mile is a section)

South Overton has rental houses, apartments, and back houses and is not far from the new Leonards Grocery or the Walmart on North Overton...the rental prices will be lower in south VS north Overton

after that is right north of campus on 4th street which will usually be less expensive and not as nice and a bit further of a walk or bike ride, but with buses

San Marcos will have similar issues to Denton.....the shopping options will be further from campus and there is less of a real "west campus" or "Guadalupe" true student area like Austin and UT are known for.....their buses are fair

getting mush away from campus in any of the three options you have listed becomes pretty much a push on how easy it is to do....I would say overall Lubbock has a better bus system and UNT and TxState are pretty much poor

so at any of the three you will need to be living close to campus and doing business close to campus....Lubbock far and away wins in this area

3. quality of the schools....I would say Tech has the better rep over the other two from a whole university perspective and I would say that rep is 100% correct

Tech has the business school that is consistently ranked in various publications while the other two do not...Tech also has the larger endowment of the three for the college of business and has had that endowment for a longer period of time which means it has made an impact for longer.....TxState I would say actually has more resources to work with over UNT because of the 20 million given by the McCoys, but UNT did just get a recent donation, but it will take time for that to become a factor and that donation also requires matching funds......so TxState I would say is a very good second option to Tech as far as academics in the business program

Tech and UNT both have new business buildings....the building at Tech I would say is nicer and it is located closer to 4th street where the lesser cost student housing would be

Buildings do not make a program, but they can offer places to study, places to group study, and a cohesive area where students with the same major will be together.....TxState has their own building as well and it was renovated back when the donation was made

I would say slight advantage to Tech and a push on the other two

4. Accounting Rep....UNT makes a lot of claims about their accounting program specifically, but I rarely see evidence to support those claims and I know for a fact that UNT exaggerates things about their degree programs across the university...I see nothing dealing with rankings for their overall college of business while Tech has several rankings in various publications......all college rankings can have flaws, but when you are getting accolades publicly from several different places that starts to add up in overall perception.....I would say it is probably a push on "accounting" between Tech and UNT, but the overall business rep and university rep is in Techs favor by far and I think that will be a factor with attracting recruiters when it comes time to find a job and that is what is important......accounting with good grades from any of those three choices should result in a good job, but I would give the edge to tech overall because I know for a fact their college of business has the resources and makes the effort to get recruiters onto campus and it has paid off for them and their graduates and I know for a fact that UNT is lazy about investing in many programs and in putting out the extra effort for their graduates in many programs......they take a lot of short cuts and they try and do everything they can on the cheap and it shows if you are a student there and have been a student elsewhere (which you have been)

5. social life.....the area around Tech in north Overton will be much better as far as social life goes.....Fry Street and Ave. A in Denton blow and get tired fast.....the same 3 bars owned by the same ownership group + a bunch of rat holes that change owners every few years with a new coating of turd polish.....the music scene is overrated especially if you get tired of the same bands over and over and you want to be around college students instead of lay abouts that wish they were ion college or that they could lay about in a college town forever

plus you have already said you are on a budget and have no car and you are a 24yo JUNIOR going into ACCOUNTING.....so standing around with tatted up metal faced emo kiddos wearing all black and having not in college at 20yo emo kid drama should NOT be for you and the other bar options near UNT are frat daddies and "cool kids" or the same three bars (Riprocks, Cool Beans, and Lucky Lous are the same thing repeated)....the options are not dramatically different in Lubbock, but there are a few more right by campus and many many more if you can get away from campus like the Depot District

San Marcos lacks an overall college student area and they need to address that long term

so overall

Academics Tech based on their resources, their use of resources, their rep as a university and business college overall and their accounting more than holding it's own

Life/Living.....you can live better, around more students, and closer to campus and more importantly closer to the things you need to shop/live/eat in Lubbock and you actually have two or three choices of where to do that......getting away from campus is a push with all three and MAYBE a slight edge to Tech

social life.....the religion/conservative thing at Tech is as over blown as the "cool quirky music scene" is for Denton and that for you means Tech would be as good or better of a fit than the other two.....the "quirky music scene" in Denton will be made up of fools, chumps, and drama babies to anyone that professes to be 24yo going into ACCOUNTING and cares about grades...it will be you and a bunch of people that you wonder if they will ever go anywhere in life.....and the college student bars near UNT are not near the selection of Tech/Lubbock

I would say Tech will far and away be the best fit....I think you will find a commuter feel at UNT, you will find the academics are "cheap and corner cutting and hype" and you will find the quality of life is boring

I think San Marcos will be too tough for you to get around and the social life will be limiting though I think the university and students would be appealing generally and while TxState is making impressive strides in many aspects of heir academics including the college of business Tech is still ahead in a meaningful way when it comes to recruiting and getting a job and will continue to be

sorry if that is long winded, but I have first hand experience at two of those schools and am very familiar with the third and I view college choice especially for someone changing schools after a less than satisfactory experience at another school requires more than just a "tweet" to help you choose

[Almeida93]

Not stealing your thread here.

I just want to ask a similar and relavant question.

Interships and work experience is also important.

Most posters said Texas Tech has the best program out of the three, but considering its location, would a student be at a disadvantage obtaining work experience in accounting, in comparison to UNT which is closer to Dallas or Texas State which is closer to Austin/San Antonio?

Which is more important: The program or quality interships?

Does Texas Tech reputation make up for its location?

[CXPTexas]

TexasVines:
The more informative a post is, the better, as far as I am concerned. I completely agree with you that the decision warrants way more than a discussion consisting of "tweets." That was a great post.

Everyone:
Thanks for the advice. I appreciate that all four of you had something constructive to say and didn't just say "this one" lol.

I do have to agree that Almeida93 has a very good question. Considering how hard it is for anyone to get a job without previous work experience or internships, is Tech's Rawls/Business recruiting network and employer relations so strong that it is no more difficult (or perhaps even easier) to get paid internships and/or a job before graduation than at UNT and Texas State, both of which are much close to major metro areas? Employers put such a heavy emphasis on being a "local candidate" these days, and Lubbock is 6-7 hours away from the closest major metro area (Dallas), and it is one of the major factors that keeps me from not immediately picking Texas Tech. Anyone care to comment on this?

Thank you.

[TheOverdog]

Lubbock is 6-7 hours away from the closest major metro area (Dallas), and it is one of the major factors that keeps me from not immediately picking Texas Tech. Anyone care to comment on this?

I graduated from Tech 12 years ago and a friend graduated about 7 years ago with an Accounting degree, and then the Tech recruiting office was really strong. Dallas, Austin, Houston, Phoenix, St Louis, and all the major worldwide firms recruited on campus, and would fly you to their locations for interviews if you made it past the on-campus interviews. So it wasn't a problem at all. Can't speak to how things are now though.

Also, the only people who did internships for accounting/software work back then were people whose family got them connections (family member worked for Deloitte or PWC or whomeever) or the true superstars who were recruited early. The rest of us just got jobs once we graduated. You start applying at the end of your junior year/beginning of your senior year.

[txstate]

Texas State - Great college experience, life long friends, a great degree, been working since graduation, alumni association is strong.

[ardamir]

The only reason I had got my internship after graduation was because of the program I was in (Texas State Geography) and the only reason I got my job was because of my internship.