What's the difference between UT and A&M? (Houston: home, find a job)

[DejaBlue]

I had an interesting mini convo with a coworker today. Her daughter got into a lot of schools and was sad that she had to turn down Emory because they offered her money but not enough for the out of state tuition. So her decision boiled down to UT vs A&M because next to Emory her top choice she liked both schools.

Coworker said "I think A&M is a go, she said they were similar but she just had a feeling more about A&M"

She has no ties to either as both parents went to Ohio State.

Now as an outsider (I'm not a huge football fan and have ZERO ties) to either school explain the differences to me besides going to one or the other based on 3 things: 1. Football, 2. location - either you dislike College Station or want to be in Austin, 3. engineering.

Besides those things I feel like these two schools are the most similar schools of any state. I feel like NYU vs Columbia, USC vs UCLA, etc offer a bit more stark differences.

But UT and A&M just seem so freaking similar it's a trip.

So imagine I'm a foreigner just stepping off the plane in Texas and your job is to explain why they should go to one or the other flagship schools in Texas. Explain OTHER than those 3 excuses above. The "well X has won XXX football games is IMO kind of well....I won't outright say dumb reason to choose a school that's so damn similar to the next but you get my drift"

They're about as identical twins as twins the average person can't tell apart but only those close to them can tell "Twin A has a pinpoint sized freckle above the left eyebrow type of identical" How long did it take America to tell the Olsen Twins apart. A long damn time. That kind of identical.

So....I'm from whatever European, Asian, Middle Eastern country and no nothing about UT or A&M but want to know the differences.

[DejaBlue]

I know people who've gone to both and for me as a minority and what the media portrays and what I've heard from people of every color I've heard the "Uhh...you'd be much better off at UT than A&M" of course I know at least 80% of that isn't true.

And again, I don't have a preference to either and honestly don't get or see a difference OTHER than A&M alum seem more fanatical. As a lay person, UT alum seem prideful but A&M folk are the Nissan Armada HUGE in maroon with A&M plate covers and decals.

It's more in your face. I love that people love their school but when I finally started to notice maroon vehicles being 70% owned by an A&Mb alum it was a wow. Maybe that's my Houston observation because 9/10 I see a man or woman hopping out of a maroon SUV with a gleaming gold class ring that's the Aggie ring. Y'all REALLY love that school.

That's some true fanboy/fangirling. But what makes A&M edge out UT on alumni pride. UT has it to but it's more subtle. It's much more common to see babies decked out in maroon than burnt orange being wheeling out of the hospital 3 days post birth.

[Westerntraveler]

well I know TAMU has the reputation of being the more conservative school but idk how true that is considering I have never been to BCS.TAMU has a large military program.

[DejaBlue]

Okay yes, I forgot about the ROTC program.

But just say you're a basic person wanting a BA/BS in education, biology, business. What's the difference in both? A&M has the medical school on campus but not every bio/chem major senior gets in. Or do they? I don't know.

Other than going because A&M has a program you want - ROTC, engineering. Why that one over UT? It doesn't make sense.

I think of them as a flip a coin and you'll be good either way because they're so similar.

[Westerntraveler]

Originally Posted by DejaBlue

Okay yes, I forgot about the ROTC program.

But just say you're a basic person wanting a BA/BS in education, biology, business. What's the difference in both? A&M has the medical school on campus but not every bio/chem major senior gets in. Or do they? I don't know.

Other than going because A&M has a program you want - ROTC, engineering. Why that one over UT? It doesn't make sense.

I think of them as a flip a coin and you'll be good either way because they're so similar.

Well there is a lot of loyalty among the fan bases of both schools often times going back generations that has a lot to do with the choice on which school to go to.

[marcopolo2000]

Im not a fan of either but UT is more well known, located in a better city, and regarded higher nationally than a&m so all things considered, I would pick Ut. As someone said....the major difference is a&M is far more conservative. As a Black person, both schools have similar numbers of Blacks but UT is far more diverse. The image of a&m for me is basically an old white man since that's all they admitted up until 1963.

[marcopolo2000]

Originally Posted by DejaBlue

Okay yes, I forgot about the ROTC program.

But just say you're a basic person wanting a BA/BS in education, biology, business. What's the difference in both? A&M has the medical school on campus but not every bio/chem major senior gets in. Or do they? I don't know.

Other than going because A&M has a program you want - ROTC, engineering. Why that one over UT? It doesn't make sense.

I think of them as a flip a coin and you'll be good either way because they're so similar.

A&m doesnt have a med school on campus nor a law school. I would say they are at worst "equal" when it comes to engineering

[Bo]

Originally Posted by DejaBlue

She has no ties to either as both parents went to Ohio State.

I've been to all three schools. It's interesting that both A&M and UT have things in common with Ohio State.

A&M is an 1829 land-grant school, just like Ohio State. Both have agricultural programs, right there on their sprawling campuses.

UT is an urban campus and its football and men's basketball programs are a key part of life in its home city, just like Ohio State. Both Ohio State and UT are located in their state's capital and have traditional, but lately more contentious, ties to state government.

[westhou]

I'd probably go with UT because of it's location in Austin. I would feel too isolated at A&M. UT has a better reputation across the country which I think is a plus if you want to find a job pretty much anywhere. UT and A&M seem to have equal reputation in Texas which is good if you want a job in Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio.

But really when deciding on a school you should go with the best school for your particular major. If I wanted to major in business I'd go to UT and If I was majoring in engineering I'd go to A&M.

[atxcio]

Similarities: They are both big football (and athletic as a whole) programs, and both are highly regarded large state schools with lots of money. Academically they not too far apart. Both are tough and competitive for an undergraduate and there is high attrition in the early years. Both have big alumni bases in Texas and thus are very good for job prospects inside the state and regionally.

Differences: The campuses look different, the surrounding cities are very different, the athletic conferences they are in now (SEC vs. B12) are very different. A&M has a big military feel (people dressed up that way on campus, at events, etc) and UT you will see almost none of that. UT has a much lower admission rate (although Emory is much lower than either -- so I imagine that won't be a problem.) Politically A&M is more conservative, although both are typical university environments so there is plenty of liberal ideology at either one.

USC vs. UCLA and NYU vs Columbia are not good comparisons, since you are comparing private/public or private vs. private. A better analogy would be 2 big public universities in the same state, like Florida vs. Florida State.