UT Austin is Overrated

[Anonymous]

I don’t get the hype. What am I missing? Academics are decent but no better than a slightly above average flagship. They guarantee admission to a percentage of every high school in the state, so a lot of kids from weak high schools get to attend. The campus isn’t defined and is ugly. And finally, Austin isn’t even a college town, it’s a small city better suited for grad students.

[Anonymous]

What you don’t understand is that DCUM only loves prestigious schools. As long as UT Austin is on the top 10-20 whatever list status seeking parents will love that school. Most state flagships accept their own state students from a variety of high schools. Their admission criteria for their instate students are much lower. This is true for UVA, Michigan, Berkely, GTech, etc.. but some parents prefer spending more on college for slightly better ranked schools. So parents send their kids to UT Austin or Michigan over UMD.. or Michigan over UVa or UVA over UMD.. or Wisconsin over UMD.. get it? Its about perceived prestige.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What you don’t understand is that DCUM only loves prestigious schools. As long as UT Austin is on the top 10-20 whatever list status seeking parents will love that school. Most state flagships accept their own state students from a variety of high schools. Their admission criteria for their instate students are much lower. This is true for UVA, Michigan, Berkely, GTech, etc.. but some parents prefer spending more on college for slightly better ranked schools. So parents send their kids to UT Austin or Michigan over UMD.. or Michigan over UVa or UVA over UMD.. or Wisconsin over UMD.. get it? Its about perceived prestige.

I agree. Even when compared to other flagships that DCUM loves like Michigan, Wisconsin, Chapel Hill, UGA, I don’t see how UT Austin is better in any way.

[Anonymous]

Different kids like different things in a school. Mine didn't apply to any school larger than 5000 undergrads, but I know plenty who loved UT Austin.

[Anonymous]

Sorry your kid didn't get in.

[Anonymous]

I mean it's OK. The attraction to some here I believe is that it's harder to get in from OOS due to the in-state auto-admits and 90 in-state acceptance. Some of the hype by some on the board is silly. I'm guessing they've never even spent a considerable time walking around that campus. Like I said it's good, nothing great about it. Whatever

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry your kid didn't get in.

Actually mine did. Also got accepted to Michigan and GTech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get the hype. What am I missing? Academics are decent but no better than a slightly above average flagship. They guarantee admission to a percentage of every high school in the state, so a lot of kids from weak high schools get to attend. The campus isn’t defined and is ugly. And finally, Austin isn’t even a college town, it’s a small city better suited for grad students.

The automatic admission is limited to the top 5%, and even that is not for every college/program, some of which are legitimately very highly regarded. The campus is quite nice with is big oaks and Spanish colonial style. Calling the 11th biggest city in the USA a "small city" is a decent mischaracterization, but it is indeed more than a college town; it has a campus and student area that is quite college town like, it has tremendous industry and government opportunities from its silicon hills and state capital status, full of music arts and good food. Hell of an alumni network, too.

If you are VA resident, though, I agree it wouldn't pull me away from UVA.

[Anonymous]

(1) There are over 1,600 public universities in America. UT is among the top 10, which makes it significantly better than a "slightly above average flagship." It's international ranking is also very strong.

(2) As a counterweight to your concern about "weak high schools" (and sharing classrooms with the less privileged?), consider that there are also many in-state students who chose UT over T10 and T20 options because it's cheaper and Austin is a better place to spend four years than most places. Also, Plan 2 is one of the best honors program in the nation.

(3) To be fair, the campus isn't going to win many awards. But I don't think it's ugly either. I'd categorize it as perfectly cromulent.

(4) UT sits in the middle of Austin, which is an extremely fun town. I know of few college towns that are better. The real downside is that it's on something of a geographical island unless weekend trips to Houston, Dallas, or San Antonio are your cup of tea.

[Anonymous]

I just…don’t agree. The campus is very nice, Austin is great place to be for college, and the top 6% rule only applies to COLA (so the problem is only really “real” if you care at all and yore like an English major). Seems like a good school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just…don’t agree. The campus is very nice, Austin is great place to be for college, and the top 6% rule only applies to COLA (so the problem is only really “real” if you care at all and yore like an English major). Seems like a good school.

Doesn't matter which school it applies to it counts towards admission to the school and total admission stats..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get the hype. What am I missing? Academics are decent but no better than a slightly above average flagship. They guarantee admission to a percentage of every high school in the state, so a lot of kids from weak high schools get to attend. The campus isn’t defined and is ugly. And finally, Austin isn’t even a college town, it’s a small city better suited for grad students.

The automatic admission is limited to the top 5%, and even that is not for every college/program, some of which are legitimately very highly regarded. The campus is quite nice with is big oaks and Spanish colonial style. Calling the 11th biggest city in the USA a "small city" is a decent mischaracterization, but it is indeed more than a college town; it has a campus and student area that is quite college town like, it has tremendous industry and government opportunities from its silicon hills and state capital status, full of music arts and good food. Hell of an alumni network, too.

If you are VA resident, though, I agree it wouldn't pull me away from UVA.

The campus is OK. Very dry area and not a lot of greenery accept for entry rectangular quad and that's not very big. Just sayin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just…don’t agree. The campus is very nice, Austin is great place to be for college, and the top 6% rule only applies to COLA (so the problem is only really “real” if you care at all and yore like an English major). Seems like a good school.

I spent 4 days walking around the city of Austin recently and there are parts that are definitely not great. Just sayin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get the hype. What am I missing? Academics are decent but no better than a slightly above average flagship. They guarantee admission to a percentage of every high school in the state, so a lot of kids from weak high schools get to attend. The campus isn’t defined and is ugly. And finally, Austin isn’t even a college town, it’s a small city better suited for grad students.

Do you have kids who go there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get the hype. What am I missing? Academics are decent but no better than a slightly above average flagship. They guarantee admission to a percentage of every high school in the state, so a lot of kids from weak high schools get to attend. The campus isn’t defined and is ugly. And finally, Austin isn’t even a college town, it’s a small city better suited for grad students.

I think what you are missing is a broader perspective of the college experience.