UT Austin is Overrated

[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.

How dare a public university fulfill its mission to educate residents of its state!!

DCUMers are so insufferable.

[Anonymous]

I went to UT Austin and have lived in Texas my entire life.

UT is the tale of two universities. It has extremely competitive programs in engineering, comp science, other STEM and business and Plan II. These kids have great classes and are top notch.

But, yes, it is auto admit and also it admits a lot of transfers of dubious quality. Some of these kids are not top scholar types.

It has a strong Greek life - for those lucky enough to get in.

I beg to differ on the quality of Austin. Austin is a phenomenal town. Great weather (if a bit hot), outdoorsy, great restaurants, tons of festivals, great sports...etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to UT Austin and have lived in Texas my entire life.

UT is the tale of two universities. It has extremely competitive programs in engineering, comp science, other STEM and business and Plan II. These kids have great classes and are top notch.

But, yes, it is auto admit and also it admits a lot of transfers of dubious quality. Some of these kids are not top scholar types.

It has a strong Greek life - for those lucky enough to get in.

I beg to differ on the quality of Austin. Austin is a phenomenal town. Great weather (if a bit hot), outdoorsy, great restaurants, tons of festivals, great sports...etc.

I mean I wasn't overly impressed by Austin. But to each their own.

[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.

How dare a public university fulfill its mission to educate residents of its state!!

DCUMers are so insufferable.

No one has a problem with that. Just acknowledging that requirement brings with it a compromise on in-state admission standards and overall student population. Not every top public is like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe the job market has been pretty strong in Austin for CS and engineering compared to other school local job markets. Having a lot of local employers improves internship opportunities.

The town is considered pretty cool.

The people I know who are excited about college in Texas don't want to live where it snows. Which rules out a ton of good schools.

You believe because it's not based on facts. I disagree.

That's fine. My company has a large presence there for these jobs (100s of employees) and I am aware of the college grad hiring market. It was pretty strong/competitive in Austin until about 2 years ago.

We are subject to the overall US slump now but that doesn't mean it will always be the case.

Plus if it's bad there this year, it's worse elsewhere. It's proportional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to UT Austin and have lived in Texas my entire life.

UT is the tale of two universities. It has extremely competitive programs in engineering, comp science, other STEM and business and Plan II. These kids have great classes and are top notch.

But, yes, it is auto admit and also it admits a lot of transfers of dubious quality. Some of these kids are not top scholar types.

It has a strong Greek life - for those lucky enough to get in.

I beg to differ on the quality of Austin. Austin is a phenomenal town. Great weather (if a bit hot), outdoorsy, great restaurants, tons of festivals, great sports...etc.

I mean I wasn't overly impressed by Austin. But to each their own.

Of course. But I do think that to know Austin is to love Austin and that a quick visit may not tell the story.

I should have also added that Ive had 3 kids who were auto admits to UT Austin and they all chose to go out of state. As you say, to each his own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to UT Austin and have lived in Texas my entire life.

UT is the tale of two universities. It has extremely competitive programs in engineering, comp science, other STEM and business and Plan II. These kids have great classes and are top notch.

But, yes, it is auto admit and also it admits a lot of transfers of dubious quality. Some of these kids are not top scholar types.

It has a strong Greek life - for those lucky enough to get in.

I beg to differ on the quality of Austin. Austin is a phenomenal town. Great weather (if a bit hot), outdoorsy, great restaurants, tons of festivals, great sports...etc.

I mean I wasn't overly impressed by Austin. But to each their own.

Of course. But I do think that to know Austin is to love Austin and that a quick visit may not tell the story.

I should have also added that Ive had 3 kids who were auto admits to UT Austin and they all chose to go out of state. As you say, to each his own.

What about Austin is truly unique and isn’t found elsewhere? I’m trying to understand why some people rave about it.

DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to UT Austin and have lived in Texas my entire life.

UT is the tale of two universities. It has extremely competitive programs in engineering, comp science, other STEM and business and Plan II. These kids have great classes and are top notch.

But, yes, it is auto admit and also it admits a lot of transfers of dubious quality. Some of these kids are not top scholar types.

It has a strong Greek life - for those lucky enough to get in.

I beg to differ on the quality of Austin. Austin is a phenomenal town. Great weather (if a bit hot), outdoorsy, great restaurants, tons of festivals, great sports...etc.

I mean I wasn't overly impressed by Austin. But to each their own.

Of course. But I do think that to know Austin is to love Austin and that a quick visit may not tell the story.

I should have also added that Ive had 3 kids who were auto admits to UT Austin and they all chose to go out of state. As you say, to each his own.

I'm in love with a beautiful stranger.

[Anonymous]

In the same manner UNC Chapel Hill didn’t strike me as special, but a typical flagship state school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

+100 Austin is fine but extremely overrated. There is nothing in Austin not found in Richmond. Nothing at UT not found at UVA. And the Texas landscape is very ugly compared to the mountains.

Let's not kid ourselves. Music, food, bars, and college sports are much, much better in Austin than in Richmond/Charlottesville.

Music Food and Bars is not a unique thing.

We have whole cities designed around the premise that this isn’t true.

[Anonymous]

People here are humorous or either really don’t like cities. The concept of not being able to see why Austin may be fun in college is so…weird?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the same manner UNC Chapel Hill didn’t strike me as special, but a typical flagship state school.

In your mind, what makes a University special?

[Anonymous]

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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.

+100 Austin is fine but extremely overrated. There is nothing in Austin not found in Richmond. Nothing at UT not found at UVA. And the Texas landscape is very ugly compared to the mountains.

Let's not kid ourselves. Music, food, bars, and college sports are much, much better in Austin than in Richmond/Charlottesville.

Music Food and Bars is not a unique thing.

That's why people like Toledo as much as New York, right?

Now you’re being obtuse comparing a huge city to a small city.

The point is all college towns have music, food and bars. Other urban cities in the south also are home to flagship universities. The University of South Carolina has SEC sports in an urban environment just like UT.

I don't think I'm being obtuse. The unstated assumption seems to be that any two places with music, food, and bars are roughly equivalent. (Why have a Michelin-starred meal in NYC when you can have Applebee's in Toledo, amirite?) The quality of of the music, food, and bars matters. Austin punches well above its weight in terms of cultural offerings. It has world-class music on a nightly basis as well as major music and film festivals and an F1 race. It's also well known for its food, particularly BBQ and Tex Mex (both of which are infinitely better than whatever iterations are available in the DMV). I know several people from the East and West Coasts who visit Austin recreationally. Do many people in New York or Boston take vacations in Richmond or Charlottesville?

Mind you, I think Charlottesville is pretty cool and Richmond is fine. But Austin offers certain things that they don't.

[Anonymous]

UT is not just like other state schools. UT Austin has the most valuable athletic department, revenue from 2.1 million acres of land (including oil and gas), the largest university art museum, the first photograph, one of only 21 extant Gutenberg bibles, papers of Woodward and Bernstein, Robert De Niro, Lorne Michaels, T.S. Eliot, Arthur Miller, Harry Houdini, etc., etc.

How many state schools can match these notable alumni?:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_University_of_Texas_at_Austin_alumni

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a third generation UT grad and I have to agree. I feel like I got my real education at my rigorous high school and spent four very fun years in Austin, where I had no career or academic counseling, my professors didn’t know who I was and was basically a number. I’ve been so much more impressed by several lesser ranked schools I’ve toured with my kids.

You get out of UT what you put into it. Like any large school. That said, I know I learned more at boarding school than I did my first few years at UT. Upper level classes were much better. This is probably the case at many schools. My dc goes to a lesser ranked though not small private and his relationships with his professors started his sophomore year. He has loved it too. I think it is just about preferences.

Which major? Which lower division UT classes did you not learn much from?