UT-Austin?

[Anonymous]

Any OOS experiences?

[Anonymous]

Big Greek Organizations rule UT. That's the social life. Otherwise, a good state school.

[Anonymous]

I went there. The few OOS students I knew had a tough time fitting in. About half of them ended up transferring out due to being unhappy. For better or worse, the Greek system still rules the social scene & it is almost impossible for an OOS student to get into one of the popular sororities or fraternities. I'd be very reluctant to send my own kids there and I'm a 3rd generation graduate.

[Anonymous]

I went there for grad school, so pretty different because there are plenty of people not from Texas in the graduate programs, which are generally top tier and draw from all over the country (at least in STEM).

That said, only 5% of the undergrads come from out of state, so your DC will be very much in the minority (and Texans, man, there is a special sort of state pride that comes with being a Texan). A lot of Texans wouldn't understand why a smart kid would have any desire to go anywhere else unless it was maybe Texas A&M (if their parents were aggies) or Rice.

There is also a policy that UT auto-admits 75% of its incoming class from the top certain percentage of the class coming from Texas high schools (usually it hovers around 7-8%). So regardless of where you go to high school, if you were in the top 7-8% (depending on the year), you are guaranteed acceptance to UT. This policy was meant to promote socioeconomic diversity, so that students coming from poorer (and often minority) backgrounds would have a chance at coming to the flagship state school (otherwise the school would be dominated by students coming from a handful of wealthy suburban districts from the Austin, Houston, and Dallas metro areas). The policy has mixed results; it means a lot of really smart kids coming from competitive high schools get shut out of UT and plenty of parents are bitter about it, and it also means that there are a lot of kids who come from small rural high schools or inner city schools who are really unprepared for college level work. But it does seem to improve socioeconomic diversity and having students a wide range of backgrounds coming to UT, which I think is generally a good thing. This means that the other 25% of the class is made up of out of state students, international students, athletic recruits, and people who get in under holistic applications (basically anyone who is not an auto admit). So you can imagine with that policy in place that it is pretty competitive to get in from out of state.

As far as Greek life goes, it is huge. Texans are cliquey, so it doesn't surprise me in the least that OOS students have trouble getting into popular fraternities or sororities. But when I was in grad school, I encountered all kinds of undergraduate students (I TAed several semesters and mentored undergraduate students in my lab), and a lot of them were completely disinterested in Greek life. With 30,000 undergrads, you can imagine that there are all kinds of people who attend UT, and people who don't the UT sorority girl stereotype can find their niche. It's huge and there are a lot of opportunities, and unless a student is incredibly motivated, it is very easy to get lost and have too much fun--Austin is a very fun city. It's easy to party too hard, and it's easy to slip through the cracks.

[Anonymous]

the other 25% of the class is made up of out of state students, international students, athletic recruits, and people who get in under holistic applications (basically anyone who is not an auto admit). So you can imagine with that policy in place that it is pretty competitive to get in from out of state.

this.

Not worth debating until you get in - then you can worry re: fit and whether you want to go.

[Anonymous]

go to A&M instead!

[Anonymous]

I went to UT Austin and loved it. I was OOS and met many others from OOS. I was not in a sorority and still had a blast. The professors are top notch.
Austin is a very liberal town, plenty to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went there for grad school, so pretty different because there are plenty of people not from Texas in the graduate programs, which are generally top tier and draw from all over the country (at least in STEM).

That said, only 5% of the undergrads come from out of state, so your DC will be very much in the minority (and Texans, man, there is a special sort of state pride that comes with being a Texan). A lot of Texans wouldn't understand why a smart kid would have any desire to go anywhere else unless it was maybe Texas A&M (if their parents were aggies) or Rice.

There is also a policy that UT auto-admits 75% of its incoming class from the top certain percentage of the class coming from Texas high schools (usually it hovers around 7-8%). So regardless of where you go to high school, if you were in the top 7-8% (depending on the year), you are guaranteed acceptance to UT. This policy was meant to promote socioeconomic diversity, so that students coming from poorer (and often minority) backgrounds would have a chance at coming to the flagship state school (otherwise the school would be dominated by students coming from a handful of wealthy suburban districts from the Austin, Houston, and Dallas metro areas). The policy has mixed results; it means a lot of really smart kids coming from competitive high schools get shut out of UT and plenty of parents are bitter about it, and it also means that there are a lot of kids who come from small rural high schools or inner city schools who are really unprepared for college level work. But it does seem to improve socioeconomic diversity and having students a wide range of backgrounds coming to UT, which I think is generally a good thing. This means that the other 25% of the class is made up of out of state students, international students, athletic recruits, and people who get in under holistic applications (basically anyone who is not an auto admit). So you can imagine with that policy in place that it is pretty competitive to get in from out of state.

As far as Greek life goes, it is huge. Texans are cliquey, so it doesn't surprise me in the least that OOS students have trouble getting into popular fraternities or sororities. But when I was in grad school, I encountered all kinds of undergraduate students (I TAed several semesters and mentored undergraduate students in my lab), and a lot of them were completely disinterested in Greek life. With 30,000 undergrads, you can imagine that there are all kinds of people who attend UT, and people who don't the UT sorority girl stereotype can find their niche. It's huge and there are a lot of opportunities, and unless a student is incredibly motivated, it is very easy to get lost and have too much fun--Austin is a very fun city. It's easy to party too hard, and it's easy to slip through the cracks.

This isn't completely accurate.

[Anonymous]

Here is the auto admit policy. Most state schools - anywhere - have predominantly in state students.
http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/freshmen/decisions/automatic-admission

[Anonymous]

UT is a nice school, but it is way dominated by Frat life.

[Anonymous]

I heard its a fun school and Austin is a happening place. Not sure about academics, my D is friends with twins one goes to her school and the other to UT Austin, that twin was not a great student so I am not sure if its considered to be much of an academic school however the kids seem to be really happy there!

[Anonymous]

Massive endowment. Ranks #3 in world (behind #1 Harvard & #2 Yale but ahead of #4 Stanford, #5 Princeton & #6 MIT).

[Anonymous]

I went there for one semester for a specific program. I liked the city but being from out of state was hard. I got really sick of the Texan superiority complex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:II got really sick of the Texan superiority complex.

I live in Texas now, moved from out of state, and I have to say - this is a real thing! And we LOVE living in Texas, and we now consider ourselves Texans, but it could easily go the other way.

There's a good chance your kid will either get sick of the "Rah Rah Texas!" thing, OR - they will become a lifelong Texan who never wants to leave! There doesn't seem to be a lot of in between.

The culture in Texas, even in metropolitan areas with a lot of transplants, is very unique. I've never seen so much state pride, it is just a very bizarre thing for people from other areas. we have really embraced it and enjoy it, but it is different for sure.

[Anonymous]

UT is a southern party school.