Best school--UT or A&M?

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by Scientific

It'll be a while before Texas gets this spot again. It has its cycles. A&M dominated the 90s. UT came back in the 2000s. And its A&M's turn again.

A&M dominated for a 10 year period in the mid-'80s to the '90s, but their blatant cheating got them put on probation and Sherrill fired - every school he coached for wound up getting spanked by the NCAA. He was a moral slug. RC wasn't much better.

Hopefully Sumlin won't go that route and keep A&M straight this time.

I enjoyed the Cotton Bowl butt-whoopin' of OU.

[debzkidz]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

I have a child at both. So I think there are good reasons to attend either.

I think UT's national reputation is exaggerated, at least from the perspective of getting a job. A&M was ranked #2 in the US behind Penn State in 2010 by national recruiters. UT did not make the top 25.

Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ.com

An engineer from either school will not have difficulty getting a job out of Texas.

The two schools/campuses have a vastly different feel to them. I think UT is more individual oriented, while A&M is more student body oriented. A&M is something like a giant fraternity, without the haughtiness of a fraternity. It is easier at UT to "be yourself" and ignore being a Longhorn if that's what you want to do.

I would take your child to an organized tour for prospective students. Let the university sell themselves to you. Don't go on campus and wander around. You need to learn the things you won't find out on your own. Of course each school has its strengths and weaknesses for specific degree programs.

I could not agree more. And make sure you do those tours while school is in session. My son had been on campus at A&M many times growing up, but always on a weekend, over the summer or holidays. He'd been to UT several times as well, during those same times. Thought he wanted to go to UT, but he applied to A&M just to make his dad (an Aggie) happy. Didn't really want to go there. However, once he actually visited on a regular school day, he completely changed his mind. He loved the students and their friendliness. Didn't even bother applying to UT.It just really depends on your daughter and she likes. A&M was a perfect fit for him and he loved his years in CS and misses it now that he's now in a professional school at one of the so called "Southern Ivies" in the southeast. For some kids it's A&M and for others it's UT. Both are great schools.

[rwr]

The Aggie Connection is still very alive and well. Our two recent graduates from TAMU both had
great jobs with Aggie -connected firms before their final semester at A&M. Am glad they went to A&M and it was worth every $ we and they spent. If you want a "usable" education you cannot beat A&M.

[debzkidz]

Also, in my earlier post I was speaking of my older son. My younger son looked at both schools as well. He preferred UT (much to his dad and brothers chagrin). He only applied to A&M to make dh happy. He got in A&M, and into his college of choice, which is a restricted major, but was not accepted to UT. Rather than attend A&M, he opted for the University of Arkansas, which gives good students from states bordering Arkansas in state tuition.

He was also accepted to OU and OSU but even with us being in state in OK, it was still cheaper in Arkansas. They also gave him another scholarship ($1,000 per semester for all 4 years). For his major it was a great choice and the campus and people are wonderful. Also, as another poster mentioned, look at the 2 big OK schools. Both OU and OSU have a huge number of Texas kids. I have been told by someone at OU that approximately 1/3 of their undergrad enrollment is from Texas. My kids were both accepted to both schools but they wanted to go out of state. Really don't rule out any out of state schools. My kids were offered all kinds of stuff by lots of them and they were not great students. They were in AP classes with decent grades, but they were nowhere near the top 10% of their classes, more like top 20%. However, they both had great ACT and SAT scores. Both my kids were offered in state tuition by schools like the University of New Mexico and even Ohio State. As a matter of fact, A&M was the only school that did not offer my kids good scholarships. Also, schools like Ole Miss have such low out of state tuition that it is more affordable than attending A&M or UT with in state tuition. We have a friend in Houston whose daughter chose Ole Miss and he told us it was cheaper than sending her to A&M.

Both A&M and UT are great schools as are many of the other Texas universities (Tech for example), I'm just saying that if your daughter is interested in schools outside Texas, don't think because you don't live in the state that you can't afford it.You might be surprised.

[88txaggie]

I can't WAIT for football season, y'all!!!!!! I know, I know, off topic but I can't help it. :-)

[Ag77845]

UT is a great party school, enjoy!

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by Ag77845

UT is a great party school, enjoy!

It sure is - seems like half our players get arrested down on 6th Street.