Trinity University (TX)

Trinity University (visited 9/19/22)

The main entrance to campus with the university sign, fountain, Admissions, and other buildings in the background.

Are you looking for a selective liberal arts university (accepting about 1/3 of applicants) with strong academics, great school spirit, Greek life, and some of the best athletic facilities for a school of its size? This is it.

Trinity has impressive facilities for a school of 2600 undergrads who have access to so much in and out of the classroom. “The students who ‘Arrive and Thrive’ like to take on the academics and be challenged. They’ll ask for help. They get involved. The ones who leave tend not to use the resources – and we have a lot of them here!”

One of the main fountains on campus.

Students come to Trinity for its location in San Antonio, the size, the diversity (both of students and faculty), the rigorous academics, and the opportunities outside of the classroom, particularly athletics. They’re known for their incredibly strong athletics and facilities for a DIII school, going to championships regularly and recently winning the national championship in basketball. “The most organic school spirit is for soccer,” said the tour guide. “It’s the one that students show up to just because, but students show up to a lot of sports. The school promotes football the most with tailgating.” Club sports also draw participants and spectators. “And it’s not just sports. Theater and music are popular, too. Students show up to support each other for these, too.” They put on three shows a year and a musical every couple of years. Music groups put on frequent concerts, usually in the chapel – and the university offers the Bachelors of Music degree in Composition, Performance, and Music Precertification which is unusual in that it’s a 5-year degree leading to the BM and an MAT/teaching certification.

The central tower

Because they have their act together, so to speak, the university has seen applications almost double since 2015 which reflects the fact that they’re becoming a known quantity; it helps that they don’t have an application fee and that they’re test optional. Only about 50% of applicants submitted scores in recent years; admission, scholarship distribution, and yield all stayed pretty much in line with this percentage. Merit Scholarships run from $12-32K/year based predominantly on the academic info such as grades and rigor. They have an incredible endowment; students we spoke to are happy with the scholarships and financial aid.

A seating area and fire pit outside one of the residence halls

The thing the tour guide likes is that Trinity met her where she was in the curriculum when she arrived on campus as a freshman: she came in with a lot of advanced computer science skills, so they placed in at the appropriate place in the curriculum rather than making her sit through classes and curriculum she’d already mastered. “It’s given me more flexibility to do things I’m really interested in and to move at my own pace.”

Their mascot is the Tiger; they used to have a live tiger (living at the zoo). These stuffed tigers hang out on the diving boards when not in use – just one form of school pride.

This is just one way they’re setting students up for success. They’ve done a great job keeping up with technology and updating facilities, including a large Maker Space. The students love “The Cube” which is a dynamic teaching space with movable walls, pods, and lots of technology. There’s funding for research for all fields, and about 80% of students will complete some form of research before graduating. Students regularly participate travel classes and other events that put their learning into the real world and allow for experiential, hands-on learning.

The Cube

It’s fairly common for students to double major (or at least have a minor). Students can create their own second major which comes with a couple caveats: it has to be interdisciplinary, must get approval from the faculty in the appropriate departments, and their other major must be one that’s pre-created. One student is currently majoring in International Sport Politics, combining languages, sports management, international relations, and more. Another counselor asked our tour guide if students can double major with or between “the big ones,” aka Engineering and Business. “Those would be really hard because they’re so structured. They can usually do it with math or physics. Most other majors are more flexible.”

A few programs to pay attention to that you may not find other places include Global Latinx Studies; Ancient Mediterranean Studies; Arts, Letters, & Enterprise (either a minor or a certificate); Business Analytics and Technology; Greek or Russian (major or minor); and American Intercultural Studies (minor).

Community is a big deal here; it’s a residential campus, and it shows in how students interact with each other. Dorms are great; none of them are traditional in the sense of having bathroom down the hall! We went into one which had one of the biggest rooms I’ve seen (complete with a walk-in closet!), and the tour guide said that this was relatively standard. They offer Gender Neutral housing (and campus overall “is incredibly LGBTQ friendly” according to the tour guide).

One of the many sculptures on campus.

They have strong Greek life on campus, but chapters are all locally (no national ones) which gives Trinity more control over rules and. We saw a bunch of kids walking around in their chapter t-shirts and learned that Monday is Greek Life T-shirt Day. Rush is a semester long which gives students a chance to acclimate to campus before deciding to pledge.

Campus is in a residential area of San Antonio, about 3 miles from downtown. There’s a lot that’s walkable around campus (restaurants, cafes, stores). I asked our tour guide about public transportation to get around the city since it’s not reasonable that students coming from a distance will have a car: “it isn’t a big thing here. It’s not really a bike friendly town, either, but a ton of people do have cars and people hitch rides with friends.” All students can have cars on campus; parking is just $75 a year.

I should note that despite the chapel being fairly central on campus, Trinity is currently affiliated with, but no longer run by, the Presbyterians who started the university in the mid-1800s. Campus had moved several times over the years (including taking over the failed University of San Antonio) but eventually purchased an old limestone quarry and built the current campus there and became known as the University on the Hill. At this point, they also agreed that they’d step away from being run by the church. They’ve done a beautiful job using the geographic features, building on and around the quarry; the current campus is stunning. The tower is a central feature on campus and the focus of a major tradition: students climb it at the end of orientation week and then again right before graduation (but not in between!). Other popular traditions are getting dunked in the fountain for your birthday and students dunking their class rings in the fountain.

One of the Cat Care stations around campus.

Fun fact: this is one of only two schools I’ve seen (the other being Southwestern in Austin) with feral cat colonies on campus. They have a Cat Alliance that takes care of them (unfortunately, people in town know this and will drop their cats here). Students have set up feeding stations and warm housing for the cats. They work on a kind of catch-and-release program in which they make sure the cats get fixed and have their shots but then let them live freely on campus.

Another interesting fact: they used to have a live tiger (which is their mascot) on campus. They’re within walking distance from the zoo, so the tiger was taken care of there.

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St. Edward’s University

St Edward’s University (visited 9/21/22)

The original Main building.

St. Ed’s is a hidden gem! This beautiful campus sits in a residential area overlooking downtown Austin. The school is part of the Congregation of the Holy Cross; Notre Dame is their sister school “to put it into context,” said the rep. In response to my question about how religious the school is, she said, “I know you’ve heard this a kazillion times, but we’re as Catholic as you want it to be which is a non-answer answer, I know. Mass is offered. There are service trips. It’s all there if students want it. If they aren’t interested, it’s by no means a requirement. The school uses the values to influence the day-to-day and long-term missions. We’re about ‘Educating the Mind and Heart’ but it’s important to bring in a diverse campus and support people of any background: socio-economic, religious, racial, whatever. We have over 30 religions represented on campus. We’re very LGBTQ+ friendly, we’re a Hispanic-serving institution, we’re pro-diversity and big on social justice. The idea is to let people think for themselves. We give them the tools to make a difference in the world.” The only religious requirement is one religious studies course within the Gen Ed core: there’s a slew of options like World Religions, Women in Religion, or Islamic Studies.

The Grotto which faces Notre Dame

The school prides itself on individual attention and the support they provide to students: in other words, this is like lots of other small private liberal arts institutions. They’re intentional about taking good care of students, including providing a tech-free “de-stress” lounge in the Fitness and Wellness center – with a nap pod, coloring books, and more! They currently enroll 2850 undergrads but may try to grow a bit. Ultimately, they’d like an incoming class of 700-750 but won’t go beyond that so students don’t get lost in the crowd. They’re also working on growing their out-of-state population which currently hovers around 18% (including international students). Campus is only about 15 minutes from the airport, and a good chunk of students have cars on campus.

The Austin Skyline from “The Hilltop” (campus) and the soccer field where the women’s soccer team was finishing practice.

Students tend to be drawn to the excitement of Austin, the 11^th largest city in the country, tends to be artsy, and has been voted Music Capital of the World. My tour guide was not from Texas and was glad he choose to come here. The campus sits in an interesting neighborhood with a mix of residential and retail depending on which side of campus you go to. Students can walk to things, but there’s also a bus stop right off campus that will take them downtown. “I appreciated the balance between campus and the city.” There are tons of industry, community service, entertainment, and food options. They have great connections to the business community for internships. One of the tour guides already had a job lined up for after graduation in September of her senior year.

Sustainability is a big deal here: student groups focusing in these areas are active with high numbers of involvement. They’ve increased composting on campus, have a garden, and even host campfires/s’more nights for students. “We have more trees than students on campus,” and they have an arborist on staff. It’s a very green campus: “It’s an oasis in Austin and a great place to focus.” The Soren Oak is a central part of campus: it’s said that the founder sat under the tree and determined that this was the place for the university. Students tap their ring on the oak for good luck.” The buildings are designed to be sustainable while holding onto the past: “Buildings tell the story of their history. They have a nice balance of the history but also preparing students for 21^st century careers and the world they’re taking on.”

One of the reps said that she was “shocked at the connections between staff and students; I felt I had that at my college, but it’s better and more common here. The tour guides talk about their faculty like they walk on water.” There’s a big focus on experiential learning with almost 97% complete something like internships or research; the goal is 100%. Research can happen quickly for students, and the teachers will point students in the right direction for areas they’re interested in. A well-known psych professor recommends that students walk up to their faculty members and ask what’s going on that they can be involved in. The average class size is 18 students, “but you’ll rarely see one with more than 23 or 24,” said another rep who came in to chat with us; she’s a St. Ed’s alumna and said that most of her class sizes were in the teens. “It is a little different now because we’ve grown a bit, but it’s not a significant change.”

This statue was moved the 2nd story of a building to prevent students from dressing it up.

St. Ed’s offers DII sports (unusual for a school this size) so they can offer scholarships, “but they aren’t huge; students aren’t going to get a full ride based on athletics.” I got to see the end of the women’s soccer practice when I got to campus a bit early for my tour; the team members were clearly bonded and enjoying what they were doing. Men’s soccer had stopped during Covid but is coming back. They offer a lot of the traditional varsity sports you’d expect, plus eSports (also DII) and Cheerleading (coed but not DII). Lacrosse is a Club sport.

Students tend towards being very social-justice minded, so Admissions like to see community service and a global-mindedness attitude (diversity) from applicants. “It’s definitely more collaborative than competitive here. We want to bring in people who will fit into the ethos.” The test-optional policy is going to continue going forward. If applicants submit scores, they’re going to take them into consideration, “but we aren’t going to let it hurt them.” They’re transparent about what this means, even posting an article on their website about getting into college and what it means to be test optional!

All majors have road-maps by Success Coaches and videos including alumni to talk about career paths. They offer a lot of strong options for students for majors and minors, including:

The interior of the library which has great supplies, games, and other things for students to use or check out.

• Theater is a huge one!! This is the only program that offers scholarships beyond the merit scholarships (these can be stacked). They get a BFA and earn their Actors Equity which is highly unusual!! People not in the major can audition to participate in performances.
• “Everything in the Tech Realm,” said the rep. She specifically wanted to point out:
  • Animation (BA rather than a BFA)
  • User Experience Design
  • Digital Storytelling and Content Creation!
• The sciences draw a lot of attention, especially Forensic Science, Forensic Chemistry , Behavioral Neuroscience, and Medical Lab Science.
• Keeping in line with their sustainability initiatives, they’re very strong in both Envi Sci/Policy and Environmental Biology & Climate Change.
• Not surprising due to their heritage, their Catholic Studies and Religious & Theological Studies programs are both worth noting.
• The business school offers a 3-day start-up event every year, and offer some specific programs such as Accounting Information Technology and International Business.

© 2022

Southwestern University

Southwestern University (visited 9/20/22)

This is the first school I’ve seen that has held a Pet Rock Beauty Contest as an activity!

Another fun fact: this is one of only two schools (the other being Trinity in San Antonio) with feral cat colonies on campus which students take care of. There are 3 “colonies” around campus; students have set up feeding stations and warm housing for the cats. They work on a kind of catch-and-release program in which they make sure the cats get fixed, have their shots, etc but let them live freely on campus. The cats are named (including one called Itty Bitty), and many of them will allow themselves to be pet once they build up trust. 

Although started by Methodists, there’s no religion requirement now.

Southwestern is one of the 44 schools (and 1 of 2 in Texas) on Loren Pope’s Colleges that Change Lives list – and, like all other CTCL schools I’ve seen, it lives up to the hype! When I speak with students from CTCL schools, I ask them how their school has changed their lives. Our tour guide was amazing with sharing her journey from almost not going to college to landing here. She had nothing but great things to say about the university, her peers, and her professors. She loves the smaller classes, knowing people’s names, and the fact that professors are really accessible. She said she’s gained a lot of confidence by being able to speak up in class, ask questions, and knowing that professors – and other students – all are looking out for each other. Professors pass along information about internship and research opportunities, on and off campus. Although they accept just under half of their applicant, this isn’t a cut-throat environment. “If you want to do something, you can make it happen here.”

Located just 20 minutes north of Austin in the college-town suburb of Georgetown, this beautiful campus gives students a home base with access to so much more than the size would imply. One of the reps said that “Georgetown has the small-town charm down” (they’ve won the title of “Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas”) — but it’s also growing quickly because of its proximity to Austin, the 11th largest city in the US and Live Music Capital of the world. There’s no shortage of arts, music, restaurants, and outdoor recreation options including Blue Hole, San Gabriel Park and river, and Lake Georgetown. They still pull a vast majority (about 88%) of their students from Texas which they’d like to change.  With such easy access to Austin, this should be more of a draw for students coming from outside Texas, and hopefully more people will start taking a look at it for both the location and the academic opportunities. The campus, location, and opportunities make it feel much larger than the 1,500 undergrad enrollment would seem to indicate. They’re doing a lot of things right here; retention rate between freshman and sophomore years is in the high 80% range, well above the national average.

Winners of the Pet Rock Competition

Founded in 1840, this is the first college founded in Texas, originally known as Texas University. However, in the 1870s, the state wanted to use this for the new school chartered in Austin so Southwestern ceded their name to UT Austin and became Southwestern University. The university owns 700 acres, but most of these aren’t developed. They have a Learning EcoLab used by many classes to study water quality, restoration techniques, and other sustainability and environmental work. The campus is currently using 100% renewable-energy (mostly wind power).

Despite its long history, Southwestern is rightfully proud of their “21^st Century academic model” that provides an adaptable curriculum “designed to give students agency.” Their signature program, Paideia, is Southwestern’s interdisciplinary, flexible model to education because they believe that everything is connected. They want students to approach learning in a collaborative way that emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of things. As part of the Core, students have to show competency through the 3^rd semester of a language; in addition to most of the modern European languages, students can also study Greek, Chinese, and Latin. They allow students to design their own major, and they have a number of interdisciplinary minors such as Early Modern Studies, Design Thinking, Latin American & Border Studies, and Health Studies.

I was impressed, as well, with their Music Department which offers several programs leading to the Bachelor of Music degree – performance, music education, composition, and literature. Although this isn’t a full-on Conservatory as one would think of like at Oberlin or Lawrence, this is a well-respected program. Students who are musically inclined would do well here, particularly if they aren’t sure if they only want to do music or are looking to major in something else and keep up with ensembles as an extra-curricular. 

Southwestern has a 2-year residency requirement, but 80% of students live on campus all 4 years. Anyone can have a car; parking is $200 a year. They have one dining hall as well as The Cove (a grill) for late-night and a 24/7 marketplace. They have 8 IFC and NPC fraternities and sororities withs some housing (but only for frats! … apparently the sororities aren’t allowed group housing. Boo!) on the edge of campus. About 30% of students participate in Greek Life, but like most other schools, we were told that Greek life doesn’t dominate the social scene. We got the usual refrain of, “It’s there if you want it, but easy to ignore if you don’t.” Rush is deferred until spring which the tour guide thought was a good idea. “You already have a friend group so there’s no real social reason to join other than if you want to do it – and we all have friends in and out of Greek life. Between groups, too.”

Their DIII teams play in the SCAC; they have some championship Club teams (lax won several before becoming a varsity sport for men – the women are still a club sport; their handball club team also does really well). Handball, however, is DII, and they’re nationally ranked. They also have a really popular Blackout Dodgeball intramural. Trinity (in San Antonio) is their big rival. Football, basketball, and women’s soccer pull in the most fans. Rumor is that they invented Homecoming? I don’t know what that’s based on (and it seems to be contested/claimed by a few other schools around the country as well, so take that for what it’s worth).

© 2022

University of Texas – San Antonio

University of Texas – San Antonio (visited 9/19/22)

Their mascot, the Roadrunner.

UTSA was a pleasant surprise – I can see why the students love it here. Although this is a massive state school (it’s the largest physical campus in the UT system but only mid-sized in population with about 30,000 students), they’ve been intentional in creating ways to make it feel smaller. There are multiple Community Building events, and the students engage. “They say yes to the opportunities they’re given. It takes both the school and the student to make this work,” said a rep. “We take care of our students. For example, we have the First Gen center; all staff are trained to assist them and what resources they may need. We’re great with First Gen and Dreamers, but we should do more for our Hispanic and other underserved populations,” said the rep. She said that this is a little ironic since the university is classified as Hispanic-Serving with almost 60% of the students self-identifying as Hispanic/Latinx. “We don’t yet have a resource center for out-of-state students, but it might be in the works. Most of them live on campus, though, which helps.”

Housing is “a great way to get plugged in. Living on campus builds community. I hear from students that they like the balance of building relationships and having autonomy.” Students never have to live on campus, but it is recommended. About half of first-year students live on campus, choosing from six communities on campus. There are also several special-interest housing options, as well, including Science, Business, Data Science, First Gen, Leadership & Service, Spanish-Speaking, and Honors. Housing is first come, first served with options opening in February. There’s no hard final deadline, but they set an initial deadline in late April/May 1.

Part of “Little San Antonio”

The Student Union is important a central hub to bring together all students, resident and commuter. Although there’s a central building, it also extends out into campus, including a plaza with a fountain and “Little San Antonio.” This area is set up like a pedestrian mall: it feels like a small town with stores, barbers, coffee shops, etc. “It’s one of my favorite places on campus. We’re really innovative here. The school is always growing and doing new things. It’s listed in the Top 5 places to work in the state,” the rep told me, and said that she sees why. There are a ton of food options all over campus including a huge food court in the library; it was packed at 3:45 when I walked through. Students like the food. “It rotates a lot.”

“This is one of the most fun campuses I’ve ever been to. There’s always something going on and always ways to get involved,” said the tour guide. “Once a year, we take over the highway; it gets closed down for Midnight Light which ends Welcome Week.” Students also love to go to Six Flags which is practically across the street (the main entrance is technically about 2 miles away because it’s on the far side of the park away from campus); they have nights only open to UTSA students. There’s a bit of a sports culture here; “It’s not rah-rah like the big southern schools, but it’s there.” Football is the big draw for sports; Texas State is the main rival. 

The fountain in the main plaza outside the Student Union.

There’s a lot to say about San Antonio as a city. The university has built strong partnerships with the city, and they do a lot of community outreach, utilize the resources, and has integrated into the city: “We’re the working epitome of what it means to be a state school serving the people around us. We have a campus on the West side and partnerships on the East. We’re always expanding out into the city.” Students and staff get free city bus passes: “people use it a lot.” Campus is only about 20 minutes to the airport, making it easy for students coming from a distance. There are also “tons of businesses in town that love bringing in students for internships. NASA loves us!” San Antonio is also a big military town so it’s not surprising that the university’s ROTC programs (Army and Air Force) are strong, as is their military support center. The Office of Military Affairs works with current and prospective military students and provides a space for community-building. They even offer a Strategic Leadership and Defense major.

Beyond this, students definitely are drawn here for the academic programs.

• The Honors College, with a total of about 1700 students, is one of the best I’ve seen. “It’s modeled on the elite colleges and is experiential,” the rep told me. If applicant meet the requirements, they’ll be invited to join and will have access to scholarships – in fact, Honors gives out more scholarships than the Athletics department does! First year students live in the Honors College hall, providing another community. They take 4 required classes as part of the college, although one is a Comp class which they’d have to take anyway; the others are Honors 101 (meeting 1x a week), Topics in World Cultures, and Civic Ethos). Students in any major can participates in Honors, including all online degree programs except Cybersecurity.
• They’re particularly well known for Cybersecurity (top in the country), Cyber Intelligence, Applied Cyber Analytics, Hospitality and Events Management, and Microbiology & Immunology,
• The Business School is strong. Several majors above are housed in this school, and they also offer things like Real Estate Finance & Development, Operations & Supply Chain Management, and Actuarial Science.
• They offer Multidisciplinary Studies and Multidisciplinary Science (basically a build-your-own) degrees. Students can apply for this coming in as freshman; “It’s not a difficult process.”
• Architecture (BS, not BArch), Interior Design, and Construction Science & Management are housed in the Engineering and Integrated Design School.
• They have a strong partnership with UT Health San Antonio that allows students to participate in accelerated programs in areas like dentistry, nursing, optometry. When students interested in these areas come into UTSA, they apply for a science major and will meet with Career Services to set forth a plan. They’ll finish their degree at UTHSA and, upon completion, they get two degrees: one in Multidisciplinary studies from UTSA and one from UTHSA.

There are lots of ways to save time and money here: “This is one of the more affordable public institutions in Texas.” Out-of-state tuition is just under $18,000 which is the same as some students’ in-state options. The Financial Success Team will work with any family to help with the FAFSA or other things (“and are particularly helpful with First Gen families,” said the rep). Students can apply for their competitive scholarships through the Scholarship Hub which opens in October of the prior year – and they can access this as soon as they submit their application! Any scholarship they earn can be stacked with merit scholarships awarded by the admissions office. Additionally, students can get Texas residency after 12 consecutive months of living here which saves about $12,000 a year. Students can stay on campus to take classes, do internships, etc. through the summer to earn residency status.

In terms of admissions to the university, the top 25% of their high school class are automatic admits except for Architecture and Engineering which have their own set of admission requirements. Others go to a holistic review with at least 2 people reading applications. They recommend that students submit the essay and rec letters. Although they do rolling admissions, the priority deadline is Jan 15 for admission and scholarship distribution. For schools that don’t rank or list it on the transcript, the counselor can send the ranking separately in writing. Test scores are still recommended for scholarships; some majors (like engineering and business) still look at those, particularly if a student’s rank doesn’t qualify them for automatic admission.

© 2022

Rice University

Rice University (visited 9/21/22)

One student told us, “This university has given me more than I could’ve imagined.”

Rice took me (and many other counselors I spoke to) a bit by surprise, and not always in the best of ways. In terms of facilities, the 300-acre campus is more wooded than we thought, and we learned that there are more trees on campus than students. Campus is absolutely beautiful with great resources; it’s easily walkable, but “scooters are a thing here,” said the tour guide, and shuttles are available. Students get free unlimited access to the metro around the city (which attracts students due to NASA, the world’s largest medical center, and more). However, in terms of students, many of us were underwhelmed during the Counselor Visit Day. The students were scripted, the information we got from them was superficial, and none of us felt like we walked away “wowed” by them.

Permanent tents with murals painted by students.

Short of asking incredibly pointed questions, we didn’t get much from them that helped make Rice Distinct. For example, we got a lot of “I took a Spanish class in this building” comments (comparing notes with other counselors on different tours, this seemed to be a thing; we were wondering if they were instructed to do this, maybe as a way to “humanize/personalize” the tours; it fell flat). We walked by some really cool and unusual things that were totally ignored by the tour guides until we specifically asked. One of these were a row of permanent tents with amazing murals on the side. I asked the tour guide to explain what was going on there, and she finally got really animated and started gushing about how a couple years ago, there was a design challenge. The murals were all student done! The see-saws in front were also a student initiative. The tents, put up during covid, are likely going to stay for the foreseeable future because of the artwork and the increased space it provides for classes and student events. Another example was the giant mound and art museum that the guides just walked past without talking about, yet it’s an unusual architectural feature and amazing space for artwork, student and other gatherings, etc.

Another student mural

Like many universities in recent years, Rice has seen a spike in application numbers; their apps are up 74% over the last 5 years. They’ve recently made the decision to grow the undergrad student body by 20% with the ultimate goal of enrolling 4,800 students by Fall 2025. “We’re doing this thoughtfully and deliberately so we don’t water down the experience. We’re going to add 50 full time instructional faculty during this time, as well.” Currently, they’re enrolling about 50%; the number of Texas residents has fallen in the last few years from 42% to 36%, replaced by more international students.

The Rice Investment, one of the nation’s most generous financial aid initiatives, was instituted in 2019. For students coming from families with incomes of $75K or below, their grant covers full tuition, fees, and R&B; families making $75-140K get a full tuition grant; for those making $140-200K, it’s a half tuition grant. However, they take into account both the FAFSA and CSS profile, knowing that cost of living for their area, number of family members, etc will play into what they can afford. Almost ¾ of the students graduate debt-free.

Part of the main academic quad that you’ve probably seen in Rice’s literature/website.

Admissions has moved to a regional territory management system “to help humanize the process,” said the Dean. Two people do the initial read of each app – one looking more at academics, the other a more qualitative overview – before having a dialogue in real time. After that, the app moves to additional evaluations. They’ve extended their Test-Choice policy through 2024; self-reported scores (including AP scores to be used during the admission review) are acceptable from students wishing to submit. They offer ED but not EA – but it’s important to know that the Shepherd School of Music has its own deadline. Applicants interested in Visual and Dramatic Arts (that’s one major!) may submit a portfolio of creative work which should demonstrate creative potential.

Students are drawn to the flexible distribution system; there’s no core curriculum here. However, on the application, students must indicate both their School of interest and up to 3 majors/areas they’re drawn to in — which do not all need to be in the school they indicated, although usually the first major is in that school. “Students may truly be undecided, but they should still indicate areas of interest to give us a sense of how they’re leaning. They should use the essay to explain where they are – what they’re thinking, what’s going on right now.” It’s important to note that once admitted, “they’re a Rice Student. They’re admitted to the university. They aren’t bound to the major they indicated, and in fact, don’t declare their major until sophomore year.” Approximately 40% of Rice students end up with a Double Major.

The Bull statue on one side of the Business School main doors; the Bear statue is on the other side.

Rice has 7 undergraduate schools: engineering, architecture, music, business, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. New or notable majors/programs include:

• An undergraduate Business Major. For years, the only business degrees offered were in the Graduate school. Now, undergrads can major in it with finance and management concentrations.
• Architecture: They do things a little differently here; our tour guide was an Arch major. Students first complete a BA in Architecture studies (and can graduate with their class at the end of this time). In their senior year, they apply for the BArch program; in the 5^th year, they complete an year-long internship before returning for their last academic year for the BArch and take their licensing exams.
• Financial Computation and Modeling
• Medical Humanities
• Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations (students majoring in this are encouraged to study abroad in Sofia, Athens, or Rome where Rice has ties with several universities).
• Sport Analytics is within the School of Social Sciences in partnership with Engineering.
• Operations Research Major within Computational and Applied Math/Operations Research, school of Engineering
• Rice has ended the participation in the Rice/Baylor Med Scholars Program.

Rice ranks in the Top 20 for campus dorms – and they’re incredibly proud of their Residential Colleges which are the “heart and soul of the community,” said one of the reps. Students are highly tied to their college to the point where they’ll say their affiliation before where they’re actually from (like hometown). I was chatting with a student as we were waiting for the info session to start; her nametag had a random name on it and she kept saying that when I asked her where she was from. I finally figured out that this was her dorm; during the info session, it became clear why!

This is the really unusual art space that the tour guides pretty much ignored on our tour until we specifically asked about it; I wish we could’ve gone in – there’s both an upper and lower level to it, and I’ve never seen another things like this on a college campus!

“We’re known for a culture of care, and we nurture this on campus. The Res Halls have their own colors, traditions, and competitions against other colleges.” One of the favorite traditions is the President’s Cup, an intramural level competition between the Colleges. This is highly participation-based. Incoming students are randomly assigned to 1 of the 11 colleges (and they’re looking to add one more as part of their expansion). However, students are “encouraged” to live off campus for at least a year, usually during sophomore or junior year (many of whom will do study abroad during this time). They do have “senior privileges” if they want to come back on for senior year.

A couple other social/extracurricular things we learned about: All Greek parties are public, and they’re the smallest school in the country with DI football – “and we really aren’t all that good at it.”

© 2022

University of Texas, Austin

UT – Austin (visited 9/20/22)

The MLK statue with the iconic tower in the background

UT Austin is doing something very right! They have a 97+% freshman retention rate (and almost an 88% 6-year graduation rate) which is almost unheard of, particularly for schools of this size. “Students want to be here and are excited about it,” said one of the admission reps. During orientation (which is mandatory), students are placed into 360 Connection groups of 20-25 students, each built around First Year Interest Groups (FIG) along with an upper class mentor and a faculty member in their major. They’ll participate in some orientation activities as a group and register for some of the larger foundation classes together, usually taking 2 or 3 of the same classes. This creates a built-in study group; they’ll continue to meet once a week through the semester to address issues that inevitably come up like, Where to go when I get sick/homesick/ am struggling in classes? or, How do I get around Austin?

The Welcome Center and the Yellow Brick Road

Students who want hustle-and-bustle, rah-rah athletics, and being in a fairly major city are going to love this campus. I was surprised when I drove into Austin to see just how much this is really a downtown campus – you come right off the highway onto campus in the middle of the city. Campus has the feel you’d expect of a university this size (40,000 undergrads/51,000 total enrollment). There’s a ton of activity and swarms of students. Students must be ok with navigating a huge area, throngs of people, and large lecture halls (although 60% of classes have 30 or fewer students) – but they also have the benefit of all the benefits of a city and the options that come with a huge school. Austin has been ranked Best Place to Live, the Music Capitol of the World, and #1 Boom Town with companies like Facebook, Google, Apple, and Dell. There’s no shortage of opportunities for jobs, internship, entertainment, and off campus housing. Students even get $100 in Lyft credit each month to help with job placements or to get back to campus at night and don’t want to walk by themselves.

There’s no residency requirement, and fewer than 20% of students live on campus. That still equates to over 7000 beds available in 14 residence halls, the biggest of which houses 3000 students which is a bit mind-boggling. There are 3 all-you-care-to-eat dining halls on campus, and the students I spoke to said they liked the quality (although “it’s pretty standard campus food”) and the variety. Students get $600 in Dining Dollars for the grab-and-go or standalone food places. The money rolls over from first to second semester but not year to year.

Because they just joined the Common App, they’re expecting a boom in applications. A few things to keep in mind regarding Admissions:

One of a couple pools on campus available for students.

• They DO NOT recalculate GPA.
• They only look at transcripts to the end of Junior Year: “Don’t bother sending a mid-year/first quarter grades!”
• Their holistic review comes down to minutia including triangulating info: they’re looking for what you’ve done to show you’re a fit for the major. “If a kid is applying for Physics, I’m not going to get bent out of shape about a B in Russian. I’m looking for fit: not just aptitude but their attitude towards it, what they’re going to be like in the classroom, etc.”
• The essay gets redacted: “We have no access to it,” said the rep. They will take an optional resume, but “students should absolutely put things into their three short answers if it’s important for us to see it.”
• Test Scores are going to be required again starting for applicants starting in 2024. “They’re great in some respect but … really what else is the person showing? We know they aren’t the end-all in the big picture. In the meantime, they might be helpful right now if you think they can help offset Covid grades.”
• The Priority deadline means students can get their admission decision up to a month earlier, but it is not binding nor does it provide any advantage in the review process.
• By law, the student population must be 90% Texas residents. Out-of-State applicants are considered their own pool, not compared to in-state students.
• Although originally chartered to admit the top 10% of Texas graduating classes, demographics have exploded. “We physically can’t accommodate all qualified students, so we now admit the top 6%.” This translates into becoming a little more competitive, but “we’ve had a slightly higher admission rate for out-of-state students: the vast majority of Texas residents apply; the vast majority of the rest of the country doesn’t apply to Austin. Non-Texas residents also yield at lower rates than Texas students because of the cost differential; we’re much more expensive for non-Texas residents!” They do not have state or school quotas during review.
• They also don’t provide as much merit money because they earmark it for the neediest TX residents.

Students apply directly into their major. The admissions rep said, “Be aware that a full 2/3 of the applications (40K/60K apps every year) are for majors in 3 of our 11 schools: Engineering, Business, and Natural Sciences. Clearly those are going to be our most competitive.” Texas residents will be reviewed for a second (and possibly a third) choice of major, out-of-state students will ONLY be reviewed for their first choice (except in a few rare instances).

The football stadium is right on campus (and shows how much campus is part of the city of Austin).

Their schools and some information to know/majors of note include:

• School of Geoscience: graduate classes can be available to undergrads.
• Architecture: This school only admits students to start in the fall semester. Students can earn the 5-year BArch or study Architectural History, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Historic Preservation, Community and Regional Planning, and Sustainable or Urban Design. 
• The School of Information is newer and mostly offers graduate and dual degree programs. Informatics is the major undergrad offering here.
• Nursing is a Direct Entry program and is ranked #15 in the country.
• Engineering has all the typical majors you’d expect, as well as Geosystems and Hydrology, Architectural Engineering, and Petroleum Engineering. They also have minors or certificates in Humanitarian Engineering, Material Science, and Sustainable Energy.
• Business: students don’t need to declare a major up front. Students can also enter as Undeclared in Natural Sciences, Communications, and Liberal Arts.
• The Natural Sciences school offers everything you’d expect with a few additional things to take note of:
  • Pharmacy: Students come in as Pre-Pharm majors within Natural Sciences. The Pharm school is ranked #7 in the country.
  • The Textiles and Apparel department is housed in this school.
• In Liberal Arts, they have some unusual majors such as Race, Indigeneity & Migration and Human Dimensions of Organization. The Asian Cultures and Languages Degree offers specializations in unusual languages such as Sanskrit, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi/Urdu.

It’s often possible to change majors once at UTA, but it’s important to know that transferring into the difficult majors is not guaranteed even if all requirements are fulfilled. For example, they only took 60% of qualified internal applicants into their Business school last year. However, “it’s very easy to double major and minor across schools,” said the Dean of Admission. They also offer several interdisciplinary programs across schools such as Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies or Leadership. “Schools can feel like individual trees, but they are not!”

As an R1 institution, many undergrads have access to opportunities. There’s a database which “is like a help-wanted board,” said one of the students: they can search based on coursework completed, interests, location, etc. “We have the largest freshman research program in the country,” said a rep. Students we spoke to said that they also like that they can even go abroad for internships, and certainly for study away opportunities.

© 2022

University of Houston

University of Houston (visited 9/20/22)

This is the first campus I’ve seen that has self-driving food delivery systems! These adorable “coolers on wheels” will scoot around campus guided by GPS, first to whatever place the food was ordered from and then to deliver it the student. Once orders are place, they light up and go into action; we were asking some students if they really got used, and in the few minutes we were talking, two powered up and went off, and one student came up to retrieve her food from a third so we got to see how they worked. The kids, not surprisingly, LOVE these! “We see them moving around campus all the time! They’re kind of funny to watch: they sometimes bump into things but often are pretty good about navigating, and people get beeped at if they don’t move out of the way quickly enough.”

Before getting the chance to go to Houston for a conference, I hadn’t done any research into UH so I didn’t realize how massive it was – or how much there was to do in the city itself. I’m surprised that more people aren’t drawn here for the city and all it offers. Houston, the 4^th largest city in the US, has the largest medical center in the world, is classified as the “Energy Capital of the World,” has 24 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city – and they have NASA/the Johnson Space Center.

Surprisingly, this ranks as the 2^nd most diverse public university in the US. Although they’re classified as a Hispanic-serving institution (37% self-identifying as Hispanic), that doesn’t tell the whole story of the diversity on campus: only about half of the students are traditional college-aged students; there are more than 45 languages spoken by students; 46% of students are First Gen. However, this is a public institution that’s almost exclusively Texas residents with only about 6% coming from outside the state (including other countries) – although given the size of Texas, maybe that’s not too surprising.

Although classified as a commuter campus, “don’t let that scare you away; no matter what, the campus is always full,” said one student. He went on to explain that the commuter status takes into account the two satellite campuses in Sugar Land (a variety of programs: Liberal Arts, Social Work, Education, Business, nursing, and tech) and Katy (mostly Nursing and Engineering classes) which have no dorms. The University of Houston system is one of several public institutional systems in Texas, entirely separate from the UTs. UH (including the 2 satellites) is the main campus. The 3 stand-alone universities in the system are UH Clear Lake, UH Victoria, and UH Downtown.

There are more than 8,000 students who live on the main campus which provides for a vibrant residential life – and to put it into context, more people live on campus than many other colleges and universities have in total population. One student we talked to said, “I loved freshman housing because we were surrounded by other first years. There was relatability. I saw them in classes, too, and we had study buddies.” Another student said, “People are pretty chill. It’s easy to meet people here.”

Because of some of these factors, the university has something of a regional feel. To help counteract some of that, they’re offering a tuition waiver for out-of-state students; to qualify, applicants must be a new student from outside of Texas who has applied by the priority 11/1 deadline (which is also the scholarship priority deadline). They must also qualify for/receive $1000 in school scholarships. This is a great opportunity, saving students over $12,000 a year in tuition. They’ve also implemented UHin4, a program that helps students graduate on time (4 years) and includes an option for fixed tuition.

Academics got high accolades from students (and this is backed up with rankings – 17 programs are ranked in the Top 50): “I feel like I’ve never felt as challenged as I have been here,” one said. Another raved about internships and other opportunities: “The number of opportunities here, like for research, is amazing. I think I got 6 emails today just from the Psych department telling us about things we can do. We don’t have to go out and find things. They really plug research and internships; it’s in our emails.”

Some majors are only offered on specific campuses, but many are offered on 2 or all 3. “Sometimes students will register for a class on another campus just because of scheduling purposes like if they’re working around practices or they want a night class instead of early morning,” said one student. Some students drive, but they can also take the shuttles (which run every 15 minutes) between campuses to avoid having to worry about parking.

A few programs to pay attention to here are:

• Hospitality: They have a Hilton on campus (not a coincidence that the College is named for the Hiltons) that students help to run. The program is strong enough to compete with Cornell’s. This is one of the smallest colleges in the university with just under 700 undergrads; more than 90% of students have a job upon graduation. In addition to the Global Hospitality Management bachelor, they offer a minor in Beverage Management, a Certificate in Hospitality Analytics and Decision Making, and an intensive summer experience at the Culinary Institute of America.
• Nursing is not direct entry; students complete their first two years at the main campus completing pre-reqs before applying to complete the BSN at the Katy campus.
• The Business School offers a massive number of options for the students, and the city allows for any type of internship they might want. They offer some interesting, niche minors to allow students to really build a program they’re interested in, including Cross-Border Trade and Transport Security, Applied Innovation, and Risk Management and Insurance.
• The School of the Arts covers both Fine and Performing arts, including some interdisciplinary minors. Music Therapy is housed here, too.
• The Architecture school offers the 5-year BArch as well as other majors including Environmental Design major and a World Cities minor.

UH brings in about 5,500 new freshman every year as well as a lot of transfer students for a total student body of just over 39,000 undergrads. They get about 47K applications a year, accepting almost 2/3 of them. About 60% of accepted students rank in the top 20% of their class. In the 2021-22 cycle, just over half didn’t submit test scores. Without test scores, students are assured admissions if they’ve ranked in the Top 10% of their class OR ranked in the top 25% with at least a 3.4 GPA. Students ranking in the top 26-50% and have at least a 1170 SAT or 24 ACT are assured admission. For all other students, they make decisions based holistically. There are a few extra admission requirements for students interested in Architecture, Fine Arts, Business, Engineering, Tech Programs, and Nursing.

© 2022

Texas State University

Texas State University (visited 9/19/22)

Fun fact: this is the only university in Texas to have graduated a US president (LBJ).

Texas State is a beautiful, hilly campus with both a traditional, central section and part that’s integrated into the streets around it. San Marcos is a great college town that caters to the students (“You have to check out Herbert’s Taco Hut!” said one of the students). The high accessibility (85% acceptance rate) and affordability (Tx residents pay about $20k; out-of-state students pay about $33k before scholarships or aid) makes this a great option for students looking for a large university with all the options it provides. With 33,000 undergraduates (and surprisingly few graduate students compared to other large schools in the state system), they’re doing a lot of things well here!

Like many of the Texas public schools, this is classified as a commuter campus, but don’t let that scare you away. They have about 6500 beds on campus which means they’re accommodating about 20% of the undergrads – and this helps to make it feel more like a medium-sized school. Students told me that they liked the dorms; there are a bunch to choose from, including several LLCs or other interest housing. Most first-year students live on campus, so they’re easily integrating into the community, making friends, and getting their feet under them. However, this is an area they’re continuing to focus on; they’re just under an 80% retention rate which they’d like to improve (although they’re safely above the national average).

“This is a really cool campus,” said an alum I spoke to. “It’s amazing to have the [San Marcos] river flowing through campus” (although technically the river runs along one side). “You’ll see students tanning and hanging out. We have a tradition called “River Jump” – students will jump into the river in caps and gowns at graduation.” They use this for academic research in addition to recreation.

Academics are worth looking at: the fact that they’re one of the highest producers of Fulbright Scholars speaks volumes for what they’re doing. Typical for such a large school, they’re able to offer students a vast array of options, including both top-notch programs and niche majors and minors that you won’t find many other places. Some of the programs particularly worth mentioning are:

• Minors in Values Studies and in Mariachi: I haven’t seen another school offering either of these! Other relatively unusual minors include: Southwestern Studies, Aging and the Life Course, Nature and Heritage Tourism, Environmental Interpretation (think Park Ranger!), Sports Psych, Medical Humanities (great for pre-med students!), Forensic Psych, Diversity Studies, and Water Resources Policy.
• Wildlife Biology, Aquatic Biology, and Geography Water Resources are all highly regarded/ranked here.
• The Fine and Performing Arts (both BFA and BA options) “are top of the line!”
  • Music (BM) performance; they have an Opera minor.
  • Theater with concentrations in Acting, Technical Production, Film Production, and more.
  • Musical Theater
  • Dance
  • Studio Art with concentrations in metals, sculpture, expanded media, communications design, ceramics, and more. Students in this major have to spend 3 years in residency at the university!
• Business and Management in a variety of forms are some of their well-known/well-regarded programs. They have quite a few areas worth looking into such as Agriculture Business Management, Health Info Management, Health and Fitness Management, Consumer Affairs. Concrete Industry Management, although technically in the Dept of Engineering Tech, is a great niche program.
• Radiation Therapy, Respiratory Care, and Nursing. Nursing is not direct entry; students apply in Sophomore year. For most of the medical programs, students complete the first 2 years at the San Marcos campus and finish in Austin (Nursing) or the Round Rock campus.

One of the theaters on campus

Greek life is fairly popular here, but it doesn’t run the social scene. Athletics are less “a thing” than at a lot of other big schools – however, the games are attended and provides some of the weekend activities and bonding. Their big athletic rival is UTSA. Games against them are called The Battle of I-35 (after the highway that runs between the 2 cities) and are usually well attended.

© 2022

University of Houston – Clear Lake

University of Houston – Clear Lake (visited 9/23/22)

Want to attend a college where you can walk to NASA, the Johnson Space Center, or the Lunar Planetary Institute? What about where you can join a group to complete a Space Challenge in which you’re told, “You’re on this planet and have these specific supplies. Can you survive?” … and you have to figure it out?

Founded about 50 years ago as a training school for the aerospace industry, UHCL still has close connections to NASA and to Johnson Space Center, located right down the road. Although the university offers a lot more than just these academic fields, it’s not surprising that many students are drawn here because of the connections. NASA hires many graduates in areas including computer science and management along with fields more closely associated with the space program … and there are at least 10 UHCL grads who have gone on to be astronauts.

With only about 6500 undergrads and a 478-acre campus (much of which is a wildlife and nature preserve), this has the small community feel of a private school with the benefits of a public institution in the University of Houston system. The state of Texas has several public systems – not all of which are UTs. The UH system is one entity separate from the UT system — UHCL is distinct from the University of Houston (but run by the same Board of Regents as UH). All of these schools have separate admission requirements. During the Info Session for the counselors visiting the school, an admission reps told us that there are some definite benefits to attending UHCl instead of UH, one of which was the accessibility: UHCL has about an 80% acceptance rate, partly because it’s newer. Other advantages include cheaper tuition, parking that’s less expensive and easier to find (only $90 at UHCL vs $500 at UH where parking isn’t guaranteed), and students aren’t going to get lost in the crowd here.

Housing options are increasing with continued plans to keep improving in this area; this had been entirely commuter campus until the first res halls were built 3 years ago – so the new facilities are state of the art. Hunter has 298 beds in private singles, shared singles, and double rooms connected to a suite restroom area. These students all are on the Meal Plan. They’re offering a scholarship for new and transfer students who choose to live here. They also have apartments (furnished or unfurnished) which are pet friendly and with clubhouse and pool access. These have kitchens so no meal plan is required. However, this remains primarily a commuter at this point, but they have plans to continue building dorms, increasing food options, and doing more to make this more of a residential campus within the next 5-10 years. Lots of students love in apartments nearby (there’s plenty of housing) and even commute in from Houston, about 30ish minutes (without traffic) to downtown Houston. There is some public transportation such as buses to the Park and Ride and shuttles from there (also an option in the other direction for students wanting to get off campus and go into Houston for the day whether for recreation or for jobs/internships).

They’re passionate about education but also about connecting students with industry to give them hands-on experience for jobs and grad school. Adjuncts are industry leaders who are current on trends and opportunities. The largest class students MAY get is about 100 students, “but that’s rarely the case,” said the tour guide. There’s one lecture hall on campus with 200 seats “which isn’t used for classes but often by student groups for movies or other events.” There’s one lecture hall in the science building holds people. The reps told us that the few large rooms are typically used for exams rather than for classes.

Despite being fairly heavily STEM focused, the student population is skewed about 65% female (more typically seen at smaller liberal arts institutions). Although started as a pipeline for aeronautics (and having strong academics in that area), there are many other areas which draw students in:

• They’re particularly known for their Education programs how. They have a Grant Program called UHCLTeach, a rigorous secondary math and science certification program that pays for part of their education.
• The College of Business is AACSB accredited with specific Accounting Accreditation (only the top 1% have it).
• College of Science and Engineering
  • They’re 1 of 10 US universities with computing programs accredited under 3 different curriculum guidelines of ABET.
  • They’re 1 of only 4 schools that partner with Boeing for paid internships offering engineering opportunities seldom seen in academia.
  • They’re 1 of 4 universities that are part of the Aerospace Institute.
  • They offer lots of astrophysics and astronomy. People come in from Lunar Planetary Institute (LPI) — which is literally located on the edge of campus – to help teach classes. In fact, UHCL has an Institute for Human and Planetary Sustainability on campus.
• The College of Human Sciences and Humanities houses majors like Psychology, Social and Cultural Sciences, Communications, Arts, Liberal Arts, and all the Health Sciences (including Applied and Clinical). They students regularly intern with places like the Health and Human Performance institute that aids with traumatic brain injury patients, NASA (including interactive lab testing astronaut strengths, professional athletes, etc), and Serious Games and Simulations Innovation Lab.
• Starting in 2023, students can enter an Exploring Majors program. They’ll spend their first year taking core classes and figuring out what their options are; they can stay in this for 30 credit hours before declaring a major.
• A few more unusual majors include: Serious Games and Simulations, Addictions Counseling, and Public Service Leadership (also a minor or a certificate). Minors worth checking out are: Youth and Police Studies, Behavior Analysis, and Law and Society,

The students are almost entirely from Texas which they hope will change with more dorms getting build. Out-of-state and Private School students will need to complete a High School Curriculum verification form which their counselors will sign off on. Currently, they’re still Test-optional; scores will be waived through Fall 2023. However, they’re looking to move away from tests on a permanent basis, so we’ll keep an eye on that. They do have a couple main scholarships for new students: New Hawk is for Texas students (ranging from $1,000 to full tuition) and the Take-off Scholarship is for out-of-state students and currently goes up to $2000.

© 2022

UT Dallas

UT Dallas (visited 10/19-20)

“UT Dallas is hard. I didn’t take those words seriously when I started. I thought they weren’t serious or that it didn’t apply to me. But it’s hard,” said a recent alum (and current staff member). “We’re one of the best undergrad institutions out there if a student wants to partner with us – but so much of education has to be outside the classroom and beyond the curriculum. It’s so important for them to understand that learning is an intentional action. It needs to be a choice that they’re engaging at the highest level they’re capable of.”

UT Dallas spends $40 million on academic scholarships, the same amount that a lot of schools spend on their football teams. “This isn’t to say that our sports aren’t outstanding. Our men’s basketball went to the Sweet 16 because of a buzzer-beating 3-point shot.” They’re regularly audited because so many of the athletes are on merit-based scholarships. “We get asked why our athletes get such high GPAs … because we’re admitting smart athletes.”

“We get amazing support surrounded by great peers. We push each other!” said one student. However, one student said that “undergraduates sometimes get left behind” but feels that this is getting better. “Research is there if you look for it.” The Student Success office hires students: tutoring and mentoring tends to be peer-to-peer. They find that this helps the tutors as well.

The admissions department is going into their first year of a holistic review. “We’re careful. We don’t want to admit people who can’t hack it.” As per Texas state policy, students get automatic admission if they fall within the top 10% of their class and have followed a Texas-track curriculum (essentially 4 credits each of English, Math, Social Science, 3 of science). If a school does not rank but the student would be in that level, a letter from a counselor will suffice. About 1/3 of UTD students ranked in the top 10% in high school.

The fountain that runs along the center of campus

UTD does not accept Common App; applicants should use http://www.applytexas.org. The $50 fee can be waived if they attend a senior admission day. To be considered for scholarships, applications must be in by January 15^th! They offer:

• Academic Excellence Scholarships
  • Academic Achievement: $6000/year: SAT 1400/ACT 30
  • Academic Distinction: complete tuition and fees, $2,000/year cash stipend for other expenses. SAT 1470, ACT 32
  • Academic Honors: complete tuition and fees, $6,000/year cash stipend for other expenses. SAT 1530, ACT 34

• 

  The Activities Center

  Diversity Scholars: “This is not based on race, but is diversity broadly defined,” said an admissions rep – this can include ability, age, and experiences in addition to the categories most people associate with diversity. This requires a separate application (with essay) due by 2/15. To qualify, students must have a 3.0 and have financial need. Recipients must volunteer 5 hours a semester with the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement.

• Collegium V Honors: They tend to take students with SATs in the mid-1400s (and applicants need a 1410 to even apply/be considered) and are generally in the top 3% of their class. They are starting a Liberal Arts cohort within the Honors Program. Students who don’t make it into this as incoming freshmen can apply during freshman year if they have a 3.9 GPA.
• The McDermott Scholars Program: This is the most selective of the Scholars Programs/Scholarships.
  • Cohort Trips: Santa Fe (only the freshmen coming in) – 10 days before classes start; Washington at the end of Freshman year.
  • McDermott Housing is in South Hall close to central campus and close to the dining hall.

One of the many labs

The school is “relatively expensive for the state of Texas, but relatively cheap when you compare across the country.” They offer a guaranteed tuition plan: there’s no increase in tuition or fees for 4 years, and additional courses beyond 15 credit hours are essentially free. Academics get a lot of praise, particularly:

• Healthcare Studies: students learn the whole package of health care.
• Art, Technology, and Emerging Communication: think PIXAR
• International Political Economy
• Any area in the Engineering realm
• Geospatial Information Sciences

Interior of the Student Center

This is clearly a large state university with 27,000 students. “This is smaller than some other state schools and it’s not a party school,” said one of the students. “There are times that there isn’t much going on, but there is no shortage of things to do. You get used to going off campus for fun. The benefit to this school is location because there’s so much to do.” There isn’t a ton within immediate walking distance of campus: “You kind of need a car to get off campus,” said one of the students. Parking is available (there are numerous lots on the periphery of campus), but it’s a bit of a hassle sometimes and “they’re serious about tickets.” There are 3 DART stations within 10 minutes of campus. Both airports (DFW and Love Field) are 40-45 minutes away. The orange line DART goes to DFW.

Dorms and the dining hall

UTC started strictly as a graduate school and “worked backwards” to become an undergraduate institution. Because of this, it’s still very much a commuter school, but they’re working on increasing the housing available. Currently there are about 6000 beds, and housing has all been built since 2009 mostly in suite and apartment style housing. Suites are assigned by the gender you applied to the school with, and students can also choose gender-neutral housing. Housing costs are charged like rent at an apartment and averages about $815/month which covers utilities. Each student is charged separately, so roommates don’t have to worry if someone leaves.

Safety is good on campus. The university police are technically State Troopers since this is a state institution. Although this is a Conceal Carry state, the university law states that guns are not allowed in residence halls, library, dining hall, etc – basically anywhere where other people could get access to the firearm.

© 2017