Surly kids who can't get into UT

[Grimas 671]

9 hours ago, sasquatch69 said:

When we toured there they said it was only 30% of student body involved in Greek life, which is about double UT but lower than some other schools we visited (like TCU).

If your kid wants to go Greek first semester (boys perspective) at UArk, then make sure they attend events during the summer rush events as many freshmen show up with “pre-bids” going into rush. A lot of the “slots” are already filled before rush starts at the “main” frats so a lot of boys who expect to get a bid just participating in the rush events don’t get one… And with all the Dallas kids there, the Houston and Austin kids are at a disadvantage since there is a pipeline already in place from the Dallas schools and most rush events are in Dallas… 

[HookEm 2,468]

As I understand it, the Arkansas resident kids also have an advantage. Some of the frats / sororities limit the number of Texans.  All this is 2nd hand info so take it for what it's worth.

[txduck87 998]

While we are on Greek talk, anyone have any info on the climate at Colorado, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, or auburn on that front? I had heard that same info about arky.

Kid is in at Auburn and still waiting on 5 others including Texas but I don’t know much about the Greek systems at those.

[Jerry Callo 8,758]

Aside on the issue of Greek life, etc.  My youngest is going to Texas State.  In high school she lettered in three sports for all four years, thus had plenty of friends and friend groups.  She decided not to continue soccer or running in college - which led to her not having any friends when she got on campus last year.  Her fall semester was rough for that reason.  She didn't have any interest in a sorority, which is fine by me.  I told her to check out one of the spirit organizations - every campus has them, they are social, and the members get involved in the university beyond just academics.  She joined a group last spring and no social life issues were resolved.  This fall she also tried out for and made the club soccer team.

College is not nearly as social as when most of us were there.  We kept our dorm room door open and knew everyone on the floor - they don't do that anymore (at least the girls).  

[jimmyjazz 46,349]

9 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

College is not nearly as social as when most of us were there. 

I agree.  My daughter lives in a dumpy 4-BR rental house just north of campus, and between classes, work, and extracurriculars (that have nothing to do with UT) she knows almost nobody she didn't already know in HS.  It is what it is.

[tx 3 putt 77,644]

26 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

Aside on the issue of Greek life, etc.  My youngest is going to Texas State.  In high school she lettered in three sports for all four years, thus had plenty of friends and friend groups.  She decided not to continue soccer or running in college - which led to her not having any friends when she got on campus last year.  Her fall semester was rough for that reason.  She didn't have any interest in a sorority, which is fine by me.  I told her to check out one of the spirit organizations - every campus has them, they are social, and the members get involved in the university beyond just academics.  She joined a group last spring and no social life issues were resolved.  This fall she also tried out for and made the club soccer team.

College is not nearly as social as when most of us were there.  We kept our dorm room door open and knew everyone on the floor - they don't do that anymore (at least the girls).  

 

club sports are a great idea 

[Dennis Taylor 18,887]

[Brew 3,049]

On 11/13/2024 at 3:42 PM, Jerry Callo said:

College is not nearly as social as when most of us were there.  We kept our dorm room door open and knew everyone on the floor - they don't do that anymore (at least the girls).  

It depends a lot on where they are at and also where they live. My oldest is in a coed dorm with community bathrooms and her experience is similar to mine. They have open doors, all hang out together, go out and travel together, and come and go in all the rooms, etc. She’s dead set on living in a 5 girl room at the sorority house next year. I think she’s nuts, but she’s enjoying the social aspect. The girls in the apartment style dorms that she knows aren’t having the same experience and are probably more like what you see. 

[TwiceHorn 31,643]

4 minutes ago, Brew said:

It depends a lot on where they are at and also where they live. My oldest is in a coed dorm with community bathrooms and her experience is similar to mine. They have open doors, all hang out together, go out and travel together, and come and go in all the rooms, etc. She’s dead set on living in a 5 girl room at the sorority house next year. I think she’s nuts, but she’s enjoying the social aspect. The girls in the apartment style dorms that she knows aren’t having the same experience and are probably more like what you see. 

Community bathrooms in a coed dorm?  That's nasty.

During orientation or the honors colloquium, while staying at Jester, I found myself having to take a growler in one of the community/not coed bathrooms.  There was jizz running down the inside of the door. Like a lot. One of the fastest shits on record.

And I understand girls' bathrooms can be worse.

[Brew 3,049]

On 11/13/2024 at 12:58 PM, txduck87 said:

While we are on Greek talk, anyone have any info on the climate at Colorado, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, or auburn on that front? I had heard that same info about arky.

Kid is in at Auburn and still waiting on 5 others including Texas but I don’t know much about the Greek systems at those.

Don’t know whether you have a guy/girl, but coming from out of state to a SEC state school is tough going Greek. The primary ones pull from known instate schools, friend groups, legacy, etc so it’s hard to break through to a top tier from out of state. Daughter rushed UGA and she has 3 close friends that rushed Auburn. All had good experiences but all were focused on the mid/low tier sororities and were more interested in the experience than status. My daughter ended up where she needed to but it took a little while for her to come to that realization. 

[Brew 3,049]

7 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Community bathrooms in a coed dorm?  That's nasty.

During orientation or the honors colloquium, while staying at Jester, I found myself having to take a growler in one of the community/not coed bathrooms.  There was jizz running down the inside of the door. Like a lot. One of the fastest shits on record.

And I understand girls' bathrooms can be worse.

The floors have 4 wings basically in a plus sign, 2 wings for each gender. Each wing has a community bathroom for the single gender wing. The common areas are all in the middle. She thinks it’s great and has friends all over the dorm because they are forced to interact, so it’s right up her alley. She is highly social unlike her parents, she might have been traded out at the hospital.

[royiv 9,403]

23 minutes ago, Brew said:

The floors have 4 wings basically in a plus sign, 2 wings for each gender. Each wing has a community bathroom for the single gender wing. The common areas are all in the middle. She thinks it’s great and has friends all over the dorm because they are forced to interact, so it’s right up her alley. She is highly social unlike her parents, she might have been traded out at the hospital.

Forced interaction while showering? Is this dorm sponsored by a porn company?

[Brew 3,049]

45 minutes ago, royiv said:

Forced interaction while showering? Is this dorm sponsored by a porn company?

Each single gender wing has its own community bathrooms. It’s not like there is much separating everyone though and again, floor common areas are for the entire floor. This isn’t some weird anomaly, we have toured multiple schools with similar setups in at least a couple of the freshman dorms.

[Brisketexan 105,477]

Community bathrooms in a coed dorm?  That's nasty.
During orientation or the honors colloquium, while staying at Jester, I found myself having to take a growler in one of the community/not coed bathrooms.  There was jizz running down the inside of the door. Like a lot. One of the fastest shits on record.
And I understand girls' bathrooms can be worse.

Wait…the girls jizz on the bathroom doors even MORE?

[South Austin 52,657]

5 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Wait…the girls jizz on the bathroom doors even MORE?

It’s piss.

[Dennis Taylor 18,887]

10 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Community bathrooms in a coed dorm?  That's nasty.

During orientation or the honors colloquium, while staying at Jester, I found myself having to take a growler in one of the community/not coed bathrooms.  There was jizz running down the inside of the door. Like a lot. One of the fastest shits on record.

And I understand girls' bathrooms can be worse.

So you were multi-tasking? Show off

[dcbc 14,551]

3 hours ago, South Austin said:

It’s piss.

[billfromlaketravis 11,559]

I assume desired majors is driving most of this? CAP is very easy to get into and complete successfully. 
 

Granted McCombs, Cockrell, and Computer Sciences aren’t going to happen. Also CAP doesn’t help with Greek Life especially with sororities. Cowboys and Spurs wouldn’t take transfers when I was at Texas. Of course they made an exception for one of the Bush grandkids. 
 

All that said, surly kids can do a lot worse than spending a year in one of the nicest parts of San Antonio. 

[dcbc 14,551]

18 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I assume desired majors is driving most of this? CAP is very easy to get into and complete successfully. 
 

Granted McCombs, Cockrell, and Computer Sciences aren’t going to happen. Also CAP doesn’t help with Greek Life especially with sororities. Cowboys and Spurs wouldn’t take transfers when I was at Texas. Of course they made an exception for one of the Bush grandkids. 
 

All that said, surly kids can do a lot worse than spending a year in one of the nicest parts of San Antonio. 

Agree.  And , there ain't nothing wrong with getting a BA before you head to graduate school, engineering and C/S notwithstanding..  

Edited November 16 by dcbc

[billfromlaketravis 11,559]

26 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Agree.  And , there ain't nothing wrong with getting a BA before you head to graduate school, engineering and C/S notwithstanding..  

Yep Cockrell is impossible. C/S is supposed to more impossible. But yeah if you want to go to law school there’s no shame in a BA. 
 

I know a couple gals from Moody that got into Columbia Law. Obviously pretty sharp, but they wanted to have fun in undergrad and pump up their GPA so they chose an easier major.

[dcbc 14,551]

4 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Yep Cockrell is impossible. C/S is supposed to more impossible. But yeah if you want to go to law school there’s no shame in a BA. 
 

I know a couple gals from Moody that got into Columbia Law. Obviously pretty sharp, but they wanted to have fun in undergrad and pump up their GPA so they chose an easier major.

My older son is LHA in History and is law school driven.  His roommate just transferred from McCombs to COLA because he hated it, but he still wants to get an MBA

 

My niece, meanwhile got an Engineering and Plan II degree set from UT, worked two years, and has a Consulting firm putting her through her MBA at Wharton with the promise of three more years.  I know times are different, but I have plenty of friends who either work in business-degree fields or got an MBA after a L/A degree.  So who knows.  I just want 'em edumacated.

[dcbc 14,551]

On 11/13/2024 at 12:58 PM, txduck87 said:

While we are on Greek talk, anyone have any info on the climate at Colorado, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, or auburn on that front? I had heard that same info about arky.

Kid is in at Auburn and still waiting on 5 others including Texas but I don’t know much about the Greek systems at those.

Son or daughter?  I have a friend with a daughter at Auburn who is happy in her sorority.  Happy to pass on questions.

[dcbc 14,551]

On 11/13/2024 at 4:09 PM, tx 3 putt said:

 

club sports are a great idea 

I mentioned this above, but anyone who has kids at UT, and who are wanting to meet people who are fun, active, and very social: UT Water Ski.  Can't ski? They'll teach you.  It's been amazing for my son (who could ski and likes to hang out with people on the weekend in a fashion that seems like a good memory to dad), He lasted one week in a fraternity before he (thankfully, IMO) dropped at the one-week mark.  I told him if he wanted to drop out and join the ski team, I'd buy him a ski (way cheaper).  It's been the best decision of his academic and social existence to day. 

 

So, whether you can Water Ski, it might be for you. 

[jimmyjazz 46,349]

News flash:  some kids have no interest in business or engineering or comp sci.

[tx 3 putt 77,644]

56 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I mentioned this above, but anyone who has kids at UT, and who are wanting to meet people who are fun, active, and very social: UT Water Ski.  Can't ski? They'll teach you.  It's been amazing for my son (who could ski and likes to hang out with people on the weekend in a fashion that seems like a good memory to dad), He lasted one week in a fraternity before he (thankfully, IMO) dropped at the one-week mark.  I told him if he wanted to drop out and join the ski team, I'd buy him a ski (way cheaper).  It's been the best decision of his academic and social existence to day. 

 

So, whether you can Water Ski, it might be for you. 

 

good work buddy of mine, his three sons all went to ut and they loved their time with the water ski club 

it looked and sounded like a great time 

[Dennis Taylor 18,887]

14 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Yep Cockrell is impossible. C/S is supposed to more impossible. But yeah if you want to go to law school there’s no shame in a BA. 
 

I know a couple gals from Moody that got into Columbia Law. Obviously pretty sharp, but they wanted to have fun in undergrad and pump up their GPA so they chose an easier major.

Did they bribe the dean?

 

[TexasEd 8,077]

On 11/11/2024 at 1:29 PM, morehornsepower said:

She did not have a strong CS background coming out of high school - she was not sure what she wanted to do, and ended up moving into the program after her freshman year.  Like many majors, the degree plan doesn't have a lot of room to slip, so she ended up on a 5 year plan.   She likes the program now, but did struggle at first without that coding background.

She was able to get a great internship this past summer, but doesn't have anything lined up yet for once she graduates (May).

 

On 11/11/2024 at 1:35 PM, tx 3 putt said:

 

hiring market is very wonky 

take the first offer and prepare / get experience for a better market 

best of luck 

Still a lot of incentive by larger firms to fill roles with females so she has that going for her.

[Bateshorn 9,942]

On 11/14/2024 at 10:06 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Community bathrooms in a coed dorm?  That's nasty.

During orientation or the honors colloquium, while staying at Jester, I found myself having to take a growler in one of the community/not coed bathrooms.  There was jizz running down the inside of the door. Like a lot. One of the fastest shits on record.

And I understand girls' bathrooms can be worse.

We had coed bathrooms at Bates in the early-mid 90s.  I had a crush on a girl down the hall, so I took all my shits a floor up for a semester until we hooked up and I decided I didn't really like her all that much. 

Also, as an aside: Going to a 1500 person school and running into all your exes and hook ups every day in the main dining hall will build some emotional fortitude.....or it will cause you to have a complete mental break and send you to the secondary dining room aka "The Tool Shed"

[tx 3 putt 77,644]

great news if it holds up ….

 

[jimmyjazz 46,349]

Hell yeah.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,233]

Congratulations, poors. 

[CooterBrown 18,038]

They say they have $35M/year to pay for it. At $15,000 a year that's just 2,300 students. Are they just going to stop admitting poor people to make the numbers work?

[Fudge Nuggets 19,233]

4 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

They say they have $35M/year to pay for it. At $15,000 a year that's just 2,300 students. Are they just going to stop admitting poor people to make the numbers work?

Tough break, poors. 

[Samson's Wig 3,195]

44 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

They say they have $35M/year to pay for it. At $15,000 a year that's just 2,300 students. Are they just going to stop admitting poor people to make the numbers work?

They'll just pull it out of the AISD, DISD, and HISD tax base, the same way we fund every other educational project in the state.

[jimmyjazz 46,349]

45 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

They say they have $35M/year to pay for it. At $15,000 a year that's just 2,300 students. Are they just going to stop admitting poor people to make the numbers work?

$15K is a little high.  UT publishes the COA as $10,858-$13,576.

So, at $35M, that's 2,600 - 3,200 students (ish).

So yeah, they're gonna stop admitting poors.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,372]

There are only so many slots available, this might allow more top kids from smaller schools to attend and push out some kids from bigger schools, no??

[South Austin 52,657]

16 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

So yeah, they're gonna stop admitting poors.

Would they have to adjust the top whatever % for auto admits?  A lot of assumptions and no metrics, but I wonder if the top % admissions rule has accepted a significant amount of kids from smaller, more rural, and poorer communities.

[Texas Jeff 1,947]

16 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

They say they have $35M/year to pay for it. At $15,000 a year that's just 2,300 students. Are they just going to stop admitting poor people to make the numbers work?

Hmmm, I suspect that the "free" tuition is on top of things like Pell Grants (federal assistance).  The kid fills out the FAFSA and gets some federal assistance, then UT tops that off to cover tuition.

UT Austin's tuition and fees are about $14,000 per year.  A federal Pell Grant might be around $5,000 per year.  So they are shaving maybe another $9,000 per year off of annual expenses.

The kid still has to pay for housing and food, but the kid would have had to pay for housing and food *somewhere* for four years.  UT Austin estimates those "other" costs at around $20,000 per year, and around $13,000 per year if the kid is living with their parents.

Students costs through work-study programs (like working for Rec Sports or at the library) and some have part-time jobs off campus.  Some are doubled up on housing (two to a room) and are paying half the "normal" rent.  Some have efficiency rentals that are reserved for low income students.  Many get summer internships or stipends during their last few years on campus as they get farther along in their degree.

The "free tuition" takes off a layer of cost to make it a little easier.  Not completely paid for, but one step towards a more level playing field.

[Texas Jeff 1,947]

10 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Would they have to adjust the top whatever % for auto admits?  A lot of assumptions and no metrics, but I wonder if the top % admissions rule has accepted a significant amount of kids from smaller, more rural, and poorer communities.

Lots of data out there:

https://data.utsystem.edu/data-index/applied-admitted-enrolled

Only about 30% of UT system students come from the top 10% of their class.  UT Austin gets the press by limiting admission to top 6%/top 5%, but most system schools are not as picky.

UT Austin has a 30% acceptance rate.  UT Dallas is second with a 65% rate.  Everyone else is above 80% and UTEP is at 100%.

Top Ten percent reports for UT Austin:

https://provost.utexas.edu/automatic-admission-reports/

Most UT students are from major or "central city" suburbs (50%), followed by major or "central city" urban areas (29%), with a smidge of kids from other towns or rural areas (3%).  The rest come from other sources, private schools, school not reported, and other categories.

[BabaYaga 15,332]

37 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Would they have to adjust the top whatever % for auto admits?  A lot of assumptions and no metrics, but I wonder if the top % admissions rule has accepted a significant amount of kids from smaller, more rural, and poorer communities.

That was pops.  Valedictorian of a class of small-town W.Texas of a dozen kids, back when the town actually had a HS.  Pretty much a ghost town now.  Mom was the opposite.  Went to a big ass Dallas HS and was a Plan 2 student.  

[BabaYaga 15,332]

17 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

They say they have $35M/year to pay for it. At $15,000 a year that's just 2,300 students. Are they just going to stop admitting poor people to make the numbers work?

Enjoy El Paso poors!

[gsoda3 3,284]

18 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

great news if it holds up ….

 

 

Great step to take to pull the UTA, UTD, UTtyler's of the world up another class.  Would be nice if they'd extend that to UT Research Institutions and made it a progressive system instead of a hard cap at $100,000 but that'd take oil going to $200 or bitcoin going to $200,000.  Never say never I suppose.

[YChang 3,463]

Meanwhile at MIT

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers/mit-will-make-tuition-free-for-families-earning-less-than-200000-a-year/ar-AA1urIvH

[royiv 9,403]

23 minutes ago, YChang said:

Meanwhile at MIT

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers/mit-will-make-tuition-free-for-families-earning-less-than-200000-a-year/ar-AA1urIvH

MIT has a monster endowment for a much smaller enrollment.

[YChang 3,463]

43 minutes ago, royiv said:

MIT has a monster endowment for a much smaller enrollment.

Oh it's totally not comparable and the two school's mission isn't the same. But I think the university with its aspirations and resouces can do so much more. 

[South Austin 52,657]

1 hour ago, royiv said:

MIT has a monster endowment for a much smaller enrollment.

My wife says the same thing about me (or something like that).

[royiv 9,403]

4 minutes ago, South Austin said:

My wife says the same thing about me (or something like that).

Depending on the size of her enrollment, it could just be an optical illusion.

[jimmyjazz 46,349]

34 minutes ago, royiv said:

Depending on the size of her enrollment, it could just be an optical illusion.

[ABSR 5,326]

On 11/20/2024 at 3:45 PM, CooterBrown said:

They say they have $35M/year to pay for it. At $15,000 a year that's just 2,300 students. Are they just going to stop admitting poor people to make the numbers work?

I don't dislike this...however, to say it is "free" is disingenuous.  Are the professors going to take pay cuts?  Are they going to sell buildings?  Are they going to teach by candlelight to save electricity or are they just going to get free electricity?

What this means is that someone else (tax payers or kids who's families make $100,000+) will cover those costs.  If they say no, we have a big pile of money we are going to use that we just have sitting around it begs the question of how that pile of money was created and from what sources?  Why is it not being used to lower tuition across the board, or improve the overall education being taught, and why was tuition too high to begin with?

To the $15K per year number, my guess is that for many students who have household income below $100K they are receiving some or maybe substantial amounts of federal aids and grants (not a bad thing), so the UT system is not covering Full costs for these students but only the delta between previous aid and zero which should be significantly less.  I would be curious to see the analysis done to estimate the average tuition removal for students falling into this bucket and how that compares to the average tuition paid by other students.

I also can't wait to see people turn down raises or pay increases in order to continue to not broach the $100K threshold.  Somewhat kidding about this, but I am sure there will be cases where people/families face this issue especially if it is not a graduated tuition break based on household income.

[Dennis Taylor 18,887]

4 minutes ago, ABSR said:

I don't dislike this...however, to say it is "free" is disingenuous.  Are the professors going to take pay cuts?  Are they going to sell buildings?  Are they going to teach by candlelight to save electricity or are they just going to get free electricity?

What this means is that someone else (tax payers or kids who's families make $100,000+) will cover those costs.  If they say no, we have a big pile of money we are going to use that we just have sitting around it begs the question of how that pile of money was created and from what sources?  Why is it not being used to lower tuition across the board, or improve the overall education being taught, and why was tuition too high to begin with?

To the $15K per year number, my guess is that for many students who have household income below $100K they are receiving some or maybe substantial amounts of federal aids and grants (not a bad thing), so the UT system is not covering Full costs for these students but only the delta between previous aid and zero which should be significantly less.  I would be curious to see the analysis done to estimate the average tuition removal for students falling into this bucket and how that compares to the average tuition paid by other students.

I also can't wait to see people turn down raises or pay increases in order to continue to not broach the $100K threshold.  Somewhat kidding about this, but I am sure there will be cases where people/families face this issue especially if it is not a graduated tuition break based on household income.

Well they still charge the same tuition for the same bullshit online classes that they've been recycling for 4 years now so they can take it from that pot of gold

Edited November 22 by Dennis Taylor