The University of Texas in Austin is one of the top ten public universities in the country. The Honors Program, known as Plan II, is also a well known and well regarded program. It is located in the “coolest” city in Texas, Austin. Approximately 45,000 students attend this 400 acre university in the heart of downtown.
UT Ausin is a research university, and professors are busy, busy in labs or in the library. All professors do have office hours, and students love that their professors are passionate about their work. Fiske reports that the strongest programs at UT are Engineering, business, law, education and pharmacy. I have a student in the Communications program (film studies) and another in the theatre department. Both students love UT and love Austin. One of my students blogs for me, A Texas Girl’s College Adventures. They are also both involved in Greek life, which is a very important tradition in Texas. There is little dorm space at UT, so by sophomore or junior year students are living in Greek houses or off campus housing, downtown Austin feels like one big campus with apartments and houses obviously filled by students. Sixth Street and environs is nothing short of “cool” with students filling the streets on the weekends. Great music is also an Austin tradition. And don’t miss Texas Independence Day in March on Sixth St!
As I reported in an earlier blog, only the top 8% of high school students in Texas are likely to be able to go to UT as freshmen. The school is seeking out of state dollars and trying to expand its out of state base. UT Austin also recently announced that it will no longer give scholarships to National Merit Scholars, click here for that blog. With high achieving high school students being the only candidate for UT, it is not surprising that students here are intelligent, academically inclined, and disciplined. This is a university filled with high achievers who can navigate a large university system and enjoy doing it.
If you go to UT, you’d better be a Longhorns fan. Seriously. Hook ‘em Horns!
A walk down the UT mall near the UT Bell Tower and the Texas Capitol Dome in the distance is quite an experience. Austin and environs is a great college town with plenty to do in and around the city. Want a fast paced university with BIG spirit and football??? If you are a high achieving high school student who is either in the top 8% of high school seniors in Texas or an out of state “high achiever”, check out UT Austin, and tell them Tam sent you! (You can also look into Austin Community College and plan to transfer into UT as a sophomore or junior).
