Prestigious small private schools in TX?

[vicki]

I may be relocating to Dallas area within this year but I'm currently researching schools. I like small private schools with small class sizes and ivy league professors. I like Rice but it's in Houston.

[Mr1der]

bah, large party schools are where it's at!

[vicki]

I really don't care about parties. I want small class sizes and profs who are available and actually know you.

[[Zero-S]]

We have an intellectual among our ranks! Ph34r

[rousie13]

Come to Cleveland.

[vicki]

I hardly consider myself an intellectual but I've been in school long enough and while parties are fun and important, they aren't my first priority. I want a challenge and good preparation for law school. So far SMU looks like my best bet. Their business school seems good. (I'm an econ and poli sci major)

Brett- Im only looking to transfer if I have to move to Dallas. I love my school.

[rousie13]

Where you going to school now anyway?

[vicki]

Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA

[rousie13]

Never heard of it. But no one usually has heard of my school either, unless they are involved in medicine or engineering. If you stay in PA, you should come visit me. What year are you in?

[vicki]

Haha how about you come visit me? Cleveland is a little bit of a hike.

I'll be a soph in the fall. Bucknell is a really small liberal arts school. About 3500 undergrad+grad. So it's no surprise you haven't really heard of it.

What school do you go to?

[rousie13]

Used to be called Case Western Reserve University...but they decided to spend $1 million on research to figure out that the name was too long and to change it to Case University. It's a private school with 3500 undergrad and about 10k total with med, business, undergrad, and law school. How far is your school from Cleveland?

[andrave]

lady of the lake is in san antonio (no where near dallas). That prolly doesn't help but I know its there so I thought it might help.Go to the newsweek best school rankings, they have just about everything. I used them to help me chose a law school. I really wanted to go to UT because austin is such a cool town, and the capitol and all, but I ended up in UH with a decent scholarship. I'm moving down in a week or two with my fiancee, who transfereed there. Go to houston, I'll need friends.

[Nismo_Freak]

My friend went to SMU, beware if your not very religious according to him.

[vicki]

See, that's my concern. It seems like more of the prestigious schools in TX are religious, like SMU, TCU, St. Mary's etc... I am NOT a religious person at all. And I tend to be opinionated esp when people try to tell me I'm wrong... so not sure how good that might work out. Looking into Baylor too but depending on where my dad decides he wants to establish his business, this could be a 1-2 hr hike for me. :o

I really like Houston and Austin and I also have a bunch of friends scattered there but my dad is pretty set on Dallas because he knows more people in that area.

I guess I can look into public schools too. My main concern is small class sizes, and being an econ and poli sci major, those classes tend to be PACKED until you get to upper level courses. So if I go ot a school with like 20k people, I have a good chance of being in a lecture with 200+ other people and I hate that. I am used to 35 TOPS in my school. Some of my classes have like 7 people.

[rousie13]

And I tend to be opinionated esp when people try to tell me I'm wrong

This is an under statement and you were wrong last night and I was right. :ylsuper

BTW....might take ya up on the marriage proposal. :pface

[Hijacker]

just do yourself a favor and avoid texas.

[vicki]

This is an under statement and you were wrong last night and I was right. :ylsuper

BTW....might take ya up on the marriage proposal. :pface

You weren't right. It was one in the morning and I didn't feel like going through the effort to prove you wrong. :oface

Marriage proposal? Ha! You should be so lucky.

[rico05]

TCU is no longer affiliated with any church BTW.

I applied to TCU and SMU (TCU turned me down, but SMU accepted me) I was going to get a small scholarship, but NOTHING near what it would cost to go there. Seeing how I am from a poor family, I was basically screwed. $38,000 a semester is just too much! But when I interviewed there I was very impressed. If I had lots of money, I would be a Mustang and not an Aggie (although I DO love getting to WHOOP!)

[vicki]

I was looking on their site and it's about 35k for two terms, I think. But my exbf told me his friend was paying about 50k a year so that doesn't make sense. I'll have to call and have them clarify it.

You're an aggie? Coolbeans. I have a good friend/ex that goes there. Where abouts are you?

[MrEous]

What about UNT Dallas? I have a couple friends there.

[rico05]

I am in College Station. I'm Class of ~05 A-WHOOP!

And if you are opnionated....DO NOT GO TO BAYLOR UNLESS YOU HAVE TO. Scary place (well, for a liberal like me....but then so is aTm). Aparently, they send people to go to bars and check license plates around Waco and if your car is registered at the University (for say a parking permit) and they find it at a bar, they will enact discipline actions against you. Yeesh:(

Look into UTD as well. Good smaller school. But for poly sci, you really need to consider A&M. We have the Bush School, and many of the upper level classes get to have lectures from President Bush (G.H.W Bush, not G.W.) himself. We are one of the better public schools for poly sci in the south. And at about $4300 for full meal plan, tuition, fees, and dorm (I paid $2500-ish for 16 hours, no meal plan, and off campus) it is a really excellent value. You will have to pay out of state tuition however, unless you can fanagle somehow saying that you have lived in state for a few years...Of course the biggest downfall for you may be the fact that we are 45,000 students strong. My core classes usually have under 40 people in them, but big classes (like general math and science...I am an english major) have well over 200 people sometimes.

UNT in Denton is a decent school for music, criminal justice, and liberal arts, but I would look at somewhere a little more prestigious mabye. Good school, but unless you are music, there are better ones about.

[vicki]

Would you happen to know Adam Bettis... he hangs out with Adrienne, Gita, Irene, etc? Just a long shot since it's a huge school but they are all '05s too.

My friend is pretty damn liberal and he likes it at Baylor. Said the chicks are really hot and classes are really good. Hehe.

I'll look into all the schools you've suggested. Thanks.

[rico05]

just do yourself a favor and avoid texas.

I'm not a native Texan (lived here in Aggieland since 1996), and I really don't pride myslef on living here, but just wondering why you say that? Actually, I enjoy the state except for the humidity, big trucks and rednecks (but the last two are because I live in College Station) Dallas is a BAD A$$ city, and Austin is one of the coolest cities I have been to here in the states. Houston is nasty, smelly, overpopulated, and rude. Sorry to anyone that lives in H-Town, but I avoid it like the plague! San Antonio is a gorgeous city (that is also dirty mind you) that has a lot of history and ethnic flavor. West Texas is beautiful is you can find beauty in open range, scrub brush, and awesome rock formations. The Pan Handle is nothing. Literally. You can see forever and snow on the flatlands in winter is so silent and still that it takes your breath away. The Gulf is dirty, but Corpus is a cool city. I reccomend visitng it as often as possible. The Valley and Hill Country have AWESOME driving roads and friendly people. I love cruising over to that part of the state. East Texas scares me. Back woods, but beautiful. Some of the toughest high school football in the country (outside of West Texas that is) and lots of small town appeal.

You know, we are a pretty great country...er state;)

[vicki]

I spent 10 days all over TX in July and I loved it there. the people are so nice and hospitable. I didn't encounter any ignorant people and rednecks. The only thing that killed me was the humidity. I'd come out of a nice and cold air conditioned building and just get hit hard with the humidity to a pt where I always couldn't breathe. It's a great state overall. My fave town would have to be Fredricksburg.

[Hijacker]

i hate the whole texan attitude. they feel that texas is the great state when it's not all that special. the only thing that's big in texas are the residents' egos. I lived in san marcos for a while, and commuted to austin quite a bit. it's a nice city, but i'd rather live in Norfolk or the DC metro area. the hill country has long, straight, and boring roads. I prefer my roads with curves in them.

[rico05]

I HATE D.C. area. Built on a swamp, smells bad, humid as can be, crime is high, packed with tourists and prostitutes (ahhhh....reminds me of Houston) I have been all over the country (all mainland 48 states) and the world (well Italy and Amsterdam), and still the nicest people are here in Texas. And, um, where in the hell were you driving in the hill country? A lot of the highways are straight, but that is because the civil engineers did their jobs and plotted the highways to be the easiest to build thereby they are straight. There are PLENTY of great drivers roads off the highways.

To be honest, I do prefer upper New England to Texas, but for now, Texas will do just fine.

Except for the fact that is is 9000 degrees outside and 10000000% humidity and I have to A/C in my car:( Sometimes I try too hard to be a bad a$$...

Plus, how many states can you claim to be a resident of, and people in ANY part of the world will know where it is? Bet if you talk about Virginia to a shopkeeper in Palestrina, Italy they will give you a blank stare and not do their best to have a conversation with you about your state...being fully informed about the culture and history of your state. Oh, but that happened to this Texan. We talked about cowboys;) Yee Ha!

[hannibal]

Economics, great major if youre planning to go to law school.UT Austin (<-- thats kinda redundant, I guess) has a highly ranked econ program...

[Nismo_Freak]

See, that's my concern. It seems like more of the prestigious schools in TX are religious, like SMU, TCU, St. Mary's etc... I am NOT a religious person at all. And I tend to be opinionated esp when people try to tell me I'm wrong... so not sure how good that might work out. Looking into Baylor too but depending on where my dad decides he wants to establish his business, this could be a 1-2 hr hike for me. :o

I really like Houston and Austin and I also have a bunch of friends scattered there but my dad is pretty set on Dallas because he knows more people in that area.

I guess I can look into public schools too. My main concern is small class sizes, and being an econ and poli sci major, those classes tend to be PACKED until you get to upper level courses. So if I go ot a school with like 20k people, I have a good chance of being in a lecture with 200+ other people and I hate that. I am used to 35 TOPS in my school. Some of my classes have like 7 people.

Honestly if you are past your 2nd year then classes are typically smaller than what you think.

As for religion, yes... I would highly suggest against SMU for you.

[Nismo_Freak]

i hate the whole texan attitude. they feel that texas is the great state when it's not all that special. the only thing that's big in texas are the residents' egos. I lived in san marcos for a while, and commuted to austin quite a bit. it's a nice city, but i'd rather live in Norfolk or the DC metro area. the hill country has long, straight, and boring roads. I prefer my roads with curves in them.

Texas is the greatest state, and it is special. It was once it's own country, no other state can say that. It has more state rights than ANY other state in the Union.

Long, straight and boring?!... umm that describes nothing in the Hill Country.

I've been to DC... not exactly the highest ranked place I've been in my book.

[Bubba1]

Nismo Freak. I think you might be just a tad biased being a Texas resident. I also really like parts of Texas, but I'm not sure I'd put it at the top of my list

Vicki: Why does moving to Texas require you to leave a good school like Bucknell?? It seems to me if you're enjoying your experience there, you should finish up your degree there. My family lived in the NYC area, and I went to a small private school in PA.