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Old 03-18-2018, 09:42 PM
DeltaSall DeltaSall is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 9
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilTau View Post
Please don't judge the entire UT-Austin student body from the statements of the person who joined GreekChat a few days ago. “I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. * * *"

The fact is, for better or for worse, UT-Austin (undergraduate) is not the same school that it was when anyone could attend who had the money to go there. (Don't jump on me about this, at one time this was very true.) Also, having done a substantial portion of my undergraduate work there (though not my Greek affiliation), I am not trying to slam UT-Austin.

Many of the perceived problems encountered by the UT-Austin Greek system stem from the state's "Top 10% Plan" implemented in 1997, which was an attempt to transition away from affirmative action. Though this plan has been tweaked a bit just for UT-Austin, it had the effect of denying admission to many students from upper middle class high schools (i.e., the type who join fraternities) who were not in the top 10 percent. So, many of these upper middle class UT-Austin non-admits now go out of state to places like Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, etc. - or to private Texas universities.

The cold hard fact is that - despite what they think - those who attend UT-Austin are not special or entitled. The average undergraduate at every university in the UT System is receiving an undergraduate education comparable to that they would get at UT-Austin. There are a few exceptional undergraduate programs at UT-Austin, but the quality level at UT-Austin does not begin to separate out until graduate and post graduate programs are taken into consideration.

It is interesting that none of the other 10+ universities in the University of Texas System or the Texas A&M System have the type of complaints that are repeatedly leveled at the UT-Austin Greek organizations. It is depressing, but the long-term (decades out) outlook for UT-Austin Greek organizations appears bleak unless the active members of those groups come to terms with the seismic, socioeconomic shift that occurred in the student body almost two decades ago.
My niece was top 3% at her large public high school and was awarded a full scholarship to UTD. After much research, she decided on UT due to many factors.

UTD is the strongest school academically in the UT system outside of the flagship but is predominately a commuter school. The difference in resources between UTD and UT is vast. UTD is heavy on sciences but lacks the balance that art, classics, humanities and athletics provide.

The flagship has a higher graduation rate, vastly superior facilities, more vibrant student experience, mammoth R&D funding, a national and global reputation (it's considered a Public Ivy), award-winning faculty (including Nobel laureates), higher freshman SAT scores, is a member of the prestigious AAU, has medical/dental/law schools attached, has Top 10 nationally ranked undergrad programs in business, engineering, comp sciences, Spanish, even more nationally ranked graduate programs, etc. Too many advantages to name. Regarding the other system branches, the differences are even greater.

In national rankings of any kind, the branch schools are non-existent.

The flagship as the sole school of excellence within the UT system is well documented. For example, the UC schools have numerous excellent branches (UCSD, UCLA, Berkely). It is a weakness of the UT system that only UT is excellent. The UT system needs to develop excellence across it's branches if the state as a whole is to fully benefit.

Additionally, the upper-middle-class students not accepted by UT are not giving way to sub-standard, "top 7%" students. Spots are taken by higher performing students, namely in-state Asian & Indian American students and OOS students (the ascent of the Asian/Indian American student accounts for the largest minority student gains at UT).

But back to your point, the branch schools do not deliver the same education as UT in any sense.
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