SMU and TCU???

7,711 Views | 20 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by agdad021
BoDog
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AG
So the nephew decided he isn't doing Blinn team or PSA, It looks like a coin flip between SMU or TCU, Likely will choose either finance or engineering. Honestly I am not sure A&M would be the right fit anyway.

For those in the metroplex, does one carry more weight than the other? It sounds like TCU is being slightly more generous with the money, but who knows?

Thanks for the advice!
Heisenberg01
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AG
SMU has the better academic reputation. They also have the better network of alumni (Highland Park kids everywhere). The business school at SMU is seen as much better than TCU's.

They have 2 different cultures, and I would think that a visit to both campuses would clarify where the better cultural fit would be, if that is important. If not, then SMU is certainly the better academic school.
BoDog
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AG
Heisenberg, how would you describe the differences in cultures? I just sort of assumed they were the same-depending on what side of DFW you preferred....?
Heisenberg01
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AG
It's an effect of being in the middle of Dallas vs Ft Worth. TCU has more of a connection to the Ft Worth community. In Dallas, unless you went to SMU, people follow tu, A&M, or OU. At SMU you are going to the same places to eat and party as thousands of others of young 20's in the city. TCU you are more likely to frequent places that lots of other students do simply by having less options, so you'll be more inclined to run into other students away from school. SMU kids on average will be more driven academically. At SMU it will be up to the kids to find a niche based on interests (running, church group, bar scene etc) as there are tons of options but things like football games on campus are not big deals.

Class size is similar for both as they are small private schools. And lots of rich spoiled kids at both schools. Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.

And much like the Bush library has done for A&M, having W's library will reap benefits at SMU for years to come.
SwissAgg
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AG
For engineering, UT Dallas has a higher ranking.

SMU is better for finance though, but I think it is overrated.

TCU is OK, but I think it is overpriced for what you get out of it.
BoDog
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AG
Would you both agree either is better than Baylor?
Heisenberg01
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AG
You mentioned engineering for your kid. I had to look it up because I've never met an engineer from TCU. They actually don't have a graduate engineering department. That would be a huge deterrent for me if I was going to get an engineering degree. It will effect the type of professor, companies that recruit there, and the money coming into the department.

I would actually give Baylor a slight edge in academics generally speaking vs TCU, and significantly more so in engineering. SMU would be seen as better than either academically.

If everything else was the same between Baylor and TCU, I'd rather live in Fort Worth than Waco. I would say Baylor generally takes their charge as a Christian university more seriously (lots of ministers from Baylor); however, based on what has happened in their athletic department and above (Ken Starr) the last 20 years, that is in question.

As mentioned before I'd have him visit SMU & TCU to get a better feel for their campuses and academic programs. I'd add UTD to the campus visit list since he is looking at engineering and business. He should be able to see all 3 in a weekend.
SwissAgg
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AG
Heisenberg01 said:

You mentioned engineering for your kid. I had to look it up because I've never met an engineer from TCU. They actually don't have a graduate engineering department. That would be a huge deterrent for me if I was going to get an engineering degree. It will effect the type of professor, companies that recruit there, and the money coming into the department.

I would actually give Baylor a slight edge in academics generally speaking vs TCU, and significantly more so in engineering. SMU would be seen as better than either academically.

If everything else was the same between Baylor and TCU, I'd rather live in Fort Worth than Waco. I would say Baylor generally takes their charge as a Christian university more seriously (lots of ministers from Baylor); however, based on what has happened in their athletic department and above (Ken Starr) the last 20 years, that is in question.

As mentioned before I'd have him visit SMU & TCU to get a better feel for their campuses and academic programs. I'd add UTD to the campus visit list since he is looking at engineering and business. He should be able to see all 3 in a weekend.


Baylor is better than TCU IMHO. They are a more religious school though.
BoDog
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AG
Was actually kind of hoping to hear TCU had more of a religious influence.

Unless he is given a ton of $$$, I dont think there is a snow balls chance in hell he would live in Waco for 4-5 years (and honestly who could blame him?).
Duncan Idaho
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SwissAgg said:

For engineering, UT Dallas has a higher ranking.

SMU is better for finance though, but I think it is overrated.

TCU is OK, but I think it is overpriced for what you get out of it.


This is pretty much spot on.
NewOldAg
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AG
My friends that stayed home in Ft. Worth to go to TCU think that my friends that went to SMU are conceited.

My friends that went to SMU think the ones that went to TCU are dumb.

They are both right to an extent, and that's why the stereotypes exist. All of them are privileged, white kids who are doing pretty well and enjoyed college.

If you are in position to pay your own way to either, even on decent scholarship, life isn't going to be that hard. It doesn't matter which one you pick.

Neither resembles going to A&M at all. You learn information at these schools, you learn citizenship at A&M.
Duncan Idaho
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NewOldAg said:

My friends that stayed home in Ft. Worth to go to TCU think that my friends that went to SMU are conceited.

My friends that went to SMU think the ones that went to TCU are dumb.

They are both right to an extent, and that's why the stereotypes exist. All of them are privileged, white kids who are doing pretty well and enjoyed college.

If you are in position to pay your own way to either, even on decent scholarship, life isn't going to be that hard. It doesn't matter which one you pick.

Neither resembles going to A&M at all. You learn information at these schools, you learn citizenship at A&M.


Can you hear my eyes roll?
NewOldAg
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AG
Duncan Idaho said:

NewOldAg said:

My friends that stayed home in Ft. Worth to go to TCU think that my friends that went to SMU are conceited.

My friends that went to SMU think the ones that went to TCU are dumb.

They are both right to an extent, and that's why the stereotypes exist. All of them are privileged, white kids who are doing pretty well and enjoyed college.

If you are in position to pay your own way to either, even on decent scholarship, life isn't going to be that hard. It doesn't matter which one you pick.

Neither resembles going to A&M at all. You learn information at these schools, you learn citizenship at A&M.


Can you hear my eyes roll?
In an effort to shorten the message, I admit that may have come across more sentimental than I intended. A&M has core values, you will hear about them from the faculty and administration, and none of them address scholarship. A&M is forthrightly trying to socialize it's students in a certain way that other universities don't concern themselves with. Citizenship may not be the right word for that.

Also, I'm speaking here about the intent of the university, not the effectiveness. With 60K students, you get people who come to A&M for all kinds of reasons, and everyone gets something different out of it.
HECUBUS
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AG
Finance, I would pick SMU
Engineering UTA



Heisenberg01
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AG
Do you mean UT-Dallas?

There is no way I'd pick UT-Arlington over any of the schools in the discussion.
HECUBUS
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AG
Nope. UTA, I've worked with many good electrical engineers from UTA and zero from the other schools you've mentioned. They have a good EE program.
HECUBUS
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AG
Ok, I agree UTA doesn't look so hot. I was just going by personal experience.

UTD does look better.
SwissAgg
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AG
HECUBUS said:

Ok, I agree UTA doesn't look so hot. I was just going by personal experience.

UTD does look better.

I received my Master's there in Computer Science. They have a good CS dept.


My salary is nice, and I have never been unemployed more than two months in

over 25 years.
BoDog
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AG
Personally I think UTD is very underrated, but good lord it sure does have a very high international element to it...
HECUBUS
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I have worked with many UTA grads and they were all good engineers. From that perspective, I think UTA has a great EE/CS program. I can say the same for TT. Online today, they don't look as good as UTD.
Joe Exotic
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AG
Heisenberg01 said:

Do you mean UT-Dallas?

There is no way I'd pick UT-Arlington over any of the schools in the discussion.


I work for a large engineering firm in DFW and a good number of our engineers from from UTA. A few are even high level executives. They have a pretty good program there. We have none from SMU or TCU.
agdad021
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As a recruiter in Dallas -I would recommend SMU finance because of the internships available in the financial community in Dallas while you are in school. UTD engineering is hard to beat for academics and cost but the social life/school spirit there is lacking. One small example . I went to graduation at UTD recently and they sang the school song and no one acted like they had even heard it before - imagine the War Hymn and no one sings . As a research institution it has many cutting edge research projects ongoing. Good luck those are all good choices .
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