give me his name so i can get him ****ed up!!!! jk....everyone seemed to help you out but he def should go out and rush frats even if he doesnt wanna join them, he can get a lot of free stuff!
I'd suggest not getting him a car the first year. My nephew was given a VW convertible before he started his first semester and ended up being the, "let's go in his car and party 'til 4am!!! Tonight, tomorrow night, the night after... " guy. He's a very intelligent fellow and flunked out his first year. A few years later, after going to a couple of 2 year schools in Houston, he got into UH Clear Lake and got his degree. Now he works for a NASA sub-contractor making excellent $$, is married, and thinking about having kids, so it worked out. Of course, if your son has wheels already, it's too late. (unless it's a clunker... get him a clunker!) UT is party central. With any luck, your kid has more sense anyway.
Don't forget to get him lots of rubbers for his pencil. Don't wanna make any mistakes away from home. (evil laf)
Son starts UT in the Fall. Lots of questions. 1) Admitted to something called Liberal Arts Honors (Plan I). Has anybody heard any pros or cons? How about the Honors Dorms? Sorry, I can't help here. 2) Need a good list of politically liberal professors so he can maintain the good values he has been exposed to at home. I would not try to liberalize his education by choice. The point of going to school is to open your mind to the possibilities that lie all around you. I would say that he should take plenty of classes from both sides. However, you have little to worry about. A lot of UT professors are liberal and the college of Liberal Arts is more concentrated than a lot of the sciences. (I am a liberal myself and have no agenda by saying this) 3) Getting him a laptop for graduation. Anyone know about the off brand Averatec? Lot of computer for the money. I don't know, but desktops are very easy to upgrade. 4) Does UT have some sort of Longhorn special computer that we should wait to buy there in the Fall? Can't help again. 5) Other tips for success at big bad UT? Don't let school be all of life. I graduated with a very poor GPA and a great education. The benefits of school are not always measured by grades. The most important thing I did for myself in school was to network/make good friends. A network creates a larger information source than just your own to draw from. I know lawyers, doctors, filmmakers, writers, teachers, people in different countries, etc. These are all valuable people to know in life.
I witnessed many students have trouble with handling drinking in their school life because they had not done much of it in high school. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that letting him drink now or turning your head to the subject or talking to him about it honestly would allow him to learn his lessons now instead learning those lessons during school. This is just my opinion.
Don't know his politics....I think he falls somewhere in the middle, but if your son gets a chance, he should take a history class from Dr. Lewis Gould. Like I said in another thread, he was my favorite professor at UT. He teaches all sorts of American history classes. He's informative, entertaining, and makes you think. I enjoyed the hell out of his classes.
Two of my best professors at UT were my most liberal (actually radical) professor and my most conservative professor. Both were in the English Dept. The radical was- Ann L. Cvetkovich Professor, Ph.D., Cornell (1988) Areas of Study: Women, Gender and Literature; American Literature; 19th Century British Literature; Popular Culture; Literary Theory She was brilliant and still teaches at UT. I honestly can't remember the conservative professor's name (I'm very bad with names.) Another excellent professor is- Milton H Jamail He teaches in the Dept. of Government now. I think he used to be in the Latin American Studies dept. I took a politics of Central America course from him and it was great.
I just graduated from UT, and I work there, so maybe I can give you a few pointers. Here are the top 4 mistakes that I see being made every day: 1. Be nice to the staff, and treat the faculty and grad students with respect. Lots of kids have big egos coming into UT. Big mistake. Most of the faculty and staff will go out of their way to help a student IF and ONLY IF the student is respectful, humble, and willing to work. 2. Take class seriously. If you go to every class and do all the assignments, you'll be guaranteed a B in most classes. Your son will probably have to take his studying habits to the next level if he wants to get straight As, but it is completely worth it. The prestige of a UT degree is much enhanced by a high GPA. There are tons of kids pouring out of this school with a sub 3.0 GPA. If you want to stand out, you need to be shooting for above 3.5. 3. Don't get a job. Your son will be competing with kids who have had EVERY advantage in life, and who's parents will spend any amount of money to keep it that way. That's life. If he can get away with not working the first couple of years, or not at all, then by all means don't work. I worked through school and my grades suffered. Each year I got less financial aid because of my income, and I ended up taking eight years to finish because I got prematurely sucked into a career. It worked out for me, but many kids never finish. 4. Manage your debt wisely. Your son needs a very stern warning about credit cards, because he WILL be offered much more credit than he will be able to pay off. I know many people that get out of undergrad with 20K credit card bills. Also, take some time to get to know more about your financial aid options. Scholarships and grants are great, but most people will have to borrow. Find out which loans can be refinanced and which can't. Federal loans are awesome, even if they aren't subsidized. Many people don't realize that most college debt can be consolidated and stretched out from 10 to 30 years, depending on the amount. College is expensive, but it is an investment on your future, so spend and borrow wisely. As far as specific info on the questions you asked: 1. Liberal Arts has two college-wide honors programs, Plan I and Plan II. Plan II is the most exclusive, but it is VERY small, so don't be upset that your kid didn't get in. Plan I will allow you to graduate with honors from Lib. Arts. Most departments also have a thesis-driven honors program. If you can only do one, I would probably suggest focusing on the department one, though many who write a thesis do both. If you have any questions, the advisers at the LA Dean's Office are geniuses, so schedule a meeting with one if you're confused. As far as the honors dorm, it ain't that special. My favorite dorms on campus are Brack-Roberts and Prather. Stay away from Simkins and Jester if you can, but I'd rather live even at Jester than a private dorm. 2. The best professor on campus is probably Solomon. He teaches an Existentialism class that is hard to get into, but is said to change people's lives. I also recommend Edward's Politics of Reality class. Sarah Weddington also teaches a couple of classes that are supposed to be awesome. Your son won't have a hard time finding liberals on campus. 3 & 4. Apple, IBM, HP/Compaq, and Dell will all sell you a computer at a student discount. The campus computer store offers bundles at a discount. I suggest that you don't by any software, like Office, until he gets here. As far as computers, a friend of mine bought an Averatec recently. Its a good deal, but I wouldn't count on it to hold up for 4 years. My suggestion for an affordable laptop is the Apple iBook, which is becoming the most popular notebook on campus. I also like the Powerbook and IBM Thinkpads. If you're going to get a Dell, get a Latitude, as the Inspirons tend to be less reliable. I used to like HP's corporate laptop, but since their merger with Compaq I have a hard time figuring out what is what.
Wow. Maybe I can go back to college. Don't they have free auditing for oldsters? Existentialism. Latin American Studies. Professor Robert Jensen. Like many things college is wasted on the young. Thanks for the advice. Now to get son to read this as he is having too good of a time his last couple of days as a senior in highschool to concern hmself with college planning. Someone could probably make some money on a book called "The Secrets of UT". It seems like such a complicated place. If you go to one of these small Liberal Arts Colleges, everything seems so simple in comparison. There is such a book by collegeprowler, "University of Texas Off the Record" Not too good in my opinion. Very short on realistic tips for academic success. It will tell you how to catch a bus, a plane. a burrito, some sports tickets, a sorority, a parking spot, a dorm.. Once he goes to UT ,I am going to try to get him to get on clutch city account and quit lurking on my account. I guess I'll have to change the password.
I lived in Jester, so don't listen to the hype from people who have never lived there. It was absolutely fantastic and I would do it again in a minute. You meet a ton of people, have a lot of fun, and if you need to study--there are many libraries close by. The other nice part about Jester is that it is co-ed. I believe (not sure) that some of the other dorms are not. As far as the honors dorm goes, I personally thought that there were much weirder people in that dorm than Jester or the others.
