Would UH be the first tier one school in the ghetto? I don't know the answer, but I doubt it. I think more important to tier one status is UH is the 3rd largest school in the state and located in the 4th largest city in the country. The hood (crime) is a problem for prospective students and something UH can't sweep under the rug. The light rail will act like an artificial barrier...I think UH should build a wall and have manned gated entrances.
I guess you are unfamiliar with The University of Pennsylvania. It's a measly Ivy league school which happens to be in the worst part of Philadelphia. People that talk about the UH "neighborhood" are the same people who thought downtown would never make a comeback. It just takes time. UH is on the right track. They need to continue to build more on-campus housing and create incentives for retail development.
Mattj - I totally agree with you on the on-campus housing point. UH has got to break free of the idea that they are a commuter school. It really detracts from the idea of having a fun college experience
it's puzzles the crap out of me how people expect UH to just rise from mediocrity and become Tier One all of the sudden.. let me update you fellas, IF UH indeed becomes a tier-I (highly extremely unlikely), their admission rate would have to be a million times harder than what it is right now, so all the mediocre fellas who plan to B.S their way through high school then get automatically admitted to a tier-I school, it aint gonna happen.. what's the use of making a university smack down Downtown Houston and one of the (for the lack of a better term) "ghetoest" areas in the U.S a tier-I? and the better question is, where will those people who aren't as bright as others go if the only average University in Houston becomes Tier-I? UH is a good school as is, I applied to UH, TAMU, UT, and Rice (the reason for applying to the latter was just for the hell of it ).. I firmly believed that I would go to UH considering how close it is to home (a top priority for me considering my cultural background and family ties) and the possibility of getting scholarship money.. UT and TAMU threw money at me after about a month of getting accepted, but still nothing from UH.. I went their several times, no one seemed to know what the hell is going on, everyone would send me to another building and it was really unprofessional, at this point my choice was between UT and TAMU, and considering the proximity to Houston and my preference for a smaller-town setting (in addition to the fact that I couldn't care less about the parties since I'm not a party-goer) , I chose TAMU and have never regretted it.. what most people fail to understand is, the majority of the people aren't "above average".. they love to think that they are, but that's what "average" is for.. if everyone was really above average, it wouldn't be called "above average", but rather "average".. it's like grading according to the bell-curve.. 20% will get A's, 70% will get B's and C's and 10% will get F's, you can't have everyone getting an A in the class.. same goes for universities.. we have 3 GREAT tier I schools, a bunch of fairly good/average schools (UH, Tech, Baylor, etc) and a couple of crappy-as-hell schools.. accept it as it is and move on, and if you really wanna go to a Tier-I school, work hard in high school and apply to UT and A&M
USC is a perfect example of a Tier One school in the middle of the ghetto. and many many LA/Orange County rich kids flock there every year.
Ahh really? I confess, I'm an 86'er which was a tad after UH was built and assumed it was always in the hood.
Nope. The ward actually used to be quite nice in its heyday. Drive around the southwest side of campus, its quite nice actually.
Way ahead of you Mr. Texxx: http://uh.edu/about/initiatives/masterplan/ Once the school changes to a more residential campus, businesses will pop up all around the area. All this should add up to the demise of the ghetto rep of the Third Ward.
Too true. Back when it was a private school, the surrounding area wasn't that bad. Heck, I used to ride a bike to the central campus from the Hermann Park area, back in the 1960's. I felt safe.
Yup. The area around there (or close to it) used to be the Jewish 'River Oaks', where the rich Jews lived when they weren't wanted in River Oaks. It's kinda of making a revival though, with gentrification pushing up from the Museum District area - Riverside, etc.
Ok, so there's a plan, now where's the progress? The fact that we're all sitting here having this discussion is a testament to the lack of progress that's been made in the minds of Houstonians
Would never choose UH over A&M or UT. There are only three top tier schools in Texas (Rice, UT, A&M) and those will probably be the only ones for a long time. UH is a public institution situated in the ghetto like John Hopkins and USC (they're private schools) but will most likely never reach the top tier status. A&M was my safety school, and I didn't get into UT so I'm apparently going to College Station. :/
You shouldn't be so flattered that you were accepted into A&M, it's a really easy school to get into. You should attend community college for a semester or two and try getting into the school you really want that way.
