The Big Question: A&M or UT

For most people I know, the answer is easy. Some are die hard Aggies who would die before wearing burnt orange. The Longhorns scoff at the weird country cultish Aggie network and take pride in the forty acres. There are a few, like me, who see the beauty in both communities. Basically, where I'm from in South Texas everyone has an opinion. Even if they didn't attend one of the two or never plan to apply, they still have a preference. It's difficult for me. Both of my older siblings attended TAMU, but the majority of my friends and extended family are Texas Exes or future Horns. For a long time, before it came time to start actually thinking about applying to college, I was for sure that A&M was the place for me because my sister and brother, were Aggies. It was my destiny to move to college station and carry on the tradition, and I was happy to do so. More recently, however, I have grown to love UT and the city that comes with it.

When I started researching colleges and thinking about a major during my sophomore year of high school, I learned more and more about each college and sadly fell in love with both. I visited both campuses and learned about the architecture programs (the major of my choice after doing some thinking). I had of course been to College Station countless times, so the tours just reaffirmed my fascination with the small town and friendly vibe. The architecture program at TAMU was set in a nice building with new resources, but it didn't have the prestige of the Texas program. I had learned that the architecture college at UT was number six in the nation, ranked up there with the Ivy League schools. For a public university, that was pretty impressive. I took a tour of the University and the individual college and became obsessed. I already knew that Austin was cool. Going to ACL was one of the coolest experiences of my life. The food was wild and colorful. The whole atmosphere was special. There was only one downside. Being the smallest of all the UT colleges, and having a rather small facility, the college of architecture had an almost ten percent acceptance rate. I was told over and over that around 800-1000 hopefuls applied every year. Only 120 max could be accepted.

I'm not a bad student. Actually, I consider myself to be somewhat smart. But still. Those odds were so small. All through my junior year whenever people would ask about my college plans, I gave the same answer, "Oh, either UT or A&M. But right now I'm leaning towards UT." Now I regret saying that. Honestly, I told so many people that. It is now the summer before my senior year and I've started working on applications. Honestly, I'm so scared. If I don't get into UT, and I end up going to Texas A&M, will people judge me? Will they think I wasn't good enough for UT or that I'm settling? Just because UT is nationally ranked, is their program that much better than A&M's? Would I honestly be happier at A&M? What if I do get denied to UT after building up all this hype?

These questions plague me as I write my college essays and sort the hours of service. People constantly tell me, "Oh I got into UT, you'll definitely get in." But, they aren't in architecture. They don't know the stats, and they don't know the odds. So now, I wait. I'll fill out the applications and send them in. I'll find out about A&M long before I hear back from UT. Then it will be another guessing game until late February. If I get into both, then I guess I still don't have an answer to the big question.