The University of Texas at Austin Top Questions

Because I do not have a vehicle on campus, I wish I would have known how much of a pain it is to take the city buses from campus to other parts of Austin. I am not a fan of the increase in travel time that results from traveling via public transportation, and the unnannounced breaks taken by the drivers further delays travel time. The buses within campus are pretty efficient, however, traveling away from campus can be quite the challenge without a vehicle.

There are very large classes, and it is very hard to register for the classes/professors you want because of the large student body population.

You have to be willing to put yourself out there to meet people. Everyone is in the same boat: a new school and a new life experience. I wish I hadn't been so shy and had taken advantage of the different social events around campus.

I wish I would have known that its important to choose the right major before you come. I wasn't sure If I definitely wanted to be a Nurse, so I decied to choose a major of Human Growth and Development in the School of Human Ecology. I have now decided for sure that I want to be a Nurse. It is extremely hard to get into the School of Nursing, half of the students who apply get accepted into the school. I wish I would have known how hard it is to transfer into the school of Nursing.

I wish that I had known how different high school is from college. You don't know it until you actually experience it. Freedom and diversity are the largest points. In college, you are in a completely different environment and may be lost at times. But remember, there is always someone to help as long as you ask. Swallow your pride and ask for help. In high school, it may have been seen as being "stupid" for going in for tutoring, but in college, all the people who want to succeed go in for office hours and tutoring.

I wish I had known before I came to UT Austin that my professors are approachable, normal people! Introducing myself to them and talking to them during office hours, or even just after class, is a major way to get more out of class, especially in the larger ones where it's easy to feel like just a number. UT Austin is huge, but making these connections can make the school seem smaller than it is.

I wish I had know how much free time you really have in college. There is much free time but I have to take advantage of it and not stay behind in reading and school work.

There is nothing in particular that I wish I would have known prior to my enrollment at the University of Texas at Austin. However, one always wonders what the experience will be like, and so far I still have many unanswered questions.

I wish I had known to try harder to make friends.

I wish I had known how big the classes were! In some undergrad classes, there are up to 300 students. I had a lot of difficulty taking anything away from the courses this size. One professor and two TA's per 300 students just does not always work out. In my experience, they had difficulty finding enough hours in the day to set up appointments during office hours for homework help or other course discussions

Going to professors' office hours, TAs' discussion groups, and student study groups is going to be crucial if you want to get an A. Get in the habit now. No matter how much you plan on going to every class, you're eventually going to be too sick or too tired and miss a day. Talk to people on your very first day (everyone's friendly, really), so that you never miss a day of notes. Oh, and you're going to get about $2400 in college bonds. Put them towards college, not random junk.

Before I came to UT I went in pretty blind about college, as my parents had never graduatated college and I'm the oldest child. For their sake, I wish I had known about all the scholarships available to incoming freshmen on texasscholarships.com. Also, it's very, very important to check out professors before you register for their classes. UT has some spectacular professors, but also a few duds. You can save yourself a lot of grief if you check out your professors beforehand! On an unrelated note, don't worry about making friends! You'll find plenty here!

I wish I had known more about the scholarships available and that the orientation spots were not enough for all of the admitted students.

I wish I would have known that eventhough Jester is such a ugly dorm, it is better to room in because you can meet more people that you have stuff in common with. I roomed in the northern part of campus and people seemed to be more stuck up.

That graduate school at UT would be harder to get into! I wish that I would have known the academic expectations would be higher than other schools, that research could be started sophomore year and that my GPA would start over. Other than that I felt I had researched enough on the school to have an accurate picture of what I was walking into. The website and advisors were truthful and straight forward about attending UT and what to expect.

I wish I knew more upperclassmen. The old saying that "with age comes wisdom" exemplifies the reasoning of my wish. Upperclassmen are not only wiser than freshmen but they know exactly how the school operates. Upperclassmen advise, assist and advocate for me if I became friends with them in my freshman year. First hand advice is not only invaluable but it is extremely helpful. Assistance from upperclassmen give you the edge and set you apart from other students and advocation from upperclassmen is undoubtedly useful to gain access to student organizations, committes and leading professors.

I wish I had known how great the city of Austin is and how kind the local population is to students! It's been fantastic getting to know this city. The university itself is amazing, well beyond my expectations, but I'm glad that I didn't know that ahead of time-- it was a fabulous surprise to see just how wonderful my university really is.

I wish I would have known how to manage my time better at The University of Texas. I have learned that time flies by quickly when school is in session and many things need to be put on hold for studies. I wish my high school prepared me for things such as this because my first semester in college I struggled greatly. Confused over when and how to study led to disastor.

I wish I had known it was so hard to get into classes. It's such a large school and there's limited seats in classes so it's all up to luck.

Nothing really, I knew it was a large campus and the classes were large, but I have such a large access of resources. I think its good reminder to tell high school students you have any questions just ask.