Texas Tech - Something for everyone

Introduction
At Texas Tech, we have a saying: "Easy to get in, hard to get out." If you don't want to study much, this is not the school for you. But if you think you want to go to graduate school, then Tech is a great place to get your undergraduate degree. The school has over 27,000 students on campus, making it large but not overwhelming. I had visited the University of Texas and Texas A&M, both of which schools have around 50,000 students, and that was way too large for me. If you are from a big city, you will really like the friendly attitude of the Tech students and the people of Lubbock.

Campus Life and Social Life
The club scene here is good with a lot of live music (kinda like Austin). There are also house parties at Tech every weekend and these are pretty wild. And if you are into sports, this is the place to be. Tech is a member of the Big 12 conference and fans are fanatical about football and basketball. There is also a strong Women's sports program, especially for Basketball. If you like playing sports, Tech has a year round intramural sports program. If you're into snow skiing, Ruidoso, New Mexico is only a few hours away and it's easy to get there on the weekends during ski season. I always have more choices of things to do on the weekend than I have time for.

If you're into Greek life, Texas Tech has it, but it does not dominate campus life. If you live in the dorms, you'll find a social scene too. I lived in the dorms for awhile and found that it was fun and the food was good. My dorm was recently remodeled and was comfortable. Some of the dorms at Texas Tech are better than others so you have to ask around to find out the best dorm for you. The dorms are small so you will get to know everyone on your floor and some of these people will become your good friends.

But back to the social scene: Tech also has many social clubs. One is Saddle Tramps a spirit organization for the sports teams. Tech also has social organizations for almost every major. This is a great way to meet people and network for internships and jobs. Across the street from the university is a major apartment development going up. It will be huge so you don't have to live far from campus.

And I almost forgot to mention this: Lubbock (where Texas Tech is located) is a very cheap place to live. Food is inexpensive and apartments are cheap. This has to be the one of the cheapest university towns to live in anywhere. And if you need to work while in school, jobs are easy to come by as unemployment here is very low. Academics
One distinct advantage of attending Texas Tech is the wide variety of programs and degrees offered. Its the only school in Texas with a Law School and Medical School on the main campus. Tech also has strong programs in Business, Engineering, Architecture, Communications, Psychology, Theatre, Music, Allied Health, Art and Agriculture. Texas Tech has over 100 different degree programs. Personally, I think the most interesting program at Tech is in the Honors College, where you can design your own degree. For this, you have to prequalify academically.

I have had good luck with my professors on the whole: all taught their classes almost full time. The T.A.s only taught when the profs were sick or away. I have had a couple of boring teachers and one really, really difficult class where the teacher wanted to flunk everyone out, but overall the school's great.

Student Body
The typical student at Texas Tech lives a casual life. This is not a dressy place: most students wear shorts or jeans all of the time. The students are down-to-earth and people have a "real live and let live" attitude here. This means you can be or do whatever you want here...just don't bother anyone. Most of the students here are from metropolitan areas like Dallas, Houston, Austin or San Antonio. We also have our share of kids from small towns. The students are into everything .... academics, sports, the arts, take your pick. There is a gay community here if that's important to you.

In Closing...
If you live in Texas, put Texas Tech on your list to visit before you choose a college. Try to visit on a weekend in the fall during football season and get tickets to see the Red Raiders play. This will give you the full Tech experience. Also if you are looking at the University of Texas or Texas A&M, you should definitely visit Texas Tech. The student body and atmosphere is a happy medium between the two schools. It is not as conservative as A&M where you have to conform and embrace everything or you're labeled a "2 percenter". It is not as liberal as the University of Texas or Austin but we have a liberal community here.