Distance runner asking which one is better for coaching, culture, facilities, academics, etc.
Distance runner asking which one is better for coaching, culture, facilities, academics, etc.
UTEP...or UTA/Rice if you are American
TAMU is a sprint school. UT seems to be more aggressive in recruiting distance runners and is trying to rebuild the program. But who knows what will happen when they get a new head coach.
Generally speaking UT is the science and humanities school and TAMU is engineering and business. That is not to say that you can't get a good engineering degree at UT and can't get a good psych degree from UT.
UT is a much more left leaning campus. TAMU is very conservative and has lots of weird quasi-military Aggie traditions. College Station is a pure college town. TAMU has a nice campus, but that is about all there is in the area. UT is just north of downtown Austin and is right above the state capital. There is almost too much to do in Austin. There are great places to run, hike, bike, swim, drink and eat everywhere around Austin. About the only problem for students in Austin is that off campus housing is riotously expensive and everything has become overcrowded now that Silicon Valley has spilled over into Austin. SXSW used to be a bunch of hippies and film nerds getting together to watch underground avant garde movies. Now it is a international event that for locals is virtually impenetrable if you do not know someone with corporate connections.
If you wanna be sucked into a winning tradition and are a very hard worker who wants to go all in with running i would choose TAMU.
If you have a life outside of running and school and want to have a more cultural college experience and enjoy outdoors then UT is the choice for you.
Basically what I’m saying is A&M is the school for optimizing your running potential. If you improve they will travel you and wendal is a great coach and can develop an athlete.
Herbster is a solid coach as well so you’re not losing in that dept, just not sure how many opportunities you will have to run fast and if the culture is optimal.
Hermès link wrote:
Basically what I’m saying is A&M is the school for optimizing your running potential. If you improve they will travel you and wendal is a great coach and can develop an athlete.
Herbster is a solid coach as well so you’re not losing in that dept, just not sure how many opportunities you will have to run fast and if the culture is optimal.
Great info. Can you explain how much you have to "improve" (times) to travel for A&M, and why there would not be as many opportunities at UT (roster size, philosophy?).
Trying to rebuild? Isn’t that code for underachieving? Herbster has been there for about 5 years. They have strong recruits.
If you want to join a cult go to A and M. If you want to go to a real school to to Texas or basically anywhere else. Also look at Texas State best looking girls in the state
A lot of good things have been said so far. Here is my two cents. Both programs are sprint oriented programs. That is where the scholarships are allocated. And that’s not changing. Both distance programs have been successful in the past decade. Texas has had a little bit more and right now they are the better program.
A&M wins national titles, so if you think you can contribute on the national scene you have a good chance in 4 years to win indoor or outdoor. Texas will make XC nationals every year the next couple years and it’s only a matter of time before they hit a good year and snag a top 10 finish.
My advice, is go to the best school and the environment you’re comfortable in. You will likely improve at the same rate at both schools. One is just deeper than the other at the moment.
This.
Also, now I'm a parent shopping for my own kids. A&M seems a lot safer to me. I haven't looked at statistics, but driving around Austin recently I was alarmed by the number of homeless (oops. sorry, that's not PC. "people lacking domicile"), and it spills right onto the UT campus. I didn't see that at all around College Station.
Hermès link wrote:
If you wanna be sucked into a winning tradition and are a very hard worker who wants to go all in with running i would choose TAMU.
If you have a life outside of running and school and want to have a more cultural college experience and enjoy outdoors then UT is the choice for you.
Basically what I’m saying is A&M is the school for optimizing your running potential. If you improve they will travel you and wendal is a great coach and can develop an athlete.
Herbster is a solid coach as well so you’re not losing in that dept, just not sure how many opportunities you will have to run fast and if the culture is optimal.
This ^
Plus I’d make it this simple:
Middle distance: A&M
Long distance: UT or A&M
Cross country/distance: UT
I think A&M's Women's XC team makes nationals in the next 2 years. McRaven develops the ladies and they signed a nice group of distance runners - Julia Black, Laura Fairchild, Carrie Fish, Megan Hopper, Abbey Santoro.
Despite having the school record in the mile and 1500 go down this year, their men's side is lacking conference scoring quality in the coming years. I'd say Bishop and Seagraves would have the best chance at scoring at a conference meet next year.
UT is kind of an unknown right now with them having an interim coach but I'd expect them to remain sprint oriented and if Herbster is retained, for them to underachieve.
Do you not know what your talking about because UT has an AMAZING business school.
Anybody else worried about the woman AD that oversees the track program? If she has her way with the head coach hire, will Herbster remain as the distance coach?
You say that A&M has a better business program? This is incorrect, McCombs crushes Mays in any category. They are equally good in engineering.
To the OP, what do you want to study? Computer science, business, or engineering -come to UT. Farm management/agriculture - go to A&M. Any other major will be about the same.
Finally, if you want to be a good distance runner on a good team, UT is the place to go. I’m sure you’ve already researched this, but look at the latest recruiting class and how they’ve been running.
Utstudent wrote:
You say that A&M has a better business program? This is incorrect, McCombs crushes Mays in any category. They are equally good in engineering.
To the OP, what do you want to study? Computer science, business, or engineering -come to UT. Farm management/agriculture - go to A&M. Any other major will be about the same.
Finally, if you want to be a good distance runner on a good team, UT is the place to go. I’m sure you’ve already researched this, but look at the latest recruiting class and how they’ve been running.
Probably engineering. My concern is getting a chance to be top 7 and travel with the team as soon as possible. I run 4:12/9:20/15:20 so far as a junior. I know I can contribute to either team, but I don’t just want to be a number on a huge roster.
Why limit yourself to UT and A&M? If you want to run in Texas there are a lot of other schools that might be a good fit. Look at Baylor, Tech, and Oklahoma (I know it’s not in Texas but more than 50% of the kids are Texans). Houston has a great coach and Rice is a great school if you have the grades. TCU is also a good school but they mostly concentrate on sprints. There are a lot more options!
Agggo wrote:
If you want to join a cult go to A and M. If you want to go to a real school to to Texas or basically anywhere else. Also look at Texas State best looking girls in the state
Don't look at Texas State. While most of the girls who attend it are a 10/10, the school itself is a joke. A bona fide party school.
As someone who lived in College station for 18 years and Austin for 4 years, what Precious Roy wrote is fairly accurate. I'd knit-pick about the analysis of the academics, but you can't really go wrong with either. Both schools are over 50k people, so there are plenty of groups to surround yourself with to escape the cults, conservatism, and hippie ideologies that the schools have become associated with.
Texas is better in business, but not by a ton. An A&M degree means a lot - particularly in Texas. Ags hire each other.
Engineering is not better at Texas. A&M has the top petroleum engineering in the country and they have several others that are top 10 (aerospace for example.)
The racing opportunities are better at A&M because they have 3 home venues - XC course, indoor track, and new outdoor track. Your family will get to watch you run a lot. Walk-ons get racing opportunities that walk-ons don't get at other schools.
You also get the chance to be a part of a national championship squad.
Or you can go to a school that is about to have massive coaching turnover.
Good luck!
A&M distance has had a lot of guys quit in the last year with one of them talking about sometimes being gone for 6 hours for a practice. That is unreasonable and shows that the coaches there have no respect for their time to do other things like studying.
I wouldn't touch A&M with a 100 mile pole.
Texas HS Coach wrote:
The racing opportunities are better at A&M because they have 3 home venues - XC course, indoor track, and new outdoor track. Your family will get to watch you run a lot. Walk-ons get racing opportunities that walk-ons don't get at other schools.
You also get the chance to be a part of a national championship squad.
Or you can go to a school that is about to have massive coaching turnover.
Good luck!
Thank you! Can you talk more about the coaching turnover at Texas? I keep hearing and reading things about what is going to happen but nobody knows for sure. Is Herbster likely to go, or is it just the head coach situation that is going to change? If so, will that happen in the summer so new coaches are in place for official visits in the fall? Help!