Texas or A&M

Someone who knows wrote:

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.

Did they quit because of the milage/time or because a lot of the freshmen followed the lead of the guy who wants to sell water bottles? I still can't understand why you would leave a great program to sell something that is not new and I can buy at any store in the US.

I never said Texas has a bad PE degree. A&M's is just considered among the top 3 every year.

I don't think Texas is so much better at developing distance runners that a distance person should automatically go there. They do recruit better in this area, but you'll still often see the ones at A&M progress very well. They're just not putting as much scholarship money into it.

A runner can become great at A&M. Several athletes have shown that you can be a national class distance runner at A&M. Heck they've got a guy right now who is sub-4 and he wasn't highly recruited.

Nobody really knows what is going to happen. But most P5s are rough when it comes to a head coaching change. It is what it is.

Well, if you ask me UT is by far the better school. Any academic ranking will back me up on that. The kids at my high school that don’t get into UT always end up at A&M as their second choice. But honestly both schools are great. A&M is more conservative. You’ll see a ton of “keep America great” baseball caps on that campus. If you like that vibe go there. UT is much more liberal but you will have your conservative pockets there too. I’d visit both schools to see which program feels like the best fit for you. I think if you do that your answer will be clear.

Homeless is now 'lacking domicile'? Things have changed. When I was at UT they were called Drag Worms cuz they hung out on Guadalup (the drag). We never gave em a thought and they never bothered us.

Taking official visits to each school will help a lot, my high school coach told me one of the most important parts of the visit is hanging out with the team. Those will be the guys you spend the next 4 years with and will more than likely be friends for life. If you have questions and don’t want to wait till your senior visit reach out to guys on the team on social media, especially the freshman to see what their experience was like going into a new program. They should be glad to answer your questions. Also if you haven’t make sure to email the coaches to introduce yourself and so that they know you are interested.

Gig’em

Theo was the only one that said 6 hour practice, watching his other videos I’m not sure how trustworthy he is.

Are you looking at Houston?

May as well say are you looking at Baltimore !!!

GoCougs24 wrote:

Are you looking at Houston?

Looked at Houston. I really like Magnus but want a power 5 school and coming from the north the heat would kill me. I also like Baylor and TCU but I think they put more effort into their sprinters. Any other suggestions? BTW - I did not look at Baltimore because I want to relocate to Texas!

*Magness

TX Dreaming wrote:

Any other suggestions?

Heavily involved with A&M and UT over the years. Two great programs with very solid distance coaches. You really need to visit both and see which setting feels the most comfortable for you. Neither is a bad choice in your desired field of study.

Thanks to all for commenting. I am planning visits to both schools in the fall. I did my homework on the academics and team standings but it is hard to tell culture and chemistry without being there in person. I can’t wait! Any other thoughts are welcome.

Why the state of Texas? There are good teams in a lot of other states.

UT business wrote:

Do you not know what your talking about because UT has an AMAZING business school.

Thank you. McCombs business school blows the doors off of TAM. Students who don't get into McCombs go to TAM.

Are you a top talent being offered scholarships by both programs? If not I'm wondering how you know you can attend either one? UT is not easy to get into, and it is even more difficult to determine their selection process if you're not in the too 7% of a Texas high school.

Did someone seriously suggest a 4:12 miler as a Junior consider running at TCU? TCU lost to the Aggie Alumni team at the A&M meet (and it wasn't even close). That's not even a real cross country program. They make Vanderbilt look competitive.

Scholarship offers? wrote:

Are you a top talent being offered scholarships by both programs? If not I'm wondering how you know you can attend either one? UT is not easy to get into, and it is even more difficult to determine their selection process if you're not in the too 7% of a Texas high school.

I am not in a Texas high school. I’m in the north and want to run for a power 5 Texas school. I have good grades and ACT score but would probably need help getting into Texas or A&M based on the low admission rates for nonresident engineering majors. Both coaches said they could help with admissions. I have heard that from coaches at other schools - ND, Ivies, Michigan - and believe they can help me get in. Any other aid would be great but not a deal breaker.

el hombre wrote:

Did someone seriously suggest a 4:12 miler as a Junior consider running at TCU? TCU lost to the Aggie Alumni team at the A&M meet (and it wasn't even close). That's not even a real cross country program. They make Vanderbilt look competitive.

There are only so many power 5 schools in Texas so I want to look at all of them. I know TCU focuses on their sprinters. What do you think of Baylor or Oklahoma? I ruled out Tech only because of its location. Any other programs I should look at? I am trying to set up my visits for fall so any other suggestions are welcome.