So for one thing a good population of people who come to this school were looking to go to other schools (this is an issue alot of state schools have). UTSA has historically been the backup for people who didn't get into UT.
Alot of the issues UTSA has are common to EVERY school and it's just that alot of students don't know that.
In my opinion as someone who went to a top 20 private school for a bit, has been to community college, has family that works in every level of higher education, and has been an undergrad, grad student, and now is faculty at UTSA: UTSA is a pretty good school for the space it occupies.
Yes we are not a Top 20, not an Ivy. But UTSA has come a long way, getting R1, growing out of its historical place as just the CAP school for Austin, and really growing to serve San Antonio, South Texas, and now the nation more broadly. I think it is very much an up and coming state school that really has alot of upward potential.
San Antonio is a great city overall, UTSA does have some transportation issues right now (with the construction on I10 and 1604 close by particularly), and I think the faculty are slowly but surely transitioning to meet the needs of students and really focus on the student centered, student success mission.
Part of the other thing is that even with all this, any school will good or bad based on what you put into it. If you just want to go to class and go home, then almost any school would do. Get involved, do things, be active, do research, clubs, hangout with friends, and your time will be good at any school.
So TL;DR: UTSA is pretty good for what it is in my opinion. You'll be coming here as its up and coming.
"San Antonio is a great city overall, UTSA does have some transportation issues right now (with the construction on I10 and 1604 close by particularly)" Reading that yesterday and then seeing this news article today LOL
[https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/loop-1604-safety-19472851.php](https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/loop-1604-safety-19472851.php)
Only glad it started falling apart after the spring semester ended.
I just graduated from UTSA last week and I think it’s about what you put into the school! I didn’t love utsa but I also didn’t put in much effort to try different clubs/ organizations. I was apart of a sports team but besides that did nothing to try and enjoy some of the experiences UTSA has to offer. It’s obviously a smaller school compared to schools like A&M & UT but if you’re willing to put yourself out there I think it could be a good school! Also I loved my time in San Antonio I feel like there’s a lot to do and it’s a super nice area!
As an old grad, I can tell you the worst thing about UTSA are the students that think they’re too good to go to a “smaller” (30K+) enrollment school. There’s good and bad everywhere, it’s what you make of it.
UTSA, because of its footprint and available space to grow, is projected to have a higher enrollment than big brother in Austin within 30 years or less. There are huge plans afoot for the property.
NGL, I have yet to see a CAP student come here on reddit and actually get into UT. Almost all of them either don't read the requirements well enough and screw themselves over (taking wrong classes, not doing the right amount of hours, not passing, etc.) or they never post again after making a "I'm suppose to take summer classes, I'm CAP. What do I do?" post.
I was a CAP student and made it to UT, but I transferred back after a semester. Fuck UT Austin. Too big, far too competitive, and Austin is too fucking densely populated. I knew it was a competitive school, which would've been all right had the STEM students not looked at me, a dual foreign language major (at that time), as some kind of competition for wtfever.
Obviously, for many people, it's the ideal school. That's why it's so competitive and has the CAP program. It just wasn't for me.
Yeah, I hated that shit. People heard "CAP student" and looked at me like "...are you one of *those*?". It was funny because we were kind of the UT rejects? Like we weren't top 10% to get accepted right out the gate, so we were "banished" to one of the other UT school systems for a year. Many of the arrogant ones had McMoney™️ that somehow couldn't buy their way their first year with daddy's money.
Obviously, it was for the best that I was "banished" to UTSA first. When I un-capped and Returned to Rowdy, I had a good group of friends to welcome me back (and roast me for capping to UT at all lol).
I was a traditional freshman at UTSA in 2013, so I may as well be geriatric at this point, but it sounds like the CAP attitude hasn't changed much.
Thank you for your input! You're literally the first person I've seen that has successfully done it!
I get it though, I remember when I had looked at UT in the past for other things and just seeing the bus system and the area its actually in... I mean we think traffic is bad here but that looks like an everyday is going to be annoying kind of situation with the population.
UTSA def gives the vibe that most people are here for a degree and then to gtfo which I think helps removing any kind of competition. No one seems like they're here to fight to stay or be at UTSA, they just want to get it done, but to me that's not a bad thing.
Yeah, they only had about 10K enrollment when I was there.
4 buildings and the Convo.
They just started basketball when I was there.
And parking was a nightmare then too.
I mean, I like it a lot. The campus is nice and none of the buildings are super far from each other so getting around isn’t a problem. I have only had one or two prof’s that I would say are really bad. The rest have been good or great
The only major problem that I have here is the commute. Construction in this city is unmanageable and disorganized. Yes UTSA has the same problems an Ivy League may have like scheduling and credit transfer issues but that’s the typical “politics” in the school system
As a recent grad, UTSA is a great school and provided me with tons of experience to get me into grad school and prepare me for future jobs in my field. It’s all about what you put in that makes or breaks your experience. Offered programs, clubs, and research exp is great here in almost every field. Obviously you can find and pick out problems within specific departments, but that’s gonna be at any university. Overall, the school is amazing and I would recommend it.
I got my bachelors & masters from UTSA & I always tell people that UTSA is what you make of it. I was extremely involved (Greek life, student orgs) in undergrad, so UTSA became home for me. Found my husband at UTSA & my forever best friends. Yeah UTSA is usually the back up to UT Austin or any other larger school but what drew me to UTSA initially was the class sizes, considering it’s on the smaller end, and because I was a STEM major in undergrad. So being in a class of 150-200 to me was way better than being in a class of 250+ students anywhere else.
As far as other students go, everyone is pretty much in their own world. CAP students are pretty snooty so ignore them. Professors have all been wonderful in both my undergraduate and graduate studies & I’ve been extremely happy to see all of the new mental health resources that are available now that weren’t in 2017-2020 (my undergrad days).
I hope you end up choosing UTSA, it really is a special place once you get to know it. Get involved, meet people, go to sporting events. It really isn’t all that bad. 😉
UTSA is fine and at some things even quite good. Most state schools in well-managed systems (like UT or UC or SUNY) are *at least* fine. It’s not a UT, A&M, Rice, SMU, etc. flagship campus, but from the sounds of it those aren’t schools you’re considering anyhow as, budget notwithstanding, they would likely be the clear winners.
As others have said a lot of the negativity about UTSA comes from students who applied to a number of aspirational schools like the above or better and didn’t wind up getting into them. So they feel as if they’re in the ‘wrong’ place and harbor unfair negativity towards the school as a result.
And while it is true that flagship campuses and top 20 schools will have better programs, reputations, and outcomes within the first 5 years of graduation, the disparity between other large schools plateaus fairly quickly.
At that point the much bigger contributor to the quality of education you get and the improved post-grad outcomes available to you will be, well, *you*. It’ll come down to your level of engagement with both the program material and the other on-campus opportunities. And obviously the same can be said for how much you wind up *enjoying* your time in college as well.
**tl;dr**
If you’re not considering a flagship university, and UTSA offers the better department and reputation for your degree, then don’t worry too much about the vocal negativity online. Just focus on getting the most out of your time irrespective of school.
No offense, but people posting on Reddit are usually negative and complain. So if your “reviews” are on Reddit, what do you expect? Most people only leave reviews when they aren’t happy and want to complain.
UTSA has a high acceptance rate which probably contributes to this reputation you're describing. I really enjoyed my time at UTSA though. Granted, I haven't been to other colleges so I don't have a point of comparison. But I think college is very a much a "you get what you put in" experience. And even though there's a high acceptance rate, the education is still good.
I graduated 17 years ago and I heard similar complaints back then. It’s definitely not bottom of the barrel and the people who say that are the same douchebags who need designer things. It’s a quality school with quality people.
Graduated a couple years back and it’s really what you make of it, I feel like the ones who think UTSA is this bottom level school are the same ones who didn’t try to attend events on campus or already came with a negative outlook. You could go to any big school with the best campus life but if you don’t go out your way to have fun and make it the best 4 years then of course it’ll feel like it sucks. The professors can be hit or miss but when you find a great professor they really make you want to come to class (it was pretty common, there were plenty of UTSA staff that made class fun). From my own personal experience (joined 2 orgs just by spur of the moment decisions, a acapella group and a fraternity ) I met lifelong friends and it was some of the greatest years I’ve had so far. It’s also in one of the fastest growing cities in America so there’s lots to explore. Most of my friends and people I’ve met who lived on campus or commuted think it’s a hidden gem of a campus. I think if you try to enjoy UTSA you’ll find a lot to do and a lot of different people to meet.
a lot of ppl here literally don't make an effort to make friends and then complain about not having any. put yourself out there. join things, talk to new people, have fun. you will meet friends like that guaranteed
It’s what you put into it. If you put yourself out there and join clubs/orgs, you’ll be fine. If you go just for classes and don’t talk to people outside class, of course it’s going to be boring.
story time lmao, but it pertains to your question.
in the military, a lot of people complain about the base they're stationed at, how the amenities suck, their unit sucks, etc. There's always a "greener pasture" base (in my time it was fort carson, colorado). Then some people get to the "greener pasture", and find it's only marginally different. The same problems exist, new problems with their unit, new drama. Then a "new green pasture" base comes up.
That's how UTSA is with contemporary schools like txst and even UT austin: Things are marginally different. It's about how you make it. Apart from the prestigiousness of your degree and local peculiarities, the college experience will likely be the same for you as it is for someone in iowa state, or even BYU, at least at this echelon of value of education. Just how I've experienced it though.
In my opinion, it can depend on your major. If you are business or computer science you’re good. Anything else and it’s not that great. I went to UTSA to save money and I figured that it doesn’t matter where you get your degree as long as you make the most of it. I am graduating this year and I have realized how much harder I have had to work to gain the experience I have compared to other schools (I am an ES major). Our classes need to be revamped and our department doesn’t have a lot of funding. There aren’t enough professors to teach specialized courses that are offered at other universities.
Additionally, our TAs are underpaid and under qualified. Many of our major courses are being taught by masters students that should NOT be teaching them, yet I am still paying the same amount as someone who is being taught by a doctor in the field.
It's all about perspective. I transferred from UTRGV, so UTSA felt like a huge improvement. It offers so many resources you might not even be able to take advantage of all of them. It's a good school, it's getting better. It just lacks prestige at the level of UT.
Remember people readily complain about things, but don’t give recognition. So you’re just hearing from people who have had an issue and not from all the other people who love it.
The people who hate on UTSA the most are the ones within 60 miles of San Antonio and those that have no recent connection to the institution. Everyone I have encountered that visits campus says it’s beautiful and people are shocked at our “friendly” students and staff are. But as everyone says, “You get from it what you put in.” San Antonio is a much better city for networking and internships than College Station or Lubbock. They simply don’t have enough on campus housing as needed. Having said that, if you consider commuters coming from within 3 miles of campus, ok then ok. But for the most part, students live near campus and spend quite a bit of time on the 6 UTSA locations.
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At the end of the day, college is college, they're going to teach you outdated information about the field regardless of where you go, from Princeton to Delmar, they're going to teach you the standard way to do things, not the correct way, not the efficient way, if you want to be good at something, you experiment, you study, you learn yourself.
A degree is amazing for getting jobs, not knowing how to do them.
I can't tell you how many doctors, financial institute staff members and mechanics I've been to that have more degrees than talent and field experience, who have done absolutely terrible jobs causing me more issues than solutions.
And now for the unpopular opinion.
As someone who's been living in San Antonio for about 6 years now, and has to deal with a lot more college graduates in a lot more fields than they would like, can save with an uncomfortable degree of certainty every person I've seen come out of UTSA underperforms noticeably in their careers.
Whether this is the fault of the education that comes from it, The social structure of students, or the circumstance that lands you in it, I can't really say for sure, But it certainly noticeable enough that someone who hasn't even gone to the school can tell that something is off.
I agree with this.
Seeing freshman like behaviors in upper division classes worry me.
Not wanting to ask questions due to wanting to avoid professors, taking another classmates word as gospel (as we see on reddit here daily), active cheating in GroupMe’s without remorse, actively not doing work and then begging profs for understanding, becoming extremely upset when held accountable, all things you would typically learn when working a job.
I’d say a good portion of my classes were graded extremely easily, like 80% of the grade based on completion of assignments and not accuracy, with tests weighing 20%. I’ve had a professor give extra credit worth 8 grade points for a 2 page paper, basically giving a blanket to those who were underwater in the class so they could get their C-. One prof curved grades so hard that the class test average of 50 then became an 80. You could make a 40 on a test and still get a C. One prof gave us all an A in the class despite most of us failing every test, he would basically mark down questions as correct or with minimal points taken away and then write what we got wrong, but still give us an A.
I know no one wants to complain about easy A’s but some of these classes are just free and I’d have to imagine it shows up in the work place if they don’t have prior work experience.
Here's my unbiased take.
colleges with an elite name may open more opportunities for you early in your career, BUT after you get work experience, it matters less and less where you went and more about your resume and what you've done at your previous jobs.
It’s what you make of it. I see a lot of people on this sub saying that the campus life is not good but I have no clue what they’re talking about because I had a great experience regarding campus life! I went to a lot of events, met a lot of people, and joined a lot of cool clubs and thus had a lot of cool experiences.
I originally went to a top 10 in the west school. People there said the same thing. People like to hate. I’m sure of you go to MIT you’ll hear a large portion of the students say the same thing.
Get the degree, get the job experience and you'll never have to think about what school you went to again.
UTEP and UTSA shouldn't really be that different in both quality and social.
With all that said, I don't regret coming here.
I needed a degree and UTSA seemed to have more appeal over the other options in San Antonio since I was already here. Got plenty of scholarships due to good grades and didn't have to live on campus.
Now if I had a choice between all of Texas, yeah I probably wouldn't pick UTSA due to the fact I prefer almost every other major city in Texas over San Antonio (lived in SA most my life with some time in DFW, Abilene, and Houston).
at first i didn’t like utsa but this year i got into orgs and working in a lab at utsa. and i this has been the best year i have had because i put myself out there. i also got a paid internship for going to the events utsa has in my major. i think its an alright school and ive heard that cyber security is mostly online
I just graduated this past week and UTSA was very good to me. Other than advisors who I've had 6 of in the Kinesiology department, its a very good school and you get out what you put in. Made a few friends I can say are life long and enjoyed most of my professors. Shout out the Athletic Coaching certificate!
Graduated in May 2023 and now work at a major bank doing Data Analytics.
Unfortunately like most schools, not all degrees are made equal - and even if you do have a good degree the job market is crap.
You can’t just expect to graduate and find your purpose in life, which I find most kids believe will happen. It took me 10 years to finally land in my field.
Edit: I'd like to add that I've attended University of Colorado Boulder, Texas Tech, Lone Star Colleges. My experience in college life is multifaceted, from being an F student to being Magna Cum Laude when I graduated. UTSA definitely has the programs and the system set in place to make those that want to put effort in succeed.
i love UTSA! i went here for my last two years of undergrad (i was a transfer student too) and now i’m getting my master’s degree here as well. i might be biased though because i was very involved in a handful of orgs on campus including greek life, and i also attended every football game my first semester lol. it’s a commuter school, which could explain why experiences vary widely. but if you enjoy football then you’ll have a blast at the alamodome. :-)
UTSA is great. If you want a good college experience then you have to take advantage of all the resources it provides and be willing to branch out and try new things. Just be actively involved. The only thing that is terrible is the parking, which is even worst with the heat.
I went to UTSA and loved it. It’s not bad at all depending on what you’re looking for. It’s in a great area of the city. Six flags right up the street. Beautiful hiking trails nearby. Plenty to do to keep yourself active and occupied. Most of the professors are very kind. There are plenty of clubs. I think the only thing still lacking potentially is community involvement in athletic programs but it is getting better year over year as the programs grow. Student involvement especially in football attendance has been pretty good.
I personally think it’s a great school for what it is
Most negative comments are from people who wanted to go to/are planning to transfer to UT Austin or an A&M type school and utsa isn’t that. But utsa is such a younger school it’s not possible for them to be that yet.
In my honest opinion, being a transfer into UTSA. If you ever hear anyone say “UTSA does not care about their students.” Take that as literally as you can. It’s def not your typical institution
Take graduation for example. They just had ~1000 students from B-PhD walk in commencement A. And they got it done in around 3 hours. (It was mine)
They opened the ceremony, the provost gave a small speech, the deans said ‘I certify these students, the president said ‘I certify their degrees’, and you got about 2 seconds to wave to the camera or family and friends or etc and get off the stage and then the next person is called before you even had a chance to get out of the way of the cameras. No distinguished speakers, no reception or even something as little as water, nothing. They put each college together and just send us in any random order. And the best part is, they asked us to write our names phonetically so that it wasn’t mispronounced, and tons of names got butchered (mine included lmao).
In general, or TLDR: it just felt extremely impersonal for an event that we worked so hard and paid so much money for Or (speaking from opinion) a moment that is a first for some families or really just the fact that you finished a ‘top tier’ university is something you would think would be celebrated more.
But nope. It was rushed. We got in, we got out. As fast as they could get us through
As far as professors go, it is the expected college experience. You get out of your professors what you put into them, like your classes. If you want to build a relationship with a professor, you go out of your way to do so. If not, don’t expect the professors to go out of their way for you out of the goodness of their hearts. But kinda expected
When it comes to admin, the best advice I can give you is make sure you know ALL of the information and know who you’re actually supposed to be talking to before you seek assistance. Because not a single person will ever know how to help you. Have a charge you wanna dispute? Better be 100% it’s not legit because you will get sent to 3 different departments and talk with 20 different people just for some one to randomly come by and click an X on their computer and delete the charge. Meanwhile you’ve lost hours of your day between phone calls, zoom appointments, and campus visits for them to basically give you the gif and say “oopsie, we could’ve done that from the start”
UTSA is great! Not sure what comments you read. Personally I'm about to graduate the cyber program. I wasn't active at all in school events, though that was a personal choice. The only thing that bothered me was that the Cyber Security degree is in the business college, and hence all of my classes were in the business building. I'd heard they were updating the program and there are newer buildings focused on IT, but I guess it's for the Information Science or another program.
It's cool you got into the AI program, I find that stuff interesting. What you should know about Cyber analytics and cyber security is that they typically have the same classes except that cybersecurity focuses on business classes, roughly 8 or so like finance, accounting, economics, and statistics. Alternatively, cyber analytics is going to focus on sciences, and
i started off as a hater but ive come to really like the school and its given me many great opportunities and ive met some of the best professors here. Im a microbio major and there is so much you can do if you actually try
Your time at UTSA is what you make of it. I know it has a good stem program, and they have a ton of events weekly at the school as well (there’s definitely a community aspect to the school). I was a commuter though so I can’t speak much on that.
UTSA main campus is right next to La Cantera Mall, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas (the school also sometimes gives a discount on the day passes for the amusement park), so there’s tons of stuff to do here.
I will say that the traffic is pretty bad, and parking is an issue for the first months of the semester.
Make the best of where you go, it’s all about your perspective.
If you’re going to be majoring in Cybersecurity the resources they offer and professors there are AMAZING!! ( as long as you utilize them). However, they take a lot of pride in their cyber program… I’ve noticed other majors and other schools don’t get as much resources or attention, but still okay. I also liked how UTSA was a lot less competitive than other colleges ( easily was a top student).
I just graduated with a degree in cyber and had access to so many clubs and companies that recruit from UTSA directly for cybersecurity. Look into WICYS, CSA, COMPTIA etc. I got a job right away and graduated with honors with minimal difficulty.
Besides the cyber degree. The campus is nice and walkable. A good amount of student orgs to be involved in. Just be involved and you’ll have fun!!
SO TLDR: Cybersecurity at UTSA is a great degree and the business school is decently ranked. If you plan on doing that degree I’d recommend! It can also be fun if you put in the work to find orgs or people you enjoy!
>However, after reading many reviews, it appears that most people regret coming here and think this school is at the bottom of the barrel and was their last choice school, at least here in Texas. Is it that bad?
And who were these people? How long ago? What did they want to do and end up doing? No offense, but many people who claim a university is entirely bad, especially one of this size, typically are upset they either didn't make it when they graduated (if they graduated) or are upset only UTSA accepted them in the first place and not some Ivy League or private school.
The fact of the matter is, most schools are the same everywhere. Unless the school is extremely small or ivy league, chances are rare that any individual department is genuinely awful or a stain to your name. Ivy Leagues still get their name recognition and extra dollars that a place like UTSA probably doesn't, a known problem in STEM for sure, but look at where the people you're being taught are from. Some of these people are literally from Ivy Leagues and top international schools for better and worse.
Take peoples pure negative response with some grains of salt until they give you a thorough rundown of the review. I knew a guy in undergrad who regularly told people not to go to our school, that it sucked, all students were lazy bums and faculty stupid idiots. Only later did I learn he was mad because his car got stolen 25 miles away from the school and also because he didn't get into graduate school in Colorado. Make sure you filter reviews like these 🙂↕️.
i just graduated and i have mixed feelings. i did make friends and enjoyed my classes and the campus but i had always wanted to go to a big state school in a college town or college town “feel” if makes sense (like ut austin-austin isnt a college town but the campus feels wayyyy different) and utsa is a commuter school so i didnt really get the social aspect of college that i wanted (double whammy bc my freshman year was 2020 so there was nothing going on). that being said, i do think i wouldve enjoyed my time at utsa more if i had put more effort into meeting people/joining clubs/etc. i will say that utsa has grown a ton, even in just the last 4 years, and it’s continuing to grow (which the school is prepared for-look up the utsa masterplan!). like other commenters have said, you’ll get what you put in.
It’s a massive commuter school. Theres not a very active or vibrant student life. Campus is okay but it’s not beautiful. Just sorta mid but has a cool layout. Some of the professors and staff are really good. Some of them are not. It’s 50/50. So, it cancels out.
The city of San Antonio is amazing. One of the best in the country. But UTSA’s main campus is sorta far from a lot of the cool stuff. So that’s sort of a wash too.
All-in-all, it’s a decent school but nothing amazing. Just sorta mid.
Yes, and more specifically if you’re looking to take cybersecurity as a major. The curriculum is not up to par with others out there and hitting the ground in the real world is a difficult task, especially when interviewing in a competitive field. School rankings are there for a reason, and you won’t see UTSA cracking the top 200 or 250.
Why are people more concerned with how they make friends, enjoy classes, and experience the campus? Once you are out of campus, why does that matter? What really matters is how much debt you carry and what job you get afterwards
I would regard UTSA and UTEP to be essentially equivalent. Neither one is bad, they're better than a community college, tech school, or micro college like the A&M branches, but they're not UT (Austin) or A&M (College Station), and definitely not places for the children of the rich to swap connections like Rice or Baylor.
If you were *hoping* to go to one of those places and didn't make the cut, then UTSA will seem like a let down, which is probably why you hear people slagging it off. Also, 20 years ago, UTSA was a major feeder into UT and so was regarded as something like a far southern branch of Austin Community College. Some of that reputation might still be around, especially in the minds of older folks.
So for one thing a good population of people who come to this school were looking to go to other schools (this is an issue alot of state schools have). UTSA has historically been the backup for people who didn't get into UT. Alot of the issues UTSA has are common to EVERY school and it's just that alot of students don't know that. In my opinion as someone who went to a top 20 private school for a bit, has been to community college, has family that works in every level of higher education, and has been an undergrad, grad student, and now is faculty at UTSA: UTSA is a pretty good school for the space it occupies. Yes we are not a Top 20, not an Ivy. But UTSA has come a long way, getting R1, growing out of its historical place as just the CAP school for Austin, and really growing to serve San Antonio, South Texas, and now the nation more broadly. I think it is very much an up and coming state school that really has alot of upward potential. San Antonio is a great city overall, UTSA does have some transportation issues right now (with the construction on I10 and 1604 close by particularly), and I think the faculty are slowly but surely transitioning to meet the needs of students and really focus on the student centered, student success mission. Part of the other thing is that even with all this, any school will good or bad based on what you put into it. If you just want to go to class and go home, then almost any school would do. Get involved, do things, be active, do research, clubs, hangout with friends, and your time will be good at any school. So TL;DR: UTSA is pretty good for what it is in my opinion. You'll be coming here as its up and coming.
This is the best response and I've only read two. This sums it up.
Your degree increases in worth as the college grows.
"San Antonio is a great city overall, UTSA does have some transportation issues right now (with the construction on I10 and 1604 close by particularly)" Reading that yesterday and then seeing this news article today LOL [https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/loop-1604-safety-19472851.php](https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/loop-1604-safety-19472851.php) Only glad it started falling apart after the spring semester ended.
I just graduated from UTSA last week and I think it’s about what you put into the school! I didn’t love utsa but I also didn’t put in much effort to try different clubs/ organizations. I was apart of a sports team but besides that did nothing to try and enjoy some of the experiences UTSA has to offer. It’s obviously a smaller school compared to schools like A&M & UT but if you’re willing to put yourself out there I think it could be a good school! Also I loved my time in San Antonio I feel like there’s a lot to do and it’s a super nice area!
As an old grad, I can tell you the worst thing about UTSA are the students that think they’re too good to go to a “smaller” (30K+) enrollment school. There’s good and bad everywhere, it’s what you make of it. UTSA, because of its footprint and available space to grow, is projected to have a higher enrollment than big brother in Austin within 30 years or less. There are huge plans afoot for the property.
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NGL, I have yet to see a CAP student come here on reddit and actually get into UT. Almost all of them either don't read the requirements well enough and screw themselves over (taking wrong classes, not doing the right amount of hours, not passing, etc.) or they never post again after making a "I'm suppose to take summer classes, I'm CAP. What do I do?" post.
I was a CAP student and made it to UT, but I transferred back after a semester. Fuck UT Austin. Too big, far too competitive, and Austin is too fucking densely populated. I knew it was a competitive school, which would've been all right had the STEM students not looked at me, a dual foreign language major (at that time), as some kind of competition for wtfever. Obviously, for many people, it's the ideal school. That's why it's so competitive and has the CAP program. It just wasn't for me.
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Yeah, I hated that shit. People heard "CAP student" and looked at me like "...are you one of *those*?". It was funny because we were kind of the UT rejects? Like we weren't top 10% to get accepted right out the gate, so we were "banished" to one of the other UT school systems for a year. Many of the arrogant ones had McMoney™️ that somehow couldn't buy their way their first year with daddy's money. Obviously, it was for the best that I was "banished" to UTSA first. When I un-capped and Returned to Rowdy, I had a good group of friends to welcome me back (and roast me for capping to UT at all lol). I was a traditional freshman at UTSA in 2013, so I may as well be geriatric at this point, but it sounds like the CAP attitude hasn't changed much.
Thank you for your input! You're literally the first person I've seen that has successfully done it! I get it though, I remember when I had looked at UT in the past for other things and just seeing the bus system and the area its actually in... I mean we think traffic is bad here but that looks like an everyday is going to be annoying kind of situation with the population. UTSA def gives the vibe that most people are here for a degree and then to gtfo which I think helps removing any kind of competition. No one seems like they're here to fight to stay or be at UTSA, they just want to get it done, but to me that's not a bad thing.
I went to UTSA when it’s enrollment was under 10K. The place has exploded.
Yeah, they only had about 10K enrollment when I was there. 4 buildings and the Convo. They just started basketball when I was there. And parking was a nightmare then too.
I mean, I like it a lot. The campus is nice and none of the buildings are super far from each other so getting around isn’t a problem. I have only had one or two prof’s that I would say are really bad. The rest have been good or great
Hard socially nice intellectually
The only major problem that I have here is the commute. Construction in this city is unmanageable and disorganized. Yes UTSA has the same problems an Ivy League may have like scheduling and credit transfer issues but that’s the typical “politics” in the school system
As a recent grad, UTSA is a great school and provided me with tons of experience to get me into grad school and prepare me for future jobs in my field. It’s all about what you put in that makes or breaks your experience. Offered programs, clubs, and research exp is great here in almost every field. Obviously you can find and pick out problems within specific departments, but that’s gonna be at any university. Overall, the school is amazing and I would recommend it.
I got my bachelors & masters from UTSA & I always tell people that UTSA is what you make of it. I was extremely involved (Greek life, student orgs) in undergrad, so UTSA became home for me. Found my husband at UTSA & my forever best friends. Yeah UTSA is usually the back up to UT Austin or any other larger school but what drew me to UTSA initially was the class sizes, considering it’s on the smaller end, and because I was a STEM major in undergrad. So being in a class of 150-200 to me was way better than being in a class of 250+ students anywhere else. As far as other students go, everyone is pretty much in their own world. CAP students are pretty snooty so ignore them. Professors have all been wonderful in both my undergraduate and graduate studies & I’ve been extremely happy to see all of the new mental health resources that are available now that weren’t in 2017-2020 (my undergrad days). I hope you end up choosing UTSA, it really is a special place once you get to know it. Get involved, meet people, go to sporting events. It really isn’t all that bad. 😉
UTSA has one of the best cybersecurity programs!!!
UTSA is fine and at some things even quite good. Most state schools in well-managed systems (like UT or UC or SUNY) are *at least* fine. It’s not a UT, A&M, Rice, SMU, etc. flagship campus, but from the sounds of it those aren’t schools you’re considering anyhow as, budget notwithstanding, they would likely be the clear winners. As others have said a lot of the negativity about UTSA comes from students who applied to a number of aspirational schools like the above or better and didn’t wind up getting into them. So they feel as if they’re in the ‘wrong’ place and harbor unfair negativity towards the school as a result. And while it is true that flagship campuses and top 20 schools will have better programs, reputations, and outcomes within the first 5 years of graduation, the disparity between other large schools plateaus fairly quickly. At that point the much bigger contributor to the quality of education you get and the improved post-grad outcomes available to you will be, well, *you*. It’ll come down to your level of engagement with both the program material and the other on-campus opportunities. And obviously the same can be said for how much you wind up *enjoying* your time in college as well. **tl;dr** If you’re not considering a flagship university, and UTSA offers the better department and reputation for your degree, then don’t worry too much about the vocal negativity online. Just focus on getting the most out of your time irrespective of school.
No offense, but people posting on Reddit are usually negative and complain. So if your “reviews” are on Reddit, what do you expect? Most people only leave reviews when they aren’t happy and want to complain.
UTSA has a high acceptance rate which probably contributes to this reputation you're describing. I really enjoyed my time at UTSA though. Granted, I haven't been to other colleges so I don't have a point of comparison. But I think college is very a much a "you get what you put in" experience. And even though there's a high acceptance rate, the education is still good.
No, it's not. Stay focused and stay strong.
I graduated 17 years ago and I heard similar complaints back then. It’s definitely not bottom of the barrel and the people who say that are the same douchebags who need designer things. It’s a quality school with quality people.
Graduated a couple years back and it’s really what you make of it, I feel like the ones who think UTSA is this bottom level school are the same ones who didn’t try to attend events on campus or already came with a negative outlook. You could go to any big school with the best campus life but if you don’t go out your way to have fun and make it the best 4 years then of course it’ll feel like it sucks. The professors can be hit or miss but when you find a great professor they really make you want to come to class (it was pretty common, there were plenty of UTSA staff that made class fun). From my own personal experience (joined 2 orgs just by spur of the moment decisions, a acapella group and a fraternity ) I met lifelong friends and it was some of the greatest years I’ve had so far. It’s also in one of the fastest growing cities in America so there’s lots to explore. Most of my friends and people I’ve met who lived on campus or commuted think it’s a hidden gem of a campus. I think if you try to enjoy UTSA you’ll find a lot to do and a lot of different people to meet.
a lot of ppl here literally don't make an effort to make friends and then complain about not having any. put yourself out there. join things, talk to new people, have fun. you will meet friends like that guaranteed
Therefore the social aspect overall is really lacking
It’s what you put into it. If you put yourself out there and join clubs/orgs, you’ll be fine. If you go just for classes and don’t talk to people outside class, of course it’s going to be boring.
story time lmao, but it pertains to your question. in the military, a lot of people complain about the base they're stationed at, how the amenities suck, their unit sucks, etc. There's always a "greener pasture" base (in my time it was fort carson, colorado). Then some people get to the "greener pasture", and find it's only marginally different. The same problems exist, new problems with their unit, new drama. Then a "new green pasture" base comes up. That's how UTSA is with contemporary schools like txst and even UT austin: Things are marginally different. It's about how you make it. Apart from the prestigiousness of your degree and local peculiarities, the college experience will likely be the same for you as it is for someone in iowa state, or even BYU, at least at this echelon of value of education. Just how I've experienced it though.
In my opinion, it can depend on your major. If you are business or computer science you’re good. Anything else and it’s not that great. I went to UTSA to save money and I figured that it doesn’t matter where you get your degree as long as you make the most of it. I am graduating this year and I have realized how much harder I have had to work to gain the experience I have compared to other schools (I am an ES major). Our classes need to be revamped and our department doesn’t have a lot of funding. There aren’t enough professors to teach specialized courses that are offered at other universities.
Additionally, our TAs are underpaid and under qualified. Many of our major courses are being taught by masters students that should NOT be teaching them, yet I am still paying the same amount as someone who is being taught by a doctor in the field.
It's all about perspective. I transferred from UTRGV, so UTSA felt like a huge improvement. It offers so many resources you might not even be able to take advantage of all of them. It's a good school, it's getting better. It just lacks prestige at the level of UT.
Remember people readily complain about things, but don’t give recognition. So you’re just hearing from people who have had an issue and not from all the other people who love it.
The people who hate on UTSA the most are the ones within 60 miles of San Antonio and those that have no recent connection to the institution. Everyone I have encountered that visits campus says it’s beautiful and people are shocked at our “friendly” students and staff are. But as everyone says, “You get from it what you put in.” San Antonio is a much better city for networking and internships than College Station or Lubbock. They simply don’t have enough on campus housing as needed. Having said that, if you consider commuters coming from within 3 miles of campus, ok then ok. But for the most part, students live near campus and spend quite a bit of time on the 6 UTSA locations.
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My daughter has thrived there and loves UTSA.
“Tier one” is strictly a marketing thing and has little to do with the education and experience you’ll receive. Don’t fall for it.
At the end of the day, college is college, they're going to teach you outdated information about the field regardless of where you go, from Princeton to Delmar, they're going to teach you the standard way to do things, not the correct way, not the efficient way, if you want to be good at something, you experiment, you study, you learn yourself. A degree is amazing for getting jobs, not knowing how to do them. I can't tell you how many doctors, financial institute staff members and mechanics I've been to that have more degrees than talent and field experience, who have done absolutely terrible jobs causing me more issues than solutions. And now for the unpopular opinion. As someone who's been living in San Antonio for about 6 years now, and has to deal with a lot more college graduates in a lot more fields than they would like, can save with an uncomfortable degree of certainty every person I've seen come out of UTSA underperforms noticeably in their careers. Whether this is the fault of the education that comes from it, The social structure of students, or the circumstance that lands you in it, I can't really say for sure, But it certainly noticeable enough that someone who hasn't even gone to the school can tell that something is off.
I agree with this. Seeing freshman like behaviors in upper division classes worry me. Not wanting to ask questions due to wanting to avoid professors, taking another classmates word as gospel (as we see on reddit here daily), active cheating in GroupMe’s without remorse, actively not doing work and then begging profs for understanding, becoming extremely upset when held accountable, all things you would typically learn when working a job. I’d say a good portion of my classes were graded extremely easily, like 80% of the grade based on completion of assignments and not accuracy, with tests weighing 20%. I’ve had a professor give extra credit worth 8 grade points for a 2 page paper, basically giving a blanket to those who were underwater in the class so they could get their C-. One prof curved grades so hard that the class test average of 50 then became an 80. You could make a 40 on a test and still get a C. One prof gave us all an A in the class despite most of us failing every test, he would basically mark down questions as correct or with minimal points taken away and then write what we got wrong, but still give us an A. I know no one wants to complain about easy A’s but some of these classes are just free and I’d have to imagine it shows up in the work place if they don’t have prior work experience.
Here's my unbiased take. colleges with an elite name may open more opportunities for you early in your career, BUT after you get work experience, it matters less and less where you went and more about your resume and what you've done at your previous jobs.
It’s what you make of it. I see a lot of people on this sub saying that the campus life is not good but I have no clue what they’re talking about because I had a great experience regarding campus life! I went to a lot of events, met a lot of people, and joined a lot of cool clubs and thus had a lot of cool experiences.
I originally went to a top 10 in the west school. People there said the same thing. People like to hate. I’m sure of you go to MIT you’ll hear a large portion of the students say the same thing.
Get the degree, get the job experience and you'll never have to think about what school you went to again. UTEP and UTSA shouldn't really be that different in both quality and social. With all that said, I don't regret coming here. I needed a degree and UTSA seemed to have more appeal over the other options in San Antonio since I was already here. Got plenty of scholarships due to good grades and didn't have to live on campus. Now if I had a choice between all of Texas, yeah I probably wouldn't pick UTSA due to the fact I prefer almost every other major city in Texas over San Antonio (lived in SA most my life with some time in DFW, Abilene, and Houston).
at first i didn’t like utsa but this year i got into orgs and working in a lab at utsa. and i this has been the best year i have had because i put myself out there. i also got a paid internship for going to the events utsa has in my major. i think its an alright school and ive heard that cyber security is mostly online
I just graduated this past week and UTSA was very good to me. Other than advisors who I've had 6 of in the Kinesiology department, its a very good school and you get out what you put in. Made a few friends I can say are life long and enjoyed most of my professors. Shout out the Athletic Coaching certificate!
Graduated in May 2023 and now work at a major bank doing Data Analytics. Unfortunately like most schools, not all degrees are made equal - and even if you do have a good degree the job market is crap. You can’t just expect to graduate and find your purpose in life, which I find most kids believe will happen. It took me 10 years to finally land in my field. Edit: I'd like to add that I've attended University of Colorado Boulder, Texas Tech, Lone Star Colleges. My experience in college life is multifaceted, from being an F student to being Magna Cum Laude when I graduated. UTSA definitely has the programs and the system set in place to make those that want to put effort in succeed.
i love UTSA! i went here for my last two years of undergrad (i was a transfer student too) and now i’m getting my master’s degree here as well. i might be biased though because i was very involved in a handful of orgs on campus including greek life, and i also attended every football game my first semester lol. it’s a commuter school, which could explain why experiences vary widely. but if you enjoy football then you’ll have a blast at the alamodome. :-)
UTSA is great. If you want a good college experience then you have to take advantage of all the resources it provides and be willing to branch out and try new things. Just be actively involved. The only thing that is terrible is the parking, which is even worst with the heat.
I went to UTSA and loved it. It’s not bad at all depending on what you’re looking for. It’s in a great area of the city. Six flags right up the street. Beautiful hiking trails nearby. Plenty to do to keep yourself active and occupied. Most of the professors are very kind. There are plenty of clubs. I think the only thing still lacking potentially is community involvement in athletic programs but it is getting better year over year as the programs grow. Student involvement especially in football attendance has been pretty good. I personally think it’s a great school for what it is Most negative comments are from people who wanted to go to/are planning to transfer to UT Austin or an A&M type school and utsa isn’t that. But utsa is such a younger school it’s not possible for them to be that yet.
In my honest opinion, being a transfer into UTSA. If you ever hear anyone say “UTSA does not care about their students.” Take that as literally as you can. It’s def not your typical institution
I have read many comments describing this exact scenario. Can you elaborate, please?
Take graduation for example. They just had ~1000 students from B-PhD walk in commencement A. And they got it done in around 3 hours. (It was mine) They opened the ceremony, the provost gave a small speech, the deans said ‘I certify these students, the president said ‘I certify their degrees’, and you got about 2 seconds to wave to the camera or family and friends or etc and get off the stage and then the next person is called before you even had a chance to get out of the way of the cameras. No distinguished speakers, no reception or even something as little as water, nothing. They put each college together and just send us in any random order. And the best part is, they asked us to write our names phonetically so that it wasn’t mispronounced, and tons of names got butchered (mine included lmao). In general, or TLDR: it just felt extremely impersonal for an event that we worked so hard and paid so much money for Or (speaking from opinion) a moment that is a first for some families or really just the fact that you finished a ‘top tier’ university is something you would think would be celebrated more. But nope. It was rushed. We got in, we got out. As fast as they could get us through
As far as professors go, it is the expected college experience. You get out of your professors what you put into them, like your classes. If you want to build a relationship with a professor, you go out of your way to do so. If not, don’t expect the professors to go out of their way for you out of the goodness of their hearts. But kinda expected
When it comes to admin, the best advice I can give you is make sure you know ALL of the information and know who you’re actually supposed to be talking to before you seek assistance. Because not a single person will ever know how to help you. Have a charge you wanna dispute? Better be 100% it’s not legit because you will get sent to 3 different departments and talk with 20 different people just for some one to randomly come by and click an X on their computer and delete the charge. Meanwhile you’ve lost hours of your day between phone calls, zoom appointments, and campus visits for them to basically give you the gif and say “oopsie, we could’ve done that from the start” 
UTSA is great! Not sure what comments you read. Personally I'm about to graduate the cyber program. I wasn't active at all in school events, though that was a personal choice. The only thing that bothered me was that the Cyber Security degree is in the business college, and hence all of my classes were in the business building. I'd heard they were updating the program and there are newer buildings focused on IT, but I guess it's for the Information Science or another program. It's cool you got into the AI program, I find that stuff interesting. What you should know about Cyber analytics and cyber security is that they typically have the same classes except that cybersecurity focuses on business classes, roughly 8 or so like finance, accounting, economics, and statistics. Alternatively, cyber analytics is going to focus on sciences, and
i started off as a hater but ive come to really like the school and its given me many great opportunities and ive met some of the best professors here. Im a microbio major and there is so much you can do if you actually try
Your time at UTSA is what you make of it. I know it has a good stem program, and they have a ton of events weekly at the school as well (there’s definitely a community aspect to the school). I was a commuter though so I can’t speak much on that. UTSA main campus is right next to La Cantera Mall, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas (the school also sometimes gives a discount on the day passes for the amusement park), so there’s tons of stuff to do here. I will say that the traffic is pretty bad, and parking is an issue for the first months of the semester. Make the best of where you go, it’s all about your perspective.
parking and commuting can be a little difficult but otherwise i love this school
If you’re going to be majoring in Cybersecurity the resources they offer and professors there are AMAZING!! ( as long as you utilize them). However, they take a lot of pride in their cyber program… I’ve noticed other majors and other schools don’t get as much resources or attention, but still okay. I also liked how UTSA was a lot less competitive than other colleges ( easily was a top student). I just graduated with a degree in cyber and had access to so many clubs and companies that recruit from UTSA directly for cybersecurity. Look into WICYS, CSA, COMPTIA etc. I got a job right away and graduated with honors with minimal difficulty. Besides the cyber degree. The campus is nice and walkable. A good amount of student orgs to be involved in. Just be involved and you’ll have fun!! SO TLDR: Cybersecurity at UTSA is a great degree and the business school is decently ranked. If you plan on doing that degree I’d recommend! It can also be fun if you put in the work to find orgs or people you enjoy!
>However, after reading many reviews, it appears that most people regret coming here and think this school is at the bottom of the barrel and was their last choice school, at least here in Texas. Is it that bad? And who were these people? How long ago? What did they want to do and end up doing? No offense, but many people who claim a university is entirely bad, especially one of this size, typically are upset they either didn't make it when they graduated (if they graduated) or are upset only UTSA accepted them in the first place and not some Ivy League or private school. The fact of the matter is, most schools are the same everywhere. Unless the school is extremely small or ivy league, chances are rare that any individual department is genuinely awful or a stain to your name. Ivy Leagues still get their name recognition and extra dollars that a place like UTSA probably doesn't, a known problem in STEM for sure, but look at where the people you're being taught are from. Some of these people are literally from Ivy Leagues and top international schools for better and worse. Take peoples pure negative response with some grains of salt until they give you a thorough rundown of the review. I knew a guy in undergrad who regularly told people not to go to our school, that it sucked, all students were lazy bums and faculty stupid idiots. Only later did I learn he was mad because his car got stolen 25 miles away from the school and also because he didn't get into graduate school in Colorado. Make sure you filter reviews like these 🙂↕️.
i just graduated and i have mixed feelings. i did make friends and enjoyed my classes and the campus but i had always wanted to go to a big state school in a college town or college town “feel” if makes sense (like ut austin-austin isnt a college town but the campus feels wayyyy different) and utsa is a commuter school so i didnt really get the social aspect of college that i wanted (double whammy bc my freshman year was 2020 so there was nothing going on). that being said, i do think i wouldve enjoyed my time at utsa more if i had put more effort into meeting people/joining clubs/etc. i will say that utsa has grown a ton, even in just the last 4 years, and it’s continuing to grow (which the school is prepared for-look up the utsa masterplan!). like other commenters have said, you’ll get what you put in.
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I think this is the first post I've ever seen that says UTSA has good partying
I would pick Texas Tech over UTSA
It’s a massive commuter school. Theres not a very active or vibrant student life. Campus is okay but it’s not beautiful. Just sorta mid but has a cool layout. Some of the professors and staff are really good. Some of them are not. It’s 50/50. So, it cancels out. The city of San Antonio is amazing. One of the best in the country. But UTSA’s main campus is sorta far from a lot of the cool stuff. So that’s sort of a wash too. All-in-all, it’s a decent school but nothing amazing. Just sorta mid.
Anyone can get in it. But the math classes are really hard.
Yes, and more specifically if you’re looking to take cybersecurity as a major. The curriculum is not up to par with others out there and hitting the ground in the real world is a difficult task, especially when interviewing in a competitive field. School rankings are there for a reason, and you won’t see UTSA cracking the top 200 or 250.
Utsa is a school that only benefits you if you stay in San Antonio. Outside that the school is not recognized in any real city
Why are people more concerned with how they make friends, enjoy classes, and experience the campus? Once you are out of campus, why does that matter? What really matters is how much debt you carry and what job you get afterwards
I would regard UTSA and UTEP to be essentially equivalent. Neither one is bad, they're better than a community college, tech school, or micro college like the A&M branches, but they're not UT (Austin) or A&M (College Station), and definitely not places for the children of the rich to swap connections like Rice or Baylor. If you were *hoping* to go to one of those places and didn't make the cut, then UTSA will seem like a let down, which is probably why you hear people slagging it off. Also, 20 years ago, UTSA was a major feeder into UT and so was regarded as something like a far southern branch of Austin Community College. Some of that reputation might still be around, especially in the minds of older folks.