Texas Wahoo

The 10% rule is a factor. It isn't the only one though because even at UT, which is 95% in-state students, only 70% of the students entered via the 10% rule.

 

The private school factor is at play as well but again, it isn't the only one. Rice doesn't attract out of state kids like her peers (Ivies, Stanford, Chicago, Northwestern, Emory, Vandy, etc...). Ask any admissions person at Rice and they'll tell you, it is hard to recruit kids to Texas. 

 

Why is that? 

 

I have my ideas and I think one of them is how we treat education in this state. Hell, my social media has been blowing up about Mary Lou Bruner. If you don't know who she is, google her. It would be funny if it weren't so scary. 

 

So, yeah, the brain drain is real. It is measurable. It exists. We can either address if or ignore it but I'd prefer to try and make our state universities as attractive as possible. Maybe UH, Tech, UNT, etc... could go after bordering state kids like Arkansas and LSU do here. Heck, Arkansas offers 90% off out-of-state tuition to Texas kids who have a 3.6 and an ACT score of 26 or better. Since they instituted that policy, the number of Texans at UA has increased from 300 to over 1,700.

The University of Texas is forced to fill 75% of the class (it used to be 80%+) with top ten percent applicants (so it ends up being more like the top 7%), with the other 25% of applicants coming from all other Texas applicants, out-of-state applicants, and international applicants.  Most of those slots are always going to go to highly qualified in-state students that do not meet the top ten percent requirements for whatever reason.  That leaves very few slots for non-Texas residents.

Unfortunately, because of the small number of slots available for out-of-state students, all non-Texas residents are going to have more difficulty getting into the University of Texas than they would for other similarly situated schools.  Thus, you end up having trouble attracting out-of-state candidates because you are competing with extremely prestigious schools for those students.

Yes. It's easy to find. 

 

Texas ranks #2 in the nation behind New Jersey with a net loss of college students each year. Nearly 18,000 a year leave the state for college. 

 

What's worse is how lousy our schools are at attracting out of state kids. Here are the latest figures for states luring out of state kids to attend their colleges.

 

30,408 Pennsylvania

30,259 New York

24,726 Massachusetts

13,502 California

13,474 Illinois

13,386 Indiana

13,166 Florida 

13,073 Virginia

12,255 North Carolina

12,218 Ohio

9,140 Connecticut

8,944 Wisconsin

8,423 Arizona

8,356 Rhode Island

8,161 Missouri 

8,097 DC

8,065 Alabama

8,022 Iowa

7,837 South Carolina

7,616 Minnesota

7,341 Tennessee

7,120 Georgia

7,118 Maryland

6,937 Colorado

6,600 Michigan

6,425 TEXAS

 

The second most populated state falls in 26th place with attracting college kids. That's a problem. One that could be fixed by elevating the stature of more schools.

One of the biggest problems is the Top Ten Percent Rule, as it limits the number of out-of-state kids a school like the University of Texas can accept to a very small percentage.

If their proposal is deemed to be an encroachment, they will sell the land.  No harm, no foul.   (And they say they got the land for below-market price, so they should be able to sell it for a profit.  And fwiw, their is support for that claim from real estate experts)

Or lease the land as a revenue stream.  Or maybe, as was the case with the PUF land, they will find oil.

Unless something has changed in the past few years, this is not the case. The PUF only goes to the flagship schools and one or two others in each system. Most of the schools in each system receive from a different, smaller endowment, the same endowment that funds Texas Tech and UH.

I wouldn't exactly say "one or two others in each system.  The following lists are straight out of the Texas Constitution:

A&M System Schools with access to interest from the PUF

(1) Texas A&M University, including its medical college which the legislature may authorize as a separate medical institution;

(2) Prairie View A&M University, including its nursing school in Houston;

(3) Tarleton State University;

(4) Texas A&M University at Galveston;

(5) Texas Forest Service;

(6) Texas Agricultural Experiment Stations;

(7) Texas Agricultural Extension Service;

(8) Texas Engineering Experiment Stations;

(9) Texas Transportation Institute; and

(10) Texas Engineering Extension Service.

UT System Schools with access to interest from the PUF

(1) The University of Texas at Arlington;

(2) The University of Texas at Austin;

(3) The University of Texas at Dallas;

(4) The University of Texas at El Paso;

(5) The University of Texas of the Permian Basin;

(6) The University of Texas at San Antonio;

(7) The University of Texas at Tyler;

(8) The University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas;

(9) The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston;

(10) The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston;

(11) The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio;

(12) The University of Texas System Cancer Center;

(13) The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler; and

(14) The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio.

only to those that have no clue....if different admission requirements, different degree requirements, and courses that do not count at one school or the other is the "same thing" then every university in the world is the same because they all are a university

I think he probably meant it has the same relation to UH that UT and UT-San Antonio, Dallas, Arlington, El Paso, etc. have. They are part of the same system.

FYI - (you may know this, but not everyone does) - many search sites (e.g., Orbitz, Travelocity) do not show the prices for Southwest - as Southwest does not utilize them.

I did not know that. I've checked southwest's site a couple of times though, and never got a close price.

Oh yeah?

Harumph.

In his defense, I fly domestically a lot and I usually search a lot of sites online to find the cheapest fare. I have yet to get Southwest as the cheapest. And based on that map, they go to almost all of the places I go. For a no frills airline, it seems weird that they're never cheaper to those airports...

I have a question. If you bring a "carry-on" on wheels that ends up being slightly too big and they tag it at the gate, do you still have to pay? I'm taking a trip on US Air soon and I was just wondering, because they already have this policy.

That UH student was correct! The University of Houston-Downtown ("UHD") is not part of the University of Houston ("UH"). UHD is not a "branch," "extension" or "satellite" campus of UH. UHD is a stand-alone (autonomous) university with its own president, grants their own degrees, and is separately accredited. Therefore, people attending or alumni of UHD are not UH students or alumni!

The University of Houston ("UH") only has one campus, and it is located at 4800 Calhoun Road by Interstate 45 and Spur 5. All the confusions and misconceptions of referring the University of Houston (UH) as "UH-Central" or "UH main campus" are evidences of confusion/ignorance among the general public. These are strong enough evidences which support the name change of the University of Houston-Downtown to something else without the root name 'University of Houston' included in hoping that the University of Houston (UH) will just be referred to its official name of "University of Houston" or "UH" for short without 'central' or 'main campus' associated with it. "UH-Central", "UH Main Campus", or "the main/central campus of UH" are all misnomers caused by confusion and ignorance of the general public. The University of Houston is NOT and does NOT operate as a multi-campus institution like the University of California or local community colleges such as HCC or San Jacinto.

As a graduate of the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business (BBA '06), I am tired of people asking me what "campus" I attended and having to explain that UH only has one campus located at 4800 Calhoun Rd. I have refrained from referring to the school as "central campus" or "main campus" as noted above the University of Houston is NOT a multi-campus university.

The University of Houston System ("UH System" or "UHS") oversees four independent universities. These universities are independent of each other, not campuses of one another (i.e. UHCL, UHD, and UHV are not branch or extension campuses of UH). Below is a hierarchy to illustrate that the University of Houston (UH) is not the "central" or "main campus" of anything and they do not oversee other schools.

• University of Houston System (UHS) oversees the following four separate degree granting universities:
  

o University of Houston (UH)

o University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL)

o University of Houston-Downtown (UHD)

o University of Houston-Victoria (UHV)

As anyone can see, all four universities are independent (autonomous) of each other and they all report to the University of Houston System (UHS). Additionally, there are two multi-institution teaching centers (or satellite campuses) serving ALL four UH System universities:

• University of Houston System at Sugar Land (UHSSL)
  
• University of Houston System at Cinco Ranch (UHSCR)
  

The above two teaching centers are not stand-alone or degree granting universities.

I must admit, the UH System is confusing in general and because of this, the reputation of the University of Houston (UH) has been affected negatively

Oh yeah some people get them confused. And even more people think the school is part of UH system, you know...with UH Clear Lake, UH Sugar Land, UH Victoria...

I say change the name. How about Houston City University?

Is it not part of the UH system??? It shares a Board of Regents. What is the difference?

Houston University is OK, but I don't think does enough to alleviate the confusion. People here always confuse University of Illinois at Chicago with University of Chicago, especially when speaking in abbrevitions ("U. of C." versus "U.I.C.")

I think Houston University is more confusing than UH-Downtown. I agree that the abbreviations would be really confusing, especially since a lot of schools that are "University of..." use the _U abbreviation. People might think HU was University of Houston.

Okay, looking forward to it, even if my extremely thin wallet is not.

Thanks for the heads-up.

No Problem. Also, it's possible that they jack up the prices in downtown DC above what it would be in Houston, but who knows. Either way, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Can someone give me the heads up on Oceanaire. I am headed there for dinner for a family member's birthday.

Ever review I have read is either love it or hate it ... and they all talk about how expensive it is.

This wouldn't have been my first choice for dinner, but it wasn't my decision to make.

Thoughts?

I've only been to the one in DC when the firm was paying. Everything was really good and extremely large portions. If you have enough people, you should try the hashbrowns a la Occeanaire. One desert is big enough for at least 2-3 people, maybe more if you're not huge eaters.

And yes, it is extremely expensive. My firm no longer allows people to go there for luches anymore because the bills get so high.

See I am different... I like living in a big city b/c it's big and busy and crazy. I like flying out of big airports where there are lots of people. Ok I don't like waiting in long lines, but that's just something that comes w/ the territory. I know I am weird, I just like when things are big and busy.

I can see that. I've just had too many delays and times where my luggage has been lost flying through Chicago/LA/etc. I like the Charlottesville, VA airport because they only have like 5 employees which are always the same and they are very nice and never lose your luggage.

I've been to a small town airport once and I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out where the baggage claim was. Turns out they just bring it around and put it on the sidewalk in front of the airport.

Fly out of Terminal A and it seems A LOT less busy... ugh I hate that terminal... and of course that's the one I fly out of 9 times out of 10.

I love Terminal A. There are almost never any lines and you can get through it quickly. It's like flying out of a small town.

As you move east and south of the energy corridor you enter Alief from the south and clusters of low income apartments to the west. Parts of Alief can be pretty bad but for the most part, the whole is area pretty nice and surprisingily well established.

As you move east and south of the energy corridor you enter Alief from the south and clusters of low income apartments to the west. Parts of Alief can be pretty bad but for the most part, the whole is area pretty nice and surprisingily well established.

I suppose that's true. Although you have to go pretty far south (or south west). I don't expect the building on Eldridge from Dairy Ashford South to have too much effect on the areas near Westheimer as you move West towards West Oaks - but you never know.

Construction has begun:

July 10, 2008 - Behringer Harvard has begun construction on Three Eldridge Place, a 13-story, 303,000 sf, pre-certified LEED silver Class A building, that will sit adjacent to both One and Two Eldridge. The new building is expected to be completed in the Summer of 2009. In the adjacent One Eldridge Place, Canatxx Energy Ventures, Inc. has renewed their lease of 9,272 square feet at 777 North Eldridge Parkway, in Houston's west energy corridor. Kristen Rabel and Jessica Ochoa with CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord, Behringer Harvard, in the transaction while Chad Baker with Staubach represented Canatxx

link

And another rendering:

Isn't that parking garage where the BofA is now? Are they getting rid of it?

Eldridge has really gone upstyle lately. Hope the areas around it catch on soon.

Where in that general area is not upscale?

That is also quite possibly the most poorly drawn map I've ever seen.

I grew up in Fleetwood and I have lots of friends whose parents still live in Fleetwood, Barkers Landing, Thornwood, and Memorial Thicket. They all feed in to Taylor High School these days. I love Fleetwood up against the Bayou. I love having an alley to play basketball with the kids, etc. I don't know about total appreciation, but my Dad's house has appreciated about $100-$125k in the last 5 or so years (about 35%). Barkers landing is nice in that it has 4 tennis courts and a pool. Thornwood has cheaper houses and a pool. Both Thornwood and Barkers Landing have the downside of people in the nearby office buildings can see into your backyard. I know because my mom worked in the tallest Westlake building.

As for traffic - it is only bad going on East on memorial at the Eldridge light. For some reason they have screwed up the timing of that light lately and so it backs up where it can take up to 4 lights to get through at the worst times. This summer I got up every morning and took 6 to the Westpark Tollway and there was almost no traffic going that way.

As for bus accidents on I-10, the busses don't take I-10. Even when they fed into Mayde Creek we Park Ten. Now I think they go west on westheimer because Taylor HS is south of I-10.

Let me know if you have any other questions.