Thank you to the University of Texas at Dallas for hosting
me on their campus last week in order to learn about the McDermott Scholars
Program. Let’s get a few things out of the way first:
1)
I knew nothing about UT Dallas before this trip.
I’ve only ever been to Texas once before and as Midwesterner turned New Yorker,
it hasn’t been a school on my radar.
2)
McDermott Scholars isn’t your run of the mill
merit scholarship for bright students. It is a full service, highly
competitive, all inclusive scholarship that includes not only full tuition and
room and board but also a stipend, round trip airfare home twice a year for
students in the continental United States (1x a year for international),
$12,000 toward a study abroad experience, and what amounts to year-round
mentoring, enrichment, and cultural experiences both on campus and off.
3)
This school might be too smart for you. Yes, you
read that right. If your vision of college is tailgating and creating a class
schedule with nothing before noon and three-day weekends, you can save your
energy on exploring UT Dallas. You will hate it. See Exhibit A below.
Ok, cool, you kept reading. You want to go to college to
learn something and learn it deeply. So now, what is this school and where did
it come from?
UT Dallas is a young school. That explains why you might
notice the trees aren’t tall, and the library doesn’t have stained glass
windows, and there aren’t 80 year olds meeting up for reunions. They don’t have
a football team, so you haven’t see them on ESPN. In fact, they are much better
known for their Chess Team. Originally founded
in the 1960s as a post-graduate think tank, UT Dallas only enrolled their first
freshmen in 1990. Since that time though, they have grown and now they have an
enrollment of over 25,000 students, about 65% of which are undergraduates.
Admittedly, many students commute but residence life on campus is strong for
those that live there and because the college itself is young and the on-campus
housing is even younger, the facilities are bright and modern. (For context,
there are about 5,000 students who reside on campus full time. Keep in mind
though for people worried that is too small of a resident population, you are
still talking about the equivalent of an entire small liberal arts college
living in campus housing. Yes, it is a small portion compared to the entire
student body, but no you won’t feel isolated or alone.).
One of the school’s original founders was Eugene McDermott, a
brilliant and generous man who was one of the founders of Texas Instruments
(TI). You likely know TI because they have a corner on the high school
calculator market. I myself was a proud owner of a TI-82 back in my AP Calculus
BC days. After his death, his wife
Margaret continued her commitment to UT Dallas and in 2001 endowed the
McDermott Scholars program, my hosts for this trip. (At 106 years of age, she is, to this day, a passionate supporter of UT Dallas).
McDermott Scholars are the cream of the cream. To be
eligible to apply, students must have at least a 1490 or 34 test score. Then
the expectation is to have top grades, leadership, and character experiences to
match. Sixty students are invited to the final round of the interview and
ultimately about 24 are selected and attend UT Dallas. There are some strings
attached, like being required to live on campus all four years and participate
in sponsored trips (both with the group and independently to study abroad).
Students in the program pursue research opportunities, internship
opportunities, and many go on to apply for and win prestigious graduate
fellowships and admission to law, medical, and business schools.
Even for applicants who might not be McDermott material, UT
Dallas might still be a great option. Over 25% of undergrads receive some formof merit scholarship and all scholarship recipients are ALSO automatically ableto pay in-state tuition rates, even when they don’t live in Texas. That means
that an ElRo student who is strong but might not be McDermott eligible could
still attend UT Dallas for less than the price of a SUNY if you are from a
family that doesn’t qualify for federal or state aid. (The lowest merit
scholarship qualification starts at 1410 SAT/30 ACT –about half of ElRo’s class
would potentially be in the running). Unlike a lot of other schools, UT Dallas
is also a high quality school that still believes in admitting all qualified
applicants. Translation – this is a Likely for many ElRo students who struggle
to find places they can be surrounded by bright students AND be guaranteed
admission. (I’m looking at you, Northeast colleges who drive application
numbers and track demonstrated interest and ability to pay and drive ED apps
and EA apps in order to find ways to deny capable students just to boost US
News rankings). Don’t believe me? The average SAT is 1320 and the average ACT
is 29, yet over 60% of applicants are admitted. Self-selecting pool of bright
applicants seeking a highly intellectual environment equals unicorn status of
the large school with academically strong student body. And oh, what’s that,
you care about diversity? Like many colleges, they have room to improve with
African American students*, but 70% of students identify as students of color and I
saw real meaningful interactions on campus between people who didn’t look like
one another. I’ve been to over 100 colleges and can confirm this is not the
case everywhere.
*Note, they do have recently founded chapters of
Historically Black Greek organizations, so baby steps are being taken.
If I had to try and categorize UT Dallas I would say it is a
place that reminds me of a more selective RIT with students who have the
personalities that would gel with kids who attend Beloit. That is to say: a mostly
STEM oriented school where learning and relationships are paramount and who see
college as a vehicle to a career and satisfying intellectual curiosity. They
instituted an honor code a few years ago, so things like trust and honesty are
pillars of the campus experience. Admittedly, most students here are from
Texas. If that’s a deal breaker for you, c’est la vie. But lots of out of state
public colleges (UVa, UNC, etc) have an overwhelming majority of in-state
students and it doesn’t stop our students from applying. And before you paint
Texas with a broad brush, know that UT Dallas is LGBTQ friendly with gender
neutral housing and staff report that both ends of the political spectrum are
represented on campus. It should also be noted that both International and
Undocumented students are welcome on campus and both groups are eligible for
merit aid.
I very much enjoyed learning about this hidden gem of a
school and I can only hope that one of our ElRo students would be lucky enough
to be named a McDermott Scholar. Many thanks to my hosts for a wonderful
experience!
P.S. - Additional piece of trivia, prior to being
assassinated JFK traveled to Dallas to give a speech at UT Dallas (though at
that time they were not an Undergraduate college) about the US commitment to
science and technology.
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