MS1, here. I happened to see this post and decided I'd try and hit a few high points and low points!
The school: The school is nice-- the inside is comfortable and it's in a great area, I think. The TMC just can't be beat, and you'll be right in it. The weather is incredibly beautiful nowadays (but it's going to heat up soon!). There is a lot to do in the area, but not so many outdoors-sy things--there are museums and shows and places to eat and go out and all that, but don't expect to go on a beautiful walk through pristine nature. (Houston actually does a great job with parks, if you ask me, but that's not what I'm talking about here.) Bottom line: there are a ton of opportunities in the TMC!!
The school is in the middle of building new buildings and re-branding. The new logo for the school looks pretty good, but I would have preferred a sans serif font for the main lettering.
🙂 Look for the new logo soon (I couldn't find it on the internet except for on the official release video where I had to log in to see it). I think it's pretty exciting that the school is moving forward, building structures, and expanding.
Likes: The class seems to be pretty laid back as a whole and is filled with a lot of students who know how to have fun, but also get work done. It doesn't seem competitive because the students aren't like that, and the grades are set so there is no reason to be competitive. I really like my fellow classmates, and older students are very helpful! Biggest like--cost! Tuition is low and cost of living is relatively low.
Dislikes: Here comes the heavy stuff. Admissions does a great job, I think, but Student affairs does not. I don't feel like they care as much about each student, and with a class of ~230 or so, I guess it's hard... but I think they could do a lot better. There is a huge difference between a school that has a class of ~120 or so vs. a school with a class as big as ours. The administration makes a few efforts to deal with it ("Master Advisory" groups, where we meet once a blue moon in small groups with a random teacher to talk about life) but it doesn't really work. You're still 1 out of over two-hundred students.
Current beef: This year, the administration decided to make a rule where if a test question is deemed "bad" by the teacher, it gets thrown out. Also, protests to questions aren't supposed to be allowed (most teachers still take them, though). Here's an example of how that goes: Teacher writes a test question on a topic that you know (hallelujah!!) but somehow (computer test-bank error, or teacher error, or whatever), there are two perfectly correct answers to the question. You fret over it for 10 or so minutes on the test (since this is a question you know and two answers seem pretty spot-on), and finally put down an answer. As it turns out, you did know the topic, both answers actually
were correct, but that doesn't matter because the question gets thrown out.
That's one example. Some tests (not every test, but way more than you would think), anywhere from 2.5-8 percent of the test (yes, about 3-8 percent of a test!!) can be thrown out. If questions that you got "correct" were thrown out, it's too bad for you. If they were questions that you "missed", then count your lucky stars because your grade is going up.
People in the class made a pretty big fuss about the rule, a bunch of people said they would look into it, and nothing changed. It's not a deal-breaker for the school, but, as you can tell, it really annoys me.
😛 It's a new rule they made this year, and I hope someone finally addresses it because I think it puts a bit of a damper on students' spirits.
So, those are a few ups and downs. I would place the school favorably among other schools (from what I've heard from friends and the like). Cost is a huge plus, as the total value is up there with the best.
As to whether I would choose another school, that's up in the air. If I knew what I knew now, I would still consider other schools (I wish I could say I love it here and it's perfect but it's not... I suppose other schools probably aren't either). Depending on what school you were talking about, it is very possible I would have chosen another school.
PM me if you want to ask anything else! Hopefully this was useful. It was most likely more than (and/or not) what you wanted, so sorry about that!
Good luck and Happy late St. Patty's!
