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[mythbuster]

Looking for the scoop on Austin College. The questions in my head right now are:
How religious a school is it?
Would you want to live in Sherman? If not how long is the commute to Plano/Dallas? This may be necessary for SOs job anyway.
Is this area of Texas/OK as desolate as I envision?
Comments on the quality of the school (especially the sciences) also appreciated.

[themistius]

My sister did her undergrad there.  She liked the school but didn't like Sherman at all.  It's about an hour 1/4 or and hour 1/2 to the northern reaches of Dallas (which is still pretty far from downtown Dallas).  It's pretty bleak, geographically.  The town is well past its prime.  Its a good school, one of the better slacs in the the state, and has a pretty good reputation.  My sister liked it for her first couple of years, but by the end was delighted to get out of Sherman.  I can't comment on the quality of the sciences specifically but she says, despite Sherman, she got a good education.

[quest]

How long ago was your sister there - themistius? Dallas has grown toward north quite a bit and Denton - where UNT is - is a lot bigger now too. Places like Forney and Sherman that used to be pretty country are now getting to be a lot more like suburbs. You probably could live in between Sherman and Dallas- somewhere like Carrollton or Farmers Branch, and be quite comfortable on two salaries. Sciences are going to be small there, but you could collaborate with UNT in Denton or UTD in Plano to get access to grad students and big equipment. Don't forget - housing costs in DFW are quite reasonable right now. You can get a 3 or 4 bedroom house in the $200K range - especially if you were willing to update a older house in a good neighborhood.

[shamu]

Is there a Sherman College in Austin? 'Cause that would be a whole lot better ;-)

[undisciplined]

There was a long thread on AC a couple of years ago. Hie thee to the search function.

[wegie]

There was a long thread on AC a couple of years ago. Hie thee to the search function.

Wasn't that thread about the dysfunctional snake pit that is Stephen F Austin University?

[quest]

Austin College in Sherman north of Dallas and Stephen F Austin State in Nagadoches in east Texas (quite a bit further from Big D) are two totally different beasties - don't get them confused.

[undisciplined]

Wasn't that thread about the dysfunctional snake pit that is Stephen F Austin University?

So right you are, wegie. My memory fails me yet again.

[mythbuster]

I tried the search- but searching for anything "Austin" just gets you stuff ion UT-Austin!

[concordancia]

There was a long thread on AC a couple of years ago. Hie thee to the search function.

Wasn't that thread about the dysfunctional snake pit that is Stephen F Austin University?

I think Wegie is correct on this one.

PS, having been tutored by the fabulous VP, I ran a search which returned this thread, and only this thread. This doesn't prove anything, but it did make me feel good.

[chemxtree]

Background here - I grew up in the North TX region and did grad work with a couple of fellow Texans that did their undergrad science degrees @ AustinC-n-Sherman. Did not get the sense that said students were at any disadvantage to their peers from SLACs/R1s from the E/W Coasts. If memory serves me, Austin College has also appeared among some of the best buy lists from the many school rankings lists.

Quest hit the nail on the head as far as what can be reasonably found in the area that includes Sherman. The 200K pricepoint buys you a McMansion in a number of locations in NTx. A job in Sherman with a spouse working in Frisco/McKinney/Lewisville/NE Tarrant County etc. would probably be well suited to live in a place like Denton.

[organic_prof]

I did my undergrad degree in Chemistry at Austin College (class of 1993). I think the education I got was equal to or better than that obtained by students at large universities.  I did research in the summer with professors supported by a Welch foundation grant.  I believe they still have that program.  The biology and physics professors also do research with students, mainly in the summers I think.  I get Alumni mailings from Austin college regularly.

It is loosely affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA. There is no pressure on faculty to be religious or not, as far as I could tell. They do have convocation once a year and pray at graduation, but that is about the extent of required religious observance.

Desolate is in the eye of the beholder. I liked going for bike rides in the countryside around Sherman. Austin College has a lake campus on lake Texoma that we would go out to swim and build bonfires. It took about an hour to get to the North Dallas area when I was there. The north Dallas area has grown a lot nearer since I was there.

Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

[dangercrayon]

I graduated from AC in 2001 (Biology). It is great. One of very few schools in Texas I would be interested in working for. To answer your specific questions:

1. Not religious at all. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian church, but I never would have known that if it wasn't stated in the literature. The population is diverse and open-minded, although of course being in Texas you'll get large numbers of religious students at any school. It is known (or at least was in 2001) as one of the most gay-friendly schools in TX, just to give an example.

2. NO. I would definitely not want to live in Sherman (although I do have friends on the faculty there who enjoy being in close proximity to campus--if you don't do much but work you might like it fine). It's a bit dismal and there's not much going on (especially in terms of cultural or community events), although there are many more stores and restaurants now than when I was there. You can find anything you need in Dallas, though (although it will take you a good hour to get downtown). Mckinney (which is basically a Dallas suburb at this point) is 30 min. away. Allen is 45 (Allen is essentially Plano). I have many friends that live in both and I've only heard good things. I had several professors that commuted in from places north.

3. Pretty much, but again, the DFW metroplex is only slightly north. And the lake campus the previous commenter referred to is nice. It's a small stretch of beach/land on Lake Texoma that students and faculty can use for swimming, camping, bonfires, etc.

4. I have no idea how accurate this is, as I'm sure I'm pretty biased. AC is known for an excellent pre-med program. All of my bio friends that wanted to go to med school have not had problems getting in (or getting through med school). I feel I was very well trained in my science courses. Although of course it's been a decade, and I'm sure the faculty has changed quite a bit since then.

Despite my problems with Sherman, I would love to have a job at Austin College. I would most likely live in Mckinney and commute.

[dangercrayon]

Ah, sorry. Confused my directions--to the north is desolation, to the south is city-ness!

[omccarthy]

My perspective is as an alum ('73), onetime Sherman resident (74-76) and onetime alumni board member (97-08) still involved in campus doings.

Religious? Not when I was there. How religious can a Prebyterian-affiliated college be that just chose a Jew as its first woman president? The College cut its formal ties to the Presbyterian Church (then the Southern branch) in the late 1960s and established instead a covenant relationship with the church. That essentially removed the governance of the school from the church.

For its faults, Sherman is at least a remaining vestige of small city in its own right. Plan was subsumed by Dallas decades ago and, practically, so too has McKinney. If you like Spielbergesque cut-alike suburban development, Plano or McKinney would work. For the most part, Sheman west of the 75 freeway has beautiful homes and trees. This is by no means a small town, but it's obviously not a large city, either. That's down the road 65 miles (correction to a previous post: one hour without traffic). I like in Austin now, but I would much rather live in Sherman if the choice were Sherman or Dallas.

If by desolate, you're picturing the Sherman area as Anarene, Texas (Last Picture Show) it's not. This is the Blackland Prairie, rolling (but not hilly) and treed (but not forested). I grew up on the High Plains of Texas, so I know desolate.

The sciences at AC are among the best in the nation, shown by a ranking I saw recently that it's considered behind Case Western for premier pre-medical training in the nation. Certainly in Texas, if you want to go to medical school, AC is where you should go for undergraduate coursework.