Austin College

This school is so amazing. My siblings and I all go here. We love it so much. They are so helpful with everything. The faculty is so wonderful. I don’t even know what to say other than it is a great school. Great academics and great social life.

Amazing faculty and staff. My daughter is thriving here. I can’t say enough about how comfortable I am sending her here to study.

I attended this college from 2005 – 2009 and it was terrible. The campus was completely unsafe. I was assaulted by 2 other students at the end of my freshman year in 2006 and even though I reported it, nothing was done in order to restore justice. I reported the event to local police who then referred me to campus police. Campus police then referred me to Tim Millerick, the Vice President of student life. Tim Millerick is in charge of handling all assaults and sexual crimes on campus, and he isn’t a judge nor is he a cop, which means he shouldn’t be in charge of handling either of these situations. He decided that it was my fault that I was assaulted, and that I deserved it and that it never officially happened.
The career services office refused to help me get a job from the get go because according to them, I was «too negative» whatever that means. According to them they don’t help students get jobs… which begs the question: Why are they called the career services office? I know many other graduates that are either chronically unemployed or have been unemployed since graduating in 2009 – 2010.
The tutoring center was completely unhelpful as well. They never had tutors for any of the classes I was taking. Didn’t matter if it was freshman statistics, or sophomore english, or junior history, or senior philosophy classes.
I tried to transfer to multiple other colleges multiple times while I attended college here, only to be told that this was a community college, or that the credits from this school wouldn’t be accepted.
The Academic adviser I was assigned was completely unhelpful and had 2 office hours a week. He was called a ‘Mentor’ by the college staff, to me he was always an academic adviser and a sorry example of one at that. He didn’t know any of the professors on campus outside of his department, and he wouldn’t let me change advisers.
The brochures for this college claim that you can walk up and talk to the college president if you need to. This is a total sham, the secretary will not let you schedule an appointment with the school president, and the president is rarely on campus.
When I graduated, this college reported to it’s accreditation agency (not the state of Texas) that 100% of my graduating class studied abroad. I never studied abroad, and I am very interested in where this college claims I studied out of the country because I sure don’t know.
Since graduating, Tim Millerick has put a note in my file stating that if I call in to campus for any reason that whoever answers should just hang up the phone on me. According to Austin College, I am supposed to do this through their lawyer, because according to them I am the hostile one in the relationship between me and my college… sure doesn’t feel like it though. When I do contact this schools lawyer, it takes months before I get a reply. I have been unable to get a transcript from this college on at least one occasion as a consequence.
I cannot emphasize this enough: DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL HERE!

Okay, so I’m not sure how many people read Unilocal reviews to decide on a college, but just in case I thought I would share my thoughts on why I’m so glad I made the choice to come here.
For me, the first priority when choosing a college was their academic quality. If you’re looking for a place where you can spend a few tens of thousands of your parents’ dollars getting wasted for four years and occasionally completing some busywork, look elsewhere. If you want a serious community of engaged scholars, where your professors treat you as partners in learning and not as the recipients of their gracious wisdom, come on down to Sherman, (not Austin) and check this place out!
The above is not to suggest that there’s no fraternity/​sorority/​party scene here; it can be found without much difficulty. But if you prefer more intelligence in your leisure time, this can be easily had as well. My first year here I met a math major who was the organizer for the informal writers’ circle, had studied abroad in Spain, and loved indie rock. Definitely not the dweeby guy you might have imagined a math major to be. Such interesting, boundary-​pushing people are the norm here rather than the exception, and I’ve definitely learned a great deal from them outside the classroom.
The dining hall gets a lot of flack and you are required to eat there for at least your first two years, but I’ve always found it to be adequate, if not exceptional. This being said, I’m not much of a foodie, so if that’s a big part of your life you should take it into consideration that my opinion is a lonely one.
The school also has a lot of great resources, including a free counseling center with a licensed psychologist (it claims to only be available for «short-​term counseling,» but the experience of my friends who have used it seems not to bear this out), a career center to help you with internships and career planning, and a tutoring center about which I’ve heard really good things, though I haven’t used it myself.
Speaking of careers, I do have to correct the record on one assertion made by another reviewer that unless you are pre-​med, attending this school will result in unemployment after graduation. According to statistics from the career center, only 5% of graduates are «currently seeking employment.» Many do pursue graduate degrees (for which they are exceedingly well-​prepared), and are listed accordingly, but to suggest that an Austin College degree is economically valueless simply does not accord with the facts.
I have not had any of the reviewer in question’s other negative experiences, and will reserve further comment except to note that Oscar Page is no longer the College’s President, and that the new President met personally with my Ethics class to discuss ethical issues arising from her position. I have to assume this indicates she
does not share her predecessor’s lack of accessibility.
If you are looking for an academically challenging (but by no means «sink-​or-​swim») liberal arts college that will have you well-​prepared for grad school or a well-​paying job after graduation, look no further. The price is admittedly high; it is also well worth it.

I am a graduate of Austin College. I t was an outstanding experience. I did not live on Campus. I am now the President and CEO of SEMICOA Corporation.
The quality of my education at AC contributed to my success.
You get out of College what you put in and you will find good and bad everywhere. I read a review by a student that had a bad experience. I am sorry he did not enjoy his time there. I did.
Perry A Denning