For right now, life at the University of Texas at Dallas has been pretty good. I am currently a sophomore, but I spent my freshman year here, and that was nice. It’s pretty diverse, which I enjoyed a lot, especially because I came from a majority-white city. The campus is pretty safe as well, especially compared to other colleges, as I’m able to walk around in the middle of the night and also in the early morning when it’s still dark. Despite this, the campus is really small, and you won’t expect to find a grocery store or anything like that.

With a middle-ground tuition rate, attending UTD will really illuminate a different culture in comparison to other surrounding schools such as TWU or SMU.
UTD may be a tier-one Carnegie research school, but that’s all it is; intelligent professors teaching complex material (most classes are passed at an introductory rate, despite your lack of knowledge of the situation), with a campus that is honestly very lacking of energy or participation from its students. A lot of the students here are truthfully quiet and to themselves. I noticed the groups of “popular” students tend to know one another very quickly, as the school is honestly very small.
I love the surrounding area, Richardson. It’s beautiful and there is so much to do, with so many options. Honestly, for a first-generation student, ultimately I loved my time at UTD. It was very diverse and had lots of resources, it’s still developing like any school, however, if you’re looking for sports or the social scene, UTD is NOT it.