What's the Board's Opinion on Trinity (SA)

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Perham1

2,500+ Posts
Don't know if this is the right forum, but does anybody have some stories about Trinity College (think it's a college) in San Antonio? Worth it? Too expensive? Too much partying? Not enough partying?
 
Went to HS in San Antonio. Was considered a very good, very small school. More like the type of school you would find in the Northeast. They used to have a competitive football team for their level; don't know if that's still the case.
 
Had a friend I grew up with go there on a soccer scholly. Went there as the perfect good little preachers son. Came back a pothead with dreads and now teaches english in Costa Rica. Don't know that that says, but that's all I know about it.
 
Don't know about Trinity but do know about small, church affiliated liberal arts colleges. Generally they are a more protective learning environment and practice in loco parentis to the extent they can. Kids don't get lost in the crowd. Particularly good for kids with any sort of disability. But the kid needs to want to go to that kind of school. Some kids want to jump into the big campus.

After having read the post above, let me take back everything I just said.
 
I don't like Trinity (but that is cause I went to SU, its rival)

Some of my friends from high school went there and turned out fine, I didn't think they changed that much during college.

If you are looking at Trinity I would recommend Southwestern University in Georgetown (Go Pirates!) and Austin College in Sherman. They are all similar, small, top liberal arts colleges in Texas.
 
If you want Dallas, try the University of Dallas (which is actually in Irving). Great academics and spectacular sciences.
 
It's a very highly ranked "Masters" college, meaning that it doesn't offer very many Doctoral programs. It has a very small enrollment, about 3,000 and costs about 40,000 with board, tuition, and extra costs.

In the end its all up to the person that is going to college. The only schools I semi-considered other than Texas were Rice (but I didn't want to pay for private school) and UNT (when I was still interested in pursing a career in music).

Trinity is in pretty close to downtown SA (if I remember correctly) but it does not have a reputation for being a party school that I'm aware of. No one from my high school talked about going to the great party at Trinity.

It's not my ideal for a college (I like the bigger universities that have more resources and extracurricular activities) but I imagine that you could find things to do there if you look. It's just not my cup of tea, I didn't want to go to a school that was smaller than my high school, but some people do and that doesn't mean its wrong.
 
I didn't go there, but I lived in SA for 10 years and I can tell you that Trinity has been named the "Best Education for your Dollar" more than once. I know that much. It's located just north of downtown near the N. St. Mary's Street district, that was once a pretty hoppin' place to hang out, but I don't know if it's like that anymore. Last time I went to that was for a concert at one of the clubs and it seemed like the area had really gone down hill, but that was a long time ago. The Oilers used to hold traing camp at Trinity sometimes and their football program has been pretty good for a while.
 
One sister went there, majored in theater costume design. Somehow didn't work out. Our research company president got an ME degree there, worked out quite well for her. H.E. Butt Jr was a tennis All American there, in the early 70's. Being HE Butt Jr worked out well for him.

So, not a waste of money if a student is serious. Just off Broadway by the park. Nice location.
 
very good liberal arts school and it's in san antonio which is better than going to school in most cities in texas that have liberal arts degrees.
 
Attended St. Mary's in SA and worked at Our Lady of the Lake Univ. in SA and Trinity defintley has a good reputation. Much better endowment (they have money to pay everyone well and support the college in general) than OLLU and St. Mary's. I wouldn't go to OLLU, St. Mary's is too Greek but Trinity is a great option in SA. Good school.
 
Trinity has a good academic reputation in Texas. Outside of Texas, most people have never heard of it. I'm glad I have a degree from Texas, so at least when the issue of college comes up, everybody knows what school I'm talking about.

To me at least, Trinity seems like four more years of high school, except you're living on your own. It's a very small pond.

I think one of the great things about UT is that is that it prepares you for life in the real world. UT is a huge place with AMAZING recourses. It's a complicated place though. You can find people to help you navigate it, but overall, the hand holding is limited. A lot of times you will have to take the bull by the horns and make your own way through the system. For the most part, this is how the world works too. The sooner you figure it out, the better.

I would never encourage anyone to attend Trinity.

Bernard
 
bernard,

to say that ut prepares people for life better than a liberal arts school is a bit unfair. different schools do different things for people and some that thrive in one environment might not in another.

i agree that people outside texas don't know the liberal arts school but your thoughts on trinity are short-sighted at best.

that said, if it's your opinion that's fine and i have no reason to support trinity.
 
It's consistently named one of the top liberal arts schools in the country. Expensive but in a good area of town near Alamo Heights, Terrell HIlls, Olmos, and right down the street from Incarnate Word. I'm pretty sure its Trinity University.
 
seriously? trinity is considered "one of the best" liberal arts colleges in the country? on the list of "most college for the money" (or whatever it is called) -- when the money is around $40,000 a year?

these lists are BS. princeton review makes some crappy lists, that they have to change dramatically year-to-year to sell their magazine/book.

any school that costs upwards of 40,000 (net) better be able to produce remarkable results. there are tons of other options better than trinity. it is unfortunate that a great state like texas has only 3 decent/good public schools (UT, aggy, UTD -- for engineering).
 
Wow, some interesting perceptions and stereotypes about Trinity University. I attended Trinity for undergrad a couple years back (early 90s), but I doubt things have changed much.

First of all, the education is top rate; very challenging environment and very little room for dead weight. You really can't slip through the cracks and have any hope of success in this environment. So if you like to blend into classrooms that have several hundred students, it's probably not for you. As for special needs students, I would have to say that Trinity wouldn't be any more accommodating than UT for those with mental or physical special needs due to campus layout and a lack curriculum designed explicitly for these students

Trinity has a very strong endowment for its size and profile. I haven't checked the figures in a while, but somewhere around a billion dollars. Due to this, the facilities are first rate, and the staff is generally content and motivated. The distinguished lecture series is outstanding, featuring names like Tom Brokaw, John Major, Colin Powell, Margaret Thatcher, and Bill Moyers.

The school is expensive, but generally the students that attend receive a great deal of achievement based or need based financial aid. A good many of the students that don't receive financial aid come from families that can pay full price without blinking.

Students are drawn from Dallas, Houston, and Austin primarily, but it also draws from all over the country and has a strong international contingent. You will get to know people from many different backgrounds. After graduation, people generally take jobs outside of San Antonio, in Dallas, Houston or Austin. Most of my friends moved outside of the state entirely.

There are no athletic scholarships at Trinity. Athletics are a lot of fun at the Division III level, but not the sole purpose for your being. You are reminded of that fact constantly.

Students can party as much or as little as they want. The school is a little cliquish, but not exclusively so. You will have to interact with all different types of people on a daily basis, so you will learn a lot of valuable people skills; most notably respect and tolerance. You will find a group of people on campus that you will most closely identify with, and they might not be much like your high school buddies.

No one is going to hold your hand on how to navigate the complexities of college life and young adulthood at Trinity. Though the school is small in size, its definitely not a continuation of high school. Good and bad decisions have the same rewards and consequences at Trinity as they would at any large state school. Added pressures in this environment exist as well, most notably getting your money's worth out of the experience and keeping up with peer ambitions.

In summation, it's definitely not for everyone, but I had a great time there and know many who had similar experiences.
 
I just graduated in May for Trinity University and it has its pros and cons just like any other school. I agree with much that was said above.

Academics are top notch they offer a good selection of classes from very accomplished professors and almost all have their docterate. I had one class taught by a chick that was in the process of getting her PHD and she was a visiting professor. That was the only class I had that was not taught by PHD.... no TAs or any of that crap.

Athletics are top notch in Div. III. I played football there and went 35-7 with 3 conference rings. All the sports are good and they all support each other for the most part.

Socially Trinity can be classified as high schoolish. In the sense that gossip gets around becuase it is so small, and things can get klicky (i.e frats and sororities that are not national). On the plus side however since the school is small you know most people worth knowing and can have a good time. Also if you want to go Greek there are many options for you.

San Antonio is not the greatest city by any means but TU students usually stay in their bubble of a few miles around the school.

Also there are a good amount of people from out of state, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon and New York are well represented. We also had several Tulane student during the whole Katrina fiasco. Overall the school is not as diverse as they would make you believe mostly white upper middle class to rich, with enough minority to claim diversity. (In my opinion I came from public high school in Houston).

The education is top notch and on par with Rice. What are you looking to major in, if you already know? That could play into your decision as well.
 
Trinity is a great school, and I can't add as much as some others on the thread, but let me say something about the religious nature of the school, which I think will be backed up by others.
One of my best friends from HS went to Trinity and I would visit him from Austin. Trinity is Presbyterian, but really only in that they accept their scholarships. They do have chapel, but it is not compulsory. Others might have something to say, but that is what I know from that aspect, and that it indeed enjoys a great reputation.
Someone else here mentioned Southwestern in G-town. I am Methodist so I am a bit biased, but Southwestern enjoys the reputation as having professors who are even more liberal than the very liberal student body. Another good friend from HS went there, and ended up transferring to UT, because UT was much more conservative and he enjoyed that. Not only more conservative I guess, but also that he found the Christian community much larger and accessable at UT than at Southwestern. I live about 30 min from Georgetown and I wouldn't allow my daughter to go to school there. Just way way too liberal, and the fact that it pretends to be a Christian school really pisses me off. I also know that it doesn't enjoy nearly the reputation for academics of Trinity, and from my friend's experience there, he found UT to be much more academically stimulating.
 
People who only went to UT for undergrad and did not experience an institution truly set on education will not be able to weigh in on this. I have taken classes there and at smaller schools such as Georgetown and a couple of others.

I have friends that went to the likes of UVA, William and Mary and Ivy's. They laugh at how big upper level classes are at UT and cringe at the size of Core classes such as the big auditoreum ones. Those are a joke.

In my opinion a professor should know each student rather than a TA. There should be more personal contact and a better student to teacher ratio. It is for this reason I defer to smaller schools such as Trinity as providing a better education or chance of one.

A lot of people I have spoken to and studies I have read (while working at UT in a department in the Education Bldg.) suggest people learn more at Community Colleges and schools like that. A big reason is because those students WANT to be there rather than doing what people say they need to do or because it is just what you do.

Many could not get into the bigger schools, many were not in a mindset to go, some had families. But putting that to the side, they list the better class sizes and relationships with professors as keys to why they retained more content than when they went to a larger school.

It is not as much about regurgitating the material at smaller schools. If one chooses to do so, that is their decision.

But don't be so robust to think that UT is a better education than smaller schools, if anybody does. There are good and great things about UT and there are horrible things about it. UT is not about the education as much as it has been and looking at how many departments are falling in the world of academia proves this.

There is no danger of it being Tier 2 anytime soon but it is not as close to schools like Michigan and Virginia as it once was. I blame the top ten percent rule but that is too easy as slipping began before that.

Some of you who live in other parts of the country or in a place with people who went to schools across America should ask your peers questions about their class sizes and rigors of coursework. You may be surprised you had it kind of easy and that it is easier to ******** your way through at UT than say, University of Dallas, Middlebury or a St. John's in Santa Fe.
 
Southwestern is like Trinity in that its Methodist in only taking scholarships. I never once thought that I was attending a christian or religious school. I also knew a lot more conservatives there than liberals.

Bottom line, high school students should go visit schools there are interested in attending and talk with students who are not part of the admissions staff. I used to look up students from schools on AIM or Facebook and get their opinions, both good and bad. Different schools are for different people and what works well for one person, may not be best for the other.

Trinity is a good school with a great academic and athletic reputation (in all sports, not just football).
 
I attended DePauw University in Greencastle, IN, a school very similar to Trinity (in fact, they are in the same conference for athletics). Only 2,400 people, which was a good size for me at the time, and a very good education. I'm glad I decided to go to UT for law school, because after growing up in a small town in Indiana, and attending a small college, I definitely needed a big school/big city atmosphere.
 
I've known several people who went there and they were very well rounded and liked the place. It is on the side of a large hill just north of downtown and has a great view of SA. Another plus is that the campus was designed by a very good architect from SA and is uniform in design---not a hodge podge of disparate styles. It also has the best acoustics imaginable in its auditorium.

Great neighborhood.

I would agree in comparing it to Southwestern and Austin College, also very good places to get an education.

I went to UT and I would say that if I had a kid of college age right now I would prefer they went to Trinity. Smaller classes, faculty contact is not only possible but inevitable. I liked the anonymity of the monster campus in Austin but some people get lost there. Not going to happen at Trinity.
 
At UT, it's what you make. It's large enough where people can fall through the cracks and the large class sizes are cumbersome in the beginning. However, as a student, you get out what you put in. I also imagine that's how it is at any university/college. It's easy to skate on through and just put in enough to get by. As for big classes, one of the professors I had the best relationship started with an auditorium sized class in US history.

UT really becomes an advantage once a student hits upper division level classes. That is where the class sizes drop dramatically and the work level is ratcheted up. I took full advantage of that fact and can say that I came out of the Texas History and American Studies program very well prepared. I took at least 2 writing component classes a semester for 3 years and have written and researched in depth subjects ranging from Texas music to comparing the philosophy of Kant's Enlightenment to the American Enlightenment and just about everything in between.

The resources like the Ransom Center, Center for American History, the Benson Library, the LBJ Library, and even the PCL (not to mention all of the school specific libraries) are top notch facilities that small liberal arts colleges can not match. It may require a student to more independent and push themselves, but the amount of high quality resources would be something that almost every other college in the world would love to have.

Again though, that isn't for everyone. I would have hated to go to a school like Trinity (or any small school, no matter the academic reputation) because of the resources they lack as a whole and the fact that the student body is so small. Some people like/want/need the closeness to do well, others don't. The only thing I know is that when my kids are going to college, I want them to do what they feel is best. UT isn't for everyone and Trinity isn't either. A prospective student needs to visit the campus and think seriously about the impact that going to live in that place for four years will have on themselves.
 
if somebody tells me he or she went to Trinity, i assume the person is relatively intelligent and received a solid education.
 
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