The University of Texas at Austin

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Chemical Engineering
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: White Bisexual Female

Summary

I’m active in the Society of Women Engineering (SWE) and Omega Chi Epsilon, which is the chemical engineering honors society. Outside of those, I do a lot of intramural sports.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

High School Experience: Public school in Spring, Texas with a graduating class of about 905 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Chemical Engineering
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m active in the Society of Women Engineering (SWE) and Omega Chi Epsilon, which is the chemical engineering honors society. Outside of those, I do a lot of intramural sports.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
I’d say all of them have had an impact one way or another. SWE was the first organization I got heavily involved in when I came to campus. That has really helped me grow my friend group. Also, just by virtue of what the organization’s mission is, it has given me a lot of opportunities to make networking connections and find jobs. They have a national conference every year that I went to last year. It’s helped me grow my network outside of chemical engineering, and Omega Chi Epsilon has helped me grow my network within my major specifically.

Academic Experience

Can you describe the weekly coursework for Chemical Engineering?
It changes each semester. This semester I usually have about two homework assignments due a week and a class that has labs every four weeks, so over those weeks I have to complete a lab report, a pre-lab, and an after-lab. Depending on the course, the grades in the labs are the reports. I’d say homework makes up a substantial amount of your final grade, but exams or projects the most prevalent.
Is there anything that you feel the Chemical Engineering department does especially well or poorly academically?
I don’t think this is intentional, but by virtue, the kind of problems we are given and the difficulty of the homework really fosters community. Compared to other majors, I know a really large amount of people from my major. I knew a whole lot of people within my major even before I joined that Omega Chi Epsilon. Because of how to encourage collaborative with homework, it has helped me get to know a lot of people.
For bad things, the Chemical Engineering advisors aren’t super helpful. Course registration for the first two years was always a nightmare because something would happen with the department. That’s encouraged me to reach out to upperclassman and ask their opinions also.
What was your favorite class you’ve taken for your major?
One of our classes called Separation Processes and Mass Transfer, so it’s a lot about how certain equipment within the chemical engineering plants work like the distillation columns, absorbers, and stuff like that. That was an interesting class because it came full circle because we used concepts we used earlier in the degree plan. We had another course just about the equipment and so putting those together in an interesting way. My professor was awesome, she made an effort to make it interesting and relatable and easy to understand.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I don’t find it super competitive. I feel like in every major there will be a handful of people who are super competitive and just care about grades and will talk about them, but it depends on the circle of people you surround yourself with. In general, everyone will do their best to help you. It’s not cutthroat or anything, and everyone is doing their best.
How accessible are your professors been?
Pretty accessible. Once again, it depends on the professor, but if you have an issue and reach out to them, they’ll be accommodating and will reach back out.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
Everyone in Chemical Engineering seems to fall into two types of campus. Either your dad, grandpa, or great-grandpa were all chemical engineers, and you follow in their footsteps, or you just liked math and science. I fall into the latter. I knew I wanted to be in engineering from the get-go, but didn’t have an idea of what I exactly wanted to do. I felt that was the most honed area for my interests and skillset. I’m happy to say I made that choice. I don’t regret it in the slightest, I think as long as you’re stimulated by problem-solving and have an interest in math and science, I think chemical engineering is a good field. Also, because of how broad it is and how widely you can use your degree, the world is my oyster because there are so many different applications for it.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation college student? Are there systems in place that help you transition?
I never had a concept of what college was. I knew about UT-Austin and Texas A&M and I didn’t have any older siblings, so I was the guinea pig. My parents didn’t know anything about the system, and I didn’t become aware of the concept that people go to college and you have to apply until sophomore year of high school. I think the application process to get into college was daunting in that regard, but once I got here the transition wasn’t that bad because my first semester wasn’t the hardest semester. This was good because my second semester was much harder, but by that time, I was more used to the rigors and how you have to schedule it.

Reasons to Attend

1) It’s a public school so it’s cheaper if you’re in-state. It’s the most bang for your buck school in Texas.
2) Having the UT network and UT degree. UT is pretty well respected across the board.
3) Living in Austin.
4) The number of things that you can be involved in. That’s probably my favorite thing. There are so many different types of people, activities, and clubs here. If you want to do something, you can find a group for it.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) Austin gets really hot, so if you can’t handle that it might not be good for you.
2) I know a lot of people are intimidated by the size. You have to force yourself to get out there and be brave to get involved with things and meet people.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Roberts with one roommate.
Sophomore: Jester East for the first semester, and then we lived in Whitis Court during the second semester with the same roommate.
Junior: Roberts again with the same roommate.
What was your favorite living situation?
Either freshman year because our room was really great, or the semester we lived in Whitis because we were in a special living-learning community. Both of those rooms were really large, so it didn’t feel quite as claustrophobic. The location for Whitis was convenient, specifically because I was in my second year and at that point a lot of my friends lived in West Campus, which is across the street. It’s way closer to the engineering school, so getting to classes was super convenient.
How was transitioning from living outside of Houston, Texas to Austin, Texas?
It was just getting to know a new city, but once you get passed that it’s fine. I traveled a lot when I was younger, so I’m pretty used to a new location. The walking took a little to get used to because in Houston you usually drive everywhere and I don’t have a car here, so my primary mode of transportation is walking. Other than that, it was a pretty smooth transition.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on campus?
I’ve never felt unsafe at the campus at night or walking in parking lots alone. It’s never been bad. Recently, on Guadalupe Street you’ll sometimes get into situations that are dicey, but on campus, I’ve never had fear. It’s kind of scary because you get notifications on your phone about something like an armed robbery two-minutes away from where you are. That’s not fantastic, but that’s like living anywhere, so it’s not that bad. My freshman year I was near where the stabbing happened, so that was frightening as well.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in?
There are house parties, and sometimes I’ll go to frat parties. Not so much this year, but my freshman and sophomore year I’d sometimes go to frat parties or parties my friends throw. Sometimes we’d go downtown to 6th Street or East 6th Street and go to clubs. I went to Topgolf this weekend and I went kayaking on Lady Bird Lake. I like going to Zilker Park or Barton Springs to swim and tan. In the spring, usually a couple of my organizations throw boat parties on Lake Travis. There’s a lot to do. [See here for options beyond UT’s campus.]
What nights of the week do you regularly do things? Are there regular places you go or things you do on certain nights?
If I’m going out to a bar or a party, I try to do that either Thursday or Friday night. Not that I don’t go out on Saturdays, I just don’t like to because I don’t want to lose my Sunday. For going to parks and movies, I usually do that either Saturday or Sunday.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
Going to a nice restaurant, a nice karaoke place, or a movie or concert is always fun.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
In my experience, I feel like Greek life has more of an impact on underclassmen than it does on upperclassmen. When you’re an underclassman, you can’t go to 6th Street and you don’t really have an alternative. Most of the time if you’re going out you’ll be going to a frat party, and I would say guys usually don’t get in. Once you’re not an underclassman anymore, there’s a lot of alternatives. I haven’t gone to a frat party once this semester because once you get to a certain age and if you don’t have any friend or affiliation with that frat there are better alternatives. Most frats are pretty non-exclusive, but there are a couple that you have to be a sorority girl of a certain kind of person to even enjoy being at those parties.
How happy are you with the nightlife at UT? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I think my options are good. There is always something happening, and a lot of my friends are really outgoing, so we always have something. I kind of wish there were fewer things to do on the weekends because sometimes I try to go home but the past four weekends I couldn’t because there was too much going on.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
Through my major. My major is really close and we all work together. I’ve met people just from meeting people in my classes and people who are on similar tracks as me. Also, we have something called First-Year Interest Groups, and I’ve met a lot of people who I’m still close to through that as well. They were all doing chemical engineering.
How would you describe the overall social scene at UT?
I only see the engineering social scene, but I think it’s pretty good. Everyone is really open and likes to talk. Engineers have E-Week where all the engineering organizations go and compete against each other in certain events and that’s always fun. Everyone is super kind and fun to be around. You can definitely find your people if you’re open to looking.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
For sexual orientations, people mix pretty well. We do have some LGBTQ organizations on campus, but most of the LGBTQ community doesn’t necessarily want to limit themselves to participate in them solely. For different races, there are groups and you can tell who they are. It’s not that people aren’t hanging out because of their different races, but there are groups where they feel comfortable with each other. If someone from a different race came and wanted to hang out, they would be open to it. It’s circumstantial. There is a pretty good amount of race specific organizations, but even the people who’re heavily involved in those don’t solely have that as their social circle. [The student body is 41% White, 21% Hispanic, 19% Asian, and 4% Black.]
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
It depends on your experience with Greek life. Three of my close friends are sorority girls, and two of them are really close with people in their sorority, but they don’t only spend time with them. That might be because they’re engineers, so once again there’s the chemical engineering community aspect of it. They aren’t involved in other organizations on campus the way I am. I have another friend who doesn’t really like her sorority, so she mostly interacts with people outside her sorority.
How would you describe the LGBTQ+ community on campus? How strong is it?
From what I’ve seen, I feel like it is pretty strong. In engineering, there’s not really a place for it, which I’m trying to change through organizations. I’ve never really participated in anything, but there are some organizations that from the little I’ve seen have a vibe of solidarity and being active. I know one LGBTQ organization, but everyone goes there if you want to. You don’t have to be LGBTQ. [See here for LGBTQ recourses on campus.]

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
Engineering has its own career office. We have an engineering expo where a bunch of companies come to the Frank Erwin Center and talk to students. Through the Engineering Career Assistance Center (ECAC) website, you get the opportunity to put in applications for the position they’re looking for. When I went to speak to [the career office], they weren’t super helpful. I ran into an experience last semester where I was going to be out of town at one of the on-campus interviews I was scheduled for, and I tried to talk to them. I asked for the contact information of anyone from a company so I could reschedule, but they weren’t able to give me any information or contact from the company. I had to go find a friend who worked for them to see if she could get me in touch with someone.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
Excel, not even specifically through what I was taught in school, but through experiences with internships as well. I know a little bit of JMP which is statistical software, and I’m in a class dedicated to MATLAB which I’ve been told engineers use but have yet to see that actualized.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
All of the office people are super nice when you go to the office, and they do their best to help you.