Meet Siru

UT Austin: the Best Choice

I wanted to stay in Texas and go to a great school, so UT Austin was the best choice. It's the best public university in the state so I knew that I would get a great education no matter what major I ended up graduating with. It's also a good distance from the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolis, so I feel away from home but not far enough that I can't drive back in a few hours.

Excited about Class

I never expected to enjoy some of my classes as much as I have. I had interesting classes in high school, but I never felt really excited about going to a class before coming to UT Austin. Here, I've had classes where as soon as the class is over, I want to skip forward to the next class and learn even more or go talk to the professor during his office hours about what we've learned.

Siru's tips

Studying

Definitely start early, even on the first day of classes. Studying in college is so different from studying in high school. It takes more than studying two hours the night before an exam to get an "A." It's easy to relax when you're only in class three hours a day and have a lot more free time, but you don't want to be cramming two months worth of material the day before an exam. Also, try to find a quiet place to study, away from your room, since there's a lot of stuff to distract you in there.

Getting study groups together for classes have been extremely helpful. When there's more than just you studying, you get more views, and if there's something you didn't understand in class, chances are someone else understood it and can explain it to you.

Living on campus

I live in Roberts and it'll be my second year there. I lived in Prather my first two years at UT Austin. Living in the residence halls is great! I'm close to places to eat, the libraries, the football stadium, and I can wake up 20 minutes before class starts and come back for breaks between classes!

What to wear

Try to bring a sweatshirt with you every day if you can, even when it's 90 degrees outside. There are buildings around campus that are kept really cold year-round, so you can end up freezing during lectures whether it's January or September.

Can't Help but Smile

When you're walking around campus, you can't help but feel at home. Everyone's courteous, the campus is beautiful, and it's fun to be one of the thousands of people wearing burnt orange every day. I can't help but smile when I walk around.

BAL Web Site and UT Austin events

[Before I became a Longhorn,] I talked to my high school counselor and did a lot of reading on the Be a Longhorn web site. I also came down to visit for a Longhorn Saturday the summer before my senior year and took the campus walking tour that was available afterwards.

If you know anyone already at UT Austin, definitely don't hesitate to ask them anything. The online chats the Freshman Admissions Center puts on are also very helpful, and the Be a Longhorn web site has information about everything from before you apply to after you're admitted.

Siru's favorites

Class

Foundations of Organizational Behavior. It's the management class for the Business Foundations Program. The class set up was great and I got out of it a lot of information that applies to more than just managing people.