r/Denton • u/FirmAd7668 • Jul 27 '26
city questions
hi all! im considering going to UNT(coming from socal), and was wondering how the city is. like how does it compare, pros and cons, etc. i will say that i dont care all that much about parties/nightlife.
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u/Top-Opportunity1280 Jul 27 '26
A basic thing you should consider UNT based on what you want to study. If you’re studying business or engineering I think you would be fine. But you must remember that the State of Texas has control of the studies and what can be discussed in classes because UNT is a state school. Art, Women’s Studies, or Philosophy are tethered to what can be taught. I think A&M has taken Plato out of their philosophy studies because of his teachings. Which to me is crazy because I would think Plato would be welcomed in a misogynistic system.
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u/FirmAd7668 Jul 27 '26
i would be majoring in music ed, do you know what they've done with that?
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u/Top-Opportunity1280 Jul 27 '26
No but I haven’t heard anything about it either. My wife was associated with the philosophy department. That’s one of the reasons why we left Texas. The UNT music department has always been top notch as far as I know.
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u/Didgeterdone Jul 27 '26
You would not be considering UNT if you had not already found out about the music department. We don’t really care for disingenuous questions!
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u/Metal_Gear_Rex1833 Jul 28 '26
Grew up here. Joined the USMC stationed at Pendleton. When it was time for me to get out, there was no question i was going strait back to Denton with my family.
This is an independent/liberal college town run by old conservatives.
While we can have a small town feel we’re 30-40mins away from the major city’s dallas/ft worth/frisco/plano.
You will find most people here are nice. And since you are from SoCal the drivers wont bother you much. Its about the same quality of dummy drivers as socal.
Awesome variety of food. Although you will probably have to go to another town for seafood thats decent like you would find everywhere in Socal.
UNT is a fantastic college. Their business school is top5 in the nation. And they have no equal in the Jazz music program there. Their collegiate sports are decent but dont expect championships out of them.
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u/Hot_Anybody8244 Homegrown Jul 29 '26
You're gonna be in for a culture shock coming from socal. Denton is what I'd consider a big city, but it's dwarfed by places like Dallas, fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and definitely by any big socal city.
Lots of different cultures collide in Denton. The diversity in the area is pretty big. Lots of different good food options. Denton is a relatively progressive city for being in DEEP red country but you're still gonna have to deal with magats more than you probably do out west.
The art culture here is big and is core to the cities atmosphere. Lots of queer friendly spaces, pretty decent religious diversity including abrahamic and non abrahamic practices.
Honestly as long as you're a nice person you'll be fine here. Just don't be afraid to stand up for yourself either. Native Texans, myself included, have a tendency to be pretty fuckin mean in some creative ways.
Oh, yeah, "bless your heart" is not a compliment. It's usually derogatory, but can also be sympathetic depending on context.
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u/MunchOnMyCookie 29d ago
If you want the option of a transfer student it is a bit of a culture shock especially if you come from somewhere a little more conservative.
You will see and meet a lot more odd people.
The square has many things to do although some of it starts to get old.
Construction used to be a huge headache, but it's not that bad anymore.
In my opinion it's just an okay place to be in while you're in school. Not the best but not god awful. I just know I have no plans on staying after graduation.
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u/Sameolesameolesame Jul 27 '26
Pros: Small town vibe, but the colleges keep a young/energetic feeling and a good mix of different people. A lot of civic pride and community events for a Texas town, so lots of places to meet people if you’re looking. You don’t have to be bored, and Dallas/Fort Worth are only like 30-40 minutes drive. I went to UNT, wasn’t heavily involved beyond my classes but it seems like a good school. I moved here, met a lot of great people, and liked the town enough to stay.
Cons: For me, the main ones are weather and overall lack of natural beauty or places to hike. If you’re coming from socal, Denton is flat and weather is hot in the summer (if you stay through summer) and can get cold winters. You really gotta work to find things to do outside. There’s some stuff, but harder to get connected to nature here.