How into the whole UT thing are you?

[If you were admitted to UC Davis and UC Hastings and had to decide between these two schools (and these two schools only), which would you choose?]

If you were admitted to UC Davis and UC Hastings and had to decide between these two schools (and these two schools only), which would you choose?

UC Davis

UC Hastings

[hornian]

You should get an email in the next few weeks from Texas Box Office about getting student season tickets. I say should, because I'm not overly confident in their ability to not screw this up, they are infamous for being inept shafting people on season tickets.

However, assuming you get the email, you will then be able to purchase a LASP (Longhorn All-Sports Pass - the LASP entitles you to tickets at any other UT sporting event, so you can go to any basketball, baseball, soccer, etc. game you want simply by having them swipe your ID) for about $75, and also have the option to get student season tickets for football - those cost an additional $75 or so. I'm not positive on the dollar figures, because they go up pretty much every single year, but it should be around $150 or so for the LASP and the season tickets for football. And you must purchase a LASP in order to be eligible for student season tickets. Additionally, you will also be able to request tickets for the OU game in Dallas, and any other away game. There is no guarantee that you'll receive any away tickets, but it puts you on the priority list for those games (priority being seniors, grad students, juniors, sophomores, freshmen). I can say with some certainty that we are pretty much guaranteed tickets to the OU game as grad students, but I'm not sure about the other away games. The only one I'd really be interested in going to is Nebraska, since I've always wanted to see a game at their Memorial stadium, but I doubt I'll be able to swing that during 1L.

Also of note is that in the past you have also been able to request a reserved guest ticket for all home football games, essentially entitling you to 2 season tickets. The only catch is that you must pay face value, which comes to around $350-$400 for all the home games. However, you could probably get that much back for a ticket to tOSU game, so it might be a worthwhile investment. I have been hearing some scuttlebutt from friends who are still at UT for undergrad that due to increased demand this year they might discontinue the guest ticket program for student season ticket holders, but I haven't seen anything official.

I'll keep this board up to date about the status for season tickets, and even if you don't get an email I'll post some contact info for Texas Box Office so that you can secure student season tickets if you are so inclined.

[hornian]

Also, with the exception of A&M, I have no idea what the rivalries are - which game would be the least contentious?

The least contentious game this coming season will undoubtedly be Sam Houston State - they are Div 1AA, and were added at the last minute when the NCAA decided to allow teams to schedule 12-game regular seasons every year. Also, it is the game with the lowest face value for tickets, although I would just attempt to scalp a ticket before the game, you won't even pa face value then.

As to our rivals, OU is the main football rivalry, but that game is played in Dallas every year rather than home and home. Texas Tech is kind of a rival, but not really. And the A&M rivalry has lost its luster in recent years with their football program mired in mediocrity; it's still a big deal to them, but most people in Austin could care less now.

[hornian]

yeah, if you can get tickets to the Red River game, you're a lucky S.O.B.

If you really want to secure them, you should just get student season tickets and opt for that option at that time. As I mentioned before, priority for tickets goes like this Seniors-> Grad Students-> Juniors-> Sophomores-> Freshmen, and generally there are enough available that most Sophomores get tickets.

Which leads me to an interesting phenomenon, the fact that this year there are two very well-hyped games on the schedule: tOSU in Austin, and OU in Dallas. You could very well order student season tickets and opt in for the OU ticket (for an additional $85) and be looking at a total bill of around $240 for all 6 home games plus OU. Since football is such a big deal here, you could very easily sell your ticket to either of these games and come very close to paying for the entire season; if you sold both you're probably get somewhere in the range or $300-$500 all told, and actually make a profit. I'm not advocating this, but I'm just throwing this out there for those who might otherwise scoff at buying tickets. However, a note of caution - last year they began to implement print-at-home tickets for students that had their name physically on those tickets. The system was abandoned halfway through due to technical difficulties, but if they work out the kinks I'd assume they would go that route again this year, making your tOSU ticket next to impossible to sell. The OU tickets, however, are not printed by the school, and anyone can use it, so it's always a good investment.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I'll be buying tickets and going to all the games plus OU. I'm too big of a fan to take monetary considerations into account.

[Felsen]

I am so torn on tickets.  I didn't go to any games in undergrad.  I wouldn't mind going to UT games, though.  I just don't know that my wife would go to the games with me, and I don't think I'd enjoy sitting by myself with a bunch of strangers.

[lil kat]

I am so torn on tickets.  I didn't go to any games in undergrad.  I wouldn't mind going to UT games, though.  I just don't know that my wife would go to the games with me, and I don't think I'd enjoy sitting by myself with a bunch of strangers.

It's okay.  Just come with us!  Hell, we'll even have outings of law students.  Why not?

I heard from a current 1L that what they did to sit together for football games was that after they send us that e-mail after the LOI deadline and we have the opportunity to purchase season tickets, you also have the option apparently to type in some group name that you'd like to be associated with so that your seats will be together.  Someone posted on the official UT board a group name (like we could use UT Law 09) and everyone was welcome to enter in that name if they were interested in sitting with other law students at games.  I didn't go to UT undergrad so I don't know if this is really how the system works or if they were able to put everyone together, but it's just a though and I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[hornian]

Actually, you sign up for groups at the same time that you purchase your season tickets.

I am going on a two-year old recollection, but I believe one person creates a group ID (such as the aforementioned name) and maybe a password, and then passes that info along to whomever they would like to join the group. Therefore, it would be very easy for someone create a LSD specific group ID and password (if necessary) and then post it on this board. It is fairly important that only one person creates a group ID, however, as I believe that once your account is associated with a particular group ID you can not change it. Another advantage of creating a group is that the more people that are in your group, generally, the better your groups seats are. From anecdotal evidence, it seems that Belmont (the ticket office) seats larger groups first, and then fills in the "gaps" with smaller groups or single season ticket holders.

[Felsen]

Of course, there's the issue of user factionalization among MySpace and Facebook, but one could always cross-post over there to get maximum draw.

What's the use of the factionalization if you're trying to break down the wall, Tony? 

[hornian]

We can still segregate ourselves once we secure our 50-yard line group of seats.

I didn't mean to get your hopes up that high, in fact I believe the highest goal line seats available to students are either the 30 or 35 yard line. But they are still good seats, for the most part. And the stadium is currently having the largest video board in the entire WORLD installed (HD capable, no less), so even if you can't catch all action on the field during the actual play, you should have no problem seeing the replay form any seat in the house.

[Felsen]

Lots of people seem to have deep pockets for football.  When is someone with deep pockets for Texas Law going to come around and give a large grant that eliminates tuition for us all? 

[Felsen]

Any other computer people out there who keep on looking at the name of the group and wondering if the system is sensitive to case and whitespace?    I'd hate to see us separated into different groups of "UTLAW09" and "UT Law 09" and various variations.