For those who have never lived in Texas, the Aggies have a very unique culture that includes many of them inserting that they are an Aggie in virtually every conversation they have. It’s weird.
They also have a pretty unhealthy disdain for the University of Texas.
By contrast, The UT people don’t really seem to give much consideration to the A&M folks on a day to day basis.
It might seem like a somewhat typical in-state rivalry, but it’s not. It’s weird.
You walk into church and people tell you they are Aggies. You look at someone’s wedding photos, and the bride and groom are signifying that they are Aggies.
I always found the Texas people to be more like UK people. It is the large, state flagship university. A lot of Texans go there. They are proud of it. But their pride is much more typical of a normal sports fan or alum, while the A&M pride seems more cult-like, at least from the outside looking in.
The indication is that if you actually attend at A&M, you gain an appreciation of the culture and brotherhood, so to speak, that exists there. And I believe for certain that is true.
From my experience near the campus, I actually observed that they tended to have a higher caliber of student - on average - than what you see at your large state university.
You sense it around town, in restaurants, etc. The students just seem to be nice people, and the type of kids you’d be fine with your kids going to college with.
