Surly Kids NOT going to UT/General College Discussion Rising 2019/2020 Seniors

[tx 3 putt 77925]

4 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Reed is still a thing?

Although letter grades are given to students, grades are de-emphasized at Reed and focus is placed on a narrative evaluation. According to the school, "A conventional letter grade for each course is recorded for every student, but the registrar's office does not distribute grades to students, provided that work continues at satisfactory (C or higher) levels. Unsatisfactory grades are reported directly to the student and the student's adviser. Papers and exams are generally returned to students with lengthy comments but without grades affixed."

[ClubWhatever 12159]

On 7/25/2019 at 5:28 PM, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

as a child of the 90s, it is mind boggling to see 1380 and think 'not UT qualified.'

Likewise boggled.  I would be a Tech grad if I came out today. 

Also explains why there are so many dumb olds on this board.  

Edited July 28, 2019 by ClubWhatever

[Guest Lobo]

38 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

 

My 7th grader decided 3 years ago she’s going to college in Canada. Instead of that idea fading, it’s only intensified. Looking into it a quite a bit, I’m really behind that idea. Cost wise, it’s very affordable. I technically already have 3 years of tuition, room and board already saved. In 6 years, I’d easily be able to cover undergrad and grad in Canada with her college fund. I like that you don’t spend 30+ hours on bullshit classes. If you’re an engineering major, you take 15 hours of engineering as a first semester freshman. Your English requirement would be done in a class like Technical Writing for Engineering that applies directly to your major.

 

Awesome this scenario is going to work out for your child and you.  But I read a lot of essays from college students, and I’m trying to think of shit that sounds worse than the technical writings of Canadian engineers.  And I haven’t come up with anything in a half hour.  

[tx 3 putt 77925]

does she want to work/live in canada after graduation ?

[Beau Vine 54843]

1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

 

My 7th grader decided 3 years ago she’s going to college in Canada. Instead of that idea fading, it’s only intensified. Looking into it a quite a bit, I’m really behind that idea. Cost wise, it’s very affordable. I technically already have 3 years of tuition, room and board already saved. In 6 years, I’d easily be able to cover undergrad and grad in Canada with her college fund. I like that you don’t spend 30+ hours on bullshit classes. If you’re an engineering major, you take 15 hours of engineering as a first semester freshman. Your English requirement would be done in a class like Technical Writing for Engineering that applies directly to your major.

 

So does she want to be a Mountie or a hockey player?

[Rougarou 594]

I went to Boston/Cambridge for work a year ago and bought my elementary school aged kid a Harvard shirt. He found out what it is and wears it all the time and tells me he wants to go to Harvard. I don't have the heart to tell him yet.

[Bateshorn 9948]

8 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

I went to Boston/Cambridge for work a year ago and bought my elementary school aged kid a Harvard shirt. He found out what it is and wears it all the time and tells me he wants to go to Harvard. I don't have the heart to tell him yet.

No, no,  not “Harvard.”  It’s called “college in Boston.”  

[CooterBrown 18089]

does she want to work/live in canada after graduation ?

As if now, yes. If you graduate from a Canadian university, you automatically get a 3 year work permit and at the end of that, you are fast tracked for permanent residency if you want it.

[tx 3 putt 77925]

1 minute ago, CooterBrown said:

 

As if now, yes. If you graduate from a Canadian university, you automatically get a 3 year work permit and at the end of that, you are fast tracked for permanent residency if you want it.

 

 

that's pretty good. US needs a similar policy 

[Guest Lobo]

20 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

 

As if now, yes. If you graduate from a Canadian university, you automatically get a 3 year work permit and at the end of that, you are fast tracked for permanent residency if you want it.

 

Yeah, but you can only live in Manitoba.  Canada has an Oklahoma, too.  

Edited July 28, 2019 by Lobo

[Beau Vine 54843]

7 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Yeah, but you can only live in Manitoba.  Canada has an Oklahoma, too.  

That's what I'm wondering.  Canada is a big fucking country.  "Wanting to go to school in Canada" doesn't narrow stuff down, because there's a world of difference between UBC and McGill or University of Toronto or University of PEI.  

[CooterBrown 18089]

That's what I'm wondering.  Canada is a big fucking country.  "Wanting to go to school in Canada" doesn't narrow stuff down, because there's a world of difference between UBC and McGill or University of Toronto or University of PEI.  

University of BC is her dream school.

[phdhorn 6224]

18 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Canada is a big fucking country.  

Well yeah, but...

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by phdhorn

[tx 3 putt 77925]

18 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

 

University of BC is her dream school.

 

what's the appeal ?

[Apep 645]

On 7/27/2019 at 10:52 AM, mchookem said:

any input on TCU financial aid packages? (not loans) 

maybe we will visit if their deals are good. sister is a single mom who earns <$45K and niece has a pretty stellar academic resume. we have $28K cash from TTF. i'd looked at Trinity and their aid packages were great, if TCU is similar and grandpa and i could kick in a bit to cover extras... maybe it's doable?

What I hear from my fellow TCU alums is that the financial aid packages mostly suck compared to SMU, Baylor, Trinity, etc. TCU does not use financial aid to attract middle class kids. Instead, its main focus is on people with donation potential and decent scores, not the best students. (This explains their lower test scores compared to most of the other in-state privates.) To bolster the number of non-1%'ers, TCU uses its community scholars program to offer full rides to local, minority students from poor schools.

[Beau Vine 54843]

UBC is a great school in a spectacular city.  

The funny thing is that Vancouver is far and away the least Canadian city in Canada.  Vancouver is much more like Seattle or San Francisco than it is Toronto or Montreal or even Calgary.  

Edited July 29, 2019 by Beau Vine

[Bateshorn 9948]

1 hour ago, Beau Vine said:

UBC is a great school in a spectacular city.  

The funny thing is that Vancouver is far and away the least Canadian city in Canada.  Vancouver is much more like Seattle or San Francisco than it is Toronto or Montreal or even Calgary.  

I’m sorry, the proper nomenclature is “Seattle North”

[Guest Lobo]

SeaNo?  Si-o-No?  

Edited July 29, 2019 by Lobo

[jimmyjazz 46473]

I don't think the fact that a kid can go to "coding school" and bank $150K or whatever his first year is evidence that 4-year degrees are going the way of the dinosaur.  What that says is that coding is a trade, and it is.

I hire and fire a lot of engineers, but outside the realm of software/firmware.  I weigh a graduate degree heavily, and so does most of industry.  There are plenty of fields outside of STEM that are similar.  I don't disagree at all that a ton of kids should be considering trades over 4-year degrees, but that just speaks to the value of a career that can't be outsourced to Bangalore.  (Ironically, "coding" can, but right now there is still enough demand for local kids to do well.)

[Rougarou 594]

16 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I don't think the fact that a kid can go to "coding school" and bank $150K or whatever his first year is evidence that 4-year degrees are going the way of the dinosaur.  What that says is that coding is a trade, and it is.

I hire and fire a lot of engineers, but outside the realm of software/firmware.  I weigh a graduate degree heavily, and so does most of industry.  There are plenty of fields outside of STEM that are similar.  I don't disagree at all that a ton of kids should be considering trades over 4-year degrees, but that just speaks to the value of a career that can't be outsourced to Bangalore.  (Ironically, "coding" can, but right now there is still enough demand for local kids to do well.)

How do you weight the guys who were educated at universities in India or China, etc.? Lots of engineers are/were Asian nationals and it's hard to make heads or tails of STEM degrees from H1B1 types unless you do it for a living, like you do, I'm guessing. 

[jimmyjazz 46473]

30 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

How do you weight the guys who were educated at universities in India or China, etc.? Lots of engineers are/were Asian nationals and it's hard to make heads or tails of STEM degrees from H1B1 types unless you do it for a living, like you do, I'm guessing. 

Well, a large percentage of them come to the US for graduate school, so that tends to supercede whatever minimal knowledge I might have about their prior education.  And, to be honest, they don't represent as big a proportion of candidates in my areas (mechanical/electromechanical) as they do in software/firmware.  Those interviews, for what it's worth, often include coding or architecture tests.  In my areas, we almost never test but rather just try to engage in conversation about difficult projects, etc.

[pacman 7427]

Any latest news on UT Arlington and the college experience?

My little brother went there long ago and it was basically a commuter school with little to no connection efforts for students. If the kid doesn't get into UT, she may very well try the CAP program and UTArl seems to be the better school for NUR degree.

Also, since she is considering nursing, anybody know about undergrad programs at the schools that are strictly health science like UTMB/UT Health in Houston.

We went to Texas Woman's for a soccer recruiting trip. It was a pretty nice little campus.

Trinity was too small for my kid's liking.

[Newdoc 3465]

Speaking of nursing, get value in a program. There are plenty of solid nursing programs in the state and the job at Hospital A pays the same whether you spent 20k or 120k on your nursing degree.

[Moby Ric 2058]

Good thread.  Daughter is a junior and is going be auto admit to any TX state school.  She is getting letters from tons of schools everywhere including Northwestern, Brown, and now Westpoint.  She has made it clear that she wants to stay in the state.  Personally I think she will be approached by the Government or something and end up working at area 51 or something.

[Guest Lobo]

You know why the CIA recruits some kids straight outta high school don’t you?  

Hint: has to do with auto insurance rates. 

[chesthair 231]

2 boys, jr and frosh.  Both are straight A students but not 10% (p.s. our district just announced they are doing away with class rankings...wtf?).  

Oldest has had his heart set on UT since he was very young but i dont see it happening.  Its crazy, straight A's, good test scores but nope.  We are looking at Tech, Arkie, ACU and who knows where else.  They dont take any AP courses due to athletic time commitments, i guess thats going to screw them on UT.  

[ztejas 43741]

14 hours ago, pacman said:

Any latest news on UT Arlington and the college experience?

My little brother went there long ago and it was basically a commuter school with little to no connection efforts for students. If the kid doesn't get into UT, she may very well try the CAP program and UTArl seems to be the better school for NUR degree.

Also, since she is considering nursing, anybody know about undergrad programs at the schools that are strictly health science like UTMB/UT Health in Houston.

We went to Texas Woman's for a soccer recruiting trip. It was a pretty nice little campus.

Trinity was too small for my kid's liking.

UTD > UTA

Better school in a better part of DFW. Not sure how competitive undergrad is - but I had a couple buddies get in that weren't the best students in high school. 

To add to the discussion, I've enjoyed time spent at Tx State visiting buddies, and I think academically it's become somewhat respectable. That said, I would seriously, seriously caution against the partying. 

TCU, SMU, Trinity are all very good schools if you can afford it/your kid gets money (which private schools sometimes hand out in spades).

Tech is Tech.

Fuck aggy and Baylor. 

[SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3861]

13 minutes ago, chesthair said:

They dont take any AP courses due to athletic time commitments, i guess thats going to screw them on UT.  

That's not going to stop them from getting on tennis team tho.

[crash_davis 23154]

22 hours ago, Rougarou said:

I went to Boston/Cambridge for work a year ago and bought my elementary school aged kid a Harvard shirt. He found out what it is and wears it all the time and tells me he wants to go to Harvard. I don't have the heart to tell him yet.

that he isn't your kid?

[ztejas 43741]

2 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

that he isn't your kid?

No, he is his kid. That's why he's too dumb to get into Harvard. 

[jimmyjazz 46473]

Ever notice that Texas (or Austin) kids don't seem to talk much about going to Harvard/Yale/Princeton?  I hear a whole lot more chatter about schools like Vandy, Northwestern, Stanford, and Wash U.

Yeah, they're all "closer", although Palo Alto is out there, but I don't think that's the whole story.  I wonder if there's an inherent bias against old school Ivy money & culture?

[El Tri 412]

31 minutes ago, chesthair said:

2 boys, jr and frosh.  Both are straight A students but not 10% (p.s. our district just announced they are doing away with class rankings...wtf?).  

Oldest has had his heart set on UT since he was very young but i dont see it happening.  Its crazy, straight A's, good test scores but nope.  We are looking at Tech, Arkie, ACU and who knows where else.  They dont take any AP courses due to athletic time commitments, i guess thats going to screw them on UT.  

so they don't take AP courses and you think they're being screwed out of UT? LMAO

everyone who gets accepted into UT has commitments outside school, heck it's a big part of the vetting process (volunteering, band, dance, athletics, etc.)

[Hefeweizen 5357]

My daughter will be a junior next year and will be starting visits. She’s currently looking at Columbia, NYU, Rice, Stanford, Duke, Cal, University of Chicago, Cambridge, London School of Economics, St Andrews, McGill. Public college in Texas is not under consideration.

Fuck me: when She was born we prepaid 5 years of Texas Tomorrow fund. Not sure what happens to it if she doesn’t attend UT, and she’s not. Not sure if we would be better off closing that out or transferring it to her little sister.

I'm feeling your pain. My daughter's list is shorter. Rice, Columbia, and Stanford. Won't apply to UT even as a safety school, which is bullshit but I will keep working on her.

Basically it's Rice. I want her to be close enough to visit. But after that she wants to go to med school too so I'm going to be a poor.

[justinjc7 153]

20 minutes ago, El Tri said:

so they don't take AP courses and you think they're being screwed out of UT? LMAO

everyone who gets accepted into UT has commitments outside school, heck it's a big part of the vetting process (volunteering, band, dance, athletics, etc.)

Yeah, when applying to UT they are going to expect you to have AP classes AND have the other extracurriculars too, not just one or the other.  I played high school sports for my first 3 years and then did co-op and had 2 jobs my senior year of high school and I still took every AP class if it was an option except for one class the 2nd semester of my senior year when it doesn't really matter.  Maybe your kiddos just aren't really that bright.  (I kid, I kid).  What you said about the class rankings is puzzling though, wouldn't that screw those kids when it comes to the 10% rule and applying to colleges?

[El Tri 412]

4 minutes ago, justinjc7 said:

Yeah, when applying to UT they are going to expect you to have AP classes AND have the other extracurriculars too, not just one or the other.  I played high school sports for my first 3 years and then did co-op and had 2 jobs my senior year of high school and I still took every AP class if it was an option except for one class the 2nd semester of my senior year when it doesn't really matter.  Maybe your kiddos just aren't really that bright.  (I kid, I kid).  What you said about the class rankings is puzzling though, wouldn't that screw those kids when it comes to the 10% rule and applying to colleges?

i don't think it's necessarily that they don't do class rankings. my daughter's high school stopped publishing/announcing rankings but in her senior year (second semester i think) they did provide everyone's ranking. i guess they want to avoid gaming the system?

[justinjc7 153]

7 minutes ago, El Tri said:

i don't think it's necessarily that they don't do class rankings. my daughter's high school stopped publishing/announcing rankings but in her senior year (second semester i think) they did provide everyone's ranking. i guess they want to avoid gaming the system?

I guess that makes sense, I would imagine that they would still have to make that information available for college application purposes. 

[Chewbacca 7793]

On 7/25/2019 at 2:31 PM, PW119 said:

Daughter is top 12% in class, 1380 SAT.  Wants to go to UT, but that's less than likely - still gonna try.  She loves Trinity too.  She qualifies for auto-acceptance to A&M - close to home, good school, not too expensive etc.  But fuck that.  I can't ask her to spend 4 years in that shithole. Really gonna be pissed at UT if she doesn't get in.

Trinity is a great school.  Definitely better than Aggy.

[Chewbacca 7793]

On 7/25/2019 at 7:49 PM, Bateshorn said:

Can any other people speak to Trinity?  The boy and I are visiting in October.  I know they have super generous merit aid if you have good grades/test scores

I'm an alum (97).  Great school and they do a lot with financial aid if you have the grades/scores.

[pacman 7427]

4 hours ago, ztejas said:

UTD > UTA

Better school in a better part of DFW. Not sure how competitive undergrad is - but I had a couple buddies get in that weren't the best students in high school. 

To add to the discussion, I've enjoyed time spent at Tx State visiting buddies, and I think academically it's become somewhat respectable. That said, I would seriously, seriously caution against the partying. 

TCU, SMU, Trinity are all very good schools if you can afford it/your kid gets money (which private schools sometimes hand out in spades).

Tech is Tech.

Fuck aggy and Baylor. 

absolutely, utd is fantastic but they, somehow, do not offer Nursing.

 

[Bateshorn 9948]

5 hours ago, Hefeweizen said:

I'm feeling your pain. My daughter's list is shorter. Rice, Columbia, and Stanford. Won't apply to UT even as a safety school, which is bullshit but I will keep working on her.

Basically it's Rice. I want her to be close enough to visit. But after that she wants to go to med school too so I'm going to be a poor.

Your daughter may be all that and a bag of chips,  but she needs a reasonable safety or there might be a lot of panic in your house come mid March.  Also,  if her safety is gonna be a private, she needs to do the supplemental essays and at least reach out to the admissions officer.  Yield protection is a thing and schools like Tulane or Tufts don’t like being treated as back up choices, and will wait list kids who look like obvious admits if they don’t show love. 

 

I’ve mentioned it once, but hyper qualified girls are literally a dime a dozen.  That is by far and away the most competitive class of student.  

Edited July 30, 2019 by Bateshorn

[Message Board User 12397]

I know we've got some Surly 1% that can take advantage of this scheme.

 

[tx 3 putt 77925]

The games people play 

[Helobious 9503]

8 hours ago, chesthair said:

They dont take any AP courses due to athletic time commitments, i guess thats going to screw them on UT.  

Im not trying to be mean, but the only kids at my high school that didn’t take any AP classes were stoners, gang members, and dumb jocks. AP classes in high school aren’t a uniquely huge time commitment at all, and I’d highly recommend they start taking some if they’re serious about college.

[Thetexashammer 1062]

Last I heard if you join the military you are financially independent. Also you grow up a lot.

[pacman 7427]

Personally, I will have my son take acc or college credit instead of AP. My daughter's ap classes were shitty.

[Bateshorn 9948]

Every school has AP in name only classes. But colleges still like to see that shit.  There’s a reason they don’t consider them for application, only credit after acceptance. 

[Larry T. Spider 1747]

The AP thing depends a lot on the high school. I went to Westwood where it’s like an academic war zone. Extremely competitive.

[ztejas 43741]

My AP classes were great (save one where the teacher completely didn't prepare us for the test) and I came into college with 24 credit hours because of them. Granted I sat for one test that I didn't take the class for, but if you do it right you should be able to avoid 18 hr semesters and get out in 3.5. 

Oh and AP scores absolutely help for the admissions process. 

Edited July 30, 2019 by ztejas

[chesthair 231]

7 hours ago, Helobious said:

Im not trying to be mean, but the only kids at my high school that didn’t take any AP classes were stoners, gang members, and dumb jocks. AP classes in high school aren’t a uniquely huge time commitment at all, and I’d highly recommend they start taking some if they’re serious about college.

Our school =

1 hour ago, Larry T. Spider said:

The AP thing depends a lot on the high school. I went to Westwood where it’s like an academic war zone. Extremely competitive.

I guess that sounded like it's UT's fault since he isnt taking AP, didnt mean it that way.  He took lots of AP, Pre-AP classes his fres/soph year.  He has AP calc this year.  What i didnt expound on was that the ap english, etc. was the same as on level but shit tons of homework.  He loves math and science and has all the pre and AP courses, however, it was killing him on all the homework.  Kept his straight A's but not getting any sleep.  Once he realized he isnt in the top 7% he gave up on UT and decided he would pull back on pushing himself so hard.  He will graduate between 10-20% and will be around 1400 SAT so not worried about college.  I'm just echoing others on here about how they let me in 30 years ago and he is 100X a better student than i was.  

[TwiceHorn 31681]

A long time ago, I had a bad experience in a pre-AP class (Algebra II) and bailed from AP or the equivalent.  I took geometry with juniors, trig with seniors, and rejoined my classmates with calculus as a senior.

I avoided other AP type classes, but took the same ones without the AP label.  In some cases, the class was harder and the teacher better than the AP.

Problem is, and I didn't appreciate this, you were awarded an extra 0.5 grade point (on a four-point scale) for B+ up in the "branded" classes.  Come class rank time, I was hosed.

Don't do this.