Surly kids who can't get into UT

[gsoda3 3,358]

1 hour ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

 

Ah yes, responsibly developing a child's talents by mapping out that one will be on a dual degree track and become an architectural engineer when he is 12 and the other will be a cardiologist from the time they are in 5th grade.

My kid tests in the 98th percentile stuff in school, but I hope by the time he is in fifth grade he has an interest in being a professional go-kart driver or some other dumb idea... because he is a kid, not a machine.

i'm sorry your kid's parents haven't the vision to help them navigate the road to academic success.  

 

in all seriousness, we didn't steer them any way (not that i'm opposed to it).  they're naturally interested in these subjects so we're showing them the best route to achieve their goals.

[SimonBolivar 11,014]

3 hours ago, orange dream said:

It would on your pocketbook.

Maybe but I ended up paying less for Baylor than my wife did for Oregon State and I wasn't special in the top 20% with a middle ass 26 ACT. They have to give out big scholarships or they'd have 5,000 students instead of 20,000 students. 

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

30 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

And that student's name? Albert Einstein.

Swore it was Mitch Cumsteen

[Grimas 674]

5 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Keep in mind when scouting schools, many are test optional.  Meaning they don't hold it against you if you defer, but if included, can help push you over the edge or help with scholie money

From what I understand, the only school that requires a SAT/ACT score is MIT.  If you have good ones, submit them but don't if not stellar.  Even academic scholarships that used to require high scores to be eligible aren't required to be considered for them.  Again, if good, submit but don't if not... 

[Grimas 674]

2 hours ago, CleverNickname said:

Maybe I had the wrong takeaway from that article... but is roughly $100k plus some spending money a decent target to shoot for re college savings? 

 

I'd say no when you figure in the total cost per year - tuition, housing, food, travel, other costs (Greek, semester abroad, etc) and I'd plan closer to 150K.  We are using a private college counselor and they provide us details on various schools and what you can expect to pay based on degree, grades and financial situation to ID schools that we can get scholarships to ID the total cost of attendance (pay wholesale rather than retail...).  Most of the schools on our list hit the 30-40K/year range all in estimates...

[InkaUtexas 26,793]

2 hours ago, CleverNickname said:

Maybe I had the wrong takeaway from that article... but is roughly $100k plus some spending money a decent target to shoot for re college savings? Thats... not as bad as I have been afraid of. 

Since this thread is also about baring your soul, or at least the fruit of one's gonads... One daughter (13) who has a legit shot at top 6% at a notorious public hs crucible. If she doesn't get auto admit, she'll probably have great scores, APs, IB, etc. I will encourage her to go out of state, to avoid regressive abortion politics. Sorry, not sorry. Son is 11, smart and will study, but not the perfection seeker his sister is. So he won't make top 6%, but with his charm and manner will probably make more money and be naturally be hapoy wherever he lands. He'll probably end up and Tech or whatever.  I bet he'll enjoy a school with div1 athletics to watch and a weekend party scene.

Ain't nothing wrong with that. Boy is doing well, but his sister is at Wallops Island designing shit for NASA. He will make more, she will have an impact. 

Let kids be kids and support whatever they do. I have the logos of UT (me), Texas State (Son) and GWU (Daughter) on my jeep. 

To the other poster, get him a damn go cart! 

[Samson's Wig 3,222]

3 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

Maybe but I ended up paying less for Baylor than my wife did for Oregon State and I wasn't special in the top 20% with a middle ass 26 ACT. They have to give out big scholarships or they'd have 5,000 students instead of 20,000 students. 

The much more important question when considering Baylor is just how rapey you are and how much you want to develop that trait.  Their program is off the charts, and not somewhere anyone comfortable with half-measures should even apply.

[SimonBolivar 11,014]

1 hour ago, Samson's Wig said:

The much more important question when considering Baylor is just how rapey you are and how much you want to develop that trait.  Their program is off the charts, and not somewhere anyone comfortable with half-measures should even apply.

[Brew 3,049]

On 9/26/2023 at 11:26 AM, Bozo_Casanova said:

Who else offers in-state tuition? I have not been able to find a good resource on this.

I’m not promoting it, but Ole Miss offers in state tuition with a decent GPA/ACT. They have moved up the rankings nationally quite a bit. Bama does as well. Downside, you have a degree from a MS/AL school. I’ve told my daughter I’ll pay full boat anywhere for her not to go to Ole Miss although she has a full ride there if she chooses. 

[Texas Jeff 1,998]

If you feel the need to read even more about colleges you may not be familiar with, you can buy the Fiske Guide for $25.

https://www.sourcebooks.com/fiske-guide-to-colleges.html

2024 edition via Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fiske-Guide-Colleges-2024-Edward-dp-1728271835/dp/1728271835/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

It has a small writeup on most US colleges and universities.  The physical book feels like looking through an old phone book, with super-thin pages bound in a giant book.

It's OK.  It gives you some idea of what to expect if you just want to leaf through a bunch of schools.

[Brew 3,049]

5 hours ago, CleverNickname said:

Maybe I had the wrong takeaway from that article... but is roughly $100k plus some spending money a decent target to shoot for re college savings? Thats... not as bad as I have been afraid of. 

Fuck no, depending on where they will want to go versus where you will pay for them to go. Oldest is a senior this year and is sitting top 10 in her class, will have 8 4-5’s on AP’s which will be the max she could take nonArts/language, a little off on the ACT at a 31-32, and most colleges she wants to go to if she can even get in are going to be no money given because they have moved to a more need based approach or they offer limited performance scholarships. Schools like UNC/UVA she will likely not get into as an OOS. We’re figuring roughly $60k a year if she doesn’t get money to one of the places she wants to go that she can get into like Illinois or William and Mary, but Wake was $100k a year for example. Again, she could go to Ole Miss, Bama, a number of other places for free but she wants to go further north to ultimately end up in NYC/CHI post graduate. It’s been a kick in the nuts going through this process.

It’s also hard to narrow schools down when you can’t get into where you really want to go. We’re looking at smaller highly rated liberal arts schools now to see what options there are, but she really wants to go to a large state school for some reason. I think the small private school background she is coming from is driving her to want to be in a big school where she doesn’t know anyone.

[Earl Haffler 627]

[Brew 3,049]

2 hours ago, Grimas said:

From what I understand, the only school that requires a SAT/ACT score is MIT.  If you have good ones, submit them but don't if not stellar.  Even academic scholarships that used to require high scores to be eligible aren't required to be considered for them.  Again, if good, submit but don't if not... 

I think every school my daughter applied to other than NYU and W&M (maybe Illinois) required an ACT or SAT score now. Most (especially in the south) have gone back to required or are going back this year or next.

[Tailgate 3,054]

I didn’t get in. Failed all my classes first semester of HS. Air Force brought my dad here when I was 12 from Michigan. Wasn’t drugs or friends…just pure rebellion of a kid who moved a continent away from his best friends (no cell phones…remember?) and left the place he loved and grew up in. I woke up junior year. Took summer school junior and senior year just to graduate. 
 

Like a lot of us, fell in love with UT just being in Austin and around it. That was the dream. Had zero chance after HS. Went to St. Ed’s to get grades to try and transfer. After seeing tuition cost of one semester I jumped to ACC. Actually had some inspiring professors there.

Got my ‘B’ average after a year and then ran as fast as I could to the 40 acres!

\m/

[TwiceHorn 31,982]

On 9/26/2023 at 4:17 PM, Texzilla58 said:

It’s a shame college has escalated in costs so dramatically. In the late 70’s one could get an great engineering degree at a school like uta for like $6 -8 an hour so one could work and easily pay for school. That was a big enabler.

You could get a great engineering degree at UT for 4-8/hour in the late 80s.  I know, I have one.  At the time, Dallas County Community Colleges charged 30/hour.

[Bateshorn 9,989]

11 hours ago, Brew said:

Fuck no, depending on where they will want to go versus where you will pay for them to go. Oldest is a senior this year and is sitting top 10 in her class, will have 8 4-5’s on AP’s which will be the max she could take nonArts/language, a little off on the ACT at a 31-32, and most colleges she wants to go to if she can even get in are going to be no money given because they have moved to a more need based approach or they offer limited performance scholarships. Schools like UNC/UVA she will likely not get into as an OOS. We’re figuring roughly $60k a year if she doesn’t get money to one of the places she wants to go that she can get into like Illinois or William and Mary, but Wake was $100k a year for example. Again, she could go to Ole Miss, Bama, a number of other places for free but she wants to go further north to ultimately end up in NYC/CHI post graduate. It’s been a kick in the nuts going through this process.

It’s also hard to narrow schools down when you can’t get into where you really want to go. We’re looking at smaller highly rated liberal arts schools now to see what options there are, but she really wants to go to a large state school for some reason. I think the small private school background she is coming from is driving her to want to be in a big school where she doesn’t know anyone.

There is this concept of “Buyer and Seller” schools. Buyer schools have to pitch and offer students to get their class full. NC State and Michigan State are buyer schools. They will offer money, sometimes generously, to gifted OOS students. Michigan and North Carolina are Seller schools.  They don’t have to do shit. To quote the sargeant from HEAT: this shit sells itself. 
 

Small schools have much going for them: small classes, personal contact with professors, usually very charming environments. But running into all your hookups every day in the dining hall can be a bit exhausting.

[Brew 3,049]

57 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

There is this concept of “Buyer and Seller” schools. Buyer schools have to pitch and offer students to get their class full. NC State and Michigan State are buyer schools. They will offer money, sometimes generously, to gifted OOS students. Michigan and North Carolina are Seller schools.  They don’t have to do shit. To quote the sargeant from HEAT: this shit sells itself. 
 

Small schools have much going for them: small classes, personal contact with professors, usually very charming environments. But running into all your hookups every day in the dining hall can be a bit exhausting.

The concept makes perfect sense, I think her issue was that she never realized where the cutoff was on the seller schools. A lot of the state schools have inflated admissions percentages because of in state enrollment, so when you dig around and find out that OOS is sub 6-8% at places like UGA, UNC, Mich, etc it changes the game. She is terrible at simple math which held her ACT score back which will ultimately mean she needs to rethink where she wants to go, quickly. She’s in at any number of good schools, so it will work out with me likely paying more than I had planned based on her high school resume. It’s just a lot different process than what I would have thought. 

[CooterBrown 18,272]

15 hours ago, Grimas said:

I'd say no when you figure in the total cost per year - tuition, housing, food, travel, other costs (Greek, semester abroad, etc) and I'd plan closer to 150K.  We are using a private college counselor and they provide us details on various schools and what you can expect to pay based on degree, grades and financial situation to ID schools that we can get scholarships to ID the total cost of attendance (pay wholesale rather than retail...).  Most of the schools on our list hit the 30-40K/year range all in estimates...

You don't need a counselor for that.  It's required by the feds to be published annually on each college's website.  Search for the "Common Data Set".  It gives you all the data on what is given out for both needs based and non-need based merit aid.

Being OCD about the research, I made a spreadsheet of what I think the relevant data is from the CDS.  Below is an example for the School of Mines.  

Yield is the percent of students offered enrollment who actually attend.  The golden goal is 30%.  Look for schools with a low yield, they are more likely to buy students with aid.  

Testing is just the high school academic profile of incoming freshmen.

Needs Based Aid is for low income students.

Non-Need Based Aid is merit aid.

The section on where to find this data in the CDS is in the heading of each column.

Colorado School of Mines	C1 - Yield				C9 - Testing							C11 - GPA	H2 - Need Based Financial Aid		H2A - Non-Need Based Financial Aid
		Admits	Enrolled	Yield		SAT Composite	SAT Reading	SAT Math	ACT Composite	ACT Math	ACT English	Average GPA
	Men	4,231	974	23.0%	25th Percentile	1320	650	660	29	28	27	3.84	E - Number of Students Awarded Any Needs Based Financial Aid	346	N - Number of Freshman Students	442
	Women	2,607	474	18.2%	75th Percentile	1460	720	750	33	33	34		K - Average Amount of Needs Based Financial Aid	$5,104	O - Average Amount of Scholarships & Grants	$9,173
	Total	6,838	1,448	21.2%										24%	Percent of Freshmen	31%

[orange dream 1,288]

@Brew and obviously anyone else who has interest.

While I don't have personal experience with any these, I do have close friends whose kids have gone through these three "honors" programs at "lesser" big state u types of schools and had great experiences. 

Bama Honors College: https://honors.ua.edu/

Ole Miss Honors College: https://www.honors.olemiss.edu/

My best friend's daughter is a "Haslam Leadership Scholar" at Tennessee right now ( full-ride, including living expenses and an expense-paid study abroad program)  Smart girl, but honestly not the type of student that you would think would get this type of offer.  My buddy honestly thought there may have been a mistake initially.  They had plenty of money set aside to pay for school so once he verified her spot in this program he bought a new boat and remodeled the kitchen. ha ha

https://studentsuccess.utk.edu/honors/haslam-leadership-scholars/

https://news.utk.edu/2021/06/07/2021-haslam-scholars-cohort-announced/

Anyway, the point being that some of the "non-elite" OOS schools have some niche (kind of their version of Plan II for lack of a better analogy) programs within them that can make for great alternatives if the UVA, Michigan or Berkeley option doesn't work out.

[jimmyjazz 46,958]

I pay roughly $10K/semester at UT for each of my kids.  That's roughly 50/50 tuition+fees and rent.  (Each has multiple roommates.)  I don't count board -- I'd be feeding them even if they lived at home.  Books are cheap enough to ignore, half of them are digital copies these days.

It's not that bad.  I try to pay as they go.  Each has small loans because I wanted them to have some skin in the game.

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

27 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I pay roughly $10K/semester at UT for each of my kids.  That's roughly 50/50 tuition+fees and rent.  (Each has multiple roommates.)  I don't count board -- I'd be feeding them even if they lived at home.  Books are cheap enough to ignore, half of them are digital copies these days.

It's not that bad.  I try to pay as they go.  Each has small loans because I wanted them to have some skin in the game.

Still such a deal in this marketplace. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Liquor and Poker said:

Still such a deal in this marketplace. 

I had a UT Econ prof in mid 2000s that had a lecture where he touched on the deregulation of tuition and how even though it rose significantly in those years, it was a ridiculously good deal. Twenty-year-old me thought he was full of shit. 

Now I see what he was talking about. Even though tuition has gone up still, for the earnings path that a degree from Texas puts you on, it's still a screaming bargain. It likely would be up to $50-60K a year (don't get any ideas, UT).

That said, I'm amazed at the even lower tuition some state schools charge.

[Guest]

44 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I pay roughly $10K/semester at UT for each of my kids.  That's roughly 50/50 tuition+fees and rent.  (Each has multiple roommates.)  I don't count board -- I'd be feeding them even if they lived at home.  Books are cheap enough to ignore, half of them are digital copies these days.

It's not that bad.  I try to pay as they go.  Each has small loans because I wanted them to have some skin in the game.

What degree? If anything outside of engineering, I hope they have jobs to also help out.

I avoided getting a job until junior year because I wasn't sure I could handle job and school. Pffft. In around 2005 I was working in a UT library making $12.50 an hour for 15-20 hours a week. It was a breeze. Wish I had started that as a freshman.

[jimmyjazz 46,958]

4 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

What degree? If anything outside of engineering, I hope they have jobs to also help out.

I'm not sure I understand.  Both are psych majors (one BA, one BS).  Both have jobs.  My daughter is a machine, she handles school, at least 30 hrs/week at a restaurant near campus, and a booming rock band that will be on the road for a month starting in a couple of weeks.  My son isn't as driven, but he probably gets in 20 hrs/week at HEB.  Both use that money for things like clothes, drinks, gym memberships, car payments, etc.,  along with their small contributions to tuition.  Both are killing it academically, so I'm not going to meddle.

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not sure I understand.  Both are psych majors (one BA, one BS).  Both have jobs.  My daughter is a machine, she handles school, at least 30 hrs/week at a restaurant near campus, and a booming rock band that will be on the road for a month starting in a couple of weeks.  My son isn't as driven, but he probably gets in 20 hrs/week at HEB.  Both use that money for things like clothes, drinks, gym memberships, car payments, etc.,  along with their small contributions to tuition.  Both are killing it academically, so I'm not going to meddle.

Nope, that's exactly what I meant. (Any major outside of engineering I think could hold down a job while in school.)

Surprised you have to contribute quite that much given the work schedules. 

[jimmyjazz 46,958]

1 minute ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Nope, that's exactly what I meant. (Any major outside of engineering I think could hold down a job while in school.)

Surprised you have to contribute quite that much given the work schedules. 

Well, I have two engineering degrees and worked 20 hrs/wk on average, although most of the time it was on campus in pretty cushy jobs.  As far as my contributions, I always told them I'd pay for most of their college.  I'm not going back on my word.

[Bateshorn 9,989]

4 hours ago, orange dream said:

@Brew and obviously anyone else who has interest.

While I don't have personal experience with any these, I do have close friends whose kids have gone through these three "honors" programs at "lesser" big state u types of schools and had great experiences. 

Bama Honors College: https://honors.ua.edu/

Ole Miss Honors College: https://www.honors.olemiss.edu/

My best friend's daughter is a "Haslam Leadership Scholar" at Tennessee right now ( full-ride, including living expenses and an expense-paid study abroad program)  Smart girl, but honestly not the type of student that you would think would get this type of offer.  My buddy honestly thought there may have been a mistake initially.  They had plenty of money set aside to pay for school so once he verified her spot in this program he bought a new boat and remodeled the kitchen. ha ha

https://studentsuccess.utk.edu/honors/haslam-leadership-scholars/

https://news.utk.edu/2021/06/07/2021-haslam-scholars-cohort-announced/

Anyway, the point being that some of the "non-elite" OOS schools have some niche (kind of their version of Plan II for lack of a better analogy) programs within them that can make for great alternatives if the UVA, Michigan or Berkeley option doesn't work out.

Boy 2 is getting 12k a year plus a tuition lock from Oregon and is in the Clark Honors College.  Not as generous as the SEC schools, but I’m kinda snobby about schools and I wanted him to go to an AAU (plus my coparent couldn’t get down with a Deep South state).

 

@CooterBrown is correct: work the Common Data Set.  It’s a treasury trove of info: how hard schools lean on early admission, applicant demographics, testing stat breakdowns, degree breakdowns, retention rates, how far short Admissions is falling and having to take off the wait list, etc. 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Bateshorn

[SimonBolivar 11,014]

How many colleges did y'all take your kids to growing up to scout? My parents love college sports so we went to probably a hundred campuses if you count everything between driving around and taking formal tours as visits. If it was up to my parents, they would have had one at Flagler College, one at VMI or Washington & Lee, and one at Northwestern.  

 

I guess it didn't really end up mattering though since two of us went to BU just like they did and everyone else in our family did and the 3rd went DIII in Texas for sports purposes. Oh well it was still fun.

[Grimas 674]

Example at Pig yearly cost for instate from their website:

Status	Hours	Tuition	Fees	Tuition/Fee Subtotal	Books	Room	Board	Personal	Transportation	Total
Undergraduate Dep. dorm/off	30	$7,666	$2,082	$9,748	$1,154	$8,366	$4,924	$3,176	$2,640	$30,008

Out of state without discounts:

tatus	Hours	Tuition	Fees	Tuition/Fee Subtotal	Books	Room	Board	Personal	Transportation	Total
Undergraduate Dep. dorm/off	30	$26,690	$2,082	$28,772	$1,154	$8,366	$4,924	$3,176	$2,640	$49,032

But for freshman from surrounding states, you get a out-of-state discount based on grades:

Award Amount	Eligibility Criteria
90%	3.80 GPA
80%	3.60 GPA
70%	3.20 GPA

So if you have a 3.8 GPA, its:

Tuition/Fee Subtotal

$11,650

3.6

Tuition/Fee Subtotal

$13,552

3.2

Tuition/Fee Subtotal

$15,454

Edited September 28, 2023 by Grimas

[Samson's Wig 3,222]

4 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not sure I understand.  Both are psych majors (one BA, one BS).  Both have jobs.  My daughter is a machine, she handles school, at least 30 hrs/week at a restaurant near campus, and a booming rock band that will be on the road for a month starting in a couple of weeks.  My son isn't as driven, but he probably gets in 20 hrs/week at HEB.  Both use that money for things like clothes, drinks, gym memberships, car payments, etc.,  along with their small contributions to tuition.  Both are killing it academically, so I'm not going to meddle.

The only thing to understand is that we have a lot of engineers who post here, and like most engineers, they can't fathom that any other educational path has any merit. It's fucking weird, frankly, but myopia can impact anyone even if it seems like an engineer-specific trait.   The fact that 99.9% of engineers work for someone who is not an engineer has never dawned on them for some reason.

[Samson's Wig 3,222]

On 9/27/2023 at 12:23 PM, MissingInAction said:

Another thread making me glad I never married and/or reproduced.  Getting a vasectomy at 25 was the best decision of my life.

We all really appreciate it.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,407]

On 9/27/2023 at 2:29 PM, CleverNickname said:

Maybe I had the wrong takeaway from that article... but is roughly $100k plus some spending money a decent target to shoot for re college savings? Thats... not as bad as I have been afraid of. 

Since this thread is also about baring your soul, or at least the fruit of one's gonads... One daughter (13) who has a legit shot at top 6% at a notorious public hs crucible. If she doesn't get auto admit, she'll probably have great scores, APs, IB, etc. I will encourage her to go out of state, to avoid regressive abortion politics. Sorry, not sorry. Son is 11, smart and will study, but not the perfection seeker his sister is. So he won't make top 6%, but with his charm and manner will probably make more money and be naturally be hapoy wherever he lands. He'll probably end up and Tech or whatever.  I bet he'll enjoy a school with div1 athletics to watch and a weekend party scene.

There’s no fucking way you can be confident about where your 13 and 11 year olds will finish in their senior year class rankings. 

[Grimas 674]

Captain Obvious here but you are probably already paying something similar in living expenses numbers projected for these items yearly when your kid is a senior in HS (if not more)...

Books		Board	Personal	Transportation

 

[locodos 5,581]

One mistake that I made, is that I sent my kids to a smallish all magnet school (very highly ranked nationally).  Wonderful school, great environment, great kids, but an absolute nightmare for class ranking for my smart but distracted kids.  If they had gone to any other high school in our area their ranking would have been easily top 5%.   I'm convinced that it hurt my son with his college choices.   He did not get into his reach schools and didn't get into his target school (gata).  If he had gone to a large high school not packed with ringers I'm convinced it would have been different.  Maybe not, but we were not the only ones SHOCKED that he didn't get in. 4.95gpa, 1500 sat (first and only attempt), 4 yr dual sport athlete, debate club, etc... class rank top 3rd (sad trombone)   It's competitive out there.

[MissingInAction 25,478]

1 hour ago, Samson's Wig said:

We all really appreciate it.

Your mom said the same.

[Brew 3,049]

3 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

How many colleges did y'all take your kids to growing up to scout? My parents love college sports so we went to probably a hundred campuses if you count everything between driving around and taking formal tours as visits. If it was up to my parents, they would have had one at Flagler College, one at VMI or Washington & Lee, and one at Northwestern.  

 

I guess it didn't really end up mattering though since two of us went to BU just like they did and everyone else in our family did and the 3rd went DIII in Texas for sports purposes. Oh well it was still fun.

We have probably officially toured 10 or so college campuses at this point with plans to go to another 5-10 this fall. She is applying to a few she hasn’t seen and we’ll tour them later if some of the ones above them on her list don’t work out.

[CooterBrown 18,272]

One mistake that I made, is that I sent my kids to a smallish all magnet school (very highly ranked nationally).  Wonderful school, great environment, great kids, but an absolute nightmare for class ranking for my smart but distracted kids.  If they had gone to any other high school in our area their ranking would have been easily top 5%.   I'm convinced that it hurt my son with his college choices.   He did not get into his reach schools and didn't get into his target school (gata).  If he had gone to a large high school not packed with ringers I'm convinced it would have been different.  Maybe not, but we were not the only ones SHOCKED that he didn't get in. 4.95gpa, 1500 sat (first and only attempt), 4 yr dual sport athlete, debate club, etc... class rank top 3rd (sad trombone)   It's competitive out there.

An unfortunate trend at McCallum is that a dozen or more kids transfer from LASA for just their senior year to game the class rank and get a UT auto qualifier. It sucks for the kids that put in their four years at the school.

[ztejas 44,114]

11 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

An unfortunate trend at McCallum is that a dozen or more kids transfer from LASA for just their senior year to game the class rank and get a UT auto qualifier. It sucks for the kids that put in their four years at the school.

Shiiiiit... kids would do this from Austin High and go to Akins or Garza. 

[dcbc 14,641]

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

An unfortunate trend at McCallum is that a dozen or more kids transfer from LASA for just their senior year to game the class rank and get a UT auto qualifier. It sucks for the kids that put in their four years at the school.

I heard this about our kids' school with reference to a lot of the private school kids. transferring over.  But the (currently) 6% rule applies to their grades at the end of the junior year.  So transferring for the senior year doesn't make a lot of sense.  The harder part for our kids was the fact that he had to jump 3 spots to get within the top 6% and his class size dropped by 60 students.  Fortunatly, he jumped 4 people and was the last kid standing under 6%.  Fucking close.

[BearSchlong 8,227]

[mention=155]Brew[/mention] and obviously anyone else who has interest.
While I don't have personal experience with any these, I do have close friends whose kids have gone through these three "honors" programs at "lesser" big state u types of schools and had great experiences. 
Bama Honors College: https://honors.ua.edu/
Ole Miss Honors College: https://www.honors.olemiss.edu/
My best friend's daughter is a "Haslam Leadership Scholar" at Tennessee right now ( full-ride, including living expenses and an expense-paid study abroad program)  Smart girl, but honestly not the type of student that you would think would get this type of offer.  My buddy honestly thought there may have been a mistake initially.  They had plenty of money set aside to pay for school so once he verified her spot in this program he bought a new boat and remodeled the kitchen. ha ha
https://studentsuccess.utk.edu/honors/haslam-leadership-scholars/
https://news.utk.edu/2021/06/07/2021-haslam-scholars-cohort-announced/
Anyway, the point being that some of the "non-elite" OOS schools have some niche (kind of their version of Plan II for lack of a better analogy) programs within them that can make for great alternatives if the UVA, Michigan or Berkeley option doesn't work out.

My daughter did this at Mizzou. Honors program, OOS tuition offset by scholarships and she established residence for years 2-4 Graduated honors program from the J school in strat com Magna Cum Laude.

Seems like 1/3 of Mizzou is from Dallas, another 1/3 from Chicago, which is where she lives now. She’s crushing it.

One other thing - she bartended/worked in bar/grill jobs all 4 years, so her social intelligence is off the map excellent. She knows how to read people very well. My son’s first W2 came after graduation from Uncle Sam and he has trouble relating to civilians.

[FunDip 33]

4 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

My daughter did this at Mizzou. Honors program, OOS tuition offset by scholarships and she established residence for years 2-4 Graduated honors program from the J school in strat com Magna Cum Laude.

Seems like 1/3 of Mizzou is from Dallas, another 1/3 from Chicago, which is where she lives now. She’s crushing it.

One other thing - she bartended/worked in bar/grill jobs all 4 years, so her social intelligence is off the map excellent. She knows how to read people very well. My son’s first W2 came after graduation from Uncle Sam and he has trouble relating to civilians.

I was going to say when someone mentioned Mizzou being hit hard lately, their claim to fame has long been the J school and with the complete demolition of making a strong career in Journalism that started the last 15 years, it's not much of a draw.

[fattyflattie 4,640]

4 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

An unfortunate trend at McCallum is that a dozen or more kids transfer from LASA for just their senior year to game the class rank and get a UT auto qualifier. It sucks for the kids that put in their four years at the school.

Had a couple of kids from my high school do that to get into UT back when it was still 10%. Thought they fixed that loophole.  The 3 closest high schools to ours were all pretty big and very poor.  Walked right into the top 10 by renting an apt. 

[jimmyjazz 46,958]

25 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Seems like 1/3 of Mizzou is from Dallas, another 1/3 from Chicago, 

Eh, I'm pretty sure that's overstating it.  St. Louis dominates Mizzou, followed by KC and then other rural or more distant big cities.

[South Austin 53,151]

10 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

An unfortunate trend at McCallum is that a dozen or more kids transfer from LASA for just their senior year to game the class rank and get a UT auto qualifier. It sucks for the kids that put in their four years at the school.

Seems shitty, but if someone has to transfer due to legitimate circumstances, I don’t know how you wipe out their first three years’ GPA.

This is sort of apples to oranges, but I transferred from N.C.State to Texas after my sophomore year. I came with close to a 4.0, and that all disappeared, and only my GPA at Texas would appear on my official transcript. I was pissed, but Texas was where I wanted and needed to be. I ended up getting numbers good enough for UT Law, so it all worked out in the end.

[DalTxHornFan 3,130]

15 minutes ago, South Austin said:

This is sort of apples to oranges, but I transferred from N.C.State to Texas after my sophomore year. I came with close to a 4.0, and that all disappeared, and only my GPA at Texas would appear on my official transcript. I was pissed, but Texas was where I wanted and needed to be. I ended up getting numbers good enough for UT Law, so it all worked out in the end.

Sure it did -- if you didn't ever want to do anything worthwhile in your life!

[South Austin 53,151]

10 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Sure it did -- if you didn't ever want to do anything worthwhile in your life!

You don’t think my Surly posting career is worthwhile?!?!

[DalTxHornFan 3,130]

1 minute ago, South Austin said:

You don’t think my Surly posting career is worthwhile?!?!

Well, there's that!  I'm guessing that the JD is pretty much a prerequisite for a distinguished career on Surly!

[Samson's Wig 3,222]

It certainly doesn't hurt!

[BearSchlong 8,227]

I was going to say when someone mentioned Mizzou being hit hard lately, their claim to fame has long been the J school and with the complete demolition of making a strong career in Journalism that started the last 15 years, it's not much of a draw.

Pivot to strategic communications and media planning. Nobody from that school is an actual journalist anymore.

[XForce 218]

Plus (you said you were in FISD), the trend the last decade at this point, because none of the smart but not top 6% boys in the Frisco/Plano area can get into UT anymore, there is a ton of out of state exodus. So all your boys friends are going to Bama and Arky and OU, etc.
I had the same conversations with my kids who were FISD. The majority of their class who weren't top 6% who went to public school, went to A&M or out of state (Ark, tons of Bama, OU) rather than go to Tech or UNT or something like that.
And I sympathize. I wouldn't get into UT today if I was a senior, but would still want the college experience I got at UT with Greek life and football games and being able to party but also get a degree that can get a decent paying job.

Can concur as a PISD parent of ‘23 and ‘24 grads.
My ‘24 wants to go to UT, checks all his boxes but unless there’s a miracle, he’s not getting in. Kid has great GPA, a ton of AP credit but not 6%. He has applied so fingers crossed.
The only other school in state he’ll consider is UT Dallas because of their CS program.