Surly kids applying / attending UT

[jimmyjazz 45055]

Well, that was interesting.  The CAP "portal" opened at 6 PM (CST) tonight.  I felt like I was playing a video game, or trying to score tickets for Tool.  It appears we successfully selected UTSA, which all things considered, is not a bad safety school should my daughter's other options not pan out financially.  It's a weird thing -- she has been accepted to a ton of great schools, but only one is likely better than UT in her chosen major, with another admission unknown (Northwestern), so we're walking a fine line between guaranteed soph-senior year at UT (assuming 3.2 GPA at UTSA) or going out of state for what is likely quite a bit more money.

They could make CAP easier.  This whole "6 PM first come first served" thing is antithetical to what they should be trying to do, which is to fill the satellite schools with the best freshmen possible.  They should just demand that CAP agreements be filed by a certain date and then pick and choose the students as warranted.  The current policy of only allowing students to pick one campus would eliminate overlap and associated questions about seriousness of student interest.

Edited February 7, 2020 by jimmyjazz

[field 212]

My daughter accepted Plan II last night.  So unbelievably proud of her.  We're out of state (out of state tuition be damned), which makes her even being accepted to UT at all so cool.  

[chitwood 155]

10 minutes ago, field said:

My daughter accepted Plan II last night.  So unbelievably proud of her.  We're out of state (out of state tuition be damned), which makes her even being accepted to UT at all so cool.  

Congrats, that is awesome!  My son got into the Engineering Honors program and he got a nice scholarship offer this weekend which surprised us.  He was rejected by Plan II, which may have been because he can't follow directions and failed to list Plan II or a liberal arts major as his second choice major, which appears to be a requirement.  Good life lesson for him to pay attention to details.

[crash_davis 23038]

1 minute ago, chitwood said:

Congrats, that is awesome!  My son got into the Engineering Honors program and he got a nice scholarship offer this weekend which surprised us.  He was rejected by Plan II, which may have been because he can't follow directions and failed to list Plan II or a liberal arts major as his second choice major, which appears to be a requirement.  Good life lesson for him to pay attention to details.

The "I didn't get into Plan II but got into Engineering Honors trauma" can be quite unbearable. You may want to get him counseling. Thoughts and prayers!!!

Congrats to the kid! Hearing how fucking hard it was to get into Texas this year, that fact that he not only got into Engineering but the Honors program is an amazing accomplishment.

[pacman 7213]

Congratulations to "field"/"chitwood" and families!

Since the girl had already applied to Arlington, she picked that route for CAP. I figure, like mentioned above, she isn't likely to make it back to Austin. Her best friend best option was UT Arlington so they are going together. I don't doubt she will earn the grades but do doubt she will want to leave once settled in.

At this point, I am okay with it as finances are more important. If I can find a couple more thousand free dollars, she will attend UT Arlington without cost. I doubt UT Austin will eveer offer her that much, even though I believe Arlington actually costs a small bit more.

They also just put her in a program that auto-admits into Nursing (they don't do direct Nursing admissions except for a small group of freshman in this program).

UT prof friend says UTA has been putting a lot of work, money into the Nursing school and the KIN school so that is good news.

She was disappointed in UT, but seemed to quickly switch to excitement. We all knew she was a longshot, better student than standardized test taker.

I suspect Arlington is a little far for her(and mine) taste too (she is a serious homebody) but she will adapt quickly.

Edited February 11, 2020 by pacman

[chitwood 155]

7 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

The "I didn't get into Plan II but got into Engineering Honors trauma" can be quite unbearable. You may want to get him counseling. Thoughts and prayers!!!

Congrats to the kid! Hearing how fucking hard it was to get into Texas this year, that fact that he not only got into Engineering but the Honors program is an amazing accomplishment.

Yeah, I know.  Poor kid may never recover.    Thanks a bunch. His twin sister is appealing her CAP status, but as I noted she has lots of good options elsewhere if she chooses.  It will be hard for them to split up, but had to happen sooner or later (we aren't from Arkansas or Oklahoma for God's sake).

[jimmyjazz 45055]

Holy crap, Engineering Honors . . . that is fantastic!

[Not a cat 5596]

32 minutes ago, chitwood said:

Yeah, I know.  Poor kid may never recover.    Thanks a bunch. His twin sister is appealing her CAP status, but as I noted she has lots of good options elsewhere if she chooses.  It will be hard for them to split up, but had to happen sooner or later (we aren't from Arkansas or Oklahoma for God's sake).

Or some shithole like Indiana...

[chitwood 155]

16 minutes ago, Not a cat said:

Or some shithole like Indiana...

Fucker.

[Bateshorn 9478]

Son got into Trinity early app, with a big ass pile of merit money.  Unless Tulane or a couple of other schools show up with money, I think the boy will be in San Antonio next fall.

[crash_davis 23038]

This is probably an unpopular opinion but what kind of degree almost matters as much as where the degree is from. I'd rather send my kid to another school like SMU or Arkansas for a Business degree than send my kid to UT for some un-hirable Liberal Arts degree. A UT degree only means so much if you cannot find a gainfully employed job because you graduated with an Art History degree or someshit, no offense intended to Art History Majors.

Let's just say there's a reason for the student loan bubble which is about to burst. I know a kid who went through grad school at UT to get a Masters in Hindi. He is white. What the fuck is a white dude with a Masters in Hindi going to do for a job, one that will pay off his student loan debt and provide him funds by which to live? There are a already 1.3B people who speak Hindi, AND they all have IT degrees. The fuck.

Edited February 11, 2020 by crash_davis

[ClubWhatever 12066]

4 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

A UT degree only means so much if you cannot find a gainfully employed job because you graduated with an Art History degree or someshit, no offense intended to Art History Majors.

But you will have gone to UT and spent the rest of your life not regretting it. 

[TwiceHorn 30716]

5 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

This is probably an unpopular opinion but what kind of degree almost matters as much as where the degree is from. I'd rather send my kid to another school like SMU or Arkansas for a Business degree than send my kid to UT for some un-hirable Liberal Arts degree. A UT degree only means so much if you cannot find a gainfully employed job because you graduated with an Art History degree or someshit, no offense intended to Art History Majors.

Let's just say there's a reason for the student loan bubble which is about to burst. I know a kid who went through grad school at UT to get a Masters in Hindi. He is white. What the fuck is a white dude with a Masters in Hindi going to do for a job, one that will pay off his student loan debt and provide him funds by which to live? There are a already 1.3B people who speak Hindi, AND they all have IT degrees. The fuck.

He has people skills? 

A guy I went to hs with majored in Russian at UT.  This ended up getting him into investment banking at a very high level. He's a surly 2‰er.

[crash_davis 23038]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

He has people skills? 

A guy I went to hs with majored in Russian at UT.  This ended up getting him into investment banking at a very high level. He's a surly 2‰er.

For every one of him, there are thousands of unemployed or underemployed people with similar degrees.

[Player 4566]

16 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

 

What the fuck is a white dude with a Masters in Hindi going to do for a job, one that will pay off his student loan debt and provide him funds by which to live? 

Masters in Hindi - You're young and you got your health. What you want with a job?

[Guest Lobo]

16 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

For every one of him, there are thousands of unemployed or underemployed people with similar degrees.

And there are thousands of us that don't really do anything related to our major that are not unemployed.  It's a journey sir, not a life sentence.  

[pacman 7213]

31 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

This is probably an unpopular opinion but what kind of degree almost matters as much as where the degree is from. I'd rather send my kid to another school like SMU or Arkansas for a Business degree than send my kid to UT for some un-hirable Liberal Arts degree. A UT degree only means so much if you cannot find a gainfully employed job because you graduated with an Art History degree or someshit, no offense intended to Art History Majors.

Let's just say there's a reason for the student loan bubble which is about to burst. I know a kid who went through grad school at UT to get a Masters in Hindi. He is white. What the fuck is a white dude with a Masters in Hindi going to do for a job, one that will pay off his student loan debt and provide him funds by which to live? There are a already 1.3B people who speak Hindi, AND they all have IT degrees. The fuck.

He can write technical documentation for me to provide our new Indian business partners, who are probably going to end up with my job at a fraction of the cost and much more work ethic and competence.

Edited February 11, 2020 by pacman

[Beau Vine 53625]

11 minutes ago, pacman said:

He can write technical documentation for me to provide our new Indian business partners, who are probably going to end up with my job at a fraction of the cost and much more work ethic and competence.

and sobriety.

[chitwood 155]

58 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

This is probably an unpopular opinion but what kind of degree almost matters as much as where the degree is from. I'd rather send my kid to another school like SMU or Arkansas for a Business degree than send my kid to UT for some un-hirable Liberal Arts degree. A UT degree only means so much if you cannot find a gainfully employed job because you graduated with an Art History degree or someshit, no offense intended to Art History Majors.

Let's just say there's a reason for the student loan bubble which is about to burst. I know a kid who went through grad school at UT to get a Masters in Hindi. He is white. What the fuck is a white dude with a Masters in Hindi going to do for a job, one that will pay off his student loan debt and provide him funds by which to live? There are a already 1.3B people who speak Hindi, AND they all have IT degrees. The fuck.

Yeah, I disagree with this.  I'm not going to force my daughter to get a degree in something she has no interest in just because it potentially makes her more employable.  If I wanted to do that, I'd tell her to be a plumber.  This is higher education, not trade school.  A degree from the College of Liberal Arts at a prestigious school like UT tells employers they can think and learn and write and communicate.  Slapping a Business degree on a mediocre education doesn't make it any better.

Now, I do agree that you shouldn't be borrowing huge sums of money for completely shitastic degrees, but I do think there are tons of liberal arts degrees and colleges out there that are worthwhile.

[Dennis Taylor 18544]

6 minutes ago, chitwood said:

  I'm not going to force my daughter to get a degree in something she has no interest in just because it potentially makes her more employable.  If I wanted to do that, I'd tell her to be a plumber. 

nobody puts up with more shit at work than a plumber.  

[chitwood 155]

1 hour ago, Bateshorn said:

Son got into Trinity early app, with a big ass pile of merit money.  Unless Tulane or a couple of other schools show up with money, I think the boy will be in San Antonio next fall.

More likely than not where my daughter ends up as well.

[Sbbruin 21568]

1 hour ago, Lobo said:

And there are thousands of us that don't really do anything related to our major that are not unemployed.  It's a journey sir, not a life sentence.  

True.  I was a poli sci major.  I planned on being POTUS, but it appears the transgressions of my youth (and young adulthood, and middle -age) preclude any serious candidacy for public office.  So I just went out and made a bunch of money elsewhere.

[Guest Lobo]

Plus, you touched that girl.  

[Bateshorn 9478]

Hur....dur....degrees in anything except maff, engineering, and bidness mean you’ll be a poor.

 

Thats not how this works.  That’s not how any of this works. I have a poly sci degree, work for a non profit, and live very, very well working easy hours. 

Edited February 12, 2020 by Bateshorn

[pacman 7213]

Watching the ineptitude of this country handle politics, we should all have political science degrees.

[YChang 3368]

A true liberal arts education is more important than ever.

[crash_davis 23038]

My bad for derailing this thread.  For me the last post on this tangent.

College means different things to different people. For me, the main purpose of college is to find a job and establish the baseline for gainful employment for the rest of your life. Want to retire at a relatively younger age, want to be able to take annual family vacation(s) to nice places, want to be able set money aside to pay for your kid(s) college tuition, want to not have to live paycheck to paycheck? Your major most likely helps with those goals.

Think of it another way, it's all about ROI. You have $100-200k to invest into something that will give you a lifelong return on that investment. College and college major is the investment. Your ROI is your lifelong earnings potential. Yea there are a shitton of factors that go into that with luck being a big part of it. But statistically, some majors earn more than others, both straight out of college and lifelong earnings potential. Some majors are more "employable" than others. There are always exceptions but playing the odds favor certain majors over others.

Lastly, automation is here and it's only going to get worse which means there will be even fewer jobs for our kids and their kids.

Pertinent study. Get from it what you will.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_sbc.pdf

[Sbbruin 21568]

15 hours ago, Lobo said:

Plus, you touched that girl.  

[XYZ 2154]

Y’all I have a quick question. My son got “CAP”. UT Arlington and UTSA are already full, so it comes down to choosing between UTEP and UT Tyler. What say you?

[Player 4566]

I’d have to go with UTEP - hands down.

[hrmaddie 48]

Oldest daughter was accepted to UT, Natural Science College.  I was so pumped, but she feels the school is too big for her, I can understand that.  She hasn't told them no, but it is not her #1 choice.  She did get accepted to U of Arizona (good scholarship which would make it cheaper than UT for us), Butler, SMU and a couple of other schools.  She is waiting to hear from TCU, Cornell and one other school, can't remember which before she decides.  She did say TCU was too close to home and she wanted more distance.  We took a visit to Arizona a couple of weekends ago.  I think she woke up one day and decided I'm going to apply to some of the most expensive schools.

[Guest Lobo]

1 hour ago, XYZ said:

Y’all I have a quick question. My son got “CAP”. UT Arlington and UTSA are already full, so it comes down to choosing between UTEP and UT Tyler. What say you?

UTEP by a mile.  Better school, El Paso is a very under appreciated city, and it’ll better prepare him for any other system campus should he decide to transfer.  

[crash_davis 23038]

UTEP because below.

 

[Longhorn94 2404]

26 minutes ago, hrmaddie said:

Oldest daughter was accepted to UT, Natural Science College.  I was so pumped, but she feels the school is too big for her, I can understand that.  She hasn't told them no, but it is not her #1 choice.  She did get accepted to U of Arizona (good scholarship which would make it cheaper than UT for us), Butler, SMU and a couple of other schools.  She is waiting to hear from TCU, Cornell and one other school, can't remember which before she decides.  She did say TCU was too close to home and she wanted more distance.  We took a visit to Arizona a couple of weekends ago.  I think she woke up one day and decided I'm going to apply to some of the most expensive schools.

Let me know if she wants to chat with my daughter about her experience at UT in CNS. My daughter is an Environmental Science major on the biology track. Did she apply to any of the honors programs? My daughter has found the Dean's Scholar community to be extremely welcoming and has a very small school feel to it.

[Beau Vine 53625]

Someone needs to explain to me what the fuck my daughter is doing in school, because I don't understand:

Quote

The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method for modeling of electromagnetic wave propagation is an attractive method to apply to the problem of medical imaging because of its ability to accurately model dispersive materials. Modeling capabilities of the FDTD method can be improved when applied to time reversal. Time reversal describes a method of computation in which time-based expressions are replaced with their negative value, creating a model of reverse motion, or backwards propagation of time. This has been shown to increase accuracy and precision of material modelling when using the FDTD method, translating to greater potential identification of tumors, cleaner detection of breaks or tears in tissues, and sharper models of biological materials. Time reversal of the FDTD method can be achieved by using resultant electric and magnetic field outputs of a simulation as inputs to a new “backwards” simulation. The described backwards simulation is derived by coding the FDTD method to solve for field components one time-step behind the present instead of future field components. The use of resultant fields as inputs causes the reverse simulation fields to propagate in the opposite direction of the forward wave and converge upon the original source point.

 

[Bateshorn 9478]

Magic.  Your daughter is in Ravenclaw.  Get right with it. 

[jimmyjazz 45055]

3 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Someone needs to explain to me what the fuck my daughter is doing in school, because I don't understand:

 

I'm curious to see what she's doing.  It sounds like she's running a transient simulation forward in time, and taking the solution at the last time step as the initial condition for a subsequent simulation backward in time (negative time steps).  Maybe they iterate that process a few times?  Don't know. 

I've never heard of running a simulation backwards.  It's possible that the dispersive materials she references mean it's a nonlinear problem, so forward doesn't equal backwards, but she can improve accuracy by going both ways.  (Ahem.)

[TwiceHorn 30716]

I have actually come across this in medical imaging.  In one respect, it can be used to "focus" EM waves or beams because the time-reversed simulation of the original wave can cancel out components that are not of interest.

In another respect, it can be used to "magnify" components of interest.

Which is not to say that I really understand it.  FDTD is a way of solving or modeling electromagnetic waves or the "beam" or "field" of an MRI type imaging apparatus.  That produces a large volume of information because you have the original beam and the reflected and refracted components, which correspond to the information of interest, that is the image of the tumor or organ or what-have-you.  Time-reversal can be used to cull to the information of interest.

It's hardcore shit.  Pretty impressive for an undergrad.

[CooterBrown 17696]

The prof is probably just improving his odds of a coed offering sex for a passing grade.

[Guest Lobo]

Your alumni association had the 50+ finalists for the Forty Acres Scholars (UT's premiere scholarship platform for undergraduate students) on campus today.  

Take your diplomas tonight to bed tonight to coddle them, because it's the closest we'll ever get to greatness in our lifetimes.  These students are game-changers in every sense.  We are lucky they are even considering UT.  Wow.  Just Wow.  One of the young people at our dinner is going to be a triple Major between BHP, P-II, and Nursing.  And yep, her summer trip is going to spent on C-19 vaccinations and I promise you---she'll beat Pence to the cure.  Holy fucking shit.  Anyway, best of luck to all students.  But just wow, this latest cohort is just off the charts.  And composed and humble beyond all reproach.  

[Beau Vine 53625]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm curious to see what she's doing.  It sounds like she's running a transient simulation forward in time, and taking the solution at the last time step as the initial condition for a subsequent simulation backward in time (negative time steps).  Maybe they iterate that process a few times?  Don't know. 

I've never heard of running a simulation backwards.  It's possible that the dispersive materials she references mean it's a nonlinear problem, so forward doesn't equal backwards, but she can improve accuracy by going both ways.  (Ahem.)

This should clear things up for you:

[jimmyjazz 45055]

Clear as mud.

[jimmyjazz 45055]

10 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

I have actually come across this in medical imaging.  In one respect, it can be used to "focus" EM waves or beams because the time-reversed simulation of the original wave can cancel out components that are not of interest.

Like common mode noise rejection in a balanced audio cable?

I'm too old for this shit.  Good to see Beau's daughter is doing the hard work.  If she's comprehending this at the undergraduate level, she's surely PhD material.

[TwiceHorn 30716]

Yeah, that seems to be a good analogy.  As I understand it, a time-reversed wave isn't strictly out of phase with the source wave, but some is, so it has that effect.  I dealt with some patents a few years back on MRI where this was a peripheral feature.  All the inventors were Phds pretty narrowly focused on this area.

It was one of those things where they whiteboard it and you understand it clearly for about five minutes and then it's like, wait, what.

Edited March 7, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[mchookem 15432]

anybody had a kid who received a Terry Foundation scholarship?

my niece chose UNT and she's a finalist now, interview at the end of the month in Dallas.

just wondering if anybody has experience/tips for the interview? 

we have a TTF for her, so she's in good shape regardless...but a 100% free ride would allow us to either invest that money for her elsewhere for when she's done with school or defer it to graduate school.

anyway...proud as hell 😊🤩

Edited March 7, 2020 by mchookem

[bonnieblue 542]

2 hours ago, mchookem said:

anybody had a kid who received a Terry Foundation scholarship?

my niece chose UNT and she's a finalist now, interview at the end of the month in Dallas.

just wondering if anybody has experience/tips for the interview? 

we have a TTF for her, so she's in good shape regardless...but a 100% free ride would allow us to either invest that money for her elsewhere for when she's done with school or defer it to graduate school.

anyway...proud as hell 😊🤩

I was a Terry Foundation scholar at UT and have been an interviewer on the panel twice. Awesome, awesome program. Great community of people and the  stipend (in addition to full tuition + living expenses) really allowed me the flexibility to do things like unpaid internships, LSAT prep course etc., that I definitely would not have been able to do without it.

The interview is really key because if she's already a finalist, she's cleared whatever grade threshold they had in mind. She will be in front of a panel of about 6-8 people. The interviewers range from recent grads to alums from the first Terry graduating class. I'm assuming the UNT interviewers will all be UNT grads, but I'm not 100% sure on that. As to the interview itself, I think my heavy work experience played really well in my favor, as well as the ability to bring humor to the mix. The panelists will be interviewing people pretty much non-stop all day, so the ability to be memorable is very key.

Congrats to your niece. She's a rockstar!

 

[mchookem 15432]

thanks! since you've been on the interview panel... the form asks about any 'college savings plan' and gets at what she'll do with that money if she's awarded the scholarship...

we are wondering if the 'correct' or preferred answer regarding that is something like 'of course we'll still use it and just use the Terry scholarship to makeup the difference' or something along those lines? 

like... would it sound better if we went ahead and used her TTF and allowed the foundation to give more money to others?

she has substantial financial need on paper (FAFSA) bc mom is a single mother and father provides zero financial support... the TTF came from me and my dad.

i don't know if i'm asking correctly... do you get what i'm asking??

also...how 'conservative' might the panel be...i mean, in terms of looking at a young person's dress, piercings, tattoos etc? she's extremely artistic (one of the reasons she chose UNT), very liberal viewpoints...her 'aesthetic' a she calls it is pretty out there... she plans to go into environmental science/ecology, but she is tremendously invested in her art for both therapeutic and teaching possibilities.

basically, do we need to have her dye her hair normal color, remove all her piercings and buy a nice suit?? lol

she will have NO trouble being memorable 😁

thanks for the tips!

[bonnieblue 542]

10 minutes ago, mchookem said:

thanks! since you've been on the interview panel... the form asks about any 'college savings plan' and gets at what she'll do with that money if she's awarded the scholarship...

we are wondering if the 'correct' or preferred answer regarding that is something like 'of course we'll still use it and just use the Terry scholarship to makeup the difference' or something along those lines? 

like... would it sound better if we went ahead and used her TTF and allowed the foundation to give more money to others?

she has substantial financial need on paper (FAFSA) bc mom is a single mother and father provides zero financial support... the TTF came from me and my dad.

i don't know if i'm asking correctly... do you get what i'm asking??

also...how 'conservative' might the panel be...i mean, in terms of looking at a young person's dress, piercings, tattoos etc? she's extremely artistic (one of the reasons she chose UNT), very liberal viewpoints...her 'aesthetic' a she calls it is pretty out there... she plans to go into environmental science/ecology, but she is tremendously invested in her art for both therapeutic and teaching possibilities.

basically, do we need to have her dye her hair normal color, remove all her piercings and buy a nice suit?? lol

she will have NO trouble being memorable 😁

thanks for the tips!

We also had the TTF and applied those funds toward tuition, while the Terry funds covered the delta + all of the additional expenses.  They just reduced the amount of the scholarship by the amount in our TTF plan. I can't remember if this was required or not, but I'm thinking she should say something similar.  Also, she needs to emphasize that she will give back to the Foundation in the future either with her time or money. This is a self-sustaining org at this point, so this is the one interview question where there are definitely right and wrong answers.

The panel will likely be a pretty random mix of former scholars, so it's difficult to say, but I don't think it should present a problem. It wouldn't for me. As long as she's clearly bright, driven, and personable, I think she will be fine. When I went through it I received a last-minute call to interview because someone else dropped out/chose Harvard or something, so I had to come straight from soccer practice to the interview. If they were able to overlook that, she should be fine . I would still have her dress nicely for the interview, but I don't think there is a need to "neuter" her personality.

[Beau Vine 53625]

26 minutes ago, mchookem said:

thanks! since you've been on the interview panel... the form asks about any 'college savings plan' and gets at what she'll do with that money if she's awarded the scholarship...

we are wondering if the 'correct' or preferred answer regarding that is something like 'of course we'll still use it and just use the Terry scholarship to makeup the difference' or something along those lines? 

You're allowed to save that for grad school.  

[mchookem 15432]

thanks guys... appreciate the tips!