Surly kids applying / attending UT

[dcbc 14484]

Just now, jimmyjazz said:

Oh, and then there are the football players driving Lambos.

The suspension on a Lamborghini driving on West Campus would be shot after a week.  Those roads are brutal.  I remember having to get an alignment on my car at least once per semester when I lived there.  If anything, they seem worse now.

[jimmyjazz 45953]

2 minutes ago, dcbc said:

The suspension on a Lamborghini driving on West Campus would be shot after a week.  Those roads are brutal.  I remember having to get an alignment on my car at least once per semester when I lived there.  If anything, they seem worse now.

You are correct.  I hit a pothole on 25th (?) headed down towards Lamar that took out the remaining vestiges of a once good tire.  Yeah, I should have replaced it prior, sue me.

[dcbc 14484]

@jimmyjazz You mentioned your daughter was having a less-than-stellar social circle at this point of her college experience.  Did she start in Austin.  I know you've mentioned your son did the CAP program in Tyler. 

[jimmyjazz 45953]

14 hours ago, dcbc said:

@jimmyjazz You mentioned your daughter was having a less-than-stellar social circle at this point of her college experience.  Did she start in Austin.  I know you've mentioned your son did the CAP program in Tyler. 

No, she did CAP as well, via UTSA.  But, that was the covid year so it was all online.

[DaysOff 7951]

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/education/2024/09/16/ut-austin-cut-auto-admission-5-percent-fall-2026-admissions-texas-high-school-students/75254008007/


5th percentile for auto admits for the 2026 admission cycle.

[jimmyjazz 45953]

15 minutes ago, DaysOff said:

5th percentile for auto admits for the 2026 admission cycle.

Rage rep emoticon insufficient.  This is fucking nuts.

[Newdoc 3440]

32 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Rage rep emoticon insufficient.  This is fucking nuts.

Transfer your kids to some small town where academics take a huge back seat to sports and small town politics. They won’t be prepared for UT but there’s a good chance to get into the top 5%.

That’s one percent more kids that get punished for going to Colleyville, Westlake, Alamo Heights, etc.

[jimmyjazz 45953]

1 hour ago, Newdoc said:

Transfer your kids to some small town where academics take a huge back seat to sports and small town politics. They won’t be prepared for UT but there’s a good chance to get into the top 5%.

That’s one percent more kids that get punished for going to Colleyville, Westlake, Alamo Heights, etc.

I have two at UT right now.  Both through CAP.  The older one just missed top 6%, and she's crushing it.  The younger one was NOWHERE NEAR top 6% but somehow still got CAPed.  He's doing fine.  There won't be a "Summa" on his diploma, but he'll graduate.  It's insane how hard it is to get into UT from higher-performing Austin (and other) high schools.  I'm sorry, but it sells the university short.

[swraith 346]

Is top 5% at Anderson, Austin, Bowie, and McCallum about the same?  I assume top 5% at LASA is a whole different discussion.

[CooterBrown 18012]

39 minutes ago, swraith said:

Is top 5% at Anderson, Austin, Bowie, and McCallum about the same?  I assume top 5% at LASA is a whole different discussion.

I know McCallum gains some transfers from LASA every year that didn't make the top 6% after their sophomore year.  They transfer back to their home school to game the system. I'm sure that happens at Anderson and Austin also.

[GreenspointTexas 9602]

Thank god my kids are going to a meh, inner city high school

[yoladu 4094]

6 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

I know McCallum gains some transfers from LASA every year that didn't make the top 6% after their sophomore year.  They transfer back to their home school to game the system. I'm sure that happens at Anderson and Austin also.

Is that a thing? Doesn't that punish a hardworking kid who has been busting his ass, but is teetering on 5%, in his home school?

[jimmyjazz 45953]

On 9/17/2024 at 9:13 AM, swraith said:

Is top 5% at Anderson, Austin, Bowie, and McCallum about the same?  I assume top 5% at LASA is a whole different discussion.

I have no hard data, but I would imagine Anderson kids score a bit better on tests.  It's a really good school, and the IB program is pretty rigorous.

 

20 hours ago, yoladu said:

Is that a thing? Doesn't that punish a hardworking kid who has been busting his ass, but is teetering on 5%, in his home school?

Well, yeah, but I don't think that's a big concern for them.  Another issue is kids dropping out their senior year, shrinking their class size.  A lot of that might happen after the point where changes in rank don't matter.

[ABSR 5312]

On 9/17/2024 at 11:44 AM, GreenspointTexas said:

Thank god my kids are going to a meh, inner city high school

Surrounding yourself with low performers and mouth breathers has always been the secret to my success.  It's also why I post here.

[used2b 249]

Honestly, being zoned for a meh high school and not moving might be one of the smarter things we have done. Oldest 2 were auto admit. Such a nice feeling to have that safety net. Oldest didn't end up going because he didn't get into McCombs, but is crushing it at a private school out of state. Ok, maybe a little under-prepared in math but I can blame covid.

[Texas Jeff 1945]

On 9/18/2024 at 1:15 PM, jimmyjazz said:

I have no hard data, but I would imagine Anderson kids score a bit better on tests.  It's a really good school, and the IB program is pretty rigorous.

I think that you might find that schools with fewer socioeconomically disadvantaged kids do better on tests.  Test scores, IMHO, are less about the school and more about the groupings of kids at a school, the resources they have, and the students' family's focus on doing well on what is being measured.

Some Austin ISD SAT data from 2021-22, ranked by percent of students that are economically disadvantaged:

Bowie: 1180 avg SAT (13.0% eco dis)
LASA: 1425 (13.6%)
McCallum: 1159 (22.9%)
Anderson: 1186 (24.4%)
Austin High: 1124 (24.5%)
Ann Richards: 1060 (42.6%)
Crockett: 968 (62.1%)
Akins: 962 (61.0%)
LBJ: 854 (79.3)
Travis: 945 (83.0%)
Navarro: 906 (87.5%)
Northeast: 885 (92.5%)

The numbers bounce around a bit year to year and that year Anderson was a bit higher than where you would expect them based on ecodis percent.
But LASA is certainly in the lead as you would expect, the other west side schools are all similar, and then you have a big drop-off to the rest of the schools.

Most of the LASA kids come from Bowie/McCallum/Anderson/Austin High, so if those kids were at their home school the SAT scores of those schools would be higher.

It's actually a bit worse than the data shows because as you go lower on that list you have a lower percentage of kids taking the SAT at all.

[South Austin 52504]

On 9/18/2024 at 1:24 PM, ABSR said:

Surrounding yourself with low performers and mouth breathers has always been the secret to my success.  It's also why I post here.

Objection!

[DigglerontheHoof 21199]

On 9/18/2024 at 1:24 PM, ABSR said:

Surrounding yourself with low performers and mouth breathers has always been the secret to my success.  It's also why I post here.

[Murfdogg21 4412]

Holding 25% of enrollment capacity to “wholistic review” acceptances seems pretty high when they are turning away so many great students who finish 5.1% at competitive high schools. 

[jimmyjazz 45953]

9 hours ago, Texas Jeff said:

 

Bowie: 1180 avg SAT (13.0% eco dis)
McCallum: 1159 (22.9%)
Anderson: 1186 (24.4%)
Austin High: 1124 (24.5%)

Thanks for that information.  So I was "right", but the spread is pretty minimal.

[Saint Tacky 1614]

If attending Texas had been priority one, I might have chosen to live in Fort Worth and enroll them in FWISD. While Fort Worth is a nice place to live, its schools lag behind those in Houston and Dallas in statewide testing performance. Strategically moving there for high school would have made it easier for the kids to rank in the top 5% of their class, considering the academic landscape. As it was, there was a small exodus of kids from my kid's senior class during her four years of high school trying the same.

[crash_davis 23113]

My daughters went to LASA (old LBJ campus) and graduated from UT. 

During LASA graduations, LASA lists the kids and what universities/colleges that they are attending. If I remember correctly, both times LASA had over 15% of the graduating class going to UT-Austin. I think over 25% of the LASA kids were accepted by UT. I would imagine that is the still the norm, but maybe not since LASA moved to the bigger school with larger number of kids.

 

For reference. Neither kids were top 10% at LASA. One was accepted in Plan II, the other was accepted in the Business School.

Edited September 20 by crash_davis

[The Dog 44051]

And they are going to have to keep lowering that number until either people stop moving here or the state makes more than one public university that's worth a crap. 

Texas is the 800-pound gorilla for public options, and there are no peers in state with the same prestige (for public universities). 

 

[Brew 3049]

1 hour ago, The Dog said:

And they are going to have to keep lowering that number until either people stop moving here or the state makes more than one public university that's worth a crap. 

Texas is the 800-pound gorilla for public options, and there are no peers in state with the same prestige (for public universities). 

 

I don’t know the TX numbers, but the other state schools we looked at are enrolling more out of state kids now than in the past as a percentage. They are focusing on higher quality out of state to the detriment of non high performing local kids which may or may not be a positive depending on perspective. Should they cater to in state kids or shoot for the best of the best no matter where they come from?

[crash_davis 23113]

7 minutes ago, Brew said:

I don’t know the TX numbers, but the other state schools we looked at are enrolling more out of state kids now than in the past as a percentage. They are focusing on higher quality out of state to the detriment of non high performing local kids which may or may not be a positive depending on perspective. Should they cater to in state kids or shoot for the best of the best no matter where they come from?

UC system, especially UCLA, got bitch slapped for this. Now, UC Davis only take in state kids. UCLA stopped drastically reduce international student acceptance.

I don't think Texas schools are taking more out of state kids. The lege would definitely frown on that. Would love to see stats.

[Texas Jeff 1945]

5 hours ago, crash_davis said:

UC system, especially UCLA, got bitch slapped for this. Now, UC Davis only take in state kids. UCLA stopped drastically reduce international student acceptance.

I don't think Texas schools are taking more out of state kids. The lege would definitely frown on that. Would love to see stats.

UT system data, although you can drill down to individual institutions.  Texas is "UTAUS" in the drop downs.  Click on the "By Institution" tab.
93% in state UT system wide, 88% in state for UT Austin:

https://dashboard.utsystem.edu/data-index/applied-admitted-enrolled

Some similar charts and graphs for the Aggies (66k out of 77k from Texas):

https://abpa.tamu.edu/accountability-metrics/student-metrics/student-enrollment-distribution-map

Edited September 20 by Texas Jeff

[Texaus 377]

Might be a dumb question…isn’t it based on the class rank after the HS junior year, they apply at the beginning of senior year, correct? My middle kid is a HS senior now. He fell to 6.1% at end of junior year not because his actual class rank fell, but because class size dropped by over 50 students from sophomore to junior year. We are a bit nervous. Can he make up ground in his senior year and still get auto admit even though it’s long past application? I was under impression it was locked in at end of junior year.

[dcbc 14484]

1 hour ago, Texaus said:

Might be a dumb question…isn’t it based on the class rank after the HS junior year, they apply at the beginning of senior year, correct? My middle kid is a HS senior now. He fell to 6.1% at end of junior year not because his actual class rank fell, but because class size dropped by over 50 students from sophomore to junior year. We are a bit nervous. Can he make up ground in his senior year and still get auto admit even though it’s long past application? I was under impression it was locked in at end of junior year.

Yes, it's the grades at the end of the junior year.  So not automatic, but if he does the holistic review, they will consider his grades through the first semester of the senior year.  Auto-admit is just getting your foot in the door.  You still have to write some pretty solid essays and have your resume considered to get into your major or colleges other than liberal arts.  My son was auto-admit last year, but the application process still was grueling because he wanted either Plan2 or Liberal Arts Honors.  Thankfully, his major (history) wasn't one of the more competitive ones.

 

TLDR, not auto admit but don't sweat it.  Auto-Admit application and holistic application are the same application at the end of the day.  Declaring a major isn't like declaring bankruptcy anymore.  You can't just yell it.  You have to ask nicely, and they'll think about it.

 

/so there are two jokes here.  The Michael Scott one and the more creative one about how declaring a philosophy major is, in fact, like declaring bankruptcy.  There probably are more.

Edited September 20 by dcbc

[luke duke 6413]

What does it take to get into the Engineering school these days? Daughter will be top 1 or 2% unless there’s a major meltdown.

[Texas Jeff 1945]

14 hours ago, luke duke said:

What does it take to get into the Engineering school these days? Daughter will be top 1 or 2% unless there’s a major meltdown.

High grades, some interest and probably a bit of luck.  Some engineering degrees are more competitive than others.  There is an objective component to applying (SAT scores, class rank) and subjective components (activities, essays, the rest of it).  It all gets rolled into an application and read in maybe 15 minutes by someone charged with wading through thousands of similar applications.

Demonstrated interest may be important, basically is the kid doing something in school or during summers to show interest in the subject.  I say "may" because no one knows exactly how kids are picked.

There are different kinds of engineering schools.  UT is the first kind, they give the kids direct entry into a particular engineering program.  Other schools admit the kid to "engineering" where they take the basics, and then they have to apply to a specific type of engineering at roughly the end of their freshman year.  So they might want EE but they might be offered civil engineering at the end of their freshman year.  I think I remember at least one school that had the freshman program, but gave the kids free choice to choose their path after that ... maybe Florida?  I can't remember...

So, depending on what your kid wants, you might be trying to get into a specific major at a particular college, or just generically into engineering with a round two of applications during their freshman year at that school, to get into a particular engineering major.

[CooterBrown 18012]

I think that you might find that schools with fewer socioeconomically disadvantaged kids do better on tests.  Test scores, IMHO, are less about the school and more about the groupings of kids at a school, the resources they have, and the students' family's focus on doing well on what is being measured.
Some Austin ISD SAT data from 2021-22, ranked by percent of students that are economically disadvantaged:

Bowie: 1180 avg SAT (13.0% eco dis)
LASA: 1425 (13.6%)
McCallum: 1159 (22.9%)
Anderson: 1186 (24.4%)
Austin High: 1124 (24.5%)
Ann Richards: 1060 (42.6%)
Crockett: 968 (62.1%)
Akins: 962 (61.0%)
LBJ: 854 (79.3)
Travis: 945 (83.0%)
Navarro: 906 (87.5%)
Northeast: 885 (92.5%)

The numbers bounce around a bit year to year and that year Anderson was a bit higher than where you would expect them based on ecodis percent.
But LASA is certainly in the lead as you would expect, the other west side schools are all similar, and then you have a big drop-off to the rest of the schools.

Most of the LASA kids come from Bowie/McCallum/Anderson/Austin High, so if those kids were at their home school the SAT scores of those schools would be higher.
It's actually a bit worse than the data shows because as you go lower on that list you have a lower percentage of kids taking the SAT at all.

I only know about McCallum but all students take the SAT for free as juniors regardless if they are college bound or not. I would imagine those schools have their average score dragged down by the kids that just mark answers to get done.

[Knoxtnhorn 5976]

Ok.  Looking for some advice.  My son is dead set on getting in to Texas.  The problem is that he attends an IB school in an open district (Garland).  So every kid with a brain, for the most part, chooses GHS due to IB.  This is a district of over 300,000 because it includes Rowlett and Sachse, so lots of smartypantses.

My son currently sits at exactly 7%.  He has a 3.85 GPA on a 4.0 scale, scored a 1370 on the SAT, and has all kinds of positive references, clubs, etc... We took an official tour over the summer and heard much of the same stuff that has been mentioned on this thread - that is the importance of the essay and extracurricular activities.  

I'm having a hard time determining if he's screwed or not by not being inside the cutoff.  Assuming he does well on the essay, any idea what our odds are?  I get that TX has high standards and lots and lots of applications, but it seems shitty that he would be adversely affected because he attends an extremely competitive (academically, definitely not football) school.

Poor kid.  When I attended Garland, I had a 3.1 GPA and finished in the Top 5% due to IB showing up the year after I graduated.  I don't recall even writing an essay.  

[Cap33 384]

19 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Ok.  Looking for some advice.  My son is dead set on getting in to Texas.  The problem is that he attends an IB school in an open district (Garland).  So every kid with a brain, for the most part, chooses GHS due to IB.  This is a district of over 300,000 because it includes Rowlett and Sachse, so lots of smartypantses.

My son currently sits at exactly 7%.  He has a 3.85 GPA on a 4.0 scale, scored a 1370 on the SAT, and has all kinds of positive references, clubs, etc... We took an official tour over the summer and heard much of the same stuff that has been mentioned on this thread - that is the importance of the essay and extracurricular activities.  

I'm having a hard time determining if he's screwed or not by not being inside the cutoff.  Assuming he does well on the essay, any idea what our odds are?  I get that TX has high standards and lots and lots of applications, but it seems shitty that he would be adversely affected because he attends an extremely competitive (academically, definitely not football) school.

Poor kid.  When I attended Garland, I had a 3.1 GPA and finished in the Top 5% due to IB showing up the year after I graduated.  I don't recall even writing an essay.  

He needs to be strategic about the major he's applying to. Then he needs to be sincere in the essays about why UT should want him in that program. Don't let an essay counselor/consultant drive the message. 

I don't know what the best source of information on the admissions criteria and percentages by major, but if going to UT is more important that a specific major, then target one of the less competitive ones. 

[Knoxtnhorn 5976]

2 hours ago, Cap33 said:

He needs to be strategic about the major he's applying to. Then he needs to be sincere in the essays about why UT should want him in that program. Don't let an essay counselor/consultant drive the message. 

I don't know what the best source of information on the admissions criteria and percentages by major, but if going to UT is more important that a specific major, then target one of the less competitive ones. 

His first love is film, which is apparently very competitive.  Less than 25% acceptance rate.  His second love, however, is math/statistics.  It appears as if that might be an easier path per acceptance.  I believe math may be in the College of Natural Sciences.  Coincidentally, education may be his best bet.  My wife and I are both teachers.  I'll see what he thinks about that.

Edited September 27 by Knoxtnhorn

[jimmyjazz 45953]

I don't have any hard evidence, but i still have to believe that getting in the door could be the path, followed by a department transfer.  I mean, if a kid is getting a (say) 3.6 in a liberal arts program then it would seem they are handling the rigor and a move within the University should be possible.  Maybe not to Cockrell or McCombs, but RTF or math?  Yeah, I'd be happy to roll the dice.

[DaysOff 7951]

He needs to be strategic about the major he's applying to. Then he needs to be sincere in the essays about why UT should want him in that program. Don't let an essay counselor/consultant drive the message. 
I don't know what the best source of information on the admissions criteria and percentages by major, but if going to UT is more important that a specific major, then target one of the less competitive ones. 

https://texadmissions.com/

This guy knows his shit. Reading his blog is free.

[Texas Jeff 1945]

19 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

His first love is film, which is apparently very competitive.  Less than 25% acceptance rate.  His second love, however, is math/statistics.  It appears as if that might be an easier path per acceptance.  I believe math may be in the College of Natural Sciences.  Coincidentally, education may be his best bet.  My wife and I are both teachers.  I'll see what he thinks about that.

If the kid really wants to be a high school STEM teacher and really wants to go to Texas, be sure to learn about Texas's UTeach program.

The UTeach program works with UT students who are on a path to a degree and gets them a teaching certification to go along with their degree.  Their mission is to create more teachers.  They offer scholarships for kids who agree to teach for some time after they get their degree.  They also offer scholarships for folks already out of school who want to go back and get their certification.

They have a new program that provides a pathway via Austin Community College called UTeach Access. Students spend a year at ACC on the basics and are then guaranteed a transfer to Texas to complete their degree and get a teaching certification.

It doesn't hurt to explain why you want to come to a particular school on your application and mention specific programs like UTeach, if your kid decides to try math/stats and teaching.

Edited September 28 by Texas Jeff

[Knoxtnhorn 5976]

Thanks again for all the advice.  

[South Austin 52504]

My youngest says he wants to go to UT, and since he’s only in eighth grade, that can change. While he’s smart and a hell of a hard worker (he’s already playing with the McCallum High School marching band as a middle schooler, so is at practice every morning at 6:45am and has all-day competitions almost every Saturday), I’m being real with him, and tell him that it’s really hard to get into UT these days, so he needs to work his ass off in school, but also should look into out-of-state options.

[Knoxtnhorn 5976]

43 minutes ago, South Austin said:

My youngest says he wants to go to UT, and since he’s only in eighth grade, that can change. While he’s smart and a hell of a hard worker (he’s already playing with the McCallum High School marching band as a middle schooler, so is at practice every morning at 6:45am and has all-day competitions almost every Saturday), I’m being real with him, and tell him that it’s really hard to get into UT these days, so he needs to work his ass off in school, but also should look into out-of-state options.

That describes my oldest and youngest.  My oldest just finished up her MBA in Tennessee last year.  She's doing great.  She wouldn't have been able to sniff UT with her GPA.  She would have loved to have gone to Texas, but it didn't bother her that she didn't have the grades to even apply.  My youngest is much the same.  He loves UT, but he'll be fine if he ends up somewhere else.  

The middle child, referenced above, is different.  He's very introverted and on the spectrum.  He'll take a possible rejection personally.  Yes, I know it's life, but it just sucks that he's doing far better academically than my wife (Tennessee grad) or me, but admission it appears to be a coin flip.

Edited September 28 by Knoxtnhorn
trying to type while watching football. grammatical errors galore

[jimmyjazz 45953]

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

(he’s already playing with the McCallum High School marching band as a middle schooler,

Tangent:  that's cool.  I used to help teach McCallum drill along with their brass line, all just volunteer because my kids were in the band.  What's he play?

[South Austin 52504]

8 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Tangent:  that's cool.  I used to help teach McCallum drill along with their brass line, all just volunteer because my kids were in the band.  What's he play?

Flute. His older sister played guitar since she was about 6, but he never picked up an instrument until he got to middle school and joined the band. Two years later he’s first chair and got “called up” to the high school band. 

A friend’s wife does some college counseling and says that band kids have some of the highest acceptance rates. So he’s got that going for him.

[Fudge Nuggets 19190]

On 9/26/2024 at 6:50 PM, Knoxtnhorn said:

Ok.  Looking for some advice.  My son is dead set on getting in to Texas.  The problem is that he attends an IB school in an open district (Garland).  So every kid with a brain, for the most part, chooses GHS due to IB.  This is a district of over 300,000 because it includes Rowlett and Sachse, so lots of smartypantses.

My son currently sits at exactly 7%.  He has a 3.85 GPA on a 4.0 scale, scored a 1370 on the SAT, and has all kinds of positive references, clubs, etc... We took an official tour over the summer and heard much of the same stuff that has been mentioned on this thread - that is the importance of the essay and extracurricular activities.  

I'm having a hard time determining if he's screwed or not by not being inside the cutoff.  Assuming he does well on the essay, any idea what our odds are?  I get that TX has high standards and lots and lots of applications, but it seems shitty that he would be adversely affected because he attends an extremely competitive (academically, definitely not football) school.

Poor kid.  When I attended Garland, I had a 3.1 GPA and finished in the Top 5% due to IB showing up the year after I graduated.  I don't recall even writing an essay.  

Same exact situation my son was in last year.  His school is the STEM Academy for a good part of Conroe ISD and draws the real geeks from all of The Woodlands / Conroe and even a small part of Spring where Grand Oaks High School is.  The Academy makes up about 10% of each graduating class. 

My son's rank, GPA and SAT are almost identical to yours.  He got CAP'ed; but if your son is dead set on UT and is willing to spend the first year somewhere else then he will have a great chance of finishing up at his dream school. 

[yoladu 4094]

On 9/20/2024 at 11:34 AM, crash_davis said:

UC system, especially UCLA, got bitch slapped for this. Now, UC Davis only take in state kids. UCLA stopped drastically reduce international student acceptance.

I don't think Texas schools are taking more out of state kids. The lege would definitely frown on that. Would love to see stats.

Yep. Ridiculously difficult for out of state kids to get into the top UC schools- UCLA, Berekely, UCDavis, USSB, UCSD, Irvine. (Hell, these 6 UC schools are in the Top 50 of most college rankings)

Lot of smart kids getting rejection notices.

[Iowa Horn 55]

On 9/29/2024 at 8:53 AM, Fudge Nuggets said:

Same exact situation my son was in last year.  His school is the STEM Academy for a good part of Conroe ISD and draws the real geeks from all of The Woodlands / Conroe and even a small part of Spring where Grand Oaks High School is.  The Academy makes up about 10% of each graduating class. 

My son's rank, GPA and SAT are almost identical to yours.  He got CAP'ed; but if your son is dead set on UT and is willing to spend the first year somewhere else then he will have a great chance of finishing up at his dream school. 

I'll chime in with my daughter's success story about transferring in to UT this Fall.  She was a Lake Travis kid who took as many AP, UT On-Ramps, and ACC Dual Credit classes as possible, and all it took was one or two Bs in those advanced classes to drop her class rank to Top 11%.  Her SAT was mid 1300s.  Outstanding extracurriculars.  I cautioned her that acceptance into UT was a longshot, and sure enough, she did not get accepted.  She got Cap'd, but was dead set against that pathway since the curriculum is fixed, and she felt like she would be wasting a year re-taking classes she already took.

She ended up going to her safety school, TCU.  Interestingly, she got deferred then denied at Georgia, but got accepted to UC Irvine.  For reasons I won't get into because it would venture into the cloak room, her mom (my ex wife) "wouldn't let her" go to UC Irvine, even though it is on par with or arguably a better school than UT.  Long story, much angst, but as a 17-yr old my daughter was just not gonna rebel against her mom's wishes.

Her freshman year at TCU was a fine experience, but a cake-walk.  Truly, the classes were a joke even though she was in mostly upper division courses, and her classmates were lets just say not real academically oriented.  She got 4.0s both semesters without trying, and said it was like her brain had been on a gap-year.  She applied to the UT school of liberal arts as a transfer student for admission this Fall and was initially denied (probably because of all of the Cap students filling spots).  But, she appealed the decision based on "new and relevant information" (namely, her 2nd semester 4.0 grades at TCU, which weren't factored in to the initial transfer app).  Her appeal was successful - she got in to UT!  She's now a happy UT sophomore, loving every second of the experience, and said the academic rigors are like night and day compared to TCU.  Kids should keep in mind that with a little patience and diligence, the transfer pathway to UT is feasible.

[tx 3 putt 76958]

On 9/26/2024 at 6:50 PM, Knoxtnhorn said:

Ok.  Looking for some advice.  My son is dead set on getting in to Texas.  The problem is that he attends an IB school in an open district (Garland).  So every kid with a brain, for the most part, chooses GHS due to IB.  This is a district of over 300,000 because it includes Rowlett and Sachse, so lots of smartypantses.

My son currently sits at exactly 7%.  He has a 3.85 GPA on a 4.0 scale, scored a 1370 on the SAT, and has all kinds of positive references, clubs, etc... We took an official tour over the summer and heard much of the same stuff that has been mentioned on this thread - that is the importance of the essay and extracurricular activities.  

I'm having a hard time determining if he's screwed or not by not being inside the cutoff.  Assuming he does well on the essay, any idea what our odds are?  I get that TX has high standards and lots and lots of applications, but it seems shitty that he would be adversely affected because he attends an extremely competitive (academically, definitely not football) school.

Poor kid.  When I attended Garland, I had a 3.1 GPA and finished in the Top 5% due to IB showing up the year after I graduated.  I don't recall even writing an essay.  

 

look at what kids are saying on tiktok and reddit 

[troph 24798]

On 10/4/2024 at 12:04 PM, Iowa Horn said:

I'll chime in with my daughter's success story about transferring in to UT this Fall.  She was a Lake Travis kid who took as many AP, UT On-Ramps, and ACC Dual Credit classes as possible, and all it took was one or two Bs in those advanced classes to drop her class rank to Top 11%.  Her SAT was mid 1300s.  Outstanding extracurriculars.  I cautioned her that acceptance into UT was a longshot, and sure enough, she did not get accepted.  She got Cap'd, but was dead set against that pathway since the curriculum is fixed, and she felt like she would be wasting a year re-taking classes she already took.

She ended up going to her safety school, TCU.  Interestingly, she got deferred then denied at Georgia, but got accepted to UC Irvine.  For reasons I won't get into because it would venture into the cloak room, her mom (my ex wife) "wouldn't let her" go to UC Irvine, even though it is on par with or arguably a better school than UT.  Long story, much angst, but as a 17-yr old my daughter was just not gonna rebel against her mom's wishes.

Her freshman year at TCU was a fine experience, but a cake-walk.  Truly, the classes were a joke even though she was in mostly upper division courses, and her classmates were lets just say not real academically oriented.  She got 4.0s both semesters without trying, and said it was like her brain had been on a gap-year.  She applied to the UT school of liberal arts as a transfer student for admission this Fall and was initially denied (probably because of all of the Cap students filling spots).  But, she appealed the decision based on "new and relevant information" (namely, her 2nd semester 4.0 grades at TCU, which weren't factored in to the initial transfer app).  Her appeal was successful - she got in to UT!  She's now a happy UT sophomore, loving every second of the experience, and said the academic rigors are like night and day compared to TCU.  Kids should keep in mind that with a little patience and diligence, the transfer pathway to UT is feasible.

my junior sounds a lot like your daughter - he's at LT and has an unweighted 3.92 GPA and is no where near top 5-6% because his freshman year he didn't want to take all pre-AP classes. UT is his first choice, he's ok with CAP (UTSA / UT Arlington) but we are considering out of state schools, most likely Washington and Oregon. We are looking at UC system but certainly see that as a long shot.

so far it's UT Austin, UTSA, UT Arlington (looking at CAP), Washington as a target, with UC system schools (UCSD, UCSB, UCLA, Cal) for a reaches (I've read all UC system schools share an application so it's just an application fee add on for each school), and Oregon as his safety school. Probably need a few more target schools.

[dcbc 14484]

Did anyone with kids at UT receive a "financial aid adjustment" email yesterday with zero explanation?  We paid off our balance for the semester last week and, out of nowhere, UT suddenly wants an extra grand.  The UT reddit is on fire about this right now with some people having received "adjustments" of $16K or as low as $10.  So it seems like this is either a mistake or fallout from all the FAFSFA fuckery this year.

Edited October 16 by dcbc

[Jerry Callo 8703]

I checked the page for my youngest daughter.  It looks like the difference between the expected amount and the amount paid is $34.  I haven't gotten an email or bill for it though. 

[dcbc 14484]

Reddit is reporting that it was a glitch and people's accounts are being adjusted back.