Surly kids applying / attending UT

[Willfully Horn 7870]

4 hours ago, Billy Pilgrim said:

Daughter got her acceptance to Texas on Monday. Couldn’t be more proud of her. She’s wanted to be a longhorn since she could start talking. Her mom and I met at Texas and she’s rooted for Texas her entire life. 

Same. It is so very satisfying to see your kids achieve their goals. Oldest graduates this May, youngest starts with the new school year,

[Billy Pilgrim 1870]

1 hour ago, dlatin said:

Congratulations! My son also was accepted Monday to the school of engineering. He’s grown up a longhorn and we all shed a tear of joy. He’s visited several colleges and has been offered a lot of money at other colleges so the decision isn’t so easy.

He did a 2nd visit to Bama, which is offering full tuition, 1st year housing and a $3,500 a year stipend. I went on the 2nd trip because I was low on Bama but I was really impressed. It’s a beautiful, clean place with amazing staff.

LSU is offering a lot of money too, my wife went there and I’ve been a lot. I went to the admitted student day a couple weeks ago with him to hear their plug. It’s an amazing campus with a lot of tradition.

We are waiting on Florida State, which we think may also be offering a lot of money. He had FSU as his #1 after his visit this last fall.

I don’t think he was getting his hopes up he’d get into UT but now that he did I think he’s really in turmoil. It’s going to be a really hard choice. So much to consider, it’s really hard for me to choose too, even as much as a diehard longhorn I am. I think his heart is at Texas. Can’t wait to learn where he decides!

Daughter also has essentially full tuition to KU, Mizzou, Indiana. TCU giving her a lot of money too. She’s going to Texas regardless. Feels like we don’t start getting emails about scholarships and grants until a couple of weeks after their acceptance so I’m not sure if Texas is offering anything yet or not.

[dlatin 328]

How much money is UT giving, if any?

We aren’t expecting any.

[txhorns 2405]

22 hours ago, Billy Pilgrim said:

Daughter also has essentially full tuition to KU, Mizzou, Indiana. TCU giving her a lot of money too. She’s going to Texas regardless. Feels like we don’t start getting emails about scholarships and grants until a couple of weeks after their acceptance so I’m not sure if Texas is offering anything yet or not.

My son was accepted into Cockrell last year.  If I remember correctly he got his acceptance in an email.  Then got his acceptance packet about 2-3 weeks later in the mail.  I can’t remember if scholarship info came with the packet in the mail or not.  If not it was within a week of getting that packet.

[Jerry Callo 8630]

My youngest got CAPPED.  Not really a surprise since she was applying to the school of Natural Sciences and was not in the top 7%.  Now she needs to decide if she wants to accept the CAP position and pick a major from Liberal Arts or go to another school to study biology.

My oldest went through CAP, spent a year at UTSA, and is now at UT studying economics and planning to apply to McCombs for next fall.  I suspect it is much harder to move from LA to Natural Sciences.

 

[Murfdogg21 4398]

On 2/2/2023 at 1:07 PM, dlatin said:

Congratulations! My son also was accepted Monday to the school of engineering. He’s grown up a longhorn and we all shed a tear of joy. He’s visited several colleges and has been offered a lot of money at other colleges so the decision isn’t so easy.

He did a 2nd visit to Bama, which is offering full tuition, 1st year housing and a $3,500 a year stipend. I went on the 2nd trip because I was low on Bama but I was really impressed. It’s a beautiful, clean place with amazing staff.

LSU is offering a lot of money too, my wife went there and I’ve been a lot. I went to the admitted student day a couple weeks ago with him to hear their plug. It’s an amazing campus with a lot of tradition.

We are waiting on Florida State, which we think may also be offering a lot of money. He had FSU as his #1 after his visit this last fall.

I don’t think he was getting his hopes up he’d get into UT but now that he did I think he’s really in turmoil. It’s going to be a really hard choice. So much to consider, it’s really hard for me to choose too, even as much as a diehard longhorn I am. I think his heart is at Texas. Can’t wait to learn where he decides!

Congratulations! It would be hard for me to leave all that money on the table just to go to Texas, assuming the other schools’ programs are ranked well. There will be no shortage of desirable coeds at any of those choices (did he forget to apply to ASU and UCLA?!). Have you had him run ROI tables yet? 😆 

[HamsterHookah 112]

1 hour ago, Jerry Callo said:

My youngest got CAPPED.  Not really a surprise since she was applying to the school of Natural Sciences and was not in the top 7%.  Now she needs to decide if she wants to accept the CAP position and pick a major from Liberal Arts or go to another school to study biology.

My oldest went through CAP, spent a year at UTSA, and is now at UT studying economics and planning to apply to McCombs for next fall.  I suspect it is much harder to move from LA to Natural Sciences.

 

That's interesting. Back in my day, it was much easier to transfer into Natural Sciences than McCombs but you are saying now it's the opposite? Like, so much easier, getting into Natural Sciences was default.

[Jerry Callo 8630]

33 minutes ago, HamsterHookah said:

That's interesting. Back in my day, it was much easier to transfer into Natural Sciences than McCombs but you are saying now it's the opposite? Like, so much easier, getting into Natural Sciences was default.

I think one of the issues is Computer Science, for some reason, is under Natural Sciences - so the the original application selection is difficult.  Might be easier to transfer into a biology major, but I don't know.

I'd actually prefer her to spend a year at UTSA doing the CAP as opposed to going straight into UT (worked great for 1st kid) - I just don't want her to change her premed plans to do it.

It might just be better for her to go to Texas State or UTSA and study biology with a premed concentration from the beginning.  

[DaysOff 7683]

My youngest got CAPPED.  Not really a surprise since she was applying to the school of Natural Sciences and was not in the top 7%.  Now she needs to decide if she wants to accept the CAP position and pick a major from Liberal Arts or go to another school to study biology.
My oldest went through CAP, spent a year at UTSA, and is now at UT studying economics and planning to apply to McCombs for next fall.  I suspect it is much harder to move from LA to Natural Sciences.
 

Same. UTSA and Arlington are requiring summer school for their CAP programs, knowing theirs are the most popular. My kid has 40 hours of dual credit, and a lot of the required CAP classes would be repeated bullshit. Go with your best offer and try to transfer as a sophomore.

[YGIFS 19445]

^
Yeah, I didn't realize how many AP credit hours you lose on the CAP/Uteach admissions alternatives.  A friend whose son we helped with the process got in under that into CNS but is gonna lose over 40 hours of AP/dual credit doing some of his first 3 semesters of coursework at ACC.  It was obviously his rigorous coursework and the good grades in them that put him over the edge (he was not Top 6%, closer to 10-11%).  But that was a gut-blow for the family, thinks he's going as a sophomore and now he's going in with like 6 hours of study abroad language credits and that's it.  He at least gets to live on campus dorms and do all the usual full-time UT student shit as a freshman which is cool.

As for CNS and transferring from across campus.  It's very much silo'd now for applications, even though it's all under one CSU umbrella.  But they are much more protective and selective of ComputerSciences, Mathematics and all those associated fields nowadays even with the absolute explosion in admissions.  All the other programs are well ranked and competitive.  Only a handful of anecdotal instances, but students who wanted to get into the CNS one way or the other from across campus would come in through Statistics or Human Ecology, not necessarily one of the hard sciences or CS.  

[dcbc 14248]

DCBC Jr. (the elder) had a tall order for his second semester of his junior year of high school.  He's the son of two second generation Longhorns, bleeds orange, and hasn't even mentioned wanting to visit other schools despite our encouragement.  We went to the college meeting and the UT rep informed everyone that the current number is top 6% as of the end of your junior year.  He specified, that's not 6.1%.  DCBC Jr., at that point, was about 6.x%.  He figured he had to jump 3 people to get to the promised land.  What we didn't count on was his class size shrinking by over 60 students between January and May (big 6a school).  The kid really busted his ass to finish strong and ended up 33/553 or top 5.967%.  He jumped 4 spots.  Had he been 34, no dice.  Last man standing!  He's so pumped!  I was blubbering like a baby yesterday when I found out.

4th and 5 moment for the kid.  He's going for the corner . . . He's got it!

Edited June 7, 2023 by dcbc

[jimmyjazz 45192]

Our son got the word, he's in via his CAP year at UT-Tyler.   I mean, we knew it, but getting the official word is nice.  Now both our younger kids will be on campus in Austin.  

Whew.

[dcbc 14248]

1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

Our son got the word, he's in via his CAP year at UT-Tyler.   I mean, we knew it, but getting the official word is nice.  Now both our younger kids will be on campus in Austin.  

Whew.

And all this time, you could have brought some guitars to visit him and hung out with me. 

 

Congrats to your son!  That's awesome!

[Cap33 381]

Re-upping this because 'tis the season for college applications...

Does anyone have a source for last year's acceptance rates per college or major? My kid is not auto-admit but top 10% and applying to College of Liberal Arts as either Government or History major. I have heard from others who claim to have it on good authority that those two majors have a lower acceptance rate than other LA majors (except maybe Psychology), and that Colleges of Communication and Education are easier to get in.

Anyone have any intel or sources you're willing to share? This stressed parent would very much appreciate it.

[Sawbonz 26871]

What is this shit about not being able to get into NS? I was an English Major but I was 2 semesters of botany and micro from a double major. Are y’all saying you can’t do that these days?

[gmr548 16312]

On 1/22/2022 at 9:13 AM, phdhorn said:

Quite proud.  My kid was one of those for whom UT was exceptional in forming him.  He entered a relatively shy, insecure kid with not tons of self-esteem and emerged like a whole different person.  Sure some of it was simply growing into an adult, but I wish I had the 35 pages I needed to detail how going to UT specifically transformed the kid into something to behold.

I know he's proud of it because he went out and bought like a $300 diploma frame a few months ago, and now he's got it.  He's currently doing something else than engineering but I know he's exceptionally proud to be a UT grad, in Engineering nonetheless.

I feel for the "entering" parents who chew nails over the process, remembering how it was when we were waiting.  One more time I'll recite this for applying HS seniors, it definitely worked for us (my kid wasn't top 7 or anything like that).  In the immortal words of Brad Hamilton to Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times:  

Learn it. Know it. Live it.

And that is this:  The essays are critical.  Don't be afraid to express yourself and especially your humanity.  Be honest and up front.  Have a plan for how you can help others with your UT education without being fakely philanthropic; be sincere.  They can smell B.S. pretty easily.

They get 4,000 applications from kids who include stuff on resumes like "I was President of the European Union, won 5 Nobel Prizes, and singlehandedly waved my hand to stop the hurricane."  That's all well and good and needed, but they're looking for something that will make you stand out from the other applications, which are essentially dead even.  And by stand out I don't mean accomplishment (although those are fine), but a perspective, an honest reporting about yourself and what you want to do.  If you  just say "get a job", uh, don't expect much.  But if you can admit your strengths and faults (to a degree), they get a good picture of you and why and how UT can help you.

I'm convinced this got my kid in (well he had a strong ACT but still).  They do read them and love to see a well-defined portrait of the candidate besides the usual schpiel about how great you've done so far.  Good luck (well, probably not this year, it's past time, but.. next year!).

 

On 1/27/2022 at 1:24 PM, crash_davis said:

This is extremely important. One of my UT daughters is graduating in May and going through Med schools applications/interview process. She had an interview last week where the interviewing Doc said it was THE BEST essay he's ever read for someone applying to that school. 

Have your kids spend the extra 2 or 3 hours in perfecting that essay. It can make a huge difference.

Emphasizing the essays from personal experience. I got into UT in 2010 (fuck me right?) despite being in the 80-85th percentile of my HS graduating class (pretty large, 800+ students) when top 10% was still the auto admit cutoff. I didn't have the expansive list of extra curriculars - mainly varsity football and student council, and dabbling in a few others over four years. My standardized tests were admittedly pretty strong, especially for UT back then, but I was not expecting to get in.

The essays were an opportunity to convey some of the things I learned outside of school through life experience and holding a job through HS (don't need to list everything but I checked a few socioeconomically disadvantaged boxes and was a Pell/TEXAS grant recipient, for context) and frame my conventional resume as impressive given the circumstances as opposed to underwhelming compared to the field. I actually wrote the "pick an issue you're passionate about" essay on the need for a college football playoff. Despite it being kind of a dumb thing to write about, I think it allowed me to showcase some self awareness and ability to lay out an argument much better than picking a flavor of the month issue. I think it's important to remember that the best essay isn't saying what you think admissions wants to hear; it's explaining why you want to be there, why you're qualified, and demonstrating your ability to think critically about yourself and a given prompt.

All that said there's no way I'd sniff getting in today. Even being competitive for admissions these days is impressive. The profile of student that UT is bringing in now is insane. Congrats to everyone in this thread with kids getting in or going through the process.

[jimmyjazz 45192]

1 hour ago, gmr548 said:

All that said there's no way I'd sniff getting in today. Even being competitive for admissions these days is impressive. The profile of student that UT is bringing in now is insane. Congrats to everyone in this thread with kids getting in or going through the process.

Well, I'm not sure that's 100% true.  I have two kids at UT right now, both got in through CAP.  The older is as sharp a kid as you'll find, the younger . . . isn't.  Probably the fact that he's a teenage male has something to do with it, but just getting CAP shocked us.  The only thing I can imagine that made the difference was his essay.  His grades and test scores just weren't there.  He wrote his essay the night before it was due, and I didn't have it in me to rip it apart, I just pointed out a couple of spots with clumsy syntax and corrected some spelling. 

The long and the short of it was that it was clearly written by a teenage boy, and it was heartfelt . . . and he got in.  I'm not entirely sure all the essay-crafting services pay off.  They're looking for content, not literature.

[YGIFS 19445]

23 hours ago, Cap33 said:

Re-upping this because 'tis the season for college applications...

Does anyone have a source for last year's acceptance rates per college or major? My kid is not auto-admit but top 10% and applying to College of Liberal Arts as either Government or History major. I have heard from others who claim to have it on good authority that those two majors have a lower acceptance rate than other LA majors (except maybe Psychology), and that Colleges of Communication and Education are easier to get in.

Anyone have any intel or sources you're willing to share? This stressed parent would very much appreciate it.

This is I guess "informed anecdotal evidence."  So take it with a grain of salt, but with a little inside baseball on it.  Don't worry so much about specific declared  majors within COLA.  Other than a handful at the top of the pile getting named scholarships and what-not, is the specific pre-Frosh declaration really considered.  COLA is mostly COLA, aside from some Plan II stuff.  And along those lines, there's still not enough applicants of going in through Undergraduate Studies.  They see it as a sign of indifference to go that route, it's not.  Especially when you can pepper in cross-disciplinary interests from one research initiative to another (I'll post more on that later, we've had some great successes in it though but these days I'm keeping my posts shorter).  But onto these other two schools-there was a decades-long knock on College of Communication as being slightly "easier" to get into than most other CSU's on campus.  That is just not the case anymore.  Between the Moody overhaul and (former) Dean Bernhardt, it's in a different stratosphere now both in terms of opportunity/faculty and quality of student they are attracting.  I wouldn't put it in the same breath in terms of acceptance difficulty as McCombs or Cockrell, but it is markedly more difficult than COLA or COE nowadays and has been for the better part of a decade.  College of Education's secret is now kinda outta the bag now as well.  It's top-tier in what it does, but they were a doorway for students for 1-2 years to get into other CSU's on campus.  But technically, it's acceptance rigor (while high for any CoE on any American campus), is noticeably not quite as high both subjectively and objectively than most on campus

But the number one way we're seeing non-auto admits and scholarship push-throughs is through inter-disciplinary applications.  While not directly applying to a Center/Initiative/Institute, students who can craft an application that draws from multiple CSU's and get an advocate (associate director or faculty member) from one of the dozens we have on campus---are really seeing successes above their weight class in terms of admits.  I'll go into it later, School of SOcial Work being the most recent and prime example of this as they extend their reach into so many other corners of campus they were previously shut off fro m.  Hook 'em.  

 

[Texas Jeff 1918]

On 9/22/2023 at 2:21 PM, Cap33 said:

Re-upping this because 'tis the season for college applications...

Does anyone have a source for last year's acceptance rates per college or major? My kid is not auto-admit but top 10% and applying to College of Liberal Arts as either Government or History major. I have heard from others who claim to have it on good authority that those two majors have a lower acceptance rate than other LA majors (except maybe Psychology), and that Colleges of Communication and Education are easier to get in.

Anyone have any intel or sources you're willing to share? This stressed parent would very much appreciate it.

College admissions sucks.  Best of luck.  This guy's site has some of the only info out there that I have seen specific to UT admissions:

https://texadmissions.com/blog/2019/2/25/recommended-ut-austin-majors-rank-and-test-score-minimums

Auto admits are 75% of admissions, out-of-state is 10%, so that leaves 15% for everyone else in Texas outside of auto-admits.

[dcbc 14248]

2 hours ago, Texas Jeff said:

College admissions sucks.  Best of luck.  This guy's site has some of the only info out there that I have seen specific to UT admissions:

https://texadmissions.com/blog/2019/2/25/recommended-ut-austin-majors-rank-and-test-score-minimums

Auto admits are 75% of admissions, out-of-state is 10%, so that leaves 15% for everyone else in Texas outside of auto-admits.

Thanks for posting this.  I was looking through it and saw this:  "Note: Top 6% Texas Residents are guaranteed Liberal Arts if they choose it first. "

 

So my son is working on the common app now.  His focus is liberal arts.  I think Plan II is a big reach but would be good for him.  The idea was to rank it high as a "Major" with English and History as 2 and 3.  I guess it is part of liberal arts, right?  He is top 6%, but I don't want to blow up his auto-admit to liberal arts by putting the "reach" first. 

 

Anyone have any ideas about this?

[Texas Jeff 1918]

9 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Thanks for posting this.  I was looking through it and saw this:  "Note: Top 6% Texas Residents are guaranteed Liberal Arts if they choose it first. "

So my son is working on the common app now.  His focus is liberal arts.  I think Plan II is a big reach but would be good for him.  The idea was to rank it high as a "Major" with English and History as 2 and 3.  I guess it is part of liberal arts, right?  He is top 6%, but I don't want to blow up his auto-admit to liberal arts by putting the "reach" first. 

Anyone have any ideas about this?

Honestly, I would contact UT admissions about this, or the Plan II office.  The link I posted is not "official" info, it's just a guy who used to work in admissions that now offers consulting services.

https://admissions.utexas.edu

We took a campus tour with both of our kids.  The first time, the guy's tour was pretty much non-stop advice about how to fill out the application.  The second time we talked a lot about freshman research and the canoe sculpture.  If you find the right person they will talk you to death.

[dcbc 14248]

3 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

Honestly, I would contact UT admissions about this, or the Plan II office.  The link I posted is not "official" info, it's just a guy who used to work in admissions that now offers consulting services.

https://admissions.utexas.edu

We took a campus tour with both of our kids.  The first time, the guy's tour was pretty much non-stop advice about how to fill out the application.  The second time we talked a lot about freshman research and the canoe sculpture.  If you find the right person they will talk you to death.

He went to that 3-day camp, which was like orientation before orientation.  If he heard something about it, I'm pretty sure it was in one ear and out the other.  He's smart, but he's a teenager.  I was thinking the same thing about contacting admission.  Thanks again!

[dcbc 14248]

Addendum: I've been a bit worried about this for days.  Thanks for this thread.  If I hadn't happened to click on it again, I might not have pursued the question.  Happy to have the Surly resource.  I'll update when I get an answer: just in case it helps anyone.

Edited September 23, 2023 by dcbc

[jimmyjazz 45192]

I would absolutely reach out to UT Admissions for all detail-oriented questions.  My gut told me that we just needed to get my son into the College of Liberal Arts and then he could transfer into other programs as needed.  I was informed yesterday that "oh yeah, Dad, I'm no longer on the BA Psych track, I transferred to BS Psych because it will probably help more with med school".

Med school?  WTF?  Lesson learned -- kids are flaky, and it's probably wise just to get on campus and take it from there.

Edited September 23, 2023 by jimmyjazz

[dcbc 14248]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

I would absolutely reach out to UT Admissions for all detail-oriented questions.  My gut told me that we just needed to get my son into the College of Liberal Arts and then he could transfer into other programs as needed.  I was informed yesterday that "oh yeah, Dad, I'm no longer on the BA Psych track, I transferred to BS Psych because it will probably help more with med school".

Med school?  WTF?  Lesson learned -- kids are flaky, and it's probably wise just to get on campus and take it from there.

Man, if I didn't already have white hair as a 49 year old dad, . . .

Edited September 24, 2023 by dcbc

[Sawbonz 26871]

5 hours ago, dcbc said:

Thanks for posting this.  I was looking through it and saw this:  "Note: Top 6% Texas Residents are guaranteed Liberal Arts if they choose it first. "

 

So my son is working on the common app now.  His focus is liberal arts.  I think Plan II is a big reach but would be good for him.  The idea was to rank it high as a "Major" with English and History as 2 and 3.  I guess it is part of liberal arts, right?  He is top 6%, but I don't want to blow up his auto-admit to liberal arts by putting the "reach" first. 

 

Anyone have any ideas about this?

I believe Plan II is a separate app. My eldest is a 2nd year and loves it. They offer about 170 students and there is no wait list. They offer a certain number of applicants, and those who accept make up that year’s class. The essay is very important, maybe the most important part of the app. 

[Brisketexan 103602]

I believe Plan II is a separate app. My eldest is a 2nd year and loves it. They offer about 170 students and there is no wait list. They offer a certain number of applicants, and those who accept make up that year’s class. The essay is very important, maybe the most important part of the app. 

Man…old Plan II major here…I suspect I’d have no shot of getting in today. Back in the day? I got in, and got a full ride. It’s so much harder today.

[Bateshorn 9595]

On 9/22/2023 at 3:21 PM, Cap33 said:

Re-upping this because 'tis the season for college applications...

Does anyone have a source for last year's acceptance rates per college or major? My kid is not auto-admit but top 10% and applying to College of Liberal Arts as either Government or History major. I have heard from others who claim to have it on good authority that those two majors have a lower acceptance rate than other LA majors (except maybe Psychology), and that Colleges of Communication and Education are easier to get in.

Anyone have any intel or sources you're willing to share? This stressed parent would very much appreciate it.

I’m going to give you two pieces of advice that are the single most broadly applicable things(I’ve gone through this twice in the last 4 years):

1. Apply early. You want your kids app in the pool as early as possible. As the class fills up, the acceptance standards go up. 
2. Force your child to have and apply to a safety school, and possibly a deep safety. The difference between the two is a deep safety is an in state option you are guaranteed admissions and is cheap in case you have a family tragedy and money for college becomes scarce.  Either way, don’t be that unfortunate family that sees little Johnny/Suzy not get in their dream achool, then it’s April and you don’t have a back up option. 
 

Elite school admissions are inherently unpredictable, so be prepared.

[freyguy 4239]

Natural Sciences college is in high demand because of the computer science majors.  CS grads are getting graduating with $100k salaries...One of my son's friends who was Top 5%, 1500+ on SATs , yadda yadda, get Cap'd at UT CS.  So he chose aggieland instead. 

Proud of my boy, he got accepted last year into ChE.  He was Top 13%, 1400+ on SATs.  I'd like to think it was his essays and such that got him in. 

An article was recently put out that said UT Austin did expand their enrollment numbers to record levels.  And may be doing so again this year.  So maybe UT is starting to get the message again.  But the housing crunch is real, and I'm glad the boy got a dorm space.

UT is very up front about not caring about placement and scores.  They know all applicants are straight A students with high SAT scores.  They really key in on the written responses to find the ones who stand out.

And frankly, UT had the worst level of messaging about this, compared to every other college we talked to.  They gave off the coldest vibe about being there for the students than UTD, a&m, ttech & USC did.  So take that for what it's worth.  

My recommendations in no particular order:

Do not ride your kid to apply.  If you're finding yourself having to force them to do so, it may be a sign that they're not ready, as you will not be there to ride them during college.

Hiring an admissions consultant to ride them on their various preparatory milestones may be better.  Like it or not, tons of their peers are already doing so.

We did put him through the Princeton SAT course, already knowing that SATs were going to be defocused.  My reasoning was, I'm happy to spend $2k if it helps him become a better student.

Have your kid attend every on-campus, learning session, etc for whatever college/university they are considering.  Those brownie points do add up, and tells the college they really are interested. 

And finally, go over the written responses with them before submitting.  We found even our consultant was lacking in that department.  

We did take glory in watching the counselor go from "there's no way in hell your son is going to get into UT" to "wow, I do not know how that happened."

Best of luck

[DaysOff 7683]

I’m going to give you two pieces of advice that are the single most broadly applicable things(I’ve gone through this twice in the last 4 years):
1. Apply early. You want your kids app in the pool as early as possible. As the class fills up, the acceptance standards go up. 
2. Force your child to have and apply to a safety school, and possibly a deep safety. The difference between the two is a deep safety is an in state option you are guaranteed admissions and is cheap in case you have a family tragedy and money for college becomes scarce.  Either way, don’t be that unfortunate family that sees little Johnny/Suzy not get in their dream achool, then it’s April and you don’t have a back up option. 
 
Elite school admissions are inherently unpredictable, so be prepared.

Point 1 does not apply to UT Austin, but absolutely apply early. Get your shit done and move on with your senior year.

This fall had about 12,000 auto admits for a freshman class of about 8500. The 75 percent cap means only 6400 auto admits are allowed. That means UT has to push away 5600 students with a guaranteed spot. How do you do that? My son wanted BME. UT, "best I can do is African American studies or women's studies".

That's how.

[Bateshorn 9595]

52 minutes ago, DaysOff said:

Point 1 does not apply to UT Austin, but absolutely apply early. Get your shit done and move on with your senior year.

This fall had about 12,000 auto admits for a freshman class of about 8500. The 75 percent cap means only 6400 auto admits are allowed. That means UT has push away 5600 students with a guaranteed spot. How do you do that? My son wanted BME. UT, "best I can do is African American studies or women's studies".

That's how.

Totally get it. That’s why if your kid is going to look elite out is state because UT isn’t an option, don’t wait until January. Applying regular admission, even at less selective schools puts you at a serious disadvantage. Also, the longer it goes before applying, the better the chance senioritis sets in. 

And, as we’ve discussed in previous years: I don’t give a fuck how brilliant and accomplished your child is: all Ivies & Near Ivies are lottery schools. Do not put all your eggs in that basket. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Bateshorn

[dcbc 14248]

12 hours ago, Sawbonz said:

I believe Plan II is a separate app. My eldest is a 2nd year and loves it. They offer about 170 students and there is no wait list. They offer a certain number of applicants, and those who accept make up that year’s class. The essay is very important, maybe the most important part of the app. 

Two of my nieces have gone through Plan II  They loved it.  The graduation ceremony felt like Hogwarts.

Edited September 24, 2023 by dcbc

[tx 3 putt 75474]

10 hours ago, freyguy said:

Have your kid attend every on-campus, learning session, etc for whatever college/university they are considering.  Those brownie points do add up, and tells the college they really are interested. 

 

Introduce yourself, shake a hand, ask follow up questions. Ask if they’ll share contact info if you have a question (don’t abuse this if they share)

[mininghorn88 2243]

I am glad that I went to UT when I did (84 thru 88). There is no way that I could get in today.

Growing up all my daughter knew was UT and that was here dream school and the only school she wanted to go to.

I was in constant contact with UT admissions and her high school counselor constantly checking on her placement in the top 10%.

My then wife tried to talk her into taking other school visits but she was just not interested. She did eventually visit Baylor (nursing) just to please the ex.

Knowing that UT was all that she wanted was stressful. The ex was not involved at all so it all fell on me and there was no way I was going to fail my daughter. This went on several months until I get a call from her counselor saying that she set the deadline on class standings and my daughter was the cutoff for the top 10%. I remember shutting my office door and crying with happiness for my daughter and the relief from the stress. My daughter was admitted in the fall of 2010 and graduated in 2014.

I don’t know what I would have done had she not gotten in. Luckily it did not come to that.

I now have a granddaughter that is 4 and is all in with Texas. Praying now!!

Edited September 26, 2023 by mininghorn88

[DaysOff 7683]

Admissions tours are telling kids auto admit goes to top 4% for Fall 2025 applications.

[South Austin 51633]

My daughter just found out she got into Oregon.  She got the acceptance about a week after she applied.  It's not surprising, and it's not her No. 1 school (still UDub), but it's great to get the first one in.  She may very well go there if Oregon throws some good money at her, since UDub is less generous/more selective with aid for nonresidents.  

[dcbc 14248]

2 hours ago, South Austin said:

My daughter just found out she got into Oregon.  She got the acceptance about a week after she applied.  It's not surprising, and it's not her No. 1 school (still UDub), but it's great to get the first one in.  She may very well go there if Oregon throws some good money at her, since UDub is less generous/more selective with aid for nonresidents.  

Congratulations to your daughter!

[South Austin 51633]

29 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Congratulations to your daughter!

Thanks, man.  I don't know why, but it's been sort of a weird feeling today thinking about how my baby girl got accepted to her first college.  

[tx 3 putt 75474]

On 10/17/2023 at 4:12 PM, DaysOff said:

Admissions tours are telling kids auto admit goes to top 4% for Fall 2025 applications.

I wonder how soon before colleges start using AI to filter / screen applications and essays 

[Grimas 652]

18 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

I wonder how soon before colleges start using AI to filter / screen applications and essays 

I wonder what happens to kids actually using AI for their essays.  My kid told me today he had a friend at school that used ChatGBT to write his essay(s) "as a joke" but accidently submitted them instead of his own.  I'm assuming that he'll not only get caught and rejected from that school but I'm guessing it also gets around to other schools? (and no, it wasn't my kid that did this...)

[tx 3 putt 75474]

1 hour ago, Grimas said:

I wonder what happens to kids actually using AI for their essays.  My kid told me today he had a friend at school that used ChatGBT to write his essay(s) "as a joke" but accidently submitted them instead of his own.  I'm assuming that he'll not only get caught and rejected from that school but I'm guessing it also gets around to other schools? (and no, it wasn't my kid that did this...)

 

AI can identify AI ?

 

they need to take those essays and translate them to spanish, to russian to french to arabic back to english. fix and turn in

[freyguy 4239]

1 hour ago, Grimas said:

I wonder what happens to kids actually using AI for their essays.  My kid told me today he had a friend at school that used ChatGBT to write his essay(s) "as a joke" but accidently submitted them instead of his own.  I'm assuming that he'll not only get caught and rejected from that school but I'm guessing it also gets around to other schools? (and no, it wasn't my kid that did this...)

accidentally....riiiight

[CooterBrown 17735]

Use ChatGPT to write your essay and then run it through https://undetectable.ai/ . It checks the essay against the most common AI detector tools to see if it'll get flagged as AI generated content.  You can then humanize the essay using their AI tools.  From the website:  "Use our AI detector tool to check if your text will be recognized as AI-written content. If so, then click on "Humanize". Our AI text humanizer will then upgrade your content to match the quality of human writing, ensuring that it removes AI detection and bypasses AI detectors."

[South Austin 51633]

You just need to sprinkle a healthy dose of the word "like" throughout the essay, and the admissions offices will never guess that AI was invovled.

[CooterBrown 17735]

31 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

It's AI all the way down.

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13310]

On 10/17/2023 at 4:12 PM, DaysOff said:

Admissions tours are telling kids auto admit goes to top 4% for Fall 2025 applications.

ridiculous that UT has not kept up in growing the campus. Now with online classroom options, the enrollment should be growing at a fast pace. Instead UT wants to put a gate around the university so the professors can pat themselves on the back for educating the few.

UT has forgotten their charter.

[Brew 2917]

On 10/26/2023 at 2:49 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

ridiculous that UT has not kept up in growing the campus. Now with online classroom options, the enrollment should be growing at a fast pace. Instead UT wants to put a gate around the university so the professors can pat themselves on the back for educating the few.

UT has forgotten their charter.

I’m not sure any “known” college can keep up with growth needs in today’s environment especially for those that are on the lower side of the pricing spectrum if there is such a thing. Knoxville sent out information to high school counselors last week saying they had crossed 56k applications already for a class size of roughly 6000. Housing is terrible on campus there right now because they haven’t kept up. 
 

The large state colleges appear to all be in the same boat. We toured UNC and Michigan and both campuses felt old. Georgia probably felt the most up to date of the state college campuses we have been on.

Edited October 30, 2023 by Brew

[Bateshorn 9595]

On 10/23/2023 at 11:29 AM, South Austin said:

My daughter just found out she got into Oregon.  She got the acceptance about a week after she applied.  It's not surprising, and it's not her No. 1 school (still UDub), but it's great to get the first one in.  She may very well go there if Oregon throws some good money at her, since UDub is less generous/more selective with aid for nonresidents.  

Join the cool kids, bro:

[South Austin 51633]

3 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

Join the cool kids, bro:

We'll see.  If Oregon makes it financially worth her while, it may be hard to pass up.

[yoladu 4045]

Anyone have thoughts on families who live in Austin and have/had kids who attend UT, especially as an 18 y.o. Freshman.

I want my kid to make friends, have a typical college experience, and gain more independence, so you know, typically that would be dorms and a meal plan ($$$$),

but then again, they have a room/food at our home and a 15min bike ride to campus - could save a shitload of money.

 

Any opinions? What am i saying, it's Surly, of course there will be opinions.