Ouch! Can you imagine that call home? "Mom, I partied too much and have flunked out!!"

That being said, when we met with the admissions counselor in the business school at UT, he said that, contrary to popular opinion, the top 10% kids (regardless of what kind of highschool they come from) overall do very well - that they are kids who are used to working hard and keeping up with their work. It is all relative - hard working kids are hard working kids, whether they had access to 20 AP classes or not.

This is the policy in Florida, but I think it's if you are top 20%, you are guaranteed admission to a public university, but not one of the flagships (UF or FSU).

Something else about Florida - if you are a top student, you qualify for great scholarships sponsored by the state - what a novel concept (hint hint Texas legislature!) thus keeping their top students from leaving Florida.

Quick hijack-

My husband was a top student from Florida and did receive full tuition to one of the flagship Florida schools.

Instead he turned it down to go out-of-state to school in.... Texas!

So- it doesn't always work, but I know he is likely the exception rather than the rule. Your hints are well-founded.

Of course if you can throw a football, GPAs and SATs have no meaning at all in the UT admissions process.

Too True! haha!

But it gives the Romans something to do on the weekends - they go and watch the gladiators perform at the coliseum (Darryl Royal Stadium).

I kid you not, I once had a student who was a graduate of a very prestigious Houston high school, who was Greek (in one of the "top tier" fraternities), and who had attended I think only 4-5 sessions of the class I was TAing the entire semester.

He then proceeded to try to get me to raise his grade by saying that we had mutual acquaintances from W&L. And kept going on about how he didn't get into W&L. And complimenting me, W&L, and my sorority (he asked which sorority I'd been in).

LOL. What a trip!

ETA: Do y'all seriously fly to Lubbock? That's crazy! It's not THAT far...

that happened to my cousin (although he never lived in Texas). He got an engineering scholarship out of high school, joined a fraternity, drank too much/ studied too little and flunked out!

He's currently back on his feet, working as a police officer and has 2 beautiful daughters. So it wasn't the be-all and end-all.

9 to 10 hours in a car is to be avoided at all costs! Especially when the scenery is flat and brown ;)

Crazy story about your student. Geesh, what people (who've been given everything their entire life) think they can get away with is amazing!

Hey, I'm with Srmom on that driving to Lubbock! 10 hours from our home through the least attractive parts of Texas is not a fun drive. That's why my son is looking at Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU & OU (& A&M, of course). They may be out of state, but they are ALL closer to us than Tech.

Let me put a pitch in for Arkansas if he is looking at others! ;) Great campus, great Greek life, Fabulous business school, etc. Go Hogs!

WPS!

And he'll never get freshman 15 walkin up all our hills.

Oh, I tried! But once he got a look at a particular one out of those five.....he refused to look at any more. He's planning to apply to those five + UT (which is pretty much the same as buying a lottery ticket).

In high school, this student ran into numerous problems with his teachers. His homework was turned in late, or never. He skipped many, many classes. Worst of all, he used up all of his high school's computer time. And as we know, he was a college dropout.

Bill Gates.

I teach urban, at-risk students, and I know to a certainty exactly how hard the motivated students among them fight to get an education. Those students overcome long, long odds. They well deserve all the breaks they get.

There are gifted students in all strata of society. Are we identifying them properly, and giving them the opportunites they need to succeed?

I'm not convinced.

The Texas 10% law is well-meaning, but I find it wanting. Grades aren't everything. A 4.0 student pleased every teacher she ever had. A 3.8 student may have butted heads with someone on the faculty...who was this student, and why did it happen? Do we even care anymore? Do we value originality, or do we all just have to say, "Moo!" and fit in with the rest of the herd?

*in an ornery mood tonight*

I'm still surprised so many of you won't drive to Tech! I guess it's because so many people I knew drove to W&L? W&L was close to me (3 hours, closer than a lot of schools in NC would have been), but I had tons of friends who drove to the NYC area (~10 hrs) and even more friends from Texas and Louisiana at W&L... who obviously had to drive. Just a different context, I guess.

I drive to Lubbock frequently (my boyfriend grew up there), but it's only 6-7 hours from Austin.

I understand what you mean completely. I taught high school for many years in public school and became so disillusioned with the "perfect behavior means the perfect student" mentality.

Teaching and being an advocate for your students is tough. Hang in there, Christmas break is right around the corner! :)

Well, once his ACT scores became available he started getting mail & emails daily from Arkansas. He's now considering taking a campus tour.;)