Fairly shocking admissions news from UT

[srmom]

Florida also guarantees admission to those who are in the top of their classes. The difference between Florida and Texas is that the demand is spread out among the 11 campuses of the State University System; it looks like most students in Texas pick UT as their first choice.

Munchkin, you made my point. Yes, Florida guarantees admission to A state college to those who are in the top of their classes, BUT they don't guarantee that you can go to the school of your choice, it is spread over the 11 schools (or however many).

IF Florida was like Texas, then conceivably, every graduating senior in the top of the graduating classes in Florida could choose UF (it being somewhat the college of choice in Florida), thus it could completely overwhelm UF and eventually, there would be NO room for anyone from out of state or even all of the top graduates.

That is what is happening at UT. If you are in the top 10% in Texas, you are guaranteed a spot at your choice of Texas public colleges- since UT is THE most popular, a VAST majority choose it. It is getting to the point that they are running out of spots in the freshman class PERIOD! That is why they closed the summer program, they cannot offer those spots anymore because too many guaranteed people are choosing UT.

Read the report posted in UHDEEGEE's post - it spells it out plainly

The president of UT is saying that it is getting to the point that there will not be enough spots to even take all the 10%ers (why the athletics programs are in danger). What do they do then? Build more dorms? Hire more professors? UT is already one of the largest universities in the country (numbers wise) and it is landlocked in the center of Austin!!!

The law must be changed!

Also, as UHGEEDEE states above, at our highschool, the top 1/4 has significantly higher grades than a 4.0, so a straight A student who only takes "academic level" classes cannot even be in the top quarter.

I guess I could have pulled my son out of that school and transferred him to a crappy school where he would be assured of being at the top.

Oh well, he is currently still in the top 10% (despite his freshman B, his GPA is 4.49 and he is ranked at around 6%), he just has to finish this year with no B's while he is taking AP Physics, AP Calculus, AP English, AP US History, Spanish III, Journalism (he's the sports editor), and Football.

Yeah, that's clearly a kid who "couldn't hack getting into his state school with everyone else, and should maybe spend a year (or two) in community college"

[UHDEEGEE]

Originally Posted by srmom

I guess I could have pulled my son out of that school and transferred him to a crappy school where he would be assured of being at the top.

LOL! My husband and I have said this same thing. I have friends who pulled their kids out of our high school and put them into private school for this very reason.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by srmom

Oh well, he is currently still in the top 10% (despite his freshman B, his GPA is 4.49 and he is ranked at around 6%), he just has to finish this year with no B's while he is taking AP Physics, AP Calculus, AP English, AP US History, Spanish III, Journalism (he's the sports editor), and Football.

I understand you're frustrated, and it sounds like your son is doing some excellent work in high school...but you do realize there are a bunch of people on this site (myself included) who had these same numbers, with the same (or more) activities, without any sort of guarantee of getting into an in-state school?

I mean, maybe it's not the optimum situation; but really, this stuff happens all the time in the college admission process. Alums get preference, in-state people get preference over out-of-state people, etc.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by srmom

Oh well, he is currently still in the top 10% (despite his freshman B, his GPA is 4.49 and he is ranked at around 6%), he just has to finish this year with no B's while he is taking AP Physics, AP Calculus, AP English, AP US History, Spanish III, Journalism (he's the sports editor), and Football.

Yeah, that's clearly a kid who "couldn't hack getting into his state school with everyone else, and should maybe spend a year (or two) in community college"

Your son sounds like a good student, but many many other kids in the country have similar or superior track records, and many many of them don't get into their first choice schools. Again, admission into a school--even your state's flagship university--is owed to NO ONE.

Perhaps I'm more harsh about this than others would be, but I do a lot of work in college admissions, so I meet a lot of kids with impeccable records who get their hopes dashed every year and end up going to a school whose bumper sticker doesn't look as good on the back of the family SUV, but they're happy with. It all ends up working out. Really. It does.

[UHDEEGEE]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Again, admission into a school--even your state's flagship university--is owed to NO ONE.

It is in the State of Texas if you graduate from a Texas high school within the top 10% of your class...it's the law.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by UHDEEGEE

It is in the State of Texas if you graduate from a Texas high school within the top 10% of your class...it's the law.

Look, I understand it's the law that you're guaranteed admission to a public school in Texas. It's the law in Florida too.

That does NOT mean that any student in the top 10% is entitled to get into UT-Austin and only UT-Austin.

You're guaranteed admission to any public school within the Texas system--which doesn't that include any and all UTs, A&M, and other state schools? I understand that there's a huge demand for UT-Austin because it's an excellent school, but still. My original point still stands. Just because you do well, the best school in your state isn't owed to you--a public school is. Remember, not every state with a great public university system can guarantee this!

I also understand why the law was instituted--since the Hopwood decision eliminated traditional affirmative action in the 5th District, they had to come up with a way to admit a diverse class. To that end, it has worked. UT is far more diverse both racially and socioeconomically than it was 10 years ago. More high schools are represented than pre-1998, and academic performance has improved, since the 10% admits do better in college than the others.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Your son sounds like a good student, but many many other kids in the country have similar or superior track records, and many many of them don't get into their first choice schools. Again, admission into a school--even your state's flagship university--is owed to NO ONE.

Perhaps I'm more harsh about this than others would be, but I do a lot of work in college admissions, so I meet a lot of kids with impeccable records who get their hopes dashed every year and end up going to a school whose bumper sticker doesn't look as good on the back of the family SUV, but they're happy with. It all ends up working out. Really. It does.

I don't think it's harsh at all, I think it's just the reality of the process.