<p>My son has his heart set on UT. He should have a good shot at getting in, but...I know the student 'should' apply to several others as back-up, just in case. Honestly he doesn't really seem interested in any other TX schools, and we can't afford to send him out-of-state.</p>
<p>I know that A&M is the 'other' choice for science & engineering, but he definitely would not fit in at A&M. And, he's not sure at this point whether he'll be pursuing technology or liberal arts.</p>
<p>Any suggestions? Are there any other schools here in Texas that have even a remotely similar personality, as in, diversity, political activism, etc.? I don't know of any! UT seems very unique. My son wants UT not only for its academics but also for these other factors. (We live in San Antonio so UTSA if the obvious backup, but we don't really want to do that because then he wouldn't have the 'college life' since he'd be living at home.) Someone suggested Texas U. (San Marcos) for its personality, but that seems like its standards are perhaps TOO low. We do want a top-notch school, but the private schools are all prohibitively expensive. Thanks for any ideas!</p>
<p>Firstly, go peruse the thread on 'Out of State Students (OOS)' and read the comments from Texas parents about the 10% rule for admittees at the U of Texas-Austin. It should give you some perspective on your kid's chances of admission to his favorite school.</p>
<p>That being said, for the sciences, I understand Texas-Richardson has a respectable reputation and dangles $$ to lure high caliber students. You should also consider Texas-Arlington, which has a lively modern campus, which your son might enjoy [but the social life doesn't compare to Austin on campus, but there's plenty to do in Dallas].</p>
<p>As for science at other large Texas universities, be sure to check out Texas Tech in Lubbock.</p>
<p>I don't know what your son's perception of A&M is but he should go to College Station for a campus tour and see what it is like for himself. </p>
<p>A lot of students that are not admitted to UT-Austin under the top 10% law are going to A&M under their Academic Admit policy (1300+ on old SAT and top 25% of class).</p>
<p>You could interchange most of the students at both schools and they would be happy and successful at either school.</p>
<p>We really liked Texas Tech. The campus is beautiful (although, like college station, not the town), and the honors college is great. Friends I know who teach there say that it is fairly liberal, and draws students from all over Texas. We were not so wild about A & M - for political as well as "cult" reasons. It sounds stupid, but the scale of the buildings is all too big -and it just seems huge and cold. Texas tech was a good size, and son got lots of attention when he visited the engineering department. UT-Dallas (which is in Richardson) is good for high-tech stuff, and the campus is small, but nice. (Son could go for free--they are very generous with their scholarships), but it misses the mark in the social department. All the kids live in apartments, there is no "esprit de corp" or feeling of community, and it gets poor reviews on the studentreview website for social life. DS is applying to A&M, but isn't likely to attend.</p>
<p>I was planning to check out Texas Tech, but I don't think I'd even heard of Richardson & Arlington - I will check them out! </p>
<p>My son is homeschooled so the 10% rule doesn't apply. He enrolled in dual-credit classes at SAC in 10th grade, so by the end of what would be 12th grade will have accumulated approx. 40 hours. So he will be applying as a transfer student.</p>
<p>I'm not sure whether that is a good thing or not, in terms of chances of getting admitted! If he continues his trend of making A's he should have a (college, not weighted) GPA of around 3.8 or 3.9. UT admissions office does not look at high school transcripts or SAT scores when considering transfer students.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions! <sigh> I guess nothing really quite compares with Austin as far as the 'coolness' factor.</sigh></p>
<p>Good to hear from you. I suggest TCU in Fort Worth. It's a good college with a diverse student body, pretty campus, quality programs and professors, and an excellent administration. TCU also offers a close-knit environment in a metropolitan area. It's more expensive than UT but TCU has many scholarship options and financial aid so it might end up costing about the same.</p>
<p>I don't mean to dis A&M in any way but I think it's a personality thing - a matter of finding a good match. Maybe we do have a misperception. Perhaps this is no longer true, but the common understanding around here about A&M is that it tends to be quite conservative. I know many people who've attended A&M and they all say it's an excellent school and they like it because it is so conservative. Just last night one of the moms at my son's Robotics meeting said she went to UT and didn't like it because it was TOO diverse and TOO liberal, and she is sending her son to A&M.</p>
<p>Well, my son is a radical, vegetarian metalhead. He loves diversity and is most definitely NOT conservative. He did in fact spend a weekend in College Station when his Robotics team competed in the state competition, on the A&M campus. His perception was that it was...conservative and therefore not a good match for him. Granted, we did not actually take a tour, so it's possible we judged it based on our preconceived ideas of what it was reputed to be like.</p>
<p>You are quite right, though, that we should actually visit a school before deciding, rather than just believing the reputation. I've seen the opposite happen as well - a friend passed up UT because he thought it JUST a 'party school' in favor of Rice, which was supposedly more 'studious.' Well we all know that partying goes on in every school (except maybe BYU!) The very first week at Rice he was offered not only copious amounts of alcohol, but every drug in existance.</p>
<p>Ironically (and thankfully!) my son is Straightedge so he'll be seeking out those radical vegetarians who don't drink or do drugs but like to go to political rallies and campaign for social justice. I know there are plenty of them in Austin (along with the partyers). He'll be quite at home.</p>
<p>Oh (feeling sheepish) I guess these are all the other Texas universities - the 'other' UT's. Funny how UT Austin seems to be so famous. I don't remember seeing any other UT system schools in any of the 'best colleges' books so didn't really think about them too much.</p>
<p>I don't think any of the other UTs are mentioned in the "best college" books because academically, they aren't up to par. Do you mind giving us a breakdown of your son's stats? It would help. As for what he's looking for, the only other school in Texas that is comparable to UT academically is Rice and in some areas, A&M. However, Rice is a pretty big step up from UT so it would depend on your son's stats. Anyways, I doubt he would be interested in it because it is not AT ALL like UT in student population or the overall feeling of the campus. </p>
<p>It's really a difficult question to answer. You are right in your conclusion that there isn't another school like UT (in Texas at least, and I don't really think there is one in the country). Some of the other suggestions given including TCU and A&M would be decent back-ups, but probably not fulfill his desire for a school like UT. If I were you, I wouldn't worry too much about finding a bunch of backups. UT is getting harder and harder to get into, but it still accepts around half of its applicants. I would stick with your backup (UTSA) and if he doesn't get into UT this time, he can do like MANY people I know and go to UTSA, do well for one year, and then transfer into UTA. Transferring in is, in my opinion, a bit easier than getting in freshman year.</p>
<p>Well he'd be applying as a transfer student. He was homeschooled and enrolled at SAC (cc) as a dual-credit student in 10th grade. He will have about 40+ transferrable hours by spring 2007 (which would normally be the end of 12th grade) but since he maxed out the dual credit program, he is now considered a freshman and must enroll as a transfer student.</p>
<p>Transfer students are evaluated completely differently. UT does not look at SAT scores or high school records at all (although PLAN II does). If he continues his trend of making A's he should have a COLLEGE GPA of at least a 3.8, and that is straight unweighted - the admissions officer told me he should mention in his essay that most of those classes were taken as a high school student, so, even though technically transfer students can't weight the grades, essentially they should be, meaning that it's more like a 4.0.</p>
<p>He does have some interesting qualities, like teaching himself computer repair (hardware) as well as an assortment of computer programming languages (software). He created his first website (totally on his own) in 8th grade, and was webmaster for 2 homeschool co-ops. His college profs gave him letters of recommendation stating that his writing and participation were better than most of the other students' even though he was at least 2 years younger... As for ECs he is involved in some political activism, like going to peace rallies, stuff like that. He's been on a Robotics team for 5 years, captain of team for 2 of those. He does martial arts, is half Hispanic (for what that's worth), is extremely articulate, is a stunning writer, excels in pretty much anything he does, and thinks outside the box. Not your usual stats as in numbers. A lot of qualities that are difficult to quantify.</p>
<p>Being a software engineer myself, I like to always address the 'ELSE' condition - in other words, have a backup plan.</p>
<p>Ok to be honest, I think he'll get in and you shouldn't worry. The transfer pool for state schools isn't typically "top-notch." I say this because I too am a transfer student applying to UT (among many others) for McCombs. Last year at my CC 4 people were accepted with GPAs around your sons (and one guy hadn't even completed the required courses or indicated that he intended to), so that should illustrate the leniency and just how hard it is to find a good CC student. I don't know a/b UT overall, but for McCombs (which is the hardest individual college to transfer into to my knowledge) 56% came from a CC with an average GPA of a 3.85. UT, like most state schools, is very dedicated to taking CC students, so I believe your son will get in. I guess apply to UTSA of course as a backup. So will he be transferring with two years completed? Because they probably won't accept him if he completes three years at his current school...or did the first two years just go towards his high school degree? </p>
<p>Good luck either way. I think you're being overly cautious, which is good, but I wouldn't worry too much after seeing what UT will usually settle for and how very well qualified your son is.</p>
<p>Hey, thanks. It's good to hear from someone who's been thru the process.</p>
<p>I actually can't quite fathom him not getting accepted. But, us moms tend to worry and fret. ;-)</p>
<p>I believe the limit is 60 hours to transfer, but any more than 45 is frowned upon. On the other hand, fewer than 30 is still considered transfer but isn't really enough to be competitive. So, his 40 or so should be juuuuusssst right. We will count them all as college classes. If I count them as high school only then they wouldn't count towards his degree, so I definitely want them to be counted.</p>
<p>There is surprisingly little info available about what's required and expected of transfer students. I didn't realize that it was so difficult to find cc students of the calibre that UT is seeking. Good to know.</p>
<p>OK this is a really dumb question, but... We hadn't really considered any Christian schools because, although we have a very strong faith, we're not fundamentalist Christian. So, here's the dumb question: how are people of other faiths generally treated at Christian colleges? Are they required to take Christian courses? I like to be open-minded so I am genuinely curious.</p>
<p>I did not attend TCU and I am hesitant to say much since I don't have first-hand knowledge. However, I do know many people who graduated from TCU and it is a popular college among young people from our area.</p>
<p>Second, TCU (and SMU) are colleges that were originally founded by religious groups that seem to have become more secularized with time, particularly when compared to colleges like Baylor where (in my view, from afar) the religious affiliation has remained strong. I also know several people that have graduated from or are attending TCU who are not Christians. </p>
<p>The best way to find out about a college is to visit the campus. If you travel to the DFW area, I suggest a visit to TCU so you and your son can decide for yourselves. You might also want to review the TCU forum and post a question there.</p>
<p>Has your son taken the SAT? If not, Kaplan offers free practice SAT's that they will score and return to you in hopes of signing you up for one of their SAT prep courses.</p>
<p>That will give you a better idea of how your son compares to other applicants. If he scores over 1350 (old SAT), he should have a pretty good shot of being admitted. </p>
<p>Also, if he scores well, he may want to take a real SAT to erase any doubts that the UT adcom may have about how he compares to other applicants.</p>
<p>lealdragon - keep in mind that that info is for McCombs School of Business (which is provided on McCombs seperate website). I don't think there is info like that for the university overall, but it is useful info for you considering McCombs is the hardest school to transfer into. That said, for that individual school they accepted 56% of their students from community colleges compared to 44% from 4-year universities - which shows that the school means it when it says it looks for community college students. The median GPA of that group was a 3.85 which is pretty high, but you also have to remember that McCombs is the most selective (for 2005, it took 71 out of 685applicants). So why am I tellin ya all this? Just to show you how well your son would do even if he was applying to the most selective school within the university; while engineering is difficult to get into, I believe it is still taught within the school of liberal arts (the "main" school of the university) and so there is no major space limitation. Due to this fact along with his competitive GPA and info you've mentioned, I don't think he'll have any problem getting into Engineering. But I'll see if I can't find a page to direct you to Engineering requirements because I believe they have some...</p>
<p>I'm not particularly familiar with Engineering, but it has the same disclaimer as McCombs:</p>
<p>"Admission to the College of Engineering is based on criteria similar to but higher than those for admission to the university."</p>
<p>I believe it is the only other "school/major" with that disclaimer besides the Business School, so it is obviously competitive. It sounds like your son really can't go better (ranked 11th for undergrad engineering in US News) and in-state tuition. The required # of hours has gone up to 30 and I believe that a student that has been at a CC for two years is expected to have around 60 (if he/she is fulltime). The only specific requirement is Calculus I (according to that page) but I would venture to add this:</p>
<p>For the "Engineering Route to Business" (again, within McCombs) the requirements before one transfers include Cal I, II, III and a decent amount of science. I would expect that someone wanting to transfer into an engineering major would be expected to have the same or possibly more (just due to the fact that it's a full-on Engineering major compared to just a engineering business major) so you may want to contact the admissions office just in case and see if there are any courses they recommend in addition to Cal I. </p>
<p>One final thing...I don't know if your son wants on-campus housing, but if he does, they started taking applications on September 1st. Actual university housing is very limited so if he's wanting it he needs to fill out the app and pay the $50 fee now. If he's admitted, then they have your app on file and give you a spot at the front of the line. If you wait till you're admitted, he'll never get it.</p>