Are all OOS spots at UT Austin full?

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
41

<p>I don't know what best students you know of feladis, but they don't describe the top kids at most of the schools I know.</p>

<p>The top kids either want to go to top schools, and don't apply to UT at all, or they really want to go to UT. And a lot of kids end up at UT for financial reasons who are quite smart.</p>

<p>I'll give you an example of a kid I know: he's half Colombian, half white, has a 2350 SAT, and is ranked 9/250 at a good prep school. He applied to UT and Plan II Honors as his top choices, and also applied to Notre Dame and Tulane as safeties in case he didn't get in to Plan II. He did get in to Plan II, and immediately dropped his other early acceptances. He recently was informed that he is one of 15 finalists for the Texas Exes Scholarship, who are chosen from among all applicants to the University and are a very top group. He didn't even consider applying to an Ivy, he wanted to go to Texas.</p>

<p>And there are many more like him out there...</p>

<p>Most top notch kids from other states rarely clamor to get in to state schools. You hear a lot of "I really really want to go to Harvard" or Georgetown. I've never heard someone say that about UVA, which I'd consider to be one of the top 3 public colleges in the US alongside Texas and Berkeley. You don't hear kids say "I'd die to get in to Berkeley" unless they are from California. There may be a few, but as a general rule those kids aren't attracted to OOS state schools because the cost is comparable to an Ivy league school.</p>

<p>And if you read this board or look on the UT '12 facebook group, you can see a whole lot of OOS people clamoring to get in to Texas.</p>

<p>Obviously 1990Dad's daughter was a top student who wanted to come to Texas.</p>

<p>Where do you even go? What have you got against UT? Do we have an Aggie in hiding here?</p>

42

<p>"The best students in Texas use UT as a safety.. and apply to better schools. I never hear of any top-notch OOS students clamoring to get into Texas."</p>

<p>I disagree with this statement on both levels. You really shouldn't make such sweeping generalizations to tidily categorize everyone and what they think of UT. I don't think UT is used as a safety by the best students in Texas, or at least, not ALL the best students; UT has a ton of very bright students who would've been happily accepted by top schools, including Ivies, but no, those bright students want to go to UT. Now, that isn't to say students don't use UT as a safety, either. Think about it, every school has applicants that see the school either as a safety or first choice or another "x" choice--people accepted early into EA schools such as Stanford or Georgetown or UChicago technically see those schools as safeties, surefire Plan B backup schools, although most people consider those schools very difficult to get into.</p>

<p>It's all about perspective and context, the specific circumstances of each person and his/her situation. I myself applied to many top schools aside from UT, 11 other schools in fact, including Northwestern and Duke, but right now UT has floated to the top of my list because of my recent admission into Plan II and hopefully, I will get into BHP.</p>

<p>But again, OOS students and state universities are kind of in their own category as well. Since state universities have an obligation to place each respective in-state applicants first in priority, those in-state students generally are the majority--4 out of 5 students at UT are Texans, and UCs are in similar proportion in relation to California residents. UNC has a duty to admit North Carolinians, UMD Maryland residents, etc. I don't think that surprises anyone. </p>

<p>What I'm trying to say is just because you don't "hear any top-notch OOS students clamoring to get into Texas" doesn't mean there isn't any. It's just a fact that most of the in-state residents make up the majority of a state university. And furthermore, many top-notch OOS students get turned away by UT too, as it is VERY difficult, probably more so than at other schools such as Michigan or UNC, because of the stringent Texas top 10% law.</p>

<p>There are MANY top-notch OOS students clamoring to get into UNC, UVA, Berkeley, etc. I'm sure there are top-notch OOS students wanting to go to UT, not necessarily "clamoring," but desiring to get in nonetheless. There is also that difference between wanting to get in versus actually getting in.</p>

<p>UT has many draws (as well as minuses, no university is completely perfect) but I think its biggest draw for me, at least, an OOS student, is of its academic value in relation to relatively cheap tuition costs.</p>

43

<p>"There may be a few, but as a general rule those kids aren't attracted to OOS state schools because the cost is comparable to an Ivy league school."</p>

<p>Are you smoking or something? An Ivy League school's tuition and costs, including room and board and other costs, EASILY reaches $50k! If not barely. State schools would never, ever charge that much. I can guarantee you that.</p>

<p>Let's look at Dartmouth (Financial</a> Aid)
Tuition & fees + room + board: $45,483</p>

<p>Now, a comparison to UT's costs (FINANCIAL</a> AID: 2007-2008 Undergraduate Cost of Attendance (COA))
A non-Texas (OOS) student's costs of attending UT: $14,954-22,874 </p>

<p>I think I'll let the numbers speak for themselves.</p>

44

<p>For OOS, UT isn't such a great value. It's like $35-40k, which is about as much as Rice.</p>

<p>Rice has a better reputation outside of Texas. UT has a better reputation within Texas because Rice is small and in Houston. People in Houston tend to look down on it because it is so familiar, and people from outside Houston look down on it because no one from outside of Houston likes Houston.</p>

<p>Most top private schools are about $45k-$50k and I'd say they are more prestigious for the value. However, UT is a unique school when you combine its academic excellence with one of the top outside-the-classroom experiences in the country and the resources of such a large university.</p>

<p>But for OOS people I wouldn't think of it as a bargain...plus our financial aid is really really bad. So if you are OOS it would likely be cheaper for you to go to an Ivy than to go to UT.</p>

45

<p>I'm sorry, but you have a very distorted perception of tuition costs at private schools (e.g., Ivies) versus state schools, even for OOS students.</p>

<p>Let me give you several more examples, if you still are not convinced.</p>

<p>Okay, let's look at Brown University: "Tuition at Brown University is $17,792 per semester or $35,584 per year for the 2007-2008 academic year. Total costs for the 2007-2008 year (which includes tuition, room and board, books and supplies, travel and personal expenses, student activities fee, and health services fee) is $24,330 a semester or $48,660 a year."</p>

<p>Interesting, but the 2008-2009 year is even more expensive, going up to $50,560 (<a href="http://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=78#tuit%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=78#tuit&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p>

<p>Wow, Brown costs even more than Dartmouth.</p>

<p>Now, let's look at UNC-Chapel Hill (The</a> Office of Scholarships & Student Aid at UNC-Chapel Hill)</p>

<p>Even for an OOS student, the total cost is about $32,004.</p>

<p>Granted, UNC costs more for an OOS student to go to than UT, but the notion of private universities costing less than public state universities for OOS students is completely wrong.</p>

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<p>I would like to think that that I am a pretty "top" student (19/501, 1430 SAT, African American) and UT Austin, after much research, was at the top of my list. I surely was "clamoring" to get into UT. And, like hotasice, I also applied to other higher ranked schools (Emory, Duke, etc), but once I found out I was in UT I basically crossed the other ones off of my list. This was mostly for financial reasons (UT OOS is def. cheaper than going to other top schools). I believe that many "top" students (and that term is relative) consider UT as their top choice. Like hotasice said, there probably aren't thousands and thousands, but there are def. many. </p>

<p>And, like I said before, OOS students wouldn't do well to apply to UT as a safety school, because of the difficulty to get in OOS. If an OOS student applies to UT, I'm guessing it is one of their of serious choices.</p>

<p>And, yeah, loneranger, UT OOS is cheaper than many private schools. It may not be a bargain compared to them going to their own state school, but it is cheaper. Where did you get $35-40? Its in the low $20's I believe:</p>

<p>Tuition</a> Costs : Tuition Dollars & Sense</p>

<p>If you were adding in other expenses, then you would also have to add the into the tuition at private school, bringing them higher than $45-50.</p>

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<p>Just so you guys know, OOS tuition for those planning on living in campus will be around 35k (this includes housing). Unless you're living off-campus, the cost will be about 25Kish....</p>

<p>If you look at the site posted earlier....
FINANCIAL</a> AID: 2007-2008 Undergraduate Cost of Attendance (COA)</p>

<p>Non-Resident On Campus is $14,794-22,714 (NOTE: "Costs are per semester")</p>

48

<p>For most of the students, though, the price will be in the lower end of that range. I actually asked asmissions about this, and that is what they told me.</p>

49

<p>Yes I was getting ready to cite this.</p>

<p>The only people on the low end will be Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences students who entered before 2004, the rest will be quite a bit more expensive. The $8500 per semester rate only kicks in if you are a 5th year senior. There is an intermediate rate which usually applies to upper-division students and is about $10,500 a semester, and there is the New Non-Resident rate, which usually applies to freshmen and sophomores and is about $12,500 a semester.</p>

<p>The cheapest school tuition wise for new OOS students next year will be COLA, at $12,272 per semester (or roughly $25,000 per year). The most expensive will be Pharmacy (which freshman can't enter) at $16k and Business at $14,253 per SEMESTER (or roughly $29,000). The cost of attendance for living on-campus are estimated at $6308 per semester, or $12,600 per year. This is a very conservative estimate in my opinion, but it's what your finaid will be based on. So your total cost will be between $37k and $42k using the conservative estimate. I'd add at least $1000 a year in cost of living. UT also severely underestimates the cost of living off-campus. If you stay at a private dorm it will cost about $10k a year if you want meals, and appartment leases in West Campus are through the roof.</p>

<p>So yes, UT is about $40k for OOS students.</p>

<p>The longer you stay as an OOS student, I believe your tuition is supposed to go down. However, as the rate goes up each year I believe it means you pay about the same ammount each year.</p>

<p>I think many kids are looking at the numbers and thinking it's about $20k for OOS students, but this is per SEMESTER. The cost of attendance IN-STATE is estimated at about $20k a year.</p>

<p>Texas has gone from having some of the lowest tuition rates in the country back as late as 2002 to having some of the highest today. Thanks, Tom Craddick.</p>

50

<p>I wish it were in the low 20s, Kiki. That's what I have to pay out-of-pocket living in-state. I don't know how kids at my income level can afford to come from OOS to UT. There is no way you could possibly pay $40k on an income under two hundred grand, but you are expected to by the government.</p>

<p>On a side note, I think summer school tuitions are a little more reasonable for the number of hours you take. In state it's less than $7k including room and board, and it's about $10k OOS I think.</p>

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<p>Congratulations! I hope I get be as excited as you!</p>

52

<p>I meant before room and board and other expenses, since they do not change for OOS and in-state students (except costs such as travel expenses). </p>

<p>And I am much lower than your income bracket and I can afford to go to UT OOS.</p>