<p>some people say I have no chance and other people say I have a good chance…well what is it!?</p>
<p>
[/quote some people say I have no chance and other people say I have a good chance…well what is it!?]
</p>
<p>1) Top 10% will be filled first - you’re out of the running </p>
<p>2) OOS will be filled next - not you again</p>
<p>3) Popular or high in demand departments (business) will only have a few slots left open - not good odds if they have applicants with higher ranks and scores than you</p>
<p>4) Lower demand departments (geoscience) will not have as many applicants beating down their doors - there’s your chance.</p>
<hr>
<p>Blah, so how does this thing quote?</p>
<p>If he can’t get into UT with his stats, he’s probably not going to get into Michigan or Cal either!</p>
<p>Noone on this website can tell you definitively whether you will get in or not. All you can do is try. Rank is extremely important at UT, but where you go to highschool can factor in as well (even though people don’t want to believe it), and your test scores show brains ;). If you go to a known “feeder type” school, where the competition is STIFF, UT takes that into account. I’ve seen this time and time again, so don’t give up hope - apply and see what happens - BUT have back ups…</p>
<p>I know that many kids at our highschool who get capped end up applying to either Tech, or one of the SEC schools, like Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, etc., or to Oklahoma or OSU. UT’s loss has been the gain of all these schools!!</p>
<p>Good luck :)</p>
<p>nunya, "
[QUOTE]
text[/QUOTE)" , replace the “)” with a bracket.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>I don’t care how disparaging all of the above comments are, I’d say that you still have a good chance of admittance based on your high SAT scores.</p>
<p>I say if you apply Geosciences first choice, you’re in.</p>
<p>Ya that is perfect because I was already planning on majoring in Geosciences, sweet</p>
<p>Here are some reasons why I think they should accept me…</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Now I know top ten percent is the most important qualification, but can all of the above factors not make up for it?</p>
<p>Make sure you describe some of your geoscience type interests or activities or experiences on your application so they know you are serious about wanting to be in geosciences and not just saying that so you will be admitted (and will later change majors). You have got to be sincere.</p>
<p>My practice college essay was about my love for the natural world etc. and how I would like to study more about it. I def do not plan on changing majors</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It will largely depend on the number of spots that are taken up by top 10%ers, noone at this point knows what that percentage will be next fall. AND, It really is just going to depend on the applicant pool and the strength of your application against it!</p>
<p>The best thing you can do is put together the best application you can, write some really great essays (perhaps including the one where you can explain special circumstances, you can point out that the only thing bringing your gpa and rank down are the Spanish classes), and hope for the best! :)</p>
<p>I know kids who got in outside of the top 10% this year, they had outstanding apps beyond rank - they typically came from ridiculously competitive high schools, schools that UT admissions are familiar with. That will help you. It’s not the be all, end all, but it can help (from reading these forums for years ;)).</p>
<p>Without naming your school (and thus giving up some identity), are you in one of those types of schools? - examples would be - Houston - Memorial, Stratford; Dallas - Highland Park, Plano, Hillcrest; San Antonio - Alamo Heights; Austin - Westlake, etc. etc.</p>
<p>These are the types of “feeder schools” I have had experience with, where a top 25% rank will be overlooked with a stellar SAT/ACT. </p>
<p>This year was weird in terms of admissions, and if you look through threads on the UT forum, you will see some crazy decisions, like people rejected with 2300’s and 14%, but someone else accepted with 1980 and 25%.</p>
<p>A few years ago, my oldest son was accepted and he was 33%, but he was from Jesuit, was a NMF, with a 1540 SAT (old 1600 scale). His girlfriend at the time was rejected with a 1380, 13% rank from Kingwood - so it made no sense if rank was the only issue.</p>
<p>I really do wish you the best of luck! This is a nerve wracking time!!</p>
<p>Thanks for the info Ag! I go to a large suburban houston school, not as competitive as strake jesuit but I think it is well thought of because that is why my family moved here. </p>
<p>Do you think I should retake the SAT? Will 50 or so points significantly raise my chances?</p>
<p>Strake isn’t particularly competitive compared to the large public schools (Lamar, Bellaire, Stratford, Memorial).</p>
<p>And ag54, Hillcest isn’t a major feeder school for UT because it’s more of an inner-city school now than a suburban school and it isn’t ultracompetitive. The kids in the top ten-twenty percent are very well prepared, but it isn’t a cutthroat environment like HP or Plano ISD.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/research/HB588-Report11.pdf[/url]”>http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/research/HB588-Report11.pdf</a>
This is a great read, and it goes over the admissions process in detail.</p>
<p>You can plug your own numbers into the formula (it doesn’t list Geosciences but I believe it’s the same as for Natural Science) and see where they fall.</p>
<p>The reason kids from the “feeder schools” have a good chance to get in is because 1) they are usually very well rounded in extracurriculars, 2) they are usually excellent writers, and those are the two factors for the PI, and 3) they tend to score higher on the SAT, bumping up their AI regardless of class rank.</p>
<p>But UT is not a school where having a great personality and high SAT score will completely override a poor rank. It can help, but it’s not going to be failsafe.</p>
<p>Would you consider any of the Katy ISD schools competative?</p>
<p>Plugging your numbers into the Academic Index, you get
Predicted Freshman GPA = -1.10339 + (SAT V * 0.00088166) + (SAT M * 0.00230) + (HSR * 0.02416)</p>
<p>Assuming that you got 730 on Math and 730 on Verbal on the SAT:
-1.10339 + .6436118 + 1.679 + 1.82875 = 3.0479722 x 100 = 305</p>
<p>305 out of a maximum of 410. You said your schedule was low-rigor, so I did not add teh 10 points you would get for having a rigorous schedule. If the valedictorian of your high school took a rigorous schedule and had identical SAT scores to you, they would have an AI of 374. That’s how much of a difference class rank means–according to the academic index you’d be expected to make a 3.05 your freshman year and the valedictorian, with the same SAT score, a 3.74.</p>
<p>I doubt they have studied how close the actual freshman GPA resembles these numbers, but this is what they use for admission.</p>
<p>Then on personal index, you said you have weak ECs, but you have them, so that’s better than some kids. I’d rate you about a 3 on the PI scale right now. If you have “special circumstances” at home, you’d probably be higher, and if you add some leadership this next year, you can get higher. This is just a guess on my part–I don’t know the exact formula the admissions counselors use to determine the Personal Achivement score, but I’d say your ECs and life experience seem to put you right in the middle. I’m assuming because you have a high SAT score that you can write, but I have no idea how well you can. If we assume that your mean essay score is a 5/6, then this gives you a PI of
(3<em>4)+(5</em>3)=12+15=27/7=3.86.</p>
<p>For academic indexes, someone who has an SAT score of 620 on Math and Verbal, which is average for non-top-ten kids who are admitted, and is top 14% and took a rigorous curriculum has an index of 305 as well.</p>
<p>You are slightly above middle on Personal Achievement, from my estimation, and probably right around the middle in the academic index for non-top ten applicants.</p>
<p>Around 90% of the total admitted students will be top ten, because the new law isn’t in place. Geosciences will have a preset number of places to give away outside the top ten, and this is definitely your best shot, but from where you fall on the matrix it doesn’t look particularly promising.</p>
<p>This is not me just saying what I “think they’ll do because you have a high SAT score.” This is the actual numbers UT will use. If you want to change anything, I highly recommend pushing your SAT Math score to 800 and increasing your rank as much as you can, earning at least one major leadership position next year, and writing knock-out essays.</p>
<p>The essays are 43% of your personal achievement, and you do them in a week or a month. The entire rest of high school is 57%, and you have four years to do that. So, the essays can definitely bolster your application.</p>
<p>Good luck, and hopefully seeing the real numbers can put it into perspective for you.</p>
<p>I don’t know too much about the Katy ISD, but it isn’t a district that comes to mind in the list that ag54 is thinking of. I think it would probably depend on the high school itself and the curriculum you take.</p>
<p>Again, IMHO, the feeder schools don’t necessarily take places just because of their names, they do it because their kids tend to excell in everything other than rank moreso than other non-top-ten applicants do.</p>
<p>Fair enough. I was asking because at least 25% of Cinco Ranch (Katy ISD) goto A&M or UT after graduation.</p>
<p>Cinco Ranch had 28 go to UT last year. This is out of around 700 kids in a graduating class. This number definitely isn’t bad, but compared to the percentage some other schools get in (Dallas Episcopal had 12 out of a graduating class of less than 100, Highland Park had 72 out of less than 500, and Houston Kinkaid had 25 out of around 110 kids), it’s not particularly impressive.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the response loneranger, I really appreciate it when someone takes the time to actually give a thought out response backed up by data. I actually got a 760 CR and a 690 M, I don’t know if that helps or hurts me… probably hurts for geosciences. Do you know what the average non top 10 percenter who is accepted to a less competitive major’s academic index is? Was mine 305? On my ECs where you gave me 3 points what is the max number of points? I actually looked at it again and working for 2 years and playing 2 varsity sports did not seem so bad…</p>