<p>I was wondering how others from Texas felt about the change to the top 10% rule starting with the Class of 2010? For those who aren't from Texas, Texas has a rule that seniors in Texas who graduate in the top 10% of their class get automatic acceptance into any public Texas university. Universities like UT Austin wanted to alter the rule because about 80% of their incoming freshmen were automatically admitted because of the rule. Now, the admittance of top 10%ers will make-up no more than 60% of incoming classes and the other 40% will be admitted based on test scores, GPA, ECs, etc. </p>
<p>I'm in the top 3% of my class and I'm probably going to a private school either in or out of state, but I'm still interested to see the effect this will have. The college and career counselor at my school thinks that this will be good for most of my school's students since the top 30% at our school is comparable with the top 10% at the next most rigorous public high school in our city. So what are your thoughts?</p>
<p>Sorry I knew the bill had been passed in the Senate, but an admissions councelor from Texas Tech talked to my English class today and acted like the bill had gone all the way through. If it’s passed, it would only immediately effect UT though, wouldn’t it?</p>
<p>Yes, and no.
I think UT is the only public school in Texas with more than 60% being admitted through the Top 10% Rule (92% this year), although Texas A&M is hovering around 55%. So immediately UT will be the only school in Texas affected by the bill (Being forced to cap top 10% auto-admits at 60%), but it will also affect schools like TAMU down the road.</p>
<p>I’m not from Texas, but I think it’s good that the top 10% rule is being “changed”. It seems like such a rule would put students that go to a small private school that doesn’t rank or even publish GPA (like my school- which is in NJ, but still) at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>molliegym - it puts kids in the public schools at a disadvantage too - especially at UT-Austin. At our school, for this year’s graduating class, the GPA cutoff for top 10% is about 4.2 So, all those other kids who have 4.0+ (weighted) averages are out of luck unless they just HAPPEN to have some unique “thing” to get them in.</p>
<p>I went to a large public high school in Texas and let me tell you, the rule had negative effects on the school’s reputation and college placements. Too many kids would simply work on their grades and contribute little to the school environment and their ECs. It’s no wonder that even though our graduation classes regularly had 900 people, maybe only 5 or 6 people would go to a Top-30 private school. Seriously. Everyone would “settle” on UT or A&M. The campus for being so large was filled with disengaged kids. Our mean SAT scores were considerably worse than other top schools in the state because people simply didn’t care. </p>
<p>I’m glad to see this rule changing. Hopefully they’ll get rid of the even more ridiculous CAP program that sends kids to UT-San Antonio for their 1st year.</p>
<p>@bluebubbles: What’s wrong with the CAP program? If students are dead-set onto going to UT but their scores are subpar, they have the ability to try again. Transfers at UT are even harder than regular admissions, so guaranteeing them admission their sophomore year if they reach a certain GPA is doing them a huge favor. If they end up loving UTSA, they can stay all 4 years, but if they still really want to go to Austin, it’s more of an option than if they settle for a different school.</p>
<p>It’s about time they changed this rule. Kids from super competitive high schools might not rank in the top 10% of their class, but outscore other students who DID rank in that magical top 10% of their class at a mediocre or low-achieving high school. Those lower scoring kids might not be prepared for the rigors of UT academics and their spots could have gone to other kids who WOULD succeed there. </p>
<p>It was a stupid PC-Affirmative Action-type rule that should have been changed years ago.</p>
<p>karabee, I have tons of friends who got CAPd and many, not all, hate it. In a nutshell, they see it as pretty much a year of waiting for “something else” and don’t make an effort to have the true college experience. A lot of them feel like they essentially just lost a year. I know several people who like it though. I’m not a big fan of it but I can see where its merits lie.</p>
<p>As a former Texas resident, I see both sides to the 10% rule. Our city had 3 public high schools and two private high schools. Believe me, there were huge differences between the 5 schools. The students at the top of the poorest high school may really struggle at UT, but who would be to blame? They are the ones who will no longer be attending UT-Austin.</p>
I knew the bill had been passed in the Senate, but an admissions councelor from Texas Tech talked to my English class today and acted like the bill had gone all the way through. If it’s passed, it would only immediately effect UT though, wouldn’t it?</p>