My daughter is interested in applying to the Croft Institute, and I’m curious how competitive this program is. I read in an older post that they accept about 60 students per year. Not sure if that’s still the number, and I’m wondering about how many kids typically apply.
Here are my daughters general stats - any ideas on how competitive she is? She will also be applying to the Barksdale honors college. Would love to hear from any/all who have insights on the program.
GPA: 3.7/4/3 (unweighted/weighted)
Top 5% at competitive high school in Austin, TX
Will graduate with 6 years of Spanish
IB Diploma
Social Officer on Competitive Dance Team
National Merit Finalist (likely)
SAT: 1520
Decent EC’s - but not as much as some due to the demands of IB and highly competitive dance team
Hi! My son is interested in both of these programs as well. We visited the Honors College and Croft at the end of June. We were super impressed with what is offered at each. We were told that roughly 300 apply to Croft and about 70 are accepted- so approximately 25%. I don’t remember the numbers they told us for the Honors College but the rate was also about 25%. My son’s scores and grades are in line with what is posted as the class average, but I don’t know if all applicants have similar stats or if there is a true range among those who apply- meaning is this a reach or not for him?
It was mentioned that most who are accepted into Croft are also in the Honors College, and out of the 70 or so who start about 45 complete the program. We were told that if you are not serious about becoming proficient in another language this (Croft) is not the program for you.
Reaching out to the new admissions counselor for the Honors College is a great idea. She was super helpful- particularly because she is a recent grad of both Croft and the Honors College. Hope this helps a bit.
@OriginalSmother - thanks so much for the info. I will reach out to the new honors college counselor, that’s a good idea. We visited last year and met with the former counselor, and the former Croft admissions counselor. Out of curiosity, are you guys from MS, or a different state? We are from Texas. Just curious, because I understand that there is a bit more representation from different states in these programs than there is in university, in general. Hopefully we can keep our dialogue open to share information.
We are from Texas too. I didn’t even think to ask about the balance between in state and out of state students. That would be good info to have. S is trying to get all of Ole MIss extra application pieces done before other schools open 8/1. It’s a lot of work!
I did talk to Connor Phillips in the honors college. She told me that about 50% of the students who apply to honors get accepted, but only half of those students enroll. So, 25% of the applicants attend. That sounds a little better, gives us a little bit of breathing room. My daughter is on a church trip, but she is going to try to get the Ole Miss app finalized next week. Not sure she will be able to complete both honors and Croft apps next week, but hopefully she can the week after.
Oh I’m so glad I misunderstood! That is much better. I’m not sure my son will get his done either. He is headed to a two week program at Miami of Ohio, but we have a long car ride. In my mind that’s a great opportunity to work on an essay, but in his not so much. He is waiting on a response from one of his teachers about writing the rec letter, so we haven’t hit submit on the initial special scholarship portion of the application. We can’t seem to access the prompt for Croft or Honors- not sure if it’s user error or the first portion has to be submitted before you can move on to the next.
You do have to submit the application to the university before the application will be available for special programs like Croft and honors. Has he done that? It seems like I remember seeing specific instructions about that - like maybe you get an account login that you use to apply for honors and Croft?? But I may be confusing that with a different school.
Yes, the general application is complete, and then he was able to start the special scholarship/program section. It seems that the general part of that (just the scholarships) must be completed before you can open the Honors or Croft tab. I was just thinking it would be nice to see all of the prompts for planning purposes. Oh well. He’s not worried about it. Wish I could say the same. :-SS
@OriginalSmother --D still hasn’t completed honors or Croft, but she is getting closer. She had full time dance last week, so things are slowing down a bit. How about your S, has he had a chance to finish the apps yet?
@crazy4info - S finally submitted the scholarship portion earlier this week, so he now has access to Honors. But as of right now, he hasn’t started writing- not even sure he’s given the prompt much thought. He has decided that he doesn’t want to apply to Croft. I think his interest in Psychology is growing and so he thinks he wants to go that direction. He also has a strong interest in Photography/Graphic Design and wants to keep those avenues open as well. S hasn’t received his acceptance yet to Ole Miss because he is sitting for the ACT one more time, so his scores have not been sent.
We are in DFW. School starts next week, so it feels like crunch time. When do ya’ll start? Also, will your D apply anywhere in state? I’d like my son to apply to TAMU because he’s an academic admit and I think an in state emotional safety is wise. Not sure if that will happen- so far he is determined to leave Texas.
@OriginalSmother - School starts on the 21st here in Austin. My D is applying to Baylor where she will likely get a full tuition scholarship for NMF. She would need additional (and competitive) scholarships for Baylor to be a viable option. She will also apply to UT Austin, where she is an auto admit, but they don’t give any money for her stats, so it’s not really an option at all. She really loves the Croft program at Ole Miss. The program is really the main reason that she is even interested in international studies. She may or may not select that major at a different college. She wants to minor in film, but she would rather have film as a double major if Ole Miss should one day offer film as a major and not just a minor.
I’m sad that we won’t be able to share notes about the Croft application experience, but it’s great that your S is narrowing down what he wants to study!
@crazy4info - I was a little bummed too when he said he didn’t want to pursue Croft. It’s such an awesome program! I also think it pairs nicely with the intelligence minor that Ole Miss offers. S has an interest in that minor too, but a Psychology major would work with that. I didn’t know Ole Miss had a film minor; I need to let him know because that is another one of his interests. It’s going to be fun to watch how all of his seemingly disparate interests come together into a career. He’ll probably just end up being an accountant or something. Ha!
Baylor is a great school- we know lots of alum and current students. Awesome that your D will get their NMF scholarship! It’s going to be hard for any of us to find a school that can compete with the Ole Miss scholarships though. And acceptance into their special programs just makes the pot all the sweeter.
From what I’ve seen from other people admitted, special scholarship announcements are typically done in February or the first half of March. Should be any day now for Honors, Croft, and other special program scholarships.
@crazy4info Hi! I’ve applied to Croft this year myself and was wondering if your daughter decided to do the Croft program/if she likes it? I applied early to Honors and Croft (hoping I will get in!!) myself
Thanks!!
