Need Advice For My Appeal I'm submitting this week... THX

<p>Hey, I applied to UT, but got Cap'd instead. I really don't want to go to a sub-college for a whole year and would rather just go inthe Fall like everyone else, or do a summer program.</p>

<p>Anyways, I'm wondering what I should fax in with my appeal? They said to write about a paragraph only. But I dont know what to stress</p>

<p>I'm thinking of including this year's updates transcript, essays re-writter for fyi, and a request of change in major. And maybe some quick letters of rec. My rank went up about twenty people from the one they have.</p>

<p>Also, if I went up this week to the admissions office personally, would that have an affect on their decision??</p>

<p>-Thanks alot.</p>

<p>what are your stats?</p>

<p>SAT II Scores:
Mathematics Level 1 700<br>
Mathematics Level 2 600
SAT I Scores:
Critical Reading 570
Math 660
Rank Stats (Before):
High School Rank: 161 / 729 ; Received: 12/12/2005
Rank Stats (Now, I think.):
High School Rank: 132 / 741
Courses:
Period1.) Calculus AB/AP (1
Period2.) Computer Science 1K AP
Period3.) Economics AP
Period4.) Yearbook (Editor)
Period5.) English 4 AP
Period6.) WldGeo K</p>

<p>I'm getting my updated transcript tomorrow. That's my high school rank from memory. I know for a fact thats the # of students there now b/c I saw someone else's. But tomorrow I will get avg's and rank for sure.</p>

<p>Any suggestions? Thx</p>

<p>no offense man but i have a friend who is 98/564(about same as you) and his SAT score was way higher and he also got CAP'ed. he took all ap/honors classes throughout high school too. it's just that too many 10% kids are going to UT these days..not enough room for those who really deserve it.</p>

<p>yeah, and I have a friend too that is ranked 243 exactly with a total of 1140 SAT scores. Makes C's and B's in k-level classes.</p>

<p>He got in... But he applied in jauary. I did it in november. They say it doesn't, but I'm pretty sure when you applied has some kinda effect on it.</p>

<p>-And I asked before if anyone had any suggestions that might help. I know people get in with lower and higher scores than me. I'm not them. Anyways, sucks for your friend. Wonder what happened. My schools is kinda hard. It's rated #1 Score-Wise in Houston in all public school districts.</p>

<p>thx</p>

<p>"it's just that too many 10% kids are going to UT these days..not enough room for those who really deserve it."</p>

<p>Maybe the people who actually tried and maintained their 10 % status in high school deserve it more than someone who has horrible stats and slacked off-no matter how many honors or ap classes he took. Very few people in top 10% DONT deserve it!</p>

<p>krishnasb - you make a blanket statement that may be true for some schools but not for others. </p>

<p>I think I know which school district crewxp is in and if I am correct, the weighting system is very unfair. A senior who is in AP Calc BC who gets a B is to be congratulated for a job well done...but in our school district that senior will rank behind the senior who gets an A in K level Algebra II. (K is below Honors, Pre-AP or AP). Neither senior is slacking, but one is definitely more prepared and perhaps more deserving of a space at UT.</p>

<p>"Maybe the people who actually tried and maintained their 10 % status in high school deserve it more than someone who has horrible stats and slacked off-no matter how many honors or ap classes he took. Very few people in top 10% DONT deserve it!"</p>

<p>Ok, I vast number of kids are smart and do deserve it. But what about those kids who have 2.8 gpa's and just somehow happen to be top 10% at their school? You can't argue that's not plausible because it happens every year. Their standardized test scores reflect their real capabilities but that doesn't even matter. Also, A LOT of kids at my school are smart..but they lack ANY extra curriculars or community service hours..and yet they are accepted simply because it is the law. Is that fair?</p>

<p>thx so much ldmom for that comment, i appreciate it. It's a big difference from what these two guys have posted. Yes, I know the world's reality, and I know I could've done better. But in my opinion, I still accomplished something.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any advice towards what to include on my appeal?
Thx</p>

<p>good luck, but dont hold your breath. If people who got into NYU and Rice have been rejected/CAP'd, your chances are slim to none of having this reversed.</p>

<p>i called UT today because i got CAP'ed too... they actually pulled up my stats and said that i was n excellent candidate...barely out of 10%... the only reason they offered CAP is because they want me but dont have enuf space. they said that they have admitted 11000 students total... expecting 8000 to actually go to UT... no waitlist at all...i dunno if you can actually appeal... let me know if u can! also there is no correalation with when u turned in your application n when it was evaluated. i asked them .... they didnt answer straightforward-ly... either they dont have a systematic evaluation method (i doubt) or they dont want to tell us.... so basically i figured that it just depends on luck...if youre worthy n graded early well n good but if u r worthy n graded late then too bad... that life 4 u</p>

<p>My son took all ap and magnet classes and has a B average - he has 790M, 800V 670W 800 SAT II Physics 800 SAT II Math. He has completed 7 math classes and 6 science classes. He is in the school with the brightest and most competitve kids in the district. He will enter college with about 37 hours of college credit by exam. He got CAPed. No doubt he slacks, but you want to tell me that someone that attended Knuckle Draggers' High and took all regular classes which include basket weaving and math for motards is better prepared for college and has a beter chance at success? No way...</p>

<p>Plenty of the top 10%ers are excellent students that took top classes - those probably mostly go to more prestigious schools than a public state university.</p>

<p>My daughter goes to a differnent high school and takes only half of the honors classes. She is skating through school. She is a very smart kid - my son runs circles around her. If he went to that same school and took a similar load, he would have NEVER been exposed to anything he didn't already know and could have slept through school and made straight A's. I advised him a while back to transfer to an easier school, but no - he wanted the magnet education and certificate. Much good that will do him now as he heads off to an institution of lower learning... I graduated in the top 10% of my class and it was a joke - I wasn't applying myself at all.</p>

<p>I understand the logic behind the top 10% rule. But I have to think that it is ultimately going to create a very different reputation for UT and mess up some of the most gifted kids...</p>

<p>We live - we learn.</p>

<p>SATDudesmama...Wow! I'm shocked and sickened by your post. I agree with you totally...this "top" 10 thing has GOT to change. It's really not doing anyone any favors...quite the opposite. So what is your son planning on doing?</p>

<p>berly - he is going to suck it up and go to UTSA and take some of the the core stuff he won't test out of and some basket weaving type stuff to maintain the required 3.2 and hopefully apply one of the lessons he has learned from this experience. </p>

<p>He didn't have many schools he wanted to go to and because of his class ranking, had no chance for the better schools he was interested in (he also just turned 17 and was more interested in staying close to home). So, unless he applies to some of the later app date state schools, this is it. As far as I know the only ones in the state with a decent looking incoming freshman class is UT Dallas and A&M (the latter holds absolutely no interest for him).</p>

<p>This top 10% rule should help improve the profile of the incoming classes at the CAP choices though...</p>

<p>im not saying saying that everybody in the top 10% deserve it, but most people still do...you guys are talking about a very small percentage of people. the desrict right next to mine (plano), you have to have like a 4.0 just to be in the top 10%, but i still stand by that most in that area are better suited...i will agree that this isnt that fair and it should be more like top 5-7% should be *********ted</p>

<p>Again, it's just a nonsensical system. Doesn't it seem logical that if one is going to have a statewide system of admission based solely on rank and therefore gpa, that one should make sure the gpa, and therefore rank, is computed in a standardized manner?</p>

<p>SATDudesmoma -</p>

<p>I was wondering, what major your son is getting into and if he has a rough idea of the classes he will take. I was looking at the CAP classes at UTSA and i think ill end up taking calc1/calc2(i assume calc is only one semester each?), anthropology/psych, chinese1/chinese2(i'm chinese..so that's an easy A),a goverment class,english comp1/comp2</p>

<p>j281 - </p>

<p>My son hasn't gotten that far enough to figure out which classes. He is interested in either computer science or pure math. </p>

<p>I don't think I would recommend that he take any of his major classes at UTSA because I feel like he might not be as well prepared for the upper level classes he will attempt at UT. </p>

<p>He already has AP credit for 2 Calc classes I think, and probably government. I am going to recommend that he take his Spanish there and maybe some history and whatever he doesn't place out of for English. He is taking the AP exam for that too. He is not very fond of the course work for english classes, so I guess it might be best to get that out of the way there too. All this is just me guessing though because, like I said, he hasn't even looked at that yet and it is not my decision. :)</p>

<p>SATDUDESmama Honestly I feel bad for your son, however I believe theres more to the story than you are telling. For example, When did your son apply? When did they recieve all his materials? We have a magnet school here in Plano, and I've seen kids from top 50% get into UT regular. They applied early because it is rolling. obviously your son is bright with that kind of SAT score.</p>

<p>"also there is no correalation with when u turned in your application n when it was evaluated. i asked them .... they didnt answer straightforward-ly... either they dont have a systematic evaluation method (i doubt) or they dont want to tell us.... so basically i figured that it just depends on luck...if youre worthy n graded early well n good but if u r worthy n graded late then too bad... that life 4 u"</p>

<p>I turned my application in very near the deadline and was accepted, even though I'm out of top 10%, so I really don't think it matters when your application was turned in.</p>

<p>I, too, strongly disagree with this Bill 588 business (the state law that guarantees admission for kids in the top ten 10% of their class). It's very unfair, especially because good students at highly competitive schools (such as mine) have a smaller chance of being accepted than those with decent grades at a not-so-competitive school in the middle of nowhere. Is there some sort of petition against this? I'd be surprised if there wasn't.</p>