<p>Hi all, my son is a Texas high school junior who has just received his first standardized test scores (Nov SAT). He is going to apply for out of state admission to the College of Arts and Sciences as a history major. Can you guys honestly tell me what you think of his chances for admission are based on his current profile.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.7 (w)</p>
<p>Rank: Probably top 30%</p>
<p>SAT: 1970 as follows 720 Critical Reading; 580 Math; and 680 Writing (He plans on retaking SAT in Jan and then ACT for the first time in Feb. 2015)</p>
<p>SAT II World History Subject Test: 680 (He will take the US History Subject Test in June 2015)</p>
<p>AP World History: 5/5 (he plans on taking the US History & English AP Exam)</p>
<p>Hook: African-American Male</p>
<p>EC: Track freshmen year; Basketball manager sophmore year; and Cross Country junior year.</p>
<p>Part-Time Employment: Since June 2014, he has worked a part-time job working 10-12 hours a week at a fast-food establishment.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any advice or input that I receive from you guy</p>
<p>Hi @fatherof2boys , I’m a Texas senior and I was just admitted to the college of arts and sciences for psychology with very similar stats. I had a 3.62 GPA and 1960 SAT. I never took any SAT II tests, but I did take 3 AP exams (US history - 4, English language - 5, psychology - 5) by the time I applied, and noted on my application that I planned to take 5 more (gov, maceoeconomics, microeconomics, English literature, statistics). I had various ECs related to education, which I want to pursue. I wrote my essay about an experience I had during my junior year that inspired me to become a teacher. </p>
<p>I think your son will be fine! I would make sure to apply early action, because you will want to make sure you get some scholarships (National Buckeye), which can offset the cost of OOS tuition. </p>
<p>Thanks @Texas2Ohio for your response and congratulations on your admission!</p>
<p>My son does plan on applying for early admission for consideration of the National Buckeye and possibly MSP scholarship. I hope you don’t mind me asking; however, since your stats are very similar I’d like to ask you a few question.</p>
<p>First, can you tell me around when you applied for admission and how long it took to receive your notification that you had been admitted? My son would love to have an admission decision made before the winter break. That has to be an awesome feeling for you.</p>
<p>Second, a question about the National Buckeye Scholarship. Some of the other OOS schools that my son is considering applying to explicitly state that as long as the applicant meets certain metrics (a certain score on CR+Math portion of SAT, or composite ACT score) then they automatically qualify for certain OOS scholarships (Alabama, ASU, Arizona, Kansas). Is the National Buckeye Scholarship similar to those? Is it pretty much automatic as long as you have the requisite stats, or is the scholarship competitive? Do you know when the scholarship notification will occur? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your responses.</p>
<p>Sure, no problem 
I submitted my early action application on September 25th. By mid-October, my SAT scores, teacher recs, and transcript had been received (I rushed my SAT scores because I’m a bit of a control freak, but doing so isn’t necessary). I heard back about my acceptance during the first round of acceptances, on November 21st. </p>
<p>Considering the wording of the National Buckeye Scholarship description (on OSU’s website), it seems to me that this is an automatic scholarship designed to entice out of state kids to apply. This is the only scholarship that I qualify for automatically, since I am ranked 22% in my class (competitive Texas school…your son probably understands the struggle). So, i applied for MSP, despite my rank. I’m waiting to hear back from it, but I would advise any potential applicants to make sure they have made an attempt to promote diversity around their community. Maybe your son could start a diversity club it something, just so he has an edge for MSP. </p>
<p>If you want to know anything else, just let me know! </p>
<p>Yeah, I agree with you regarding the National Buckeye Scholarship being an automatic scholarship. The wording is more ambiguous than that used by some of the other schools my son is looking at; however, my suspicion is that it is an automatic scholarship meant to subsidize the cost for OOS students with superior SAT/ACT scores. </p>
<p>Similar to you, my son attends a highly competitive Tx high school. My wife and I both graduated from UT-Austin and, if he could get admitted there, that school likely would be his preferred destination. However, he is not in the top 7% ranking required for automatic admission that takes up 75% of admissions there. Therefore, he will have to compete with the applicant pool that is reserved for the remaining 25% of seats after the automatic admits.</p>
<p>Ohio State is probably the best school on our radar that provides the amount of automatic merit aid that would cushion the blow of paying OOS tuition with the Buckeye National Scholarship. Of course, if he were to qualify for MSP then it would even be cheaper than paying instate at UT-Austin.</p>
<p>I’m going to follow through on your suggestion and advise my son to form and/or join a diversity club. Since he is still a junior he can do so this Spring Semester and thus have a diversity experience that he can write about in his essay. Fortunately for him our school district opened up a new high school that he began attending at the beginning of his sophmore year which does not have many established clubs. His graduating class next year will be the first graduating class in the school’s history and a good EC activity for him would be if he was the founder of some type of diversity club at his high school such as a Model UN. </p>
<p>Admissions told me that everyone who met the criteria and submitted the application ahead of the deadline; received the NBS for Fall of 2014. If you did not meet the deadline, you did not receive it. Seemed to imply; but not promise, the same would be the case for Fall 2015. </p>
<p>Thanks @PennsyDad for the confirmation. That’s what I thought was the case. The $12,000 annual award will likely put OSU at the top of our list for out of state options. It’s not as generous as Alabama, but OSU is much more highly regarded respecting its academics. </p>
<p>Sure thing. With the NBS and possibly another $2k scholarship as well; OSU would be cheaper than in state at Penn State, but I think my son is leaning toward PSU at this point. We shall see. Good luck to you. </p>