Plan II 15% increase in early consideration applicants

Colleges & Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
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<p>Direct copy/paste from Plan II Admissions Blog:</p>

<p>THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008
December Early Consideration Notification
All the early consideration notifications have been mailed as of December 11, 2008. Remember, the University's mail system often adds one to two days to the usual time that US mail delivery takes, so most folks won't receive their mailing from Plan II until Tuesday, December 16 or Wednesday, December 17.</p>

<p>If you haven't received something from Plan II by Friday, December 19, and you know your application was complete by November 1, email me. Although I am officially on vacation the week of December 15--19, and the University and Plan II Honors are closed from December 22 through January 5, I will check email regularly. If your notification was lost in the mail, I will make a trip by the office to resend your notification.</p>

<p>We saw an increase of about 15% in the number of early applicants this year. Although we had originally planned to hold the number of admits to only 50, we admitted a few more than that due the higher percentage of applicants. We also deferred more early applicants than we had originally planned. </p>

<p>If you are deferred there is, unfortunately, no guaranteed date by which you will hear on your final Plan II admission status other than the final April 1, 2009 deadline. I know it's very hard to wait to hear. I also know it makes your tough choices and decisions harder when you don't have all your admission information. Hang in there...but continue to explore other options! There are no promises with the deferral. I sincerely hope you won't give up on Plan II, but I certainly don't want anyone to turn down good opportunities for the Plan II "maybe."</p>

<p>If it makes anyone feel any better, we're having a hard time too. Believe me, we can really relate to the problem of having tough choices to make. As is the case every year, Plan II is receiving very strong applications from so many exciting and interesting students it makes my head spin. We get really bummed out when we must deny and defer so many super neat, smart and talented applicants.</p>

<p>Remember: Plan II notification is strictly in writing from Plan II Honors via US Mail. Plan II admission decisions will NOT be reflected on the Status Check website. Most, if not all other admission decisions are available on the BeALonghorn Status Check website. Log on with your UT EID and password.</p>

<p>I've enjoyed getting to know you all through your emails and your applications. I've laughed often, learned a few things and even shed a tear here and there while reading your essays. I hope everyone has a very safe and a very happy holiday season. I know it will be happier for those who receive good news from Plan II, frustrating for those receiving a deferral and a little less festive for those who find a denial letter in the mailbox. But you all have my very best wishes for all things good, jennifer</p>

<p>Thought you all would appreciate this!
(p.s. hi lary)</p>

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<p>What a nice blog post - a nice message for the applicants. Good luck to those waiting to hear!</p>

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<p>I guess that’s more good news than bad news… Good luck to all & i hope for our sakes the postal is speedy!</p>

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<p>Dude… I was deferred.</p>

<p>I’m a National Semifinalist valedictorian with a 2350; my essays can’t have been terrible because I got into TASP and got preferment from the Cornell Branch Telluride Association. Maybe I’m just arrogant, but I feel a little awkward right now…</p>

<p>Whatever. I just hope they don’t reject my ass come March. I’m a Texas public schooler, and in-state tuition would be wonderful. :P</p>

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<p>^GAH that is frightening. how did you find out so early?</p>

<p>I applied to TASP last year and really wanted to get in… had two good essays and then wrote the other three in the two hours before it was due :frowning: so I guess it wasn’t meant to be. </p>

<p>honestly, you seem overqualified. I think since they’re taking such a small number for EC, they’re trying to get people who they think will actually matriculate. They probably expect you to get into and go to somewhere else amazing!</p>

<p>at least… that’s what I’m telling myself.</p>

<p>hmm but which TASP were you in?</p>

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<p>Oh, I’m an Austinite, so I live right in their backyard. Yay for speedy post! (Except in this case… Not so yay.)</p>

<p>Hehe, I hope so. I was like, holy crap, are those kids all published novelists with perfect scores? But good luck to you. :)</p>

<p>I was at UMich, the random science-y one. Ahh, this year’s TASP topics are so cool; I wish we could apply again. :/</p>

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<p>From another Austinite… daughter just opened the mail to find she was rejected. She’s a 2270 SAT, National Merit Commended, top 5%, with a great teacher rec (the teacher shared it) and what I thought were very good essays. Not even deferred… Hmmm, guess we’ll try to look on the bright side and consider it a clean break to the end of Plan II hopes.</p>

<p>At least she has that College of Communication acceptance under her belt.</p>

<p>Does anyone know how people find out about Liberal Arts Honors acceptances? Gotta hang onto something here… :(</p>

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<p>Aw, Austinhills, tell your daughter I know how she feels. :confused: I also applied to LAH… I don’t think there was anything on their website about notification.</p>

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<p>Hey thanks, lunar_years. I can’t believe you were deferred, btw. </p>

<p>Congrats on getting into TASP last year - that’s quite a feat. And it must also mean you are quite the essay writer. I know very little about TASP, but its description sounded a bit like a 6-week mini-Plan II experience. Daughter #2, a junior, is thinking of applying to TASP so will be faced with writing ~12 pages of essays over the holidays.</p>

<p>Anyway, good luck to you, lunar_years, and to all of you guys who applied EC. Hope you hear good news in the next day or two!</p>

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<p>lunar_years, have you tried looking at OU. LOL.</p>

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<p>Last year everyone in LAH heard at about the same time. I think it was in late Feb / early March.</p>

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<p>lunar_years, did you have decent ECs? Those are 20% of the criteria.</p>

<p>And the valedictorian + 2350 bit doesn’t really matter very much, because all numbers are only 20%.</p>

<p>Each essay is 20%. Remember that you aren’t being compared to a general applicant pool, you are being compared to an elite group of students, and what may be acceptable or even good otherwise is just average or below average in Plan II. Also, your essays may just not be what Plan II is looking for. Many students present gramatically correct but uninspiring writing. Plan II would like you to be gramatically proficient and write something memorable, as well as to use the English language to your advantage in making your point. It’s very likely you have done so, but remember that those whom you are up against have also very likely done so.</p>

<p>20% is “how Plan II are you.” Here, they want to see if your application shows that you will be a good fit for Plan II. They’re looking to see the commitment to learning for its own sake, for the broad range of subjects that Plan II offers. If you write about your buning desire to be a chemical engineer, and about how that’s all you really care about, and do it well, that’s great. But that isn’t what Plan II is looking for, even if you are incredibly smart. Plan II isn’t for everyone, and your application can really help show if Plan II is for you. They use the rec letters and ECs here, and also go back to your essays to see if they can find that quality.</p>

<p>I got in EC with a 2350 and top 3.5% last fall. My ECs were of a pretty good quality and I’d say I wrote decent essays (albeit at the last minute). I also did pretty well in the scholarship department at the end of it all.</p>

<p>My guess is that you should be good unless your essays were just really bland. My roommate didn’t hear back until early March and he had a 2300 on his SAT and was salutatorian in high school.</p>

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<p>Thanks, theloneranger, that’s good to know. :slight_smile: I’m not going to completely give up just yet, although the potential four-month wait will be very trying.</p>

<p>Hmm, I think my ECs were okay, although probably my weakest point. I’m the current 5A Literary Criticism state champion; not sure if out-of-state schools care about UIL stuff, but UT might, right? I also hold two editorial positions on the yearbook staff, and I’m an officer in a couple of clubs. I’ve gotten a few writing awards and publishing credits, but nothing uhmazing. And TASP might be a plus-- they namechecked Plan II on their website as a program with a similar approach to education.</p>

<p>So maybe my essays hurt me? They’re pretty traditional, and I tend to prioritize form over function sometimes. I also don’t do contentious or argumentative, so they’re kind of prose poem-y and subjective-- I feel like I never really have a “point”; I’m just writing to represent my subjective reality, which I never claim is anything like the objective truth. :P</p>

<p>One was about telephoning my grandmother in China on Christmas morning and not knowing what to say… It’s got these embedded song lyrics, which may or may not have been an epic-failure of a decision. :stuck_out_tongue: I also submitted an optional essay that paralleled my immigrant experience with Columbus’s first voyage, which sounds kind of stupid… But it was about how I’ve basically absorbed the mythos of Western culture, to such an extent that I now feel a deeper connection to it than I do with my own life history and the history of my “people”. And my issue essay was about my appreciation for math as a humanities student… I actually wrote another, better essay about the cultural implications of China’s opening to western trade (shown through my eyes as a tourist in Beijing), but I didn’t want to submit three “Asian” essays at the risk of sounding really Joy Luck. Hah, my second-choice major was East Asian Studies, though. :)</p>

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<p>I just checked my mail and I got accepted! I’m so happy! It was in a big manilla envelope that came with an admissions booklet. The best of luck to everybody else, I hope you all get good news even if it is after a deferral. Also, just remember the appeal letter. I read somewhere that if you get rejected, you can always write a letter to them for a last shot at it. So don’t give up hope. Now, to go pay my enrollment deposit…</p>

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<p>CONGRATULATIONS Deenz!..Hooook 'Em!</p>

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<p>Whoot, congrats Deenz!</p>

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<p>Deferred…NMSF, CR+Math=1490, decent essays, ECs etc.,Non-ranking in-state school…</p>

<p>Plan II seems to have admitted 60, may be deferred an equal number and rejected about 180 or so (letter says rejected majority of EC applicants)…The program graduates about 200 a year, so I would think they would admit about 200 to 250 this year…I know I am guessing a few numbers here…</p>

<p>This means another 180 or so would be admitted in the coming months…The question is what does this mean for the 60 or so who are deferred…what is the typical conversion percentage?..Is it more or less than say 50%?..</p>

<p>May be the very knowledgeable Lone Ranger has some idea…Any input will be appreciated…</p>

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<p>Hey guys, I just got my letter…I got in!!!</p>

<p>I’ll post my stats:</p>

<p>Decision:Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: 800 CR 740 M (1540)
SAT IIs: 740 Biology 740 World History 720 Math II
GPA: 4.0
Rank: 2/583
Other stats: Varsity Tennis 4 years top 30 5A school-captain, mvp, number 1, tons of outside school tennis, decathlon captain, health careers club president, local high school game show participant, some other stuff, nmsf, ap w/ distinction (7 4’s and 5’s), nhs, dar good citizen
Subjective:
Essays: Thought they were pretty good…
Teacher Recs: Good
Counselor Rec: N/A
Hook (if any): None
Location/Person:
State or Country: TX
School Type: Not very competitive public
Gender: Male
Other Factors: Undecided, I have a wide range of interests and expressed that in many places in my application.
General Comments: I’m very happy!!! Can’t believe it…Good luck to y’all.</p>

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<p>Conrats vin09!</p>

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<p>Congrats, vin09! And thanks for posting your stats. :)</p>

<p>Whoo, I so stalk this threat.</p>