Plan II?

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
1

<p>Hey everyone! This is my first post in the UT forum, so be nice ;)
All right, I live in Austin, and I'm a valedictorian. Therefore:
a) I'm automatically into UT and..
b) my first year is free</p>

<p>However, the ONLY way I will choose to stay in Texas is if I get into Plan II. Otherwise, I'm headed to Duke, Georgetown, or Vandy (or hopefully one of the Ivies).</p>

<p>ANYway, all that being said, I need to know my chances of getting into Plan II Honors. I know it's pretty competitive, but I'd like to know what you guys (preferably UT students or alumni) think of my chances! Thanks!!</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 UW (Small private school does not weight classes (and see AP section), but I have taken all the hardest courses available.</p>

<p>Rank: Val, but only out of a class of 40 ^</p>

<p>SAT I: 1st Sitting: 2120
2nd Sitting: 2220
Superscore: 2220 b/c my 2nd sitting, I improved in every section lol</p>

<p>SAT IIs: finding out tomorrow/this morning! I'll edit later</p>

<p>APs: Here's the bad part: my school doesn't provide "AP" classes. My courseload is very rigorous and college-prep worthy, but they're not designated "AP." Anyway, I took the AP Lit test this spring independently (that score comes in sometime this month). Next Spring, I plan on taking AP Language Comp and AP Calc independently as well.</p>

<p>Academic Awards:
none like Intel/Siemens that are hooks, but:
National Merit (I'm on the border of CS and SF, we'll see.....)
Furman Scholar
Wofford Scholar
Sewanee Book Award for Promising Writers
various schoolwide class awards...summa cum laude...etc.</p>

<p>ECs:
-Speech and Debate (NFL) is my big one b/c I have awards on the regional, state, and national levels. Coincidentally, I actually got recruited for the UT Speech and Debate team by current students, but I don't think I want to do it in college lol
-Varsity basketball for 2 years
-Theatre (lead roles in every production)
-Mock Trial for 2 years (Lead Attorney)</p>

<p>Comm. Service:
-volunteer counselor at summer camp for underprivileged minority kids for 3 summers
-volunteer tutor for above kids ^</p>

<p>basic work experience:
Chick-fil-A for my freshman summer LOL
Basic sit-down restaurant for 2 summers
(30 hrs-a-week at both)</p>

<p>also, I write a lot. I'm still deciding whether I should actually send in my work as supplemental material, or just mention it as a passion of mine.
I hope this leads to great essays (if Star* or any of the other CCers who read my EC short answer are around, they saw my work)</p>

2

<p>The academic part is solid. UT doesn't superscore, so your score will be 2220, and you'd have to improve that composite to change it. But that score is very respectable and will be fine for Plan II. Your grades are excellent. I do not believe Plan II will fault you because your school does not offer AP courses, and the fact that you've taken AP exams on your own is a big help in itself. But academics are only 20% of the criteria.</p>

<p>Another 20% are the ECs, and those again look solid. They aren't expecting everyone to be a Intel/Siemens winner (and as a majority-Liberal Arts program I don't know how much that would help) but what you have looks good. Again, though, it's only 20%.</p>

<p>Each essay is 20%. Your writing will make or break you. I'd take my time on my essays, get them proofed and put a lot of thought into them. I took the cocky approach and wrote them in a comined 3 hours the night before the deadline, and it worked out beautifully for me (somehow they got me scholarship money) but that's NOT a risk I would ever advise anyone to take. Even if you consider yourself a naturally talented writer, make sure to proof your work and ask for help with ideas, because otherwise it could bite you in the butt.</p>

<p>The other 20% is "how Plan II are you" and in all honesty I don't really know what all goes into that. There's a list on the website, but I don't know what you can do to affect it.</p>

<p>I think based on what I've read here you will be okay, but it's become more and more difficult to get in to Plan II each year so I don't know. I think that you've got a good shot as long as you write solid essays.</p>

3

<p>Wow! That's fantastic! Writing is probably my best skill, so that's amazing news! I haven't written any essays yet, but would you mind reading my 150-word ECs short answer for the Common App, just to get a feel if I'm good enough?</p>

4

<p>I believe plan II only reads your Honors App? I'm not sure about that though...</p>

5

<p>No they definitely read your essays A and B (traditionally they had a separate Plan II "book essay" which replaced A but this year they didn't do that) and each one of those is 20% of your total score.</p>

<p>The honors app stuff is included in the "how Plan II is the applicant" section of the score.</p>

6

<p>I'm also a Plan II student. I just got back from orientation today and it was flat out amazing. I can tell you through three years of intense and dedicated research that if you get into Plan II you will NOT regret declining admissions from schools like Duke, Vandy, etc. I turned down U Chicago and I'm not disappointed at all. To give you an idea of the caliber of faculty I sat in on a mock tutorial course with Dr. Stoff, the head chair of P2, which centered around the discussion of the nuclear bomb. After an hour of interacting with both Dr. Stoff and the surrounding core of students (around 20) my intellectual stimulation had climaxed beyond anything I can describe to you, beyond any high school course etc. etc. This enviornment is amazing and your credentials certainly look fantastic. If you want to take some major stress out of the next portion of your life (over the deliberation of what college to attend and what program you want to study) pick Plan II and never look back. There graduate placement rivals every Ivy and elite schools in the nation from Law, Medicine, and anything you could possibly imagine. If you want to ask more specific questions I'd be more than willing to assist you because I can't tell you what a burden was lifted after I made up my mind. Your credentials fit within the scope of Plan II students and the fact that you consider writing one of your strongest subjects will help you immensely. PM if you need any help or wish to know information on this program.</p>

7

<p>Haha at my orientation I was one of only 4 people at the Einstein tutorial with Dr Stoff.</p>