My daughter got ACT of 32, tough high school graduate with class rank of 9.7%, GPA 4.3. Texas resident. Was rejected from UT Austin! Seriously?
Of course not s/he’s not kidding.
UT admits top 7% students (not to their major, just to the University). The student was top 9.7% and therefore is automatically admitted to any Texas university except UT, which is the flagship and logically is more selective than the other universities.
Once the top 7% have been admitted, 25% spots are left for top 10% students, OOS students, athletes, etc.
OP : surely she was admitted to other universities in Texas, and perhaps applied to other universities outside Texas?
@mdking323 I am sorry your daughter was not admitted. Sometimes the admissions decisions don’t seem to make sense because none of us has access to all the other things that are considered in holistic review. The top 7% of Texas in-state students are admitted to the university, but not to their major. Then there are the students not in the top 7%, OOS students, international students, etc. It is about more than an ACT/SAT score and class rank. I hope your daughter finds her best fit and blossoms! Good luck to her!
If you’re out of state that completely makes sense. UT Austin is ridiculously hard to get into like many other top state schools if you aren’t in state, even with decent stats.
I’ve gotta admit I have read the stats about the students who have been admitted to UT, both to the school and to the majors, and seen the stats of the students who did not and many times it makes no sense to me. I have seen great students turned down and students with significantly lower stats be admitted to some of the most competitive majors. I consider admittance to UT and to your major a lottery. I’m sorry for your daughter and I hope you had a backup plan that she will be happy with.
I though UT Austin was easy to get into… But maybe I got into CSE because I’m a female, Asian OOS applicant.
@futurerapg0d, I’ve known many students with higher stats than yourself that did not get accepted especially to CSE. Be thankful that you won the lottery and I wish you all the best at UT.
@GTAustin, thank you. I also got into Calpoly SLO. How does CSE compare to their engineering?
@futurerapg0d If you’re OOS, I would probably choose Cal Poly, but that’s coming from a CS major. For BME, however, Cockrell does have a good program (top 20). If I were you, I would aim for UCSD due to cost, but UT is excellent for BME among state schools.
@mdking323 Was your daughter offered PACE or CAP?
@mdking323 There are a lot of threads about high stat kids not getting into UT if they were not in the top 7%. Those are the rules that UT has to follow.
I assume that she was offered CAP? Just do CAP for a year at UT - SA and then transfer to UT.
My friend was capped with a 1540/1600 SAT and 34 ACT. Also, he’s in the top 10% of a competitive Texas high school. If he can deal with it, so can you.
You guys are making my point. You can never count on getting into UT or getting into your major a safety - it is always a reach. They are turning away too many great students.
I am a prospective in-state transfer and have emailed the admissions office regularly with questions. I have even asked them about my own stats and they have been very polite to tell me that they do holistic reviews. With that said, UT Austin wants to create a diverse learning environment. I believe that if a student cannot offer more than just good grades, there’s a chance you are just another number to them. Good grades and genuine personal experiences are the way to go.
The only way to be sure you are getting in is to be an instate, top 7% applicant. Anyone else is fighting over the remaining 25% (in-state over 7%, OOS, International, etc.), and its a crap shoot.
Just to be accepted, you need to be top 7% applicant but then you have to admitted to your major. Many students are under the perception if you get admitted to UT, you will get your major. That is not true even for very high stats students. I have seen valedictorians not get admitted to their major and more than one from competitive HSs.
Not complaining at all, but here is where we are with UT, my daughter’s class of 384 at a well known high school this year had only 3 people admitted to UT, all were in the top 7 percent. One kid got capped at 7.13 percent with a ACT of 34 There were a number of cap people in top 10 percent with high gpa and test scores including my daughter. AT A&M, things were not a lot better, 3 full admits and about 5 blinn team and 1 gateway. All in that same group. It is getting very difficult to gain admission to these schools for in state kids. The current system really does bind up these schools now and needs change. The really bad part is that a number of our other schools are now competing with OSU, and Arkansas for Texas kids. I hope that we can somehow make going to Tech, Houston or UNT appealing to the kids not getting into UT or A&M.
If she’s interested in STEM: With an ACT 34 she’d qualify for the excellent Collegium V program at UTD as well as AES scholarship.
Agreed, UTD is a great choice for STEM. If only my kid could do CS there and music at UNT! I actually looked into that, but, no. So the state university system is a bust for us.
That system is a bit screwy. I guess by admitting a cross section of schools equally the ensure diversity, esp now that other ways of doing so cannot be done? Don’t know. People do actually move to a lower performing district to ensure the are in the top 7%…