<p>The Texas Senate will be voting on Senate Bill 175 by Senator Florence Shapiro. SB 175 would limit enrollment of top 10% students to 50% of entering freshman classes. House Bill 52 by Representative Dan Branch would put a cap at 40% of entering Freshman classes. Should you want additional information regarding both bills, please contact Leticia Acosta at 877-839-2739. The bills may change form through the legislative process but we do support a cap.</p>
<p>Please call or email senators and representatives you know no later than Noon, Wednesday March 18th, 2009 and ask her or him to VOTE FOR Senate Bill 175 or House Bill 52. Please use the Texas Legislative Web site, Texas</a> Legislature Online, to contact your representative/senator directly from this site.</p>
<p>Thank you for your attention to this important matter.</p>
<p>I looked up the actual text of the House Bill. </p>
<p>The text says that if the number of top ten percenters applying
The Senate Bill wording is fairly similar. So, first they would admit the top 2%, then 3%, then 4%, etc., until it seemed like 40% of the class will be filled with automatic admits.</p>
<p>In my opinion, this would probably yield a California- or Florida-like admission rule for UT, where the top 4% would end up being admitted automatically. And for A&M, it might be the top 7% or something like that, maybe… And the rank needed for each school could change every year as other Texas colleges become more desirable.</p>
<p>ag54 explained on another thread that this is similar to how UT currently fills 75% of the business school and the engineering school.</p>
<p>Nevermind, I found the bill.
The top 10% rule will basically become a law requiring UT to accept the highest % rank of students from Texas for at least 50% of the incoming class, right? It basically makes 10% irrelevant because it likely will be able to fill 50% of the incoming class before using people at or below 10% and then the rest of the class they can pick and choose.</p>
<p>Except it’s better than CA 4% rule because it has the potential to become even more exclusive in the future. I like how the business school does it, and after all, look where it got the business school; nationally ranked - top 5 for the major degrees.</p>
<p>I think it means the top 10% can only make up half the freshman class. </p>
<p>I haven’t a clue what the cap at 40 % means.</p>
<p>That would stink if they imposed any changes for the next couple years of freshmen. The state promised, no contracted, with the current high school students that if they worked their behinds off for 4 years and made the top 10% then they would be accepted to a state university of their choice. The current high schoolers have held up their end of the deal. Texas should hold up their end of the deal. It’s WRONG to change the rules in the middle of the game for these students. Change the rules for next year’s high school freshmen (currently 8th graders), but not the current students.</p>
<p>Txbass - Tell that to the Texas Education Agency who is trying to change the GPA calculation to make it a statewide standard. I don’t know if you know this but - </p>
<p>Currently, as it reads, the new rule will not affect those who are freshmen now, BUT it does affect those who are taking highschool courses in 8th grade now (very little known, but could have huge implications for 8th graders!!) ie if an 8th grader is taking highschool algebra or foriegn language, the grade they make as an 8th grader WILL count towards their GPA. </p>
<p>Txbass, they already have changed the rules for this year’s incoming freshmen class by cancelling the summer freshmen program…UT will continue to do whatever they can to get this law changed and it may not be pretty…</p>
<p>I agree SWTCAT - they’re going to keep pressing until it changes - and it’s very likely to get ugly.</p>
<p>Also, just as a counterpoint to txbass’s argument - for kids who are all around good students (holistically good - ie good test scores, rigorous coursework, outstanding extra curriculars, etc. - the things that colleges around the country consider qualities that make up a diverse and academically qualified class) this rule change won’t matter one bit!!!</p>
<p>Those 8th graders aren’t in hs yet. Yes, my kids took 8th grade hs classes but at many schools those classes are just given CR and it’s not included in their GPA.</p>
<p>This is a major slap in the face for all current Juniors.</p>
<p>If your 8th grader is in a Texas middle school, it doesn’t matter what your district did or does, they are making it UNIFORM across the state - probably next year. If your kid is in hs now, it won’t matter to him or to you, but it IS affecting those who are in 8th grade now, and they had no warning.</p>
<p>My point is that not all things are fair - so if you don’t like what’s happening write your representatives and tell them your viewpoint.</p>
<p>My junior kid is IN the top 10% (and hopefully will stay there unless he tanks this semester) and I have a kid at UT who got in under the top 10% rule, but I still want the rule to change because I believe strongly that it is detrimental to the state’s education system. </p>
<p>We will never be able to keep the “best and brightest” if we’re forcing them to go elsewhere! Nor will UT (and soon A&M) be able to move up in reputation among the top US universities if they are not able to choose the makeup of the class based on ALL the qualities that make up a good student.</p>
<p>And to add - I believe strongly enough in my son’s other attributes that he can bring to the table (beyond his top 10% rank) that I don’t feel he needs the “contract” of getting in strictly because he is top 10%. I’d like to see him get admitted because of ALL his merits - not just his rank…</p>
<p>Honestly, most likely even if the top 10% rule goes away, the majority of the admits will be from the top 10%, because they are good students and have the qualifications that UT is looking for…I want to see it go away for the same reasons that AG54…I think it is detrimental to higher education in Texas.
UT should be able to look at more than just class rank…they should be able to look at the “whole student” and then make a determination. Those students that are top 10% AND have good test scores, EC’s, etc are STILL going to get in.</p>
<p>The whole idea of the top 10% policy is to provide better students (i.e., those in the top 10% of their class) from the underprivileged and other areas in TX with a guaranteed admission to any public university in TX. I think we should still have a similar policy to protect those good underprivileged students but make sure that such a policy is not detrimental to a university’s ability to achieve its own missions and objectives. The legislature shouldn’t have a 100% control on admissions. Give each university some room to work with to achieve the optimum condition. I believe this can be done through the implementation of the new bills so hopefully they will pass.</p>
<p>I’m am sorely against any change for the students who are in high school now. They should be grandfathered in. As was said earlier, it is WRONG to change the rules that the students and parents have been playing by in the middle of the game. UT’s President is the main one behind the changes. He let it slip a few days ago that it was limiting his recruitment of football players but he’d be the first one yelling if the rules were changed during 4th quarter with OU.</p>
<p>It’s a good idea. The top-10% is getting ridiculous. 80% of UT freshman are top-10%. Of course some of them probably got in anyways, but some wouldn’t have. UT’s reputation is taking a hit because of. This move will improve the strength of the UT brand and allow the university to build a stronger class. </p>
<p>The quality of education across public Texas high schools are too widely spread. Students not in the top-10% of top schools can sometime transfer to a lower-quality school and get in top 10 (not just top-10%).</p>