@CMR1997 I’m still trying to get someone to respond to my query about being grouped with OOS. First email sent to “high school rep” – Second email sent today to general admissions address - tried calling 4 times yesterday and never got through. grrr
@BlueBayouAZ A student from my school was accepted into STANFORD and was capped by UT
I think that the amount of UT CAP decisions that went out were a representation of the problem of space rather than the problem of the students themselves. The top 7% rule must have taken most of the space on this year’s new class.
I’ve been less than impressed with the whole admissions process at A&M, and I’m a die-hard Aggie. My daughter got full-admit to Purdue, which on the whole is ranked right up there with UT ahead of A&M (according to USNews rankings).
We are the only state that has the Top 10% rule which changes the dynamic significantly.
Even though I’m very frustrated with a&m’s admissions process, I really do believe they are trying to take their time to make sure that they are admitting kids that deserve to be there. They are likely going to have to make some tough decisions. They’ve had a record number of applications this year AND they’re having to reduce the size of their freshman class. We just need to have a little faith & stay positive! We are all going to be fine!
@texag92 Spot on. My wife is fit to be tied. Our D #2 applied almost 7 months ago. Lots of acceptances from all the alternative usual suspects already. Family has become very frustrated, lots of angst with the process and delay in getting a decision from A&M Admissions. D#1 graduates from A&M in May, of course we’re excited about that . . . . Niece #2 graduated from A&M last May. Of course I went to undergrad and grad school at A&M too, as did my sister. So as a die hard Aggie family, it is really tough to go through this process.
Response today from Admissions in an AIS question:
Howdy,
Admission decisions for students in review are made throughout the application period. Final decisions will be announced in mid- to late- March for fall admission through the Applicant Information System (AIS). We appreciate your patience.
Please continue to check your AIS page for any updates to your record.
My wife is getting close to pulling the trigger on moving towards preparing to go to another institution, I just don’t know how much longer she’ll be able to hang on.
I looked up US News 2019 engineering rankings last night. Among traditional doctorate-granting schools (not the specialty engineering schools), Georgia Tech, perennially strong among public schools, is #4. Purdue, Cornell, and UT are all tied at #9. This represents a step up for UT. TAMU is currently tied with another group at #14. TAMU has several individual engineering departments in the top 10 nationally. See https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering for some individual department breakout rankings.
Based on all the OOS denials, etc., this year, I think we could expect UT to start again to get legislation passed to reduce their top 7% (or whatever the number is this year) rule. The school has stated that it cannot reach higher ranking without pulling in more super talented OOS students.
I have not investigated rankings in other areas. I thought I was writing on the Engineering Admissions thread here, my bad.
@AggieMomhelp I hadn’t thought much about that (where one falls in q2). So, do you think they take into consideration things like students who just barely missed q1?
@rdhdstpchld I tried to direct message you, but the option isn’t there! Are you able to direct message me regarding OOS?
@texag92 @AggieDreamin I’m an Aggie ('97), now living out of state, and I’ve learned a lot through this process about the Top 10% law. The intentions are good, but, in my opinion, it’s not working. There’s a Texas Monthly article from 2001, just 4 years after the law went into effect, called “Imperfect 10”. The headline says, “Your kid may be smart, but if she isn’t in the top tenth of her class, she may not get into UT or A&M. Don’t despair. Try Harvard.”
https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/imperfect-10/
There is another very interesting article about the Top 10% law here: https://apps.texastribune.org/price-of-admission/
@treytexag Advise your wife to join this forum! It’s helping me stay sane & not add to my son’s stress about the process. I love Texas A&M, and have managed to raise a son in MICHIGAN who loves A&M and who wants to be an Aggie & a Texan, and is a few class rank spaces away from being an academic admit. It’s gut-wrenching to think that it’s quite possible that he won’t have that opportunity, or, if he does, probably not as a full admit and not as a business major, which may turn him to other schools, even though he has the tools to succeed at A&M. You’re not alone in your anguish!
@texag92 My son is full-admit to Purdue as well. 
College of Business & in the major he selected. We’re going to visit for the first time in a few weeks. It’s within a 4 hour drive of us, which would be nice to have him relatively close, but I’d still rather he be an Aggie, of course… Is your daughter considering attending?
I think the 7% needs to be relooked, as the population of the major cities in texas has had a big effect; factor in all of the families moving from strong educational areas (was reading an article about how wealthy california folk are moving to texas in droves b/c of ca taxes etc.) Just something to think about; auto admit is a strange animal anyway; seems like a huge pool when you think about it
@CMR1997 She is considering Purdue. We will visit them on 3/25. She also got into Indiana and that is actually at the top of her list right now. They are both ranked fairly high for Psychology, which is what she wants to study.
Thanks for the articles on the top 10%. I’ve never agreed with that law and I think they should take into account the whole student…always. A lot of our kids go to highly competitive schools where you aren’t even in the top half with a 3.5/4.0 GPA. That’s National Honor Society level kids that aren’t getting into A&M because they aren’t ranked high enough. State really needs to reconsider this.
@treytexag Interesting that Admissions says they are making decisions throughout the period. Seems like there has only been a trickle for students other than engineering.
Good luck to everyone! At least we’re all in the same boat.
@everybody Can you even imagine, though, what the criteria would be for culling out applicants if they did away with the top 7%/10% rule? They say they had record # of applicants - imagine 40+k applications to cull through and review holistically. I guess other universities nationwide are doing so - even so, I wonder what the appeal would be to retain native Texan students if they did do away with that law (if not for the in-state tuition, of course).
edited to add: I hope there isn’t someone on CC with that username LOL
@nervousmommy and @AggieMomhelp I’ve been under the impression that admissions review only see the applicant’s quartile and nothing more specific. As an example, do we think they know if an applicant is second quartile and 30% as well? I’ve read conflicting answers to this question and I’m confused.
@papimama501 My understanding is they see your rank if you are given a rank from your school. So 40/500 etc. If you are from nonranking, then they see Q1 or Q2 etc. I believe this to be true in the past because people with same test scores and different ranks within the top quarter have been given different offers.
@nervoustamumommy I didn’t see your post to me, sorry. Yes, if they can see rank, then I think falling just shy of top quarter is considered. They use as much information as they can.
A lot of us are all for training Texan students, absolutely, especially as Texas has historically not been the strongest area academically. I wouldn’t say that UT should have free rein to do away with the 7% (or so) rule, not at all. But turning away all these really good students says something about how many applicants they have–and what are they to do? The state needs more highly credible schools. I appreciate the fact that UTD and Texas Tech are coming right along getting really good students now, for example.
@AggieMomhelp @papimama501 seems like they’d have to notice it and possibly take it into consideration being that it shows your exact rank on AIS. I would imagine someone right outside the top 25% percent would be a smidge less difficult for admission compared to someone with a rank way outside of q2, but who knows.
@aggiemomhelp One other question re: rank - do you think that maybe they even consider class size? My son got updated rank of 122/976 (submitted rank was 126/931) - do you think they even look at how large his class is? Just wondering - maybe a very minute factor but still factored in somewhat?
@MomHopesNxtGenAg I think that the big schools try to do that through all the “satellite” or “sister” schools - it’s just that those schools don’t carry the reputation that UT or TAMU have. Maybe if those schools would work to raise their standards (education, admissions, staff, facilities, etc) like UT and TAMU have, people would be more compelled to go to those schools? There are so many variables that come into play here but I really think that reputation and national rank are what makes these schools “the place to go”.