<p>Hey, I'm a junior in a private high school at Oklahoma. I'm moving to Texas this summer and I'm going to a public school (Wylie High School) for my senior year. I want to get into University of Texas at Austin, and it seems my best bet is to get into the top eight percent of my class to get automatically admitted. </p>
<p>Taking the transition from a private school to a public one in another state is a different experience for me, and I'm not sure how it would affect my GPA and class rank. My private school is very competitive, and I have no idea how it'd be in this new high school. From what I hear and read, Wylie High School is simply an average school. </p>
<p>At my current private school, I have a GPA of 3.8 (simple) and a 4.3 (weighted). I am in the top 18% at this competitive school with about 180 students. My cousin who goes to Wylie says that it's not competitive and that I could probably get into the middle of the top ten percent. But I can't take her word for it and I need some more opinions.</p>
<p>HOWEVER...</p>
<p>I found out that Wylie High School determines GPAs differently than my private school, and I've converted my private school GPA into Wylie's system. My new simple GPA is 3.8 and my weighted GPA is a 4.1. It's lower in Wylie, but this school isn't nearly as competitive as my private school, and it has over 500 students. I'm hoping this is enough of a factor to put in the top eight percent of the class. </p>
<p>Do you think I have a good enough GPA to get into the top eight percent at this school? How's the competition like in other Texas high schools? Do you think I have a chance?</p>
<p>Pick up the phone before school finishes for this school year and talk to a college counselor from the new school. Avoid words like “average school” and instead focus on what you want to know, which is what typical outcomes are like for the graduates of that high school.
It is useless to generalize by state, or even city. You can get a sense of the competitiveness of the school by looking at their Naviance scattergrams, AP test results reported by high school or SAT/ACT results by high school.</p>
<p>4.1 would make top 10% at my Texas HS, I think.</p>
<p>Unless you have an outline of their exact GPA policy, not sure how you calculated your GPA. Some of your classes will not be counted towards GPA. Some will be weighted/not weighted in a way you might not expect. The only way to get a good indication, is like Silicon mentioned, give the school a call.</p>
<p>Competition is not really the issue here. The issue is how everything converts over. Wylie may not be very competitive, but that does not mean they all have low GPAs- it will just means their top 10% is not at the same caliber of academics as the top 10% from another school.</p>
<p>By the way, I believe UT is top 9%. Regardless it’s very possible to get in without being top 9%, particularly given a background like yours.</p>
<p>You may not land in the top 8 or 9% with the conversion, it will all depend on Wylie. However, you would have a decent shot regardless though your admission would not be automatic. Do you know how successful kids from your current school are when they apply to UT? You could end up applying early in the fall, before you even have a single grade from your new school. (For reference there is an online application at Apply Texas, which opened up in early August, 2010 and had a deadline of Dec. 1 2010 for UT fall 2011). I would also have a conversation with your current high school counselor.</p>
<p>I am with pancaked on this one about residency. I highly doubt the residency rule would apply. Going further on this one, I see a bigger issue.</p>
<p>The high schools in Texas issue students a rank at the beginning of the senior year since state schools have rolling admissions and open up admissions in August. So as soon as school starts, the ranks are used to apply. How does one transferring from out of state get a rank just after joining the school in the senior year?</p>
<p>I think you are fine with residency as long as your family moves before your senior school year starts. </p>
<p>I agree that the bigger issue is how they would give you a rank that is why I think your current school’s track record with UT may end up being important.</p>
<p>I’ll admit that I have no idea how Wylie HS (or any Texas high school) deals with students who transfer in, but at my kids’ high school, you’d just be given credit for classes taken elsewhere. None of this would show up in your GPA or class rank at the new school.</p>
<p>I suspect you’ll be able to apply to UT as a Texan–your parents are making a permanent move to Texas, right?–but have to be evaluated for admission based on the transcripts from Wylie and your OK school.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I’m pretty sure I will pass for the residency; by the time I become a resident, I will have a couple months before I would begin my first semester of college. As for the rank, I’m also pretty sure I’ll be covered; I should be ranked by the time I apply for UT. </p>
<p>So with all of these residential concerns aside, I’m trying to find out if my GPA (3.8 simple, 4.1 weighted) would be good enough for the top eight percent of Wylie High School. What kind of GPA would make the top eight percent of your high school? I have no idea myself because I have no experience with public school GPAs, so I don’t know what is average for top eight students at all. Mainly, I’d just like your predictions and thoughts. Soon I will likely contact the counselor for an answer.</p>
<p>It can be so complicated. We are in a highly regarded private school and the highly ranked public school in our district has a 6 point grading scale. (4 points for A in regular, 5 points in Pre AP or Honors, 6 points for A in AP). Our private school teaches on a Pre AP track, but some courses are not labelled as such so kids who transfer from our very challenging private to public will lose out in their standing. From what I hear, top grads at our public will have a 5+. A 4.1 would be about 25% if that high. HOWEVER, It all depends on how your new gpa is calculated (is the 4.1 on a 6 point scale?) and how your courses are tranferred. </p>
<p>I still think you are in good shape regardless (even if you are not in the top 9%) as most of your grades were obtained elsewhere. </p>
<p>You could consider contacting the UT admissions counselor for the school you are in now. They should be familiar with your school and may be able to tell you how they will review your application if you don’t end up as an automatic admit.</p>
<p>You could always ask the counselors office in Wylie about grade point distribution. ie what was the highest grade point, what was gradepoint at 25% and 50%. Maybe they would share that info and it probably does not change that much from year to year.</p>
<p>OP, it may be challenging to gain an “auto admit” to UT because the qualifying rank (9% for 2012 seniors/fall college class) is determined at the end of junior year (also mid-senior year, but that is too late for UT’s Dec. 1 application deadline unless UT will take that ranking when Wylie calculates it before Christmas break or in January). </p>
<p>I echo the suggestion to have a telephone conference with the college counselor at Wylie HS as soon as possible to see what their school district policy is on incoming seniors from out of state. </p>
<p>After that conversation, you may want to also call UT Admissions.</p>
<p>Are you familiar with the Texas graduation plans? There are three schemes. You may want to familiarize yourself with them and talk with the counselor about how your past curriculum satisfies the requirements and what classes you will need to take senior year. [Texas</a> Education Agency - State Graduation Requirements](<a href=“State Graduation Requirements | Texas Education Agency”>State Graduation Requirements | Texas Education Agency)</p>
<p>If you end up not being eligible as an “auto admit,” you should be a very strong holistic review candidate based on your high GPA over three years’ rigorous private school education, plus the usual good test scores, ECs, essays, etc. Be sure to check out UT’s various honor programs, too, and the special additional application procedures.</p>