@Jennibc Yes you are correct. Sending emails and letters to entice students to apply and boost the university’s rejection rate to imply exclusivity is a racket run by many universities. There is a recent WSJ article about this scam. Article (link below) is behind a paywall but can be read online if you have access to WSJ via public libraries.
I have not seen any such letter from UT Austin addressed to my son asking him to apply. Maybe they send it to OOS candidates and not to in-state. He has received several “junk” letters from various out of Texas universities in the last year or so since he took SAT.
@beach1234 It’s tricky because the University Admissions Office admits students, not the business school. So McCombs could identify a student that they find attractive for a whole host of reasons BUT for whatever reason that Admissions department cannot offer them a spot. As a state school, UT admissions in bound by certain state mandated requirements in considering applicants.
Class rank is factored heavily into the algorithm used for the academic index. The university will assign a fictional class rank if your school doesn’t assign one- they factor in things like standardized test scores and what else, I have no idea, and then they plug ranking into some mysterious algorithm and come up with an Academic index. That is paired with the Personal Achievement Index and then each student is plotted on a graph. If they fall above the line that’s been identified by admissions for a particular school (ie business, engineering, Natural Science, liberal arts and note Engineering, CS and Business are the hardest schools to get into), they are admitted. If not, they are declined. It sounds like your daughter will have a very high PIA if she’s been invited to have the interview, so that’s good news. However, being that she is out of state is tricky, because that factors in someway as well. It’s possible to have two identical students in every way except for residency status and the resident will get in and the nonresident will not. So somewhere in that equation, students get points for residency status.
Finally, McCombs does the review for BPH independently of the admissions office, so it’s possible that while they have read your daughter’s file, general admissions may have not even reviewed it yet. I am not trying to discourage you or your daughter in anyway, just letting you know what we have learned about the admissions process at UT. There’s an interesting book called “Your Ticket to the Forty Acres” written by one time admissions officer there. He also has a blog https://texadmissions.com/blog that you might find helpful! Good luck!
@beach1234 - yesterday I posted a long explanation for how UT admissions works, and how McCombs doesn’t do the admitting, rather general admissions does. Then I linked to a blog and a wrote about a book that explained it all and I got a quick message saying that my message had to be reviewed by a moderator. I am not sure if the link was the trigger, but I still don’t see it up. The link was to some guy who is a for hire consultant so maybe they thought I was plugging his services. I was not, as I didn’t use him, but I did find the information on this website insightful. I hope that they post my earlier response to you because it explains how they determine admissions there.
@m0tionsickn3ss do you have any insights into how UT makes acceptance offers to non auto-admits? Specifically, DS20 applied for Electrical Engg and first choice major and CS as second. He is however open to at least a couple other Engg and Science majors. Does he need to express that some where in the application? Or does UT offer anything other than indicated first and second choice majors if a student does not make it to either? Thanks.
@UTexas2024 , I’ve read that UT only looks at your first choice of major if you are non auto admit ( not even second choice ). Apparently they only look at second choice if you are auto admit and don’t get into first choice .
My daughter is in same position as your son , non auto , 1st choice ChemE , 2nd Chemistry, would be happy with some others . But having picked ChemE first , I think that limits her chances of acceptance.
Hi I would some feedback on my chances in getting into McCombs School of Business.
I am rank 10/450 which puts me at about top 3%.
I have taken over 10 AP classes and many Dual Credit classes as well. I was not in any sports unfortunately .
I have plenty of volunteer hours and was in the BPA (Business Professionals of America) Club along with Interact Club which is a volunteering club as well as my Accounting Club where we won area and went to San Antonio to complete since I live in the Rio Grande Valley.
My SAT/ACT test scores are kind of low but I honestly am not a good test taker with a 1170 SAT and 23 ACT.
Recently a UT advisor came to my school and said that my chances were not too bad because I go to a lower ranked school and because I am Hispanic and my first language was Spanish. My parents make less than $30,000 as well but I’m not sure if that goes into question. I am also female if that matters as well.
@americairl Your rank is high which helps out quite a bit. The test scores really pull you down though. You have some business related extracurriculars and it seems you didn’t have much opportunity so I don’t think they would consider ecs a negative. Overall, i think you have a shot, but it will be difficult. Your essays have to be really good
