@Frostcause: I received the same info as you. However, admissions also said that if you are solely on the wait list, and not offered CAP or PACE, you may not hear until after May 1, which is a problem if you are also having to decide on another school. PACE appears to be a very good option if your heart is set on UT. My contact said that a very small number of applicants were wait listed. Was told that most of the wait list kids get “called up” into Liberal Arts, UGS, and Communications, not so much in the Business and Engineering schools. Would not give me numbers from years past as it varied too widely. My McCombs son entered in 2012 and there was not a wait list then, so this is new territory for us.
@Loganator It is crazy, I know. I hate knowing that there are heartbroken kids with marvelous credentials who won’t get a yes from Texas. This happens with every college, actually, but Texas does up the ante of confusion by famously and publicly using what they refer to as a “holistic” method of evaluating applicants. It’s a method that I support because I think it actually favors more applicants than it disfavors, but it does make admissions decisions really tough to fathom sometimes.
The thing is, I’ve been coaching the college applications & essays process for more than 10 years and I’ve seen one truth played out over and over: somehow. through all the surprising and stressful yeses and no’s, universities generally DO make good decisions in extending their admissions offers, filling their freshman classes with kids who are well-suited for their particular school environments. And most applicants DO end up being happy and well-served by the college they choose to attend.
So this time of year I am constantly reminding my kid clients that they and all their friends are going to end up A-okay; that everyone will find a college “home”; and that six months from now the emotional rollercoaster of February-March-April will be completely forgotten because they’ll be happily settling in at a university that was delighted to have them arrive. 
My D just got Wait List/PACE/CAP. Anyone have insights on the pros/cons of these options?
@legalpeach that catch phrase of using a holistic approach is in my opinion, overused. Every single university we visited and that my S applied too uses a holistic approach, now that may be just the caliber of the schools my S applied too, but I find it very hard to believe that with 40,000 applications each and every app is holistically combed over. There is simply not enough manpower to holistically review each application. I do agree that each student will find where they belong, maybe not the on the first try though and that’s ok too. It’s not the end of the world if the school you decide to attend as a freshman is not the school for you. Luckily you get other chances to make another selection!
@Collegemom93
Waitlist
Pros - theres a chance you might get into UT as a full time student starting fall 2015
Cons - that chance is extremely small
PACE
Pros - you get to live on campus at UT Austin
Cons - you may not be able to join some fraternities/sororities
CAP
Pros - you get auto acceptance into UT after two semesters, assuming you meet the minimum GPA
Cons - you’re not a UT student right from the get-go
Obviously I didn’t cover everything so take all this with a grain of salt. I was offered all three and entered the waitlist and accepted PACE.
Well, my son finally got his decision at about 2:00. He applied to McCombs and was waitlisted and offered CAP/PACE. I need to discuss it with him this weekend, but I think he will likely just go to Mays at A&M or one of his other options if my research reveals that there isn’t a decent chance for him to get into McCombs off the waitlist, and I’m pretty sure there is not. (Anyone’s advice on this would be welcomed). He has secured the Presidential Scholarship for a full four years of non-resident tuition worth $98,000 at Alabama, but I can’t get him interested.
2060 SAT (680 M, 730 CR, 650 W)
31 ACT (34 Eng, 32 Math, 31 Writing, 26 Science)
National Merit Commended
Eagle Scout
AP Scholar (has taken about 10 AP classes and every pre-AP class offered along the way)
2 essays
2 excellent teacher rec letters
Submitted a very nice resume
A senior leader in freshman mentoring program with daily responsibilities
Varsity athlete and country/western dance team member
Four-year member of community service organization serving several philanthropies
National Honor Society
A few other ECs
Worked at a casual dining restaurant and as a lifeguard
Class rank/GPA is not great. His GPA is 3.81 W (we don’t have UW). When he applied, he was 19th percentile (99/500 in very competitive school). As he wrote in one of his essays, his class rank and GPA has increased every semester since first semester of freshman year, and he is now at 16th percentile as of the January rankings.
Congrats to everyone that made it, and keep your head up for those who didn’t. The system is a bit confusing, but many of these people that got rejected were OOS. Unfortunately, the bar is set VERY high for OOS students. Like more competitive than UC Berkeley or Rice. So those with very good stats get rejected too. its unfortunate
nah
got into Aerospace Engineering yesterday.
in-state, 4.5 GPA, 2090 SAT (1450 Composite), 790 Math level 2, 3 years varsity football academic all state and all district, internship at cockrell and rec from professor at ut, good essays i think
@CalBayDad All the admission process is confusing. I do not know whether you have realized, that UT Austin does not consider super score at all. If you send them two scores, they say they take the one that helps your child.
Couple of years ago I heard that UT McCombs is looking for >1450 in SAT (CR+M) one sitting and then leadership positions and class ranks etc for BHP.
my secondary major was mechanical engineering. i am out of state (california) and I didn’t get in. hopefully the i’ll get into some uc’s
Rejected OOS
@girlfromworld1 just now?
Just got rejected OOS as well 
@skdoss I heard about an hour ago, I believe.
@skdoss It seems us out-of-staters are having tough luck this year getting into UT
Found out yesterday I was admitted to BME!!! God finally! Also got 10,000/year with the Presidential Achievement Scholarship In state applicant btw
@collegemom93…you can stay on the wait list AND accept PACE or CAP. Admissions said today that the act of accepting one of these programs does not affect your wait list status, and that not all PACE kids were not put on the wait list. Our H.S. Counselor said that “wait list, cap and pace combined” means they were a very strong applicant but the pool of applicant numbers were very high. UT offers admission via a yes, cap or pace to 15,000 student, knowing that they will only get to the 7,500 they need. Should they fall below the 7500, the wait list kicks in–mostly after May 1st. I would not rely on the wait list if your student really wants UT, especially for high demand/henry hard to get into schools… Take the CAP or PACE offer. Pace: you 're in Austin. You can get UT housing on campus. You can join all student organizations (caveat, some sororities do not take PACE students.) and you get sports tickets. The only difference is that you are taking one course per semester at UT, and the other 12 hours at ACC… CAP: you are at a satellite, four-year college campus. San Antonio is first come, first served. The benefit there is that you are at a four year university, not taking the bulk of your classes at a community college. Your student should decide based on what he/she is interested in. Both PACE and CAP kids get advice in order to keep them on the four year graduation track. Hope that helps!
Was admitted yesterday, OOS 
@ebbetwd …thanks so much for the info!