UT does not consider GPA for admissions, so it doesn’t matter how each high school calculates it.
@fatherof2boys plan II criteria also states 20% for “plan II-ness” which is very subjective, by itself.
As an in-state external transfer, I’m still waiting on my decision. Is anybody else in the same boat?
Does anyone know if taking a science class is required freshman year??? Or is it optional???
@collegePapa yes, and I don’t necessarily have a problem with it as long as the subjective evaluation is consistent in its application. To use a sport’s metaphor “as long as they call it both ways.”
As parents (and students) our natural inclination is to want to have very black and white criteria, usually in the form of test scores or GPA to determine the collegiate admission process. The problem with this perspective is that college admissions is about much more than a applicants test scores. If test scores where the only determinative factor in admissions there would be no need for any holistic process or any admissions committee. Test scores are relevant but they aren’t the only factor in college admissions. Harvard routinely denies admissions to applicants with perfect test scores in favor of applicants with (slightly) imperfect test scores if the latter students would contribute to a better overall class.
Using UT as an example, there are a limited number of admissions seats available to the College of Engineering and College of Business. Under those circumstances UT will have to deny admission to many applicants to those programs and admit students with lower scores to the College of Liberal Arts, College of Fine Arts, College of Education, and the School of Social Work. Admissions to those colleges may not be a popular to posters on College Confidential; however, UT needs those students as well to fulfill its mission as the state’s flagship university. Consequently, there will always be applicants with higher test scores and class rank who are denied admission while others with lower stats are granted admission.
An MIT admissions officer put it best when he stated that from the colleges’ perspectives, it’s about admitting the best overall class, not the best individual applicant.
@kiriii He wrote about how when Sears erroneously priced the new DS $60, he bought a bunch at Sears and then went to other stores such as Walmart, Best Buy, Toys R Us, etc… and price matched it to the that of Sears so that they would have to sell it to him for $60 also. He then resold the DSs on Amazon and wrote about how he “provided families the opportunity to obtain a DS at a lower price while still making profit.” Pretty good essay for a business major if you ask me.
@fatherof2boys where ever the criteria is subjective, then there is no fairness in the process. Secondly, we can not compare private school criteria with a public school criteria.
@collegePapa I think that this is an interesting debate. First, let me dispute the distinction you draw between public and private institution, at least when it comes to UT-Austin. As you may know, UT is one of the original Public Ivies - that is a public college/university that provides a quality of education that can rival some of the Ivy League schools, but at the cost of a public institution. This is reflected in the US News rankings of the actual academic departments: undergraduate business school #8; undergraduate engineering program #10; law school at #15; the graduate business school #15; graduate engineering #10; graduate computer science #9; graduate chemistry #12; graduate English #17; and graduate history #17…(and it goes on). The preceding shows how UT is much more than your average public school. UT sees itself as being peers with the other highly regarded public universities such UC-Berkeley; Michigan, Virginia, UCLA, UNC-Chapel Hill, Wisconsin…etc.
So let’s assume that there are two freshmen applicants to UT. One who I’ll describe as applicant “A” who has a perfect SAT scores of 2400. The second applicant, “B” has a slightly imperfect SAT scores of 2380. Using an “objective” standard only, Applicant A would appear to be the superior candidate for admission. However, lets also assume that applicant A with the perfect SAT scores has little to no extracurricular or employment activities. On the other hand, Applicant B packets reflects that he played two varsity sports, was editor of the student newspaper, has consistently had a part-time job and engaged in numerous volunteer activities. So whom is now the superior applicant for admission?
I submit that the difference in test scores does very little to actually predict which student is better prepared for the rigors of taking on collegiate work at the level expected at UT. However, I think the subjective factors in applicant B’s packet show that he is more likely to contribute to an enriching environment on campus than the student with the perfect test scores. Applicant B’s packet shows that he is more likely going to be the one who takes on a part-time job at the library or gym; participates in intramural sports; and joins a political or service orientated student organization. These are the types of activities that help to contribute to an enriching collegiate experience for everyone. Its one of the main reasons I chose to attend UT for both undergrad and law school. The professors are top-notch, no doubt about it. But college is also about interacting with a diverse group of peers (fellow students) who challenge our notions of right and wrong, and provide an educational experience beyond the classroom experience that can’t be measured purely in terms of grades received in a course. This is what the elite colleges (which include UT) look for in applicants. There is an excess of students whose high school GPA and standardized test scores show that they can handle the academics at UT, so the University can choose which mix of students of different disciplines and backgrounds will contribute to the most enriching atmosphere on campus. The student who goes to class everyday and spends the rest of his time studying alone in the library does very little to enhance the experience of anyone else. That student will find that others with, slightly less stellar academics but more robust “subjective” elements in their applications, will be more highly prized by the selective schools.
Now if we are talking about admission to a junior college or a commuter school, then we can just rely on the test scores.
@fatherof2boys I am not talking about the rankings of the colleges(which is another controversial subject). I am purely talking about admission criteria. I did not say that UT is not a good school. Ultimately a college must attract students. The yield rate gives a good indication of their ability to attract students. If you look at Plan II yield rate for the last few years, it is around 38-40%(only 8 of 52 valedictorians offered accepted the admission offer in 2014). In fact, a couple of years ago business school invited applicants for a dinner with associate dean and admission officials to make a surprise admission offers. The reason, they mentioned, is their yield is only about 50% and were trying their best to increase it by some new ways. Compare these yield rates with private colleges you are alluding to. They speak for themselves.
As anybody can see the admissions process is most confusing process. Let me end it with that no two opinions would agree fully.
Got into college of Education with low stats
1710 SAT
3.5 GPA
are u in state student?
@jackievybdi i applied to McCombs. I’m thinking of appealing my rejection
@JHuff11 if you can add in some new info, definitely appeal. You have great stats and EC’s.
UT usually does a great job of identifying “best fit for major”. However this year from our (highly competitive, in-state) school I have seen a number of kids who have not got their majors in Cockrell and McCombs. There were no acceptances to Biomedical Engineering and only one to Chemical Engineering this year. In-State with 34-35ACT, 2200+ SAT’s, top 5-11% and hundreds of hours of volunteer work and leadership positions in school clubs . In addition, internships in their intended major. They were offered UGS or waitlist/PACE. It has been a very tough year and UT will probably lose these kid’s to Texas A&M/Duke/Berkeley and other highly ranked or full-ride schools.
I know many of them are appealing. So definitely add “new info” in your appeal.
I think there will be lots of competition to get into Cockrell and McCombs from UGS and PACE next year as most of these kids are capable of making a 4.0 freshman year.
@knox196 I wouldn’t characterize your 1710 SAT as “low stats” considering you were applying to the College of Education. According to UT’s website, the average SAT/ACT score for freshmen admission to the College of Education last year was a SAT score of 1701 and an ACT score of 26. The applicants in this thread with the “high” test scores that were not admitted to UT are not applying to UT as education majors. Mostly,these applicants were seeking freshmen admission to the Cockrell School Engineering or the McCombs School of Business. The average SAT for freshmen admission to those colleges for 2014 exceeded 2000+.
UT does admissions by each college, so the “high” SAT applicants where not in the same applicant pool along with you and the other applicants to the College of Education.
Congrats on your admission.
@fatherof2boys You are absolutely correct!!!
The stats from those I know admitted to ChemE and BiomedE include 2400 SAT and/or 36 ACT. SAT Subject Tests in 700’s/800. Unweighted GPA’s at 3.85+, Top 1-3%, IB Diploma candidates, Hours of Volunteer Work (that is part of IB), Leadership positions, Varsity Sports, Club Sports, Summer jobs for years, Mentoring, Certifications, etc. These are top students at their high school. These are candidates doing more than 22 hours of outside sports/EC’s AND keeping top grades.
UT was given a selection of great candidates this year.
Actually a record number of admissions are happening at most top schools so maybe there are just an amazing number of talented students available all around.
@fatherof2boys Exceeded 2000 but not by much. I was quite surprised to see that the average engineering SAT score wasn’t higher, considering some of the posters, both in and out state that were rejected had substantially higher scores than the 2063 average. There must have been many scores significantly lower since there should be a be a smattering of 2300+ scores in the mix. (Gulp, maybe even a 1700 like the regular kids from fine arts, education and social work). BTW, the fine arts average wasn’t that much lower considering that many of the students in fine arts receive offers based upon auditions or portfolios. Their level of preparation for standardized testing is probably significantly lower than a student who wants to study business or engineering, knowing that even with a 36, they wouldn’t get in if they didn’t have the goods artistically. My kid in fine arts scored a 33 with comparable SAT scores and he is in awe of the artistic genius of many of his classmates who barely scored 20 on the ACT. I’m sure students in the College of Education also bring a unique skill set that may transcend ACT scores.
@comptechmom UT did have an incredible selection of candidates for bio and chem E this year (just the very top student(s) in a school). With such strong students not many - if any will drop out or change majors. Although it will be extremely competitive to be at the top of the class in those departments.
@Muttle1, you are correct in noting that applicants to Fine Arts majors may supplement their application with portfolios. This is however a relatively small number of applicants to the University. The two largest colleges at UT are the College of Natural Sciences and the School of Liberal Arts. Those students admissions (similar to the students to the Engineering and Business school) are determined based on a combination of their high school rank and test scores on one end (Academic Index), and essays, letters of recommendations, EC and a resume on the other (Personal Achievement Index). None of these colleges will accept a portfolio from an applicant, that’s an exception that exists only for Fine Arts.
Another point, by state law UT has to reserve the vast majority of admission slots to in-state students. Moreover, the average SAT score, regardless of major, to UT for the class of 2014 was 1901; however, the out-of-state average was 2000. These two facts together result in a lower admission rate for out of state applicants 28% as compared to the University as a whole 40%. My own son will be applying for college next year. UT is on his list along with a few out-of-state schools. We have a good mix of safety schools where he is guaranteed admission (Alabama, Arizona, and ASU). Schools where he likely has a good chance at admission because his SAT scores exceed the schools’ mid-50% range (Minnesota, Ohio State University & Wisconsin); and a couple of schools where his test scores are right smack within the schools’ mid-50% range (North Carolina & Virginia).
Realistically, we know that even though he is in the mid-50% range for UNC and Virginia, admission to those schools is going to be a reach because he is an out of state applicants. Respecting Minnesota, Ohio State University and Wisconsin, we think that because his test scores exceed those schools mid-50% range, then my son likely has a 50/50 chance for admission taking into consideration the fact of the hurdles he has as an out-of-state applicant. Finally, we know for certain he will be admitted to Alabama, Arizona and ASU where he also will receive a significant amount of guaranteed merit aid.
In short, I think that most applicants should have a good mix of the preceding in their mix of reach schools, match schools and safety schools. Having this type of realistic mix makes it easier to accept the emotional roller coaster of the college admission process. Things are much different than when I went to college, I only applied to UT for undergrad and law school, but those days are sadly long gone.
For anyone who was accepted, can someone explain to me the importance of orientation dates in regards to first-year schedules/class registration? People are talking on Twitter and on the Quad group message like the earlier you go, the better as far as picking classes. Are you assigned your registration period at orientation? It doesn’t sound right, considering OOS students (like myself) would obviously be at a disadvantage. Just wanted to check considering registration for orientation is open next week!
Honestly it can be a slight disadvantage depending on your major/classes you need. Practically all freshmen are in some sort of FIG/Honors/other various programs with at least a couple reserved courses. The rest of the courses are the issues, like your first year seminar course. That one was hard to get until add/drops unless one was part of your FIG. But in general there were classes or at least less desirable times were still open for like history/social sciences. And if you’re in a dept with courses restricted to the college/major, those classes are always fine too. Basically don’t be surprised if you end up with an 8am class or a somewhat harder professor, but you’ll get what you need.