Yesterday my daughter received her CAP letter from UT. She is in the top 10% of her class (in Texas) of 690 students. She’s a member of NHS, Spanish Honor Society, Drill Team, Student Leadership, Yearbook and has over 40 hours of community services. She received a 1990 on her SAT, and her essay’s were good at least according to the paid private tutors. She also had a nice letter of recommendation from one of her teachers. While I can accept the denial, we were expecting to at least receive the PACE offer. From the comments that I’ve read on here the PACE is offered to those in state who are in the top 10% of their class. If the rejection weren’t bad enough, UT poors salt into the wound by accepting at least 3 students from her school, who are ranked lower and at least one has a lower SAT score. Their school involvement is about the same as my daughter’s, although they may have held more leadership roles with their school activities. At least 2 of students accepted are Hispanic. I guess it’s to late but does anyone know any specifics about PACE?
Unfortunately, although Texas has a top 10% rule for their colleges, UT is not part of the program and have a varying requirement for their autoadmits and I think it is 7% now.
Her credentials are excellent and she should have been admitted automatically at every school other than UT. Did she apply anywhere else?
What was her major choice? Some majors are hyper-selective, so comparing different kids makes no sense.
Yes, Baylor, Southwestern and Texas State. She was accepted to all 3.
Her major choice was Radio Film and Technology and English was her 2nd choice. One of the lower ranking students was accepted to the Engineering school which is very selective.
Not interested in A&M?
No, she didn’t apply. I wish she did, a good school and much more affordable than Baylor and Southwestern.
That is the fine line in applying to Texas schools.
Top 5% - apply to UT since it would be guaranteed although some still don’t make it to their major. So attending UT is not that great if you don’t get the major you want.
Top 10% - Apply to A&M but apply early to get into the major you want. With specific SAT/ACT score,can go upto 25%
Top 25% - Apply to any other school.
@nolongerafan RTF is a very tough school to get into even with great credentials. While I understand your frustration as my daughter was offered CAP a few years ago, it’s counter productive to second guess why others got in and your daughter didn’t. The average accepted GPA’s for RTF are quite high. I hope she’ll accept the CAP offer if she really wants to end up in Austin. You and I know just how fast a year goes. Good luck
UT has become big on fit to major so perhaps their ECs were more in line with their majors than your dd’s. Don’t concern yourself with why others got in and dd didn’t. RTF is a hard get there.
Just to point out something about A&M … top quarter of your class with a CR+M of 1300 gets you in. It’s a great backup for those who aren’t automatic to UT.
Can you appeal your CAP decision and ask for PACE? I tried a little sleuthing, and that doesn’t seem likely. Still, call and find out.
The good news is she still has some great options. She should have gotten some pretty good money from Southwestern.