Starting this thread for the University of Texas-Austin Class of 2025 Forty Acres Scholars Applicants. Hopefully to share questions, update on notifications, etc. Good luck to all of the applicants!
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I am wondering if anyone has received a semifinalist notification so far.
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I was doing some research today, and found this on the Texas Exes website:
Forty Acres Scholars Program – APPLICATION CLOSED
- We are conducting semifinalist interviews. All applicants who are moving forward have been notified.
My daughter heard several weeks ago that she was selected as a semifinalist - they said they received 4700 applications and chose 187 semifinalists. She had her interview and is now waiting to hear if she made it to the next round (around 50 students).
What’s crazy is she still hasn’t heard from UT Admissions whether she even got in!
Did anyone hear back tonight?
We haven’t heard a peep
nope 
Has anyone heard anything yet?
@doty21 I believe the Forty Acres Semifinalists were notified earlier in January, there have been a few people on CC and on Reddit that said they received an email and an interview. As far as I know, my daughter and other applicants were never notified that they were not chosen to move forward. I have seen other posts indicating applicants that were selected by Texas Exes for scholarships, that were eventually denied their major &/or admissions, which is highly disappointing as well. My D was an AA and given her major and honors interviews very quickly last fall, but still has not received a decision on her honors application, or any merit awards at UT, but has attractive offers at several other state universities and Texas Private Universities. She is holding out on UT for honors acceptance, and waiting to hear from the T10 schools she applied to as well.
It seems UT is a bit inundated this year with great applicants and having a hard time meeting deadlines and communicating clearly. I think this process will just continue to build character and teach our kids that there are many circumstances in life that are not always transparent/fair/fun.
I just emailed Forty Acres and they said all semi-finalists would receive an email by this Friday about the finalist spots… wouldn’t it be interesting to see how many finalists they pick who didn’t even get into UT. Beyond frustrating.
Decisions are out. This program is very disorganized. They should have done panel interviews as they do at higher ranking programs so that all candidates are measured equally and there is no favoritism. Good luck everyone. Dishearted mom.
I can’t stand it when an organization that should be militaristically organized like the Texas Exes promise to have results out by a certain date and then miss the deadline. Then to say they’ll be out on Friday… and then to send them a few hours later! And to have so many of their semifinalists NOT EVEN GET ACCEPTED TO UT is mind-boggling!!!
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How many finalists have not been accepted?
There were 4700 applications. 187 semi-finalists. And although they didn’t indicate how many finalists they chose, in past years it has been around 50.
The way 40 Acres chooses winners is a total popularity contest. My D was a finalist a few years ago. We were very soured by how they chose. The loudest most extroverted students won without regard to any other factors. My D ended up with another great full ride and has done exceptionally well, winning multiple additional scholarships, including a prestigious graduate fellowship. I very much dislike the 40 Acres process. I’m sure your student will do great wherever they end up.
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That’s really interesting. My daughter is an extreme extrovert - Type A on speed - so if they’re looking for that, they didn’t see it with her! I don’t know WHAT they’re looking for. But they picked her out of a huge pile of applicants, and UT didn’t even admit her. It’s mind-boggling. She got PACE but is heading to Baylor.
Hi, I’m a student from India. I got into Baylor for psych. Is Baylor a good university to pick?
It’s always been our daughter’s first choice - she’s super excited. It’s a fantastic university!
oh dang. I got finalist and am expected to attend the virtual weekend where they will choose the scholars in early March. This is quite discouraging as I am pretty introverted and don’t tend to stand out in a crowd. Do they take the interview into consideration at all or is all based on how active you are during the weekend program? thanks for this info by the way! I’ll try to keep this in mind going into the virtual weekend.
Do you mind sharing the names of other schools that were merit generous? My son is a senior, and we’re looking for schools with good merit aid. Thanks