@ Bader316 I think it is the 1% students with 1200 SATs that lower the SAT average (GPA’s are done on so many different scales that I have no idea how they say what an average GPA is!) They still end up with a decent enough AI that if they have good EC they can sometimes get into top programs. I think it is fair to consider personal achievement though. The kids in the top 7% at my public high school get into UT but usually cannot get into engineering or business because their tests scores bring their A1 down too much and their writing isn’t great either which hurts PAI. Frankly, they would probably be in over their heads at UT as the courses out here aren’t very rigorous and few of them have ever done more than an hour of homework.
Your kid may not have gamed the system but tons do. My son was given the option of a GREAT thinking class offered to honors kids in 7th grade. 4 kids signed up for it because they had to do it instead of Spanish or Algebra which would affect class rank…in 7th grade. The high school out here doesn’t even have a math class past AP AC calc for them to take junior and senior year! They could still take one of them in 7th and then take both in 8th grade so finish all their possible classes. The class did not make. I also assure you that the numbers 1, 2, and 3 at school I taught at last year did not take AP Chemistry because they were worried they would get a B. Kids take a study hall to boost GPA, they save their electives and speech for senior year, they don’t do band or art even though they love it,…I could go on and on…
My point is that I do not think it makes sense to choose a kid in the top 6% with merely decent test scores but weak EC for a top program over a kid in the top 8% with great scores and great EC…Especially if one attended a more rigorous school where the kid at 8% could have worked tons harder and be better prepared than the kid at 6%.
But, what I think doesn’t matters all! This waiting is awful!
Students who are valedictorian or salutatorian are often not the smartest kids in their grade, but choose to take the courses (or rather conform to a schedule of courses dictated by the school) in order to be in the running for the 1 or 2 spot. They also sacrifice classes they would enjoy to take AP courses. So, in essence, the student with a slightly lower rank might sacrifice being in the top 6/7% but are happier with their courses and participate in more extracurricular activities and family time. I think that is more important. Also, the top scoring students at my child’s school were not one and two, but in the 9-15% rank wise. I find this to be a common phenomenon, so it is not unusual that students outscore the valedictorian or salutatorian. UT has said many times that they do not consider the competitiveness of high schools, as this would be very unfair. In fact, if they did consider the competitiveness of the program at a high school, it would make sense to admit more students from the the lower performing schools. As stated in previous posts from the students who are non auto admits but with very high ACT scores). those students had far more advantages than the students from lower performing schools such as tutors for the ACT/SAT, tutors for classes, athletic/skills coaches, and educated parents who know how to game the system. I don’t mean to get on my soap box, but I have seen so many posts about students who come from ‘competitive’ schools, and UT doesn’t look at that, rather they want to see that the student made the most of the environment they are in.
So will some people find out about their acceptance on Friday of this week?? I saw earlier in the thread that some decisions are sent out the Friday before Thanksgiving?? I’m out of state so this whole waiting thing really sucks lol
I heard that they are not sending out any decisions in November, and will only release one small batch of acceptances in December. I am so sad about this and hope that is turns out to be false. The waiting is terrible!
Are you guys auto admits and just waiting to see whether you got into your major or not? I’m a non auto admit and I thought results come out in February
@Jnyfrtx That’s what I’ve heard too. An additional month of waiting basically…
@Dearspy I think there’s a good mix of people in this forum, auto and non-auto admit. From my understanding, non-auto admits can still get admitted before February!
@ Jnyfrtx I agree with everything you said…but the weak public school near me gets the top 7% into UT (and top 10% into A&M) and not a single student beyond that. It is common knowledge out here. The more competitive schools my children attend get in many more kids than that. My sons got in about 16% of the kids that applied (and lots of the top kids do not apply) and I know a couple of the best schools in Houston do better than that.
@Jnyfrtx did you hear they are they releasing later because priority backed up two weeks? Guess that means best case will be two weeks from tomorrow? Anyone know how often they release? In other words, if you don’t hear in the small batch in December, when is next release?
@Mills6-In past years, they released three small batches (Nov., Dec., and Jan.), but my daughter’s counselor said the UT admission counselor told her that they will only be releasing one small batch of decisions in December. I am assuming it will be right before Christmas vacation so that the UT admissions office can avoid a ton of calls, but I am unsure when; otherwise, most of us (and I think Engineering always hears last due to the competitiveness of the school) will be waiting to hear ‘by Feb. 1,’ which leads me to hope that we will all know sometime in January! Fingers crossed!!
Also, I called the UT admissions office, and they told me that they receive most of their applications between Thanksgiving and Dec. 1, (over 50%) and this causes a massive pile-up of applications, hence the long wait time (Feb/March). However, he told me because of the Nov. 1 deadline, they are hoping more applicants will send in their applications early so that they don’t have the massive dump of applications between Thanksgiving and Dec. 1. That is why I am hoping/thinking we might hear by mid-January because the applications can be read earlier versus later.
My daughter said that a friend at Westlake in Austin told her that kids who were non-auto admit heard that they were accepted today. Is that possible? Maybe a less competitive major? From this forum I was under the impression that only auto admit heard by now. Maybe friend was mistaken? Anyone know anything?
@cjjellybean Only a small group of students hear in December (if what happened in previous years holds true), so don’t worry if you don’t hear back in Dec., and you are guaranteed to hear something by Feb. 1 since you applied before the priority deadline.