@ollie113 I don’t know if it’s true for all the Cal States but I attended Cal Poly Obispo admission presentation and the speaker used many times the term ‘holistic’ review. It’s stated so on their admission page too. Maybe they use a different kind of ‘holistic’ review that does not emphasizes ECs?
I couldn’t log into UT Austin portal right now. Is anyone having the same issue?
@leathershirts my daughter was accepted dec 15 as an econ major- she is not auto admit.one week later she was given notice that she is accepted to liberal arts honors
Just a note to everyone saying UT is not together or wont just give a date for decisions, this is not true. They have a date- by feb 1 if you applied by Nov 1 , By march 1 if you applied by dec 1. just because a VERY small number hear earlier, it does not make them bad at doing their job. approximately 3000 people have been given decisions thus far- out of around50,000 applicants. Most of the people who have heard have applied for an honors program- that prompts an earlier decision because the honors programs are involved in the process. if you have ever spoken to or toured at UT- you have been told to expect your decision by March 1. They are VERY VERY holistic in their approach. They read every single essay- many other colleges admit that essays are only used in borderline students. I have researched beyond what most people could imagine what it takes to get accepted into UT. I have had two non auto admit students accepted. One found out by march 1- literally on the last day. The other found out in December. Same major. People who apply to UT should expect to hear on the last day they give decisions - if you hear sooner it is a bonus. But the VAST majority hear on the last day.
Cal Poly SLO might admit differently. No one knows because they are pretty secretive. But the web site:
https://admissions.calpoly.edu/applicants/freshman/criteria.html
suggests a matrix. My D applied this year and there was nothing on the CalStateApply that would suggest holistic review. In years past CPSLO used a separate app, maybe that’s where the confusion is. The Cal State app page states that all 23 schools use only objective criteria:
https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/freshman/getting_into_the_csu/Pages/admission-requirements.aspx
When is the next wave expected Jan 19th or Jan 26th for priority applicants ?
My son applied to engineering honors and it sure hasn’t seemed to affect him (or others he knows) hearing back earlier. As for holistic admissions and their timeline, every extremely competitive school, like Stanford or Ivy’s, get plenty of applications and you hear back MUCH quicker.
@tb2000 But, as someone quoted from an admissions advisor earlier, your “decision” on February 1st could be to wait until March 1st! I’m sorry but that’s not right.
@tb2000 around when did your daughter apply?
The cal system is way different this year and people shouldn’t expect to hear until end of feb or march. Highly competitive and for the record… not a fan of their app! No supporting documents either. So strange.
Has anyone apart from @coolguy985 recieved their admission decision?
@tb2000 I’ve done my research on UT as well. In the book written by a former admin officer, he says straight up that they only really care about class rank for admissions into the university (not into your specific major). So it is definitely not entirely holistic. UT is trying to do a private school style admissions process while also trying to maintain an image of a normal state school. They really should do it one way or the other. Either actually have rolling admissions, or pick a date and time. Clearly they are incapable of doing rolling and as a result, they should pick a date, or at least a specific time frame like many other top-tier public schools do (UVA, Georgia Tech, UCLA, UF etc). With their current system it just causes way more unnecessary stress. Knowing “by February 1st” is a lot different than “on February 1st” or even “in early February”. The former means I have to check my portal every Friday (multiple times a day), check forums like these, etc. The latter means I can put it out of my mind until the decision date. I also find it hard to believe that since August they have only had time to decide on 5,000 applicants out of over 50,000. So they’re going to do the other 45,000 between now and March? More likely they have decisions made and just won’t release them because they’re understaffed or just don’t care
@coolguy985 twenty-two of the Cal State schools do not have holistic review as @ollie113 said. Applications are evaluated by computer based on objective data points such as gpa and test scores and are not individually read and there are no essays.
The exception is SLO as @Tabitha18 mentioned. While the apps are still evaluated by a computer, some subjective data is considered such as leadership and work experience. Applicants earn an MCA score based on the total points earned which determines whether they are admitted or not. The major you apply to significantly affects admission. But again, no human is reading SLO apps either.
My son just graduated last year from UT ECE and has a great job now. He got his major on Jan.10 ,2013 and received engineer honor on Jan.11. It is worth to wait. UT is a great school. My daughter is still waiting for her major from computer science. Her SAT is 1530(math 800), math2 790, physics 760, AP chemistry ,physics C(both), US history, English, calculusAB all scored 4 last year. Rank 14/658
My daughter is still waiting for computer science too. SAT 1530(math800), math2 790, physics 760, rank top 2%
Go UT!
@Kd6410 I agree that it is stressful to check the portal all the time. You COULD choose NOT to check the portal until February 1. If you get in before that, you’ll get an email telling you to check the portal and about a week later, you’ll get your banner in the mail. I could never do that myself, but it is an option available to you if it reduces stress. Neither of my kids checked. Plenty of their friends don’t either.
@coolplant your D is automatic. Why wouldn’t you have heard by now? Or do you mean about major?
@gettingschooled Unfortunately that’s not an option for me because in early February I’m going to a scholarship competition at Michigan State - but I will not attend if I get into UT. So my mom needs to know ASAP if I got in because if I did then she needs to cancel the plane tickets and hotel room
I’m sorry, but it is hard not to feel that this whole process is absurd. There have been 4 waves, and the most recent one UT lied about. I do think the most recent wave was for OOS kiddos, but why would UT say there would be no wave yesterday (per admissions office at UT). This is so ridiculous and frustrating. As each wave comes, it is hard not to take each one as a rejection. I am a UT grad myself, so I love UT - BUT this whole process creates terrible anxiety. And now UT is saying the priority applicants might be deferred until March 1- seriously?