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<p>@UTmom1, That sounds almost unbelievable. Where else has he applied?</p>
<p>I was admitted into Austin a while back as a non-auto admit but I completely agree that the top 10% rule is ridiculous. It is good for providing people who might come from poor and low performing neighborhoods, but performed well in those contexts, with a quality education at a great institution thus providing them with upward mobility, etc. What’s crazy is that 75% of the spots are for auto admits and the other 25% of the class has to fight tooth and nail to get in. It’s like there’s two different schools to try to get into at one University! (I don’t mean Cockrell or McCombs, or CNS or COLA, just to clarify the idea)</p>
<p>It’s all about rank. With my son’s GPA he is right in the middle of his class, a far cry from that top 8%. It’s a small competitive private school with only 140 students.
btw my father went to UT, I went to UT and our daughter goes to UT.
It’s okay, we’re moving on, lots of good choices out there!</p>
<p>Yep, I got capped too. Barely missed top 8.</p>
<p>Do you guys think that if i appeal with my senior rank (top 6%) they will change their minds?</p>
<p>UTmom1, I understand your point. Also, what UT is doing. However, it is sad because kids like him need to stay in Texas. Even if he had made it to UT there would have been some prestigious college in the country, that would have tried to poach him. The CAP just made it easier for that to happen.</p>
<p>perazziman, hello and thank you for your kind comments. He would have liked to stay in Texas so it is sad we have to look elsewhere, but he’s looking at schools on the East Coast and has already been accepted EA into one, and into their engineering program, and still waiting on other RDs.<br>
thanks</p>
<p>Oh I’m so incredibly upset. Like I wish there was some way to convey on here by pure frustration. I’ve known I’ve wanted to go to UT since I was 2 years old. My grandfather is a professor there, my room is painted burnt orange with posters everywhere, and I have 40 UT shirts (over half my clothes). No other place is really even a choice. I knew my GPA (3.7 weighted) wasn’t that great, but I got a 1360 SAT, NHS, have taken four AP tests and gotten two 4s and two 5s (and am taking five more AP tests this semester), was a soloist in marching band and involved in concert and jazz band. I thought for sure my extracurriculars and SATs would save me. Nevertheless I was CAPped and I’m incredibly frustrated. I know I will probably do the CAP program because I’m desperate to go to UT-Austin but this was literally the worst thing that has happened to me in my entire life.</p>
<p>I am truly shocked by this thread. This sounds so like 2009 when I knew several incredible students, just outside of auto admit, NMFs, great leadership and AP scores that did not get in. UT lost some of them to other states…probably forever. I thought things were improving after watching many non-autos get in over the last couple of years.</p>
<p>Several students from our highschool that were not auto admits this year and didn’t have scores or grades even close to some of these posters did get in??? (Not into engineering or accounting…) </p>
<p>I truly do not understand…</p>
<p>My daughter is in the UT class of 2014…graduated high school in 2010. The auto admit was still top 10% at that time. I do not know what UT is looking at now, but back then, it was all about what major you applied to. We were also told that it was imperative that if you werent in the top 10%, you needed to submit an expanded resume…which she did. She also applied VERY early…like September 1st. That year, the freshmen class was almost 100% auto admits…there were only approx 450 kids that werent auto admit out of a class of apprx 7500. The university has thier hands tied with the top 8,9,10% rule. They are very vocal about being opposed to it because they arent able to admit the students that they want to. </p>
<p>One of the main reasons A&M is a little easier to get into is because they admit around 9000 freshmen. UT has about 7500 in thier freshman class. A&M gets alot of great engineering students from UT because they can admit more of them and into the concentration that the student prefers.</p>
<p>I wish I knew the answer…I know it is extremely frustrating…expecially for those of you that were barely out of the auto admit percentage or who have outstanding resumes…it’s UT’s loss!</p>
<p>Yes, I think the major you choose makes a huge difference. (The students at our HS that got in this year who are pretty far outside of the 8% all applied to education.) But they all want to transfer out of that college into others.</p>
<p>^^^^That is a very common loop hole, along with choosing Social Work. I often wonder if there are actually any students in those majors that graduate :)</p>
<p>There were a lot of highly qualified people who did not get in, who are in-state (a LOT of my friends were capped). I was surprised…</p>
<p>If you feel bad that you were capped…</p>
<p>2140 SAT (1450 M+R)
rank 70/795 (top 9%)
100+ hours of community service
2 letters of rec (both were probably decent, just did them to have em)</p>
<p>got the other offer ACC to UT dual enrollment in UT and austin community college for students in state in top 10%. but **** that i’d rather go to A&M. UT’s loss.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be rude, but I think that is a rather begrudging way of looking at the whole situation. Sure, many qualified students (ESPECIALLY those at Texas private schools) are at a big disadvantage due to the top 8% rule. I certainly agree that it is a terrible policy to follow, and is hindering both universities from achieving their full potential.
Now, that being said, getting into UT as a non-auto-admit is not an impossible task. The fact that you chalk up anybody’s acceptance that wasn’t guaranteed it by law to legacy and wealth is foolish and insulting. First off, at a school with over 35,000 undergraduates and WELL over 100,000 living alumni, you surely see that it is foolish for legacy to have any weight whatsoever in the admissions process. Also, to say that students get in over others just because they can pay for it is insulting to their 4 years of hard work. In a few instances, that may be the case, and although it is unfortunate, it is simply the way the world works. Not every school is able to have needs-blind admission. UT would obviously love to be afforded that luxury, but due to its size that’s just impractical.
So, yes, the auto-admit rule dictates that some students who are tremendously underqualified get accepted, while their well-qualified peers do not. The rule has noble intentions but is by all measures a drastic failure. However, as far as non-auto-admits go, don’t discount those who get in just because somebody close to you didn’t. You don’t need to discredit the accomplishments of others just because they got something you didn’t.
I hope this doesn’t sound insulting or holier-than-thou, but I just find it foolish to tear others down in order to build yourself up. Call me old-fashioned.</p>
<p>Riotpls, what major did you apply to?</p>
<p>“However, as far as non-auto-admits go, don’t discount those who get in just because somebody close to you didn’t. You don’t need to discredit the accomplishments of others just because they got something you didn’t.”</p>
<p>Sorry, when kids from the same high school with lower academic ranking, fewer (or no APs), and lower standardized testing got in over their peers then I’ll discredit their acceptance. </p>
<p>Call me old fashioned, but you should earn your way in, not buy your way in.</p>
<p>You never know what the admissions office is looking for. I’ve heard more and more that in tight applications, AOs are looking at things like paid employment and things like that. It’s a slight edge. You really never know what people are doing in the summers and so forth that are on their resumes.</p>
<p>Welcome to all the future Aggies who got CAPed, you’re making the right choice. I had to make this choice back in the day, and chose A&M, and graduated with a finance degree. I had a parent who graduated from UT and a wardrobe full of burnt orange clothes, I had just watched Vince Young win the national championship my senior year of HS, etc. So I actually did choose CAP over A&M, and then I got a call mid summer that they had screwed up my housing arrangements and I would need to find an apartment off campus. Instead, I called A&M back and asked them to reinstate my admission, and by the grace of God, they actually did. </p>
<p>If you do CAP, you’ll have to spend a year at a satellite campus, where most the non CAPers are commuters or those annoying people from high school you’re looking to get away from. And then UT is probably just going to let you transfer into liberal arts or natural sciences anyway. Have you seen the job market lately? If theatre is truly your passion fine, but if you want to be an accountant or an engineer, don’t settle for a different track. A&M will offer you the full college experience for all 4 years, and at least a chance to transfer into the major of your choice.</p>
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<p>First of all a lot also depends on the essays and what the kid is motivated to study. The kid with higher scores who wants to study engineering or business may not do as well in getting admission as the kid who wants to study education. </p>
<p>Finally, if one is primarily, not in the top 8% and perhaps does not have a ton of APs with 5s and an SAT above 2150, then one is not really earning what they are selling. One is really a filler, admitted to help the real earners have a better college experience and or possibly subsidize their cost of college. That is what it means to be a team player i.e. knowing your role on the team.</p>
<p>To those of you who are slamming your classmates because they must have “bought their way in,” please understand: it doesn’t work that way at UT.</p>
<p>[ul]State law prohibits UT from considering legacy; and[/ul]
[ul]seniors whose parents/grandparents give money to UT don’t get an edge UNLESS they gave so much money that their name is on a building or a really big plaque on a building![/ul]</p>