Yes, I am in the Top 16.5%

<p>I'm half white/half hispanic
I'm from a competitive high school in TX
GPA: 3.6../4.0 or a 4.0 weighted
Rank: 115/694
AP Test scores: 5 in Spanish Lang, 4's in US History and English Lang
PreAP/AP classes taken:Preap/ AP English (4 years), PreAP Biology, Preap/AP Spanish (3 years), PreAP/AP History (4 years), PreAP Geometry
Sat total: 1810
Work experience: Kumon Learning Center (1.5 years), Rocket City (2-3 months, & Home Goods (November 2009-present)
Activities: Spanish Club president (member for 4 years), PR for UNICEF, NHS (Jr. & Sr. years), Softball (2 yrs)
Voluteer: Clinic (translator & helped with any need task) & a nursing home (led activities such as BINGO) & Vacation Bible School (led a group of 8 elementary school kids in activities like arts and crafts, music, etc...)</p>

<p>Edit…
I forgot to mention awards
AP Scholar
Honor Roll (9th gradees, Straight A’s)
Softball All Star
PreAP English I award</p>

<p>Essays:
For A, I wrote about a person who I met when volunteering at Reliant Stadium after Hurricane Katrina. Solid, I’d say.
For B, I wrote how the recession highly impacted my family, so it’s a personal as well as national issue.</p>

<p>Also, I applied for the School of Liberal Arts.</p>

<p>I’d say a reach for you. Most likely rejected (CAP’ed) b/c of avg. class rank and mediocre test scores.</p>

<p>Yeah I’ve been preparing myself for being CAP’d, but I’m going to wait it out. I recently got into Baylor, will be auto accepted at OU if I apply, and I’m most likely in CU Boulder; UT, however, is my first choice. Do you think it’d be better to wait it out at one of the charter schools for a year to then transfer to UT or to go with one of the other schools?</p>

<p>If you really want UT, then your best choice would be to do the CAP plan since that’s the easiest. If not, you could go with one of other schools and still transfer to UT even though it would be a little bit harder (I chose this route). I chose A&M b/c it was cheap, in-state, almost on the same level as UT, and to prove to myself that if I couldn’t handle A&M, how could I handle UT. This year (my freshman year) so far I’ve managed a 4.0 GPA (Biology major) and will be planning on transferring to UT for Fall '10. I’ve always wanted to be a Longhorn, even if I had to be an Aggie (sigh).</p>

<p>Why is it harder? I know with the CAP you have to go to a charter school for a year and then attain a specific GPA. I’m only worried about the quality of the education I may get from UTSA persay because like I said I’ve attended ahighly competitive school and taken on a rigorous courseload to prepare me for university, and UTSA may be too easy…But I suppose going for a year will help me build up a strong GPA that will allow me to be a stronger candidate when transferring to UT Austin. Do you think it’ll be a difficult transition going into UT as a sophomore?</p>

<p>It is harder because with CAP, you’re a guaranteed transfer if you make a 3.2 GPA. With Baylor, OU, or CU, you’d probably need at least a 3.5 GPA to get in. College is totally different from high school, even UTSA. But since you’ve taken a challenging (3 AP’s is not that of a rigorous courseload) to prepare you, I’d say going to UTSA would be good/easy, but maybe not too easy. Your transitioning into UT as a sophomore probably won’t be too difficult as there will be many CAP students at UTSA as well as other UT system schools who will be in the same boat as you. It might be a litter harder but if you do pretty well at UTSA, you should probably do well at UT. All you need is that GPA and your credits for transferring…</p>

<p>Hm I see what you’re saying. Mind you, I’ve only taken 3 AP TESTS, that doesn’t included honors classes though…In total I will have taken7-8 AP courses and tests, depends on Economics…What made you decide to go to A&M rather than a charter school and an “easier” way into UT?</p>

<p>I see…Well basically, I went to A&M because I felt I needed to challenge/prove myself that I could handle their coursework instead of an “easier” one at one of the charter schools. It was my fault for not being in the top 10% or having the necessary high stats for getting into UT. As a result, I felt that transferring to UT by going to A&M first would be my necessary “consequence” that I had to pay/endure in order to get the “reward” of getting the opportunity to attend UT. That and I didn’t want med schools to look that I went to an “easy” college either lol. </p>

<p>And also, going to one of the charters schools and getting that 3.2 GPA only guaranteed transfer into Liberal Arts/Natural Sciences. I kind of want to transfer into McCombs or Engineering so I would have had the same chances at the charter/other schools as I would have at A&M.</p>

<p>That makes sense, but transferring from Colorado back to Texas would be silly and from private to public schools, I don’t the first year would be a waste of money I guess. Unfortunately, getting in the Top 10% of my school means having a 4.5 GPA, so it’s really challenging and I took the SAT somewhat cold, I bought a book, but didn’t have access to classes…I heard A&M’s engineering school was better that UT’s. Fortunately if I do the CAP I’ll get into COLA, which is what I orginally applied for</p>

<p>If you have a large amount of AP credits, you could transfer to UT after 1 semester at either a branch campus, other 4 year university or CC. You need to have 30+ total hours. Make sure you pick a school that will award you the AP credit and it must show up on your transcript with either a grade or credit.</p>

<p>UTSA has plenty of easy and challenging classes. It is up to you to decide which way to go. Easy with an easier shot at the 3.2 ot more challenging with a better shot at getting into your major at UT.</p>

<p>I thought Colorado was a public school? Getting top 10% varies everywhere, which I think isn’t fair. Although A&M’s engineering school is pretty good, UT’s is actually just as good or even better according to U.S. News rankings…</p>

<p>Well, McCombs doesn’t allow enrollment for the Spring admissions if you want to go business. There maybe others I think…</p>