Getting into UT: Advice for a High School Freshman

This was discussed on "60 Minutes" a couple of years ago.
Link

I have 2 in HS (private in SA), and the advice above is good. PSAT and SAT are huge especially if you want to expand your options. My daughter wanted to get in the UT B-school but 75% of their freshman are from the top 2% and the other 25% are thrown into a pool of the rest of the applicants. She was not top 10 % but had a high SAT and ACT and is a Commended Nat'l Merit Scholar. She has been accepted to SMU & USC business schools already. I think UT is a very long shot.

I predict that UT will change the rule to top 5% or cap the number it takes from the top 10 in the next few years.
 
You don't need to be supersmart to excel in high school. You need to apply yourself diligently. If you work hard, you will get better grades than 90% of your fellow classmates.
But the best way to get into UT is to have a vertical leap of 42 inches, and a 40-yard dash time of 4.3. I recommend working on these things.
 
There was a bill last year to cap Top 10% admissions to 50% of the entering class at UT. The bill died on the final weekend of the session when minority and rural white members killed the bill.
 
Extracurriculars aren't dispositive re: admission unless the applicant either has none or has cured cancer and AIDS. College-bound kids, especially those with their sights set on UT or higher (Rice, Ivies, etc.), are drawn to ECs anyhow, and they're essentially a wash in the admissions process because no admissions officer can objectively say that the StuCo kid is more accomplished than the kid who went to regionals in cross country.

That said, class rank and SAT are far and away the most important factors in the admissions process. Your nephew should start prepping for the SAT now to get the best score possible. If he ends up in the Top 10 Percent, it will open more doors. If he's out of it, a good score will get him into UT.
 
I transferred from Texas State with a 3.3. It isnt that hard if you are going into Liberal Arts. I almost think it is better to go to ACC for a year and get some required classes out of the way for cheap and then transfer.
 
I got in the Business School back in 2001.

I don't really know what to tell you other than SAT scores.

I was Top 10% (around top 7%) with a 3.95 GPA. Nothing spectacular. I made a 1400 on my SAT my junior year. That's basically it.

I played football a couple of years, but not my senior year. I wasn't in any clubs whatsoever. I didn't do anything extracurricular, and I don't think my 2 essays were amazing. I'm sure they were pretty decent, but nothing that would bowl them over.

All I really had was Top 10% and SAT. I got in the Business School with no sweat.
 
i got in to nattysci starting fall of 1997, before the 10% deal started. i was inside the top 20% of my class of around 600 but outside the top 10 by a ways. (decent school, grapevine high). i scored 1250 on my sat the one time i took it, and had no real extra curriculars to speak of other than occasional volunteering for my church and freshman baseball team. but i'm sure its a different world now.

to wit - my wife's nephew, who just graduated with a MPA in may, got in 5 years ago due to his varsity baseball and top 10% from a smaller class (nolan catholic in ft worth). he was accepted into the university, but not into the business school. he had to go undeclared as a freshman and apply for the business school after a year. which he did, and was accepted. he was at nolan because they figured it would be easier for him to make the baseball team than at arlington martin, but i'm sure it helped him stay in the top 10% as well.

two years ago, the wife's niece wants to follow her brother to texas. she is at martin, has good grades but not top 10, and is a varsity cheerleader. she does not get in. she goes to ou, hates it, tries to transfer to texas after one year at 3.8 or so, is declined. goes to tcu instead. reapplies after first semester at tcu, and is accepted. decides she likes tcu and **** texas, they should have said yes earlier. i agree with her. thought about transferring out of martin to AHS for senior semester, but could not pull the trigger to do it. that's a tough sell for a kid to walk into a new school for ther final semester as a hs student.

all that said, it appears that currently top 10% is the lynchpin for admissions out of high school.
 
nope, started fall semester of 97. and i recall being on campus when the hopwood thing was happening, and with that one professor that got in trouble. who knows, maybe i'm just imagining things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict HORNS-AGGIES *
Sat, Nov 30 • 6:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top