Austin family oriented neighborhoods

[love roses]

I think the 10% rule is that they take people from the top 10 percent of their graduating class. I'm not sure about the ranking thing.

[HappyTexan]

College for Texans - Additional - Top 10% Rule (http://www.collegefortexans.com/additional/top10rule.cfm - broken link)

Top 10 Percent Rule for Admissions
Students who are in the top 10 percent of their graduating class are eligible for automatic admission to any public university in Texas.
To be eligible for automatic admission, a student must:

• Graduate in the top 10 percent of his or her class at a public or private high school in Texas, or
• Graduate in the top 10 percent of his or her class from a high school operated by the U.S. Department of Defense and be a Texas resident or eligible to pay resident tuition;
• Enroll in college no more than two years after graduating from high school; and
• Submit an application to a Texas public university for admission before the institution's application deadline (check with the university regarding specific deadlines).
• Students admitted through this route may still be required to provide SAT or ACT scores, although these scores are not used for admissions purposes. Students must also take the THEA test, unless exempted from the test requirement. Check with the admissions office regarding THEA, SAT, and ACT requirements. (General information on SAT, ACT, and THEA can be found by clicking on Test Information (http://www.collegefortexans.com/preparing/tests.cfm - broken link).)

After a student is admitted, the university may review the student's high school records to determine if the student is prepared for college-level work. A student who needs additional preparation may be required to take a developmental, enrichment, or orientation course during the semester prior to the first semester of college.
Admission to a university does not guarantee acceptance into a particular college of study or department, however.

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by mimimomx3

UT is consistently ranked as one of the top public universities in the US, and one of the best bargains. If my kids were planning to go to a public university, that would be my choice. Why would it matter if you were from Austin? I don't get that. Would you want your kids to go to a public out of state college just to get them out of state?

I think you should pick your school based on the program you want to take.
There are plenty of good colleges out there..don't limit yourself to two.

And, if you are not in the top 10%, you can always do 2 years at a community college and then transfer..your degree will show the same thing as a person who went there for 4 years.

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by atlanta hope

Can someone explain what this means? Thanks!

Sorry if I wasn't clear. The UT campus here in Austin is the 'flagship' school of the University system. It is the largest and considered the most prestigious. Because of this, there are many more applicants for the freshman class than the physical space can accomodate. To be more selective in the admission process while maintaining diversity, the Texas legislature decided some years ago to guarantee admission to the top 10% of students in every Texas high school's graduating class. If you were ranked 1,2,3 or 4 in a class of 400, you had an automatic acceptance to UT, regardless of test scores or extracurriculars, race or whatever. This has been great for students in poorer and rural schools, who had a harder time getting into UT, but it's been terrible for the wealthier suburban schools, where you could make a case that a student ranked number, say, 20, has probably a 4.5 GPA full of honors classes. My comment references the fact that this is the case at Austin High and Westlake. At smaller private schools that don't rank, UT has to consider them as part of a separate admissions pool. That pool includes athletes, special requests and kids from non ranking schools. If going to UT is your dream, and for many people here it's tradition, then this is the way to go (unless your kid is a valedectorian!) Hope that's clear. Here's a link to a more official explanation: Types of Applicants - Freshmen | Be a Longhorn | UT Austin (http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/freshmen/admission/factors/applicant-types/index.html - broken link)

[Trainwreck20]

And, if you are not in the top 10%, you can always do 2 years at a community college and then transfer..your degree will show the same thing as a person who went there for 4 years.

Not always. My niece, who went for two years at the Univ of Dallas at Irving (a very good liberal arts school) tried to transfer in with ~3.5, but was not admitted due to the quantity of transfer applications. It is far from automatic.

As for the 10% rule, it will probably go away in the next few years. Too many issues with it.

[texastea]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Not always. My niece, who went for two years at the Univ of Dallas at Irving (a very good liberal arts school) tried to transfer in with ~3.5, but was not admitted due to the quantity of transfer applications. It is far from automatic.

As for the 10% rule, it will probably go away in the next few years. Too many issues with it.

You're right, Trainwreck. I think at that point it depends on the individual school the student is trying to transfer into (ie. school of business, school of engineering, etc) My dd's fiance got accepted as an engineering student transferring with a 4.0 from the local community college.

I hope that 10% rule goes away soon...I have a few more kids that may want to go there!