UT Tightens Admissions To Top 8 Percent (Dallas: job market, transfer, private schools)

[nomore07]

UT Tightens Admissions To Top 8 Percent (http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/news/local/091609_UT_Tightens_Admissions_To_Top_8_Percent - broken link)

[austinite45]

Originally Posted by nomore07

UT Tightens Admissions To Top 8 Percent (http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/news/local/091609_UT_Tightens_Admissions_To_Top_8_Percent - broken link)

I think what UT urgently needs is getting rid of its affirmative action policies, and admitting students based on standardized tests such as the SAT, plus extra-curricular activities.

Some schools in Texas are so bad that being in the top 5% means little more than a passing performance at more demanding schools.

[llkltk]

There are plenty of other schools that are as good as UT. Go somewhere else.

[austinite45]

Originally Posted by llkltk

There are plenty of other schools that are as good as UT. Go somewhere else.

that's a different issue.

the problem right now is one of fairness - some students who are not in the top 10% score higher (or a lot higher) on the SAT than many students in other schools who are in the top 10% of their class.

[llkltk]

There were idiots in my high school who scored way better than me on the SAT but had the worst grades. I had straight A's. Some people just aren't standardized test takers. Your score on the SAT doesn't necessarily make you a genius.

[nomore07]

Originally Posted by llkltk

There are plenty of other schools that are as good as UT. Go somewhere else.

I agree, but which schools are not also bound by the 10% law, or drowning in overflow from UT and A&M? What majors do they offer? And are they expensive private schools? Are they within distance of any tangible job market? How eager are employers to hire non-UT grads? Personally I'd choose another school out of state.

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by austinite45

I think what UT urgently needs is getting rid of its affirmative action policies, and admitting students based on standardized tests such as the SAT, plus extra-curricular activities.

I have noticed a gradual trend in colleges (nation-wide) putting less weight on standardized tests, not more. I'm not an expert, but that's my impression.

But the 10% (or 8%) system is a strange one - seems like it encourages kids who are good students to enroll in low achieving high schools where it is easier to get to the top. I imagine that colleges don't have to do nearly as much work in admissions if 75% of the incoming class are on "automatic" status.

[Trainwreck20]

The 'Top 10' rule was not at all the idea of the university, it was an action on the part of the legislature. To be fair, the legislature was only reflected the vocal citizens, but it is a screwball rule. Anyway, as far as I can tell, parents did not like their kids getting rejected from admission to the favorite school based on a test that cannot be predicted ahead of time. Parents wanted a concrete requirement that could be tracked over time - it is pretty easy to tell if you will be in (or not be in) the top 10% from pretty early. The SAT or ACT can 'surprise' some parents late in the game, and there is also no automatic 'in' based on the results, either.

[centralaustinite]

The best predictor of college grades is high school grades! There is a tremendous amount of research that demonstrates this. SAT/ACT are very poor predictors of college success.

But it is an odd system (only the TX legislature could have designed it) because it uses discrimination to create a system that maintains diversity. That is, it relies on housing discrimination that creates ISDs that concentrate similar kids provide diversity at the university level.

If kids who fall below the admissions level still want to go to UT, the best bet is to attend UT-SA or UT-Dallas for a year, and then transfer.

[contramundum]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

The best predictor of college grades is high school grades! There is a tremendous amount of research that demonstrates this. SAT/ACT are very poor predictors of college success.

But it is an odd system (only the TX legislature could have designed it) because it uses discrimination to create a system that maintains diversity. That is, it relies on housing discrimination that creates ISDs that concentrate similar kids provide diversity at the university level.

If kids who fall below the admissions level still want to go to UT, the best bet is to attend UT-SA or UT-Dallas for a year, and then transfer.

Well **** what happened to me then? I had a 3.5 cumulative in high school. Then I went to UW-Madison and barely maintained a 2.0. And no, it wasn't partying that did me in.