UT Tightens Admissions To Top 8 Percent (oil, car, top 10)

[Trainwreck20]

Not a university specific problem...it is endemic to the US eductation system. No one wants to technically know how to make anything or know how it works, they just want to make millions off selling something.

[mlassoff]

Maybe if UT looked for more well rounded students basing admissions off of criteria like:

GPA
Test Scores
Class Rank
Extra Curricular Activities
Rigor of High School Academics
Recommendations
and (Forgive me) an optional personal interview...

Maybe we'd let in the right 10% instead of the top 10%.

Physics is an amazing subject. I took AP Physics in high school and more of it as my nat science area concentration in college. But it is difficult. Letting in the right students, not just ones concerned about getting 'A's will lead to more curious Physics students.

[contramundum]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Not a university specific problem...it is endemic to the US eductation system. No one wants to technically know how to make anything or know how it works, they just want to make millions off selling something.

And that is why capitalism is so repulsive.

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

Maybe if UT looked for more well rounded students basing admissions off of criteria like:

GPA
Test Scores
Class Rank
Extra Curricular Activities
Rigor of High School Academics
Recommendations
and (Forgive me) an optional personal interview...

Maybe we'd let in the right 10% instead of the top 10%.

Physics is an amazing subject. I took AP Physics in high school and more of it as my nat science area concentration in college. But it is difficult. Letting in the right students, not just ones concerned about getting 'A's will lead to more curious Physics students.

I agree....and just of note. My personal essay and ACT writing/reading comprehension scores are what saved me when applying to schools.

I went to a high school where being late to class could drop your grade from a B to a C.

I rebelled against that because I knew in my high school that A's were handed out more for behavior than anything else, or for just doing the homework. It was more about discipline than learning. It played to the lowest common denominator, not to the more gifted kids.

[Nomadic9460678748]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Not a university specific problem...it is endemic to the US eductation system. No one wants to technically know how to make anything or know how it works, they just want to make millions off selling something.

I LOVE learning the intricacies of process! Truly I do. Unfortunately this desire has usually outweighed my ability to pursue a traditionally lucrative or secure career path. I'm too much of a generalist in that everything interests me on some level. I've never thought of anything I love to do as something from which I could acquire a financial windfall. I dropped out of law school after I realized I would have been miserable as a lawyer. I enjoyed the study of law as an intellectual pursuit, but otherwise realized I abhorred the people I was studying with (some were talking about six figure salaries with Uncle Big Lawyer's law firm the FIRST day of class, and here I was, first in the family to attend a university who couldn't even afford a car--I was out of place); and I realized I would have a difficult time suppressing that displeasure for the sake of a lucrative profession. Sometimes I think I made a mistake, but you can't undo the past. Also, while I am certainly a progressive I'm not an anti-capitalism. How could I be? I own an iPod and am one of the first people to admit to pointless consumerist impulse! (I made a special pay day trip just to buy a pack of the new retractable Sharpie pens. I know, I know).

And I am in the same boat as some of the other posters in that I'm almost positive that my personal essay garnered my admittance to university as I actually went to an abysmal high school, but was able to distinguish myself. Even so, I would have missed out on the top ten percent. I believe I graduated in the 12th percentile or something. Been too long for me to remember, but I didn't do poorly. I was always a good student.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by contramundum

And that is why capitalism is so repulsive.

?? So what do you suggest? If we need more physics students we should force it to happen somehow?

[artsyguy]

Don't you get it? UT do not want students that are curious or well rounded. They want numbers and statistics that look impressive. That strategy applies to many colleges.

Originally Posted by mlassoff

Maybe if UT looked for more well rounded students basing admissions off of criteria like:

GPA
Test Scores
Class Rank
Extra Curricular Activities
Rigor of High School Academics
Recommendations
and (Forgive me) an optional personal interview...

Maybe we'd let in the right 10% instead of the top 10%.

Physics is an amazing subject. I took AP Physics in high school and more of it as my nat science area concentration in college. But it is difficult. Letting in the right students, not just ones concerned about getting 'A's will lead to more curious Physics students.

[chickenfry]

We don't know what UT wants! Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals mandated that UT make changes to provide more diversity in admissions! This was court ordered! We can all ruminated about this all we want, but it is the result of a lawsuit. sheeeeeeeshhhhhh

[contramundum]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

?? So what do you suggest? If we need more physics students we should force it to happen somehow?

There's no quick or easy solution that I could simply suggest that would be implemented at the drop of a hat.

[Trainwreck20]

UT would love to use a rounded approach to admissions (which they did for years), but they are currently mandated by law to use the state-sanctioned method.