College Admissions/Exmissions Stats (Dallas, Austin: student loan, broker, how much)

[akpack]

Originally Posted by akpack

i actually think it's probably easier from one of the less wealthy districts.

by this i did not mean to imply that plano, which i presume is what PISD stands for, is any less competitive than hpisd. i would think that it might be even more competitive, given the relatively high percentage of asian students.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Big G

If I remember correctly, Senior's val from last year turned down MIT and went to UTD . He got a National Merit full ride + $$$$$, along with being able to apply all his AP credits, which MIT almost completely disregards. I suspect he was also already hooked up with a research group at UTD, and maybe mid-publication.

I read just the other day, hope I get this right, that for Fall 2011 UTD admitted FIFTY THREE National Merit Scholars - Caltech admitted thirty six.

UTD is winning the race for Tier One both in terms of funding and "caliber of admissions".

[Big G]

Originally Posted by akpack

is this really true about MIT? someone in my family went there and while it was not as generous as say, stanford, with the credits, he nearly started out as a sophomore. but that was almost 20 years ago.

You can advance out of TWO 1st semester courses (Calc I and Phys I), and that's about it. (And that second one assumes scores of 5 ONLY on BOTH parts of the Phys C exam sequence. Calc I credit requires a 4 or 5 on Calc BC.)

No credit at all for AP Bio, Chem, Comp Sci, Stats, or Environmental Studies.

Everything else (Spanish, Art History, Economics,...) requires a 5, and only gets general elective credit (9 units = 3 UT-style credits). They cannot be used to fulfull any specific graduation requirements, so they probably won't help you graduate any faster.

Straight from the horse's mouth:

MIT Class of 2015: Advising and Academics - College Board Advanced Placement Credit (http://mit.edu/firstyear/2015/subjects/ap.html - broken link)

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Big G

You can advance out of TWO 1st semester courses (Calc I and Phys I), and that's about it. (And that second one assumes scores of 5 ONLY on BOTH parts of the Phys C exam sequence. Calc I credit requires a 4 or 5 on Calc BC.)

No credit at all for AP Bio, Chem, Comp Sci, Stats, or Environmental Studies.

Everything else (Spanish, Art History, Economics,...) requires a 5, and only gets general elective credit (9 units = 3 UT-style credits). They cannot be used to fulfull any specific graduation requirements, so they probably won't help you graduate any faster.

Straight from the horse's mouth:

MIT Class of 2015: Advising and Academics - College Board Advanced Placement Credit (http://mit.edu/firstyear/2015/subjects/ap.html - broken link)

Additive to that is the well sold notion at good schools that their courses are simply better than knowledge indicated by AP credits. My son for example was talked out of using 16(?) hrs. of AP/dual credit bio. towards his pre-med program requirements. He thought it was BS at the time he now thinks it was a really good move to not use his advanced placement.

[Dr. Jake Oil]

Originally Posted by EDS_

I read just the other day, hope I get this right, that for Fall 2011 UTD admitted FIFTY THREE National Merit Scholars - Caltech admitted thirty six.

UTD is winning the race for Tier One both in terms of funding and "caliber of admissions".

Come on now, UTD has an undergraduate population of ~9500, caltech has under 1000. Apples/oranges...

[facebookdigg123]

Originally Posted by Dr. Jake Oil

Come on now, UTD has an undergraduate population of ~9500, caltech has under 1000. Apples/oranges...

the students at caltech are also a lot smarter than the students at utd...

the more interesting fact is that utd has more nmf than all other ut schools combined.

[jelf]

I wouldn't exactly call it apples and oranges, but you do have a point that the percentages of finalists at Caltech would be significantly higher. Still, I do think that is a remarkable achievement for UTD.

Originally Posted by Dr. Jake Oil

Come on now, UTD has an undergraduate population of ~9500, caltech has under 1000. Apples/oranges...

[Big G]

A big part of that is that UT-Austin no longer gives out NM Scholarships. That means DFW NMSF kids in search of big-time merit money are now diverted to UTD (and OU, along with some smaller players). Even if you CAN afford to pay full freight at UT-Austin, it's hard to turn down a situation like UTD, where THEY pay YOU to go to school.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Big G

A big part of that is that UT-Austin no longer gives out NM Scholarships. That means DFW NMSF kids in search of big-time merit money are now diverted to UTD (and OU, along with some smaller players). Even if you CAN afford to pay full freight at UT-Austin, it's hard to turn down a situation like UTD, where THEY pay YOU to go to school.

Agreed, IMO it's one more move towards suicide for UT-Austin. They diverted the money from merit towards need.

[Big G]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Agreed, IMO it's one more move towards suicide for UT-Austin.

Eh, depends on where you're standing. No NMS program hasn't hurt the Ivies any. UT-Austin figures its reputation attracts enough high-performing students without having to pay extra for them.

They diverted the money from merit towards need.

Nothing inherently wrong with that. Just a different prioritization of limited funds. OU and UTD are gambling on "buying" future reputation down the line with these students. UT-Austin is passing on that game.