Texas College Admissions (Dallas, Howe, Rule: credit, transfer, elementary school)

[UnfairPark]

I was talking to a high school senior at a brunch and poor kid had no knowledge of admission process. He is first generation and attends Dallas ISD but I realized that there must be lots of DFW kids who can use some help. Even if they go to college help sites, they won't get help with local focus and we all know how useless public school counselors can be.

I would urge posters who attended public schools and then moved on to Texas universities to post helpful tips in this thread. Students and parents can post their questions and some efficient poster can post deadlines and step by step process etc. Every year local students and parents can benefit from this thread.

[oldoak2000]

parents / students can get THOUSANDS of dollars back on tax returns (credits/refunds):
https://www.irs.gov/uac/parents-and-...nd-years-ahead

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

I was talking to a high school senior at a brunch and poor kid had no knowledge of admission process. He is first generation and attends Dallas ISD but I realized that there must be lots of DFW kids who can use some help. Even if they go to college help sites, they won't get help with local focus and we all know how useless public school counselors can be.

I would urge posters who attended public schools and then moved on to Texas universities to post helpful tips in this thread. Students and parents can post their questions and some efficient poster can post deadlines and step by step process etc. Every year local students and parents can benefit from this thread.

Education is Freedom is a wonderful non-profit that operates on the campus at quite a few DISD high schools. Their counselors / mentors assist with the entire college application process from financials to essays and application help. You should get the young man you met in touch with EIF.

Education Is Freedom

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Education is Freedom is a wonderful non-profit that operates on the campus at quite a few DISD high schools. Their counselors / mentors assist with the entire college application process from financials to essays and application help. You should get the young man you met in touch with EIF.

Education Is Freedom

Great! I'll forward it to his father. If you guys keep posting tips and links, this thread can help other area students as well.

[TurtleCreek80]

Several other resources that can start well before high school:

1. Boys & Girls Club - I know they have a collegiate prep program that one of my friends volunteered at through Junior League. They take the kids on a tour of DFW area colleges and also help with college application prep. The Dallas BGC website says 100% of their kids went on to higher education.
https://bgcdallas.org

2. Big Brothers Big Sisters - another fabulous program where younger kids get a "big" brother or sister, typically an educated professional. This one really depends on the individual relationship forged, but I know a few people who have been with their littles from elementary school all the way through senior year and beyond.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

I was talking to a high school senior at a brunch and poor kid had no knowledge of admission process. He is first generation and attends Dallas ISD but I realized that there must be lots of DFW kids who can use some help. Even if they go to college help sites, they won't get help with local focus and we all know how useless public school counselors can be.

I would urge posters who attended public schools and then moved on to Texas universities to post helpful tips in this thread. Students and parents can post their questions and some efficient poster can post deadlines and step by step process etc. Every year local students and parents can benefit from this thread.

The admissions game within the UT system is nothing short of byzantine, A&M is only a little better.

[ChristieP]

The guidance counselor at his high school should also be able to help. That's their job.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by EDS_

The admissions game within the UT system is nothing short of byzantine, A&M is only a little better.

It's sad. When I applied to UT, you had to have the right class rank and a high enough SAT score. If you fell in the shaded area on the matrix, you were in. With a high class rank (not top 7%, but top 10%) and a 1350 SAT score (first try, woo!), I was in like Flynn.

The application itself wasn't even long. 2 pages IIRC. No essay or recommendations required.

[bmlx]

He should be preparing for the SAT/ACT this summer, and take one of those tests in the fall, since the college application deadlines are usually in the latter part of the fall semester. However, he should be applying to college as early as possible rather than applying just before the deadline; additionally, he will need to keep track of the deadlines for each school where he wishes to apply for admission.

I attended a public Texas high school, went to a community college, and then transferred to TCU (where I am currently a student). However, I didn't have to take the SAT/ACT as a transfer admit, but it must be noted that some schools will still require SAT/ACT for transfer. As EDS_ alluded to, Texas public universities focus heavily on class rank (the top 10% rule) when admitting students, but private universities like TCU and SMU will often take a more holistic admissions approach and consider factors other than GPA and SAT/ACT scores. What this means for privates is that when admissions officers are deciding to admit one of two students with equivalent GPA and SAT/ACT scores, the one that has better extracurricular involvement (especially depth of activities, around a common interest, rather than breadth), the better admissions essay, and so forth will be the one to get the admission offer. That's not to say that the public universities don't do this too.

Also, for students with strong résumés, private universities oftentimes offer more scholarships and financial aid for their students compared to public universities, in some cases making the private university cheaper. Unless you are lucky to receive a substantial "outside" scholarship (one not offered by a specific educational institution, such as those from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and similar organizations), and excluding any grant money, most of your aid money will come from the university you will be attending. Merit scholarship offers are one way in which universities can "compete" for stellar students (or athletes), by enticing students to attend their institution through offering more money than another university did.

[ClaraC]

He needs to start acting right now. He needs to sign up to take the August SAT, and the October SAT . If he waits until October, who knows, maybe the car won't start or he'll wake up with a 103 fever. This is too important to put off. Go on the SAT website and sign up for August. The SAT website is enormously helpful with all kinds of aspects of college admission.

He also needs to go to the ApplyTexas website - to fill out the Texas Common Application. Also an enormously helpful website.

Rule of thumb - he needs to have submitted all applications to public colleges/universities in Texas before he takes his first bite of turkey at Thanksgiving. That's the goal, and he needs to stick to it.

Best wishes to him!