DFW suburbs and trouble getting into TX flagship schools (Austin: credit, transfer)

[Mardrew]

That report leaves out a key detail by not mentioning the size of those schools.

From the UIL realignment data there appears to be about
212 1A Schools (Under 105 students)
187 2A scools (105-224)
232 3A Schools (225-504)
189 4A Schools (505-1149)
253 5A Schools ((1150-2189)
254 6A Schools (2190 and above)

If those 775 never schools are the 1A, 2A, 3A and small 4A schools then it really doesn't mean much.

Allen, and the 3 Plano schools probably outnumber all of 212 1A Schools combined.

They really need to provide additional data such as the 775 never schools are x% of the high school population in Texas.

They also need to look into whether number of students attending UT and A&M from more diverse big high schools increased due to the top 10% program.

[Taub201]

If the three Plano schools and Allen are each 1590/class, the 212 1A schools would need to average 30 per class.


If you assume no 1A kids go to UT, it's rather telling that over 600 kids got into A&M and 212+ got into UT but didn't go. I know a 1A kid who's rather well off. His valedictorian stayed local (SFA) and he at #3 didn't get into UT. He went to Arkansas. Interesting how that works.


I suppose it's pretty tough to get into U of Florida (#35 rank) as a Florida resident or UVa as a Virginia resident.

[Mardrew]

The numbers for UIL realignment are based on total students in 9-12.

https://realignment.uiltexas.org/ali...ha_2018-20.pdf

For the last UIL Realignment:
Allen 6,664 Students
Plano 5,197.5 (I don't know how the get fractional students)
Plano E 5,342.5
Plano W 5,654

Total: 22,858

212 1A Schools maximum population is 22,260 (using 105 instead of 104.9999 students)

So yes Allen + the 3 Plano schools is more than all 212 1A schools.

Allen and the 3 planos are the 4 biggest schools in Texas, About 80 of the 1A shools have 50 or less students so in reality the 4 biggest school have far more students thatn the 212 smallest schools.


I am not claiming that no one from 1A schools went to UT or A&M.

But the main point of that story is that around 44% of Texas high schools do not send students to UT or A&M.

I'm saying that fact can be incredibly deceptive when 4 of the High schools combined have more than 212 other high schools combined.

They need to give a lot more detail to support their conclusion than just the number of high schools that do not send kids to UT or A&M

[UnfairPark]

Even though most parents here are worried about acceptance or cost and could care less about suitability or happiness of a campus but it should be one of the factors when helping your child pick a place where he/she will spent 4-6 important years of their lives. Mental health and fitting in are as important for good education as tuition or teachers. Every student’s experience is different but overall experiences give some idea of the environment at a college.

https://poetsandquantsforundergrads....appy-students/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tow...lege-students/

[ChristieP]

Exactly! Not all kids will succeed at a huge Div 1 school with freshman classes held in huge lecture halls. I know I didn’t want that experience so I chose a smaller Division 2 school with smaller classes and more individual attention, and a wonderful scholarship program. That made a huge difference for me!

[calgirlinnc]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

Even though most parents here are worried about acceptance or cost and could care less about suitability or happiness of a campus but it should be one of the factors when helping your child pick a place where he/she will spent 4-6 important years of their lives. Mental health and fitting in are as important for good education as tuition or teachers. Every student’s experience is different but overall experiences give some idea of the environment at a college.

https://poetsandquantsforundergrads....appy-students/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tow...lege-students/

I wholeheartedly agree with this. I would also suggest that this applies as well to high schools in the DFW area.

[jgn2013]

How many Texas HS seniors genuinely want to go to UT because of specific programs and academic offerings...and how many want to go just to hit up Sixth Street, go to cool frat parties and have decent seats to big-time football games? If you have high SAT scores and graduate Top 6% from HP, the Plano schools, Allen, Southlake etc., you're probably going to have a decent shot at getting into quite a few other schools with much more generous financial aid packages. My understanding is UT is pretty stingy with money.

A lot of kids get the Burnt Orange Blinders and try to convince themselves that UT is the "right" school, even if it's a horrible fit. A&M seems a bit different as the people I know that went there ALWAYS wanted to go there. Most had at least two Aggie family members.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Exactly! Not all kids will succeed at a huge Div 1 school with freshman classes held in huge lecture halls. I know I didn’t want that experience so I chose a smaller Division 2 school with smaller classes and more individual attention, and a wonderful scholarship program. That made a huge difference for me!

I was in an Honors program at a huge D1 school and the majority of my classes had under 20 students in them. Even freshmen year. Exception being a few “weed out” classes. I went to professors’ homes for dinner, took advantage of office hours and small study groups, etc. Plus big Greek system and strong football program.

It’s not always as black and white as “big school” vs “little school.”

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

It’s not always as black and white as “big school” vs “little school.”

True... generally bigger schools have bigger classes. My friends who attended the bigger schools talked about many of their classes being held in the lecture halls, and being taught by teaching assistants. That wasn’t what I wanted, so I chose the smaller school, which also gave me a nice scholarship!

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by jgn2013

How many Texas HS seniors genuinely want to go to UT because of specific programs and academic offerings...and how many want to go just to hit up Sixth Street, go to cool frat parties and have decent seats to big-time football games? If you have high SAT scores and graduate Top 6% from HP, the Plano schools, Allen, Southlake etc., you're probably going to have a decent shot at getting into quite a few other schools with much more generous financial aid packages. My understanding is UT is pretty stingy with money.

A lot of kids get the Burnt Orange Blinders and try to convince themselves that UT is the "right" school, even if it's a horrible fit. A&M seems a bit different as the people I know that went there ALWAYS wanted to go there. Most had at least two Aggie family members.

UT was a machine when I went there. You were a nameless face in the crowd and lots of lower-division undergraduate classes were taught by TAs. Lots of required classes had hundreds of people in them, especially non-major science courses.


I went to UT because I got in and because my parents refused to consider sending me to college out of state. Since they were footing the bill, I went along with their wishes and went off to UT.


I didn't really like it. I endured it and graduated, but if I had it to do all over again I don't think I would have gone there.


I definitely didn't go to UT to hang out on Sixth Street (it's boring and noisy), and there's really nothing cool about frat parties. They're also boring and noisy (to me anyway). I was also part of UT's Greek system and it was such a negative experience for me that I have refused to write recommendations for my sorority for the last 20+ years. I have advised parents and kids about to go off to college about the Greek system and to really examine their reasons for wanting to participate. If you go into it with your eyes wide open, you might enjoy it. If you believe the brochures, you're going to be disappointed.


As for student seating at UT football games...have fun watching the game from the end zone. That's about the crappiest seat in the house.


I will add for any top-flight student who didn't get into UT and is crushed about it...don't be. Seriously. Don't be.