How hard is it to get top 10% and top 6% in plano west? (Houston: new home, find a job)

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by cordata

If the graduating class is 1300 that would mean 78 in the top 6%. So 285 accepted means at least 200 "holistic" admits I would think?

Good logic. I wonder how many/what percent of auto-admits/top 6% to say UT-Austin take a pass?

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by TeamLynn

Would it be better for average or below average kids to go to a less tough school to give them better chances of being in top 10%. Of course I guess no one thinks their kid is in the bottom 1/2 of the class.

My niece did this. She went to a school in a very small district where she made it in the top 10% easily, and got an auto-admit to UT Austin. Once there, she realized that she wasn’t completely prepared for that level of coursework, especially in writing, so she had to study hard to keep up. She graduated two years ago.

[20Hope20]

Originally Posted by EDS_

That does not help much without knowing what percentage of the enrollees mentioned were auto-admits.

It doesn't but as long as one can get admitted, it makes no difference.

[20Hope20]

If you have 100 kids in your class, 10% is 10, if you have 1,000, 10% is 100 so your odds are pretty much the same for auto admit. On plus side, if your school is considered an academic powerhouse, your odds of getting accepted are still pretty bright even if you couldn't make top 10%.

[mastershake575]

Originally Posted by serger

There were changes made to the ranking system several years ago. Ranking GPA does not include all classes, just "core" courses.
So, two GPAs: overall (everything counts) reported on the transcript, and ranking - just for the top 10%, used for the automatic admission. Presumably this was done to make it less of a rat race, it still is though.

https://www.pisd.edu/cms/lib/TX02215...3%20posted.pdf

See p.10-11

Yeah that's a fairer system. Under the old system you were actually penalized for taking a freshmen level class like keyboarding or BCIS, you need to wait till your later years to take something like AP computer science which is absurd especially if you have no desire to enter that field.

The 4.31 being the minimum was in 2017 under the old system (all classes regardless if core or not) so if they did in fact change it then the minimum to be in the top 10% should be a decent amount higher (cut-off should be somewhere in-between a 4.4-4.5)

[texstout]

There is a lot of complexity here. Each school district has different criteria. For example, in DISD class rank is only based on 15 core classes (not extracurriculars, etc.). This is to encourage students to take electives. Of course, there is still some gaming of the system in order to maximize the number of Category 1 classes that go all the way up to a 6.0.



Eligible courses are assigned to categories based on their level of rigor and difficulty:
• Category I: Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), advanced Project Lead the Way (PLTW), and dual credit courses in mathematics, ELA, science, and social studies -- this can go all the way up to a 6.0
• Category II: Pre-AP, IB Middle Years Program (MYP) and International Scholars, lower level PLTW in mathematics, ELA, science, and social studies -- this can go all the way up to a 5.0
• Category III: All other courses in mathematics, ELA, science, and social studies -- this can go all the way up to a 4.0\


My belief is that most of the Top students at competitive high schools (and I include DISD schools such as Woodrow, Hillcrest and the magnets) would basically do the same at most other suburb high schools. My son is in the IB program at Woodrow and the grading in the AP/IB and even some of the honors classes is tough and competitive.


As an aside - to get auto-admission into UT Austin, you have to be in the top 6% and that is only auto-admission into the liberal arts school. Its much tougher to get into some of the colleges and specific majors like engineering, CS, business school, RTF, etc. And these hard colleges/majors at UT are also VERY hard to transfer into if you start in the liberal arts school. People talk about the top 10% - but honestly a lot of that is outdated. I know top 1% of kids at good schools who still aren't admitted into the UT major of their preference.

[Grainraiser]

"As an aside - to get auto-admission into UT Austin, you have to be in the top 6% and that is only auto-admission into the liberal arts school. Its much tougher to get into some of the colleges and specific majors like engineering, CS, business school, RTF, etc. And these hard colleges/majors at UT are also VERY hard to transfer into if you start in the liberal arts school."


This is very important information to know. Many people think kids in the top 6% from less rigorous schools are taking spots from 10% kids from more rigorous schools. At a school like UT this is not the case. Those kids from less rigorous schools are being admitted to the school of liberal arts. The school of engineering, business and computer science are much more difficult to get into. This is the reason alot of those kids from rigorous schools go to out of state schools instead of UT. They do not want to be liberal art majors. I have a niece that was top 6% at Lewisville high. She was accepted as a liberal arts major. She really bust her but to transfer into the business school. She was one of the 3% who was able to transfer into McCombs. She graduated 2 years ago. UT really has a two tier system when it comes to admittance.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Grainraiser

"As an aside - to get auto-admission into UT Austin, you have to be in the top 6% and that is only auto-admission into the liberal arts school. Its much tougher to get into some of the colleges and specific majors like engineering, CS, business school, RTF, etc. And these hard colleges/majors at UT are also VERY hard to transfer into if you start in the liberal arts school."


This is very important information to know. Many people think kids in the top 6% from less rigorous schools are taking spots from 10% kids from more rigorous schools. At a school like UT this is not the case. Those kids from less rigorous schools are being admitted to the school of liberal arts. The school of engineering, business and computer science are much more difficult to get into. This is the reason alot of those kids from rigorous schools go to out of state schools instead of UT. They do not want to be liberal art majors. I have a niece that was top 6% at Lewisville high. She was accepted as a liberal arts major. She really bust her but to transfer into the business school. She was one of the 3% who was able to transfer into McCombs. She graduated 2 years ago. UT really has a two tier system when it comes to admittance.

My kid graduated number 4 in a class of 425 in a Houston ISD school. UT offered him the Liberal Arts school, which offers no degrees with anything. He's going to A&M instead, and is very happy about it.

[FreeVilley]

Originally Posted by WRM20

My kid graduated number 4 in a class of 425 in a Houston ISD school. UT offered him the Liberal Arts school, which offers no degrees with anything. He's going to A&M instead, and is very happy about it.

Economics is in the Liberal Arts school at UT, which has one of the highest 1st year salaries.

[Grainraiser]

Most of the kids who major in economics due so because they were not able to get into McCombs. It's the next best option for one seeking a business degree.