<p>My son is a rising senior and is not in the top 8%. I know he will not be an auto-admit, so we are trying to make a strategic decision about which college to list as his second choice. First choice will be McCombs. What college is the safest choice to list second?</p>
<p>I thought I read somewhere that Education had the lowest admission statistics (SAT score, rank, etc). If anyone has data for each UT college it would be incredibly helpful!</p>
<p>In case it matters; here are his stats:
Location: In-State
HS: Public School
Rank: School does not rank, but would be approximately 26% if it did
GPA: weighted 4.82 of 5.0
SAT: M 730 R 610 W 710 (Total 2050)
ACT: did not take
ECs: A few clubs and awards, nothing earth shattering</p>
<p>The following link that I have provided gives you the average SAT and ACT scores for each college. It looks like a fairly close tie between Nursing, Undergraduate Studies, Education, and Social Work. </p>
<p>His SAT stats are very solid, at least in my opinion, and considering the averages. Since the school doesn’t rank, that may help him, but it doesn’t hurt to try to boost his GPA during his senior year. If I were him, I’d also try to take the ACT.</p>
<p>I hope that my minimal advice aids in your decision making process.</p>
<p>“Liberal Arts - Economics” is common for people who think they might just miss McCombs’s cutoff.</p>
<p>Education would be your other second best choice if you don’t trust getting into Liberal Arts (a significantly easy admit IMO, and won’t require an additional transfer to get out of something like education). Don’t pick Social Work (they really want interested people) or nursing. Undergrad Studies is just another way to say “liberal arts - undecided” but they made it all special for some reason.</p>
<p>I apologize for not stating which colleges want serious interested applicants. Social Work and Nursing aren’t really worth applying too if you have no interest in those fields. You’re better off choosing Education or Undergraduate Studies, basically. If I were you I’d pick Undergraduate Studies or Liberal Arts, but that’s just me.</p>
<p>Boosting his GPA during his senior year will not help. With the application deadline of Dec. 1st. the only GPA that will be considered is the end of the Jr. Year. Definitely have him take the ACT. It can only help him and many students do significantly better on the ACT than the SAT. Standardized test scores are pretty important at UT.</p>
<p>I’ve heard Geosciences is one of the easier/less popular college/major. You should apply to that and Liberal Arts/Education. But yeah, I agree on what everyone else said.</p>
<p>This is what you need to do…it worked for my D</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Apply by September 1st or within the first week of September (this is crucial)</p></li>
<li><p>Send in an expanded resume with your application</p></li>
<li><p>Choose a major that is easier to get into such as Education and Liberal Arts (the education department loves male applicants apparently)</p></li>
<li><p>Write outstanding essays</p></li>
</ol>
<p>@SWTCAT or @Xcellerator - - are you suggesting that he select only Education, Liberal Arts, or Geosciences… And omit McCombs on his application altogether, in order to maximize his chances of admission? Then seek a transfer after his freshman year?</p>
<p>Another rookie question: By applying early (August-Sept) will he receive the admission decision earlier than those who apply later? Or are all applicants notified at the same time?</p>
<p>wake210 - Well, your son doesn’t really have a chance for McCombs. McCombs is all about class rank…I would go with Economics (Liberal Arts) first, then Geoscience/Education. And yes, he could always transfer after his freshman year. You need like a 3.7 or close to that to be competitive. It’s all up to you and your son though.</p>
<p>Top 8% applicants are notified first. It’s kind of like rolling admissions for others (my friend was notified in Jan.), but most are notified sometime in March.</p>