<p>Better explanation of “How UT Chooses its (not top 10%) Students”</p>
<p>from Report 10 October 28, 2007http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/research/HB588-Report10.pdf[/url] ”>http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/research/HB588-Report10.pdf</a></p> ;
<p>
The UT Austin admissions routine for students not automatically admitted is elaborate and entails a broad concept of merit. Beginning with the entering class of 1997, for those not automatically admitted, the idea of merit was expanded from class rank and test scores exclusively to the inclusion of the following factors:</p>
<p>The Academic Index (AI)
<p>The Personal Achievement Index (PAI)
Socio-economic status of family
Single parent home
Language spoken at home
Family responsibilities
Socio-economic status of school attended
Average SAT/ACT of school attended in relation to student’s own SAT/ACT
Race (addition approved by the UT Board of Regents in 2003)</p>
<p>Thus, merit includes the ambition to tackle rigorous high school coursework, the production of quality prose, and the desire to make a difference in one’s school, home, or community. Evidence of employability (work), and some sense of having excelled in any number of areas are also considered. Moreover, admissions officials place these attributes in the context of the circumstances under which the student lived.</p>
<p>The Academic Index (AI) is determined by a multiple regression equation utilizing a high school percentile derived from an explicit class rank [1-(class rank/class size)]*100, and verbal and math test scores from the ACT Assessment or the SAT I: Reasoning Test. The equation produces a predicted freshman year grade point average.</p>
<p>After a review of the high school transcript, an applicant can be “awarded” a tenth of a point if he/she exceeded UT’s required high school curriculum. Thus, AI values range from 4.10-0.00.</p>
<p>The Personal Achievement Index (PAI) is UT Austin’s holistic approach to admissions. Admissions officers are trained each year to conduct comprehensive reviews of every application from students not automatically admitted. All applicants are required to submit two essays. Each are read and scored on a scale of 1-6. The application itself, and any attachments an applicant chooses to include, is then reviewed. A “personal achievement” score on a scale of 1-6 is then assigned to the application. </p>
<p>From the three scores, two essays and a personal achievement score, a PAI is computed. The equation reflects a 1997 faculty decision to give slightly more weight to the personal achievement score than the essays:
<p>AIs and PAIs of applicants not automatically admitted are then plotted on an admissions decision grid.
</p>
<p>When they say “not automatically admitted” they are referring to the “not top 10%” applicants.</p>
<p>The report explains how you can come up with a numeric Academic Index. It will be like a grade, say a 3.5 or a 4.0.</p>
<p>You can see what they are looking at, anyway, to try to decide if your Personal Achievement Index is likely to be, say a 4, 5, or 6.</p>
<p>The Academic Index and the Personal Achievement Index are “plotted against each other on a graph” and those highest on both are admitted.</p>
<p>If you are interested in excruciatingly detailed data and analyses related to UT Admissions, look here:Research - University of Texas Admissions ”>Research - University of Texas Admissions )</p>
JHB619
September 21, 2008, 7:15pm
2
<p>You know, sometimes I wonder how Texas students would perform on standardized exams if the Top 10% didn’t apply in Texas. Or I wonder how UT-Austin would handle the admissions.</p>
<p>Thanks, MidwestMom, for that info. But now my head hurts!</p>
<p>bumping this for jeb1291 </p>
<p>jeb, in my opinion your academic index looks good and if you write great essays, your personal achievement index will look good - In my opinion, you will be accepted as long as your essays are as high quality as UT would expect given your other statistics. </p>
<p>bump -</p>
<p>for out of state students.</p>
<p>bumping for out of state students again</p>
<p>thank you so much for posting this! it was definately helpful to me. i go to a charter school with about 90 students in my graduating class. a charter school is basically a public school with a private school education. on top of that, we do not have class rank. i’ve been wanting to attend UT austin for some time now, but i hope they regard the disadvantages and look at my merits. i tell my parents everyday that they should’ve put me in a public school so if i was in top 10%, i would not have to worry about acceptance to any texas school at all. but they always tell me that my education at my current school is incomparable.</p>
califa
November 14, 2008, 1:31pm
8
<p>Thanks for posting this. I wonder what impact the top 10% rule will have on oos applications with the financial crisis. If more top Texas kids who would have gone to the Ivies, etc, are staying instate, that could make it harder for oos kids to get in. Anyone know currently what the acceptance rate is for oos students?</p>
<p>bumping for BevoUT and other out-of-state applicants</p>
<p>Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Bumping for recent out-of-state applicants.</p>
AndreB
April 19, 2011, 10:28pm
11
<p>Is this method used for transfer students also?</p>