<p>Met a lady at Target the other day who heard me talking with my mom about how I was no longer interested in UT Austin. She started laughing so we finally asked why. She must be a die hard Texan or something because she started talking about how amazing UT Austin is and how only a fool would give up attending there if they had a chance and went on to explain how her son went there. I asked what he got his degree in. Then she went on to explain that he did not graduate there, he dropped out.</p>
<p>See…with the top 10% rule, which translates to top 7% now for UT Austin, it means that many people who get in cannot cut it. When I started high school, and where we lived, I was the top of my class at a mediocre school. Then I moved. Now I am at a top high school and top 10%. UT Austin only has a 50% 4 yr graduation rate. THAT does not rival Ivy League. UT Austin is NOT Ivy League, and it is not worth this. Their average SAT score range is much lower than Ivy League. Fact is, you get in to UT Austin, you will be in with a bunch of freshmen who were were top 7% of any podunk high school in Texas. My SAT scores will be way higher. I have higher hopes than the 50% 4 year graduation rate. And I will be one of thousands, who no one cares even showed up.</p>
<p>UT Austin is NOT Ivy League and people who go to UT Austin and think they can compare it to Ivy League are fooling themselves. You are not going to get an Ivy League education or experience at UT Austin. SO, that being said, waiting far longer for an answer from a state school like UT Austin is in no way the same as waiting three months for an answer from an Ivy League school. AND IF I had applied to Ivy League as early as I did UT Austin, it would have been ED and I would have gotten in months ago. </p>
<p>For me, I ONLY applied to UT Austin because one of my teachers insisted I apply to the Plan 2 program and I would love it. I have not even toured yet. And with the way their admissions office works, even if I get it, it is unlikely I will tour. What few people I have met who went to UT vs TAMU, the way they behave is completely different. The UT students look past you. They recite things they were told to say, as evidenced by the fact that they use the same exact wording. They are scripted. The TAMU students seem to speak from the heart. This means a lot to me. Getting in to UT Austin has never been a priority for me, so I certain have not spent my high school years working toward getting there. IF a specific college were THAT important to me, it would be something much better, or higher ranked, or whatever else, than UT Austin. UT Austin is what it is. And what it is is just a big state school. Some people are in love with it, and fine for them. But I am not. And if I go there, my SAT scores put me above the 75th percentile. Even though UT Austin has these weird admissions policy, in the end, it would not be a good academic match for me. A lot of people who attend there never graduate college. A lot of people who go there have never taken the rigor of courses I have. Sure, there are SOME great students there. But it is not the same as a top school with high expectations to get in to. It is simply a school that inputs your information to a computer and then spits out an answer. </p>