I think UTK is learning as they go. To be fair, Clemson and Auburn did the same thing a few years back -drastically cutting admission for OOS without warning. South Carolina seems to have done this as well.
All of these schools seem to be unable to adjust to their recent popularity and dramatic increase in applications from OOS applicants - causing housing issues and other problems.
While these schools are popular, academically they are relatively the same as they were before their popularity. USC has even fallen in rankings instead of rising like the others.
Chalk it up to a learning curve and to those who are applying within the next two years, these are NOT safeties anymore.
I think every state has their in state talent pool and obviously itās not equal across the board. TN does not equate to FL etc etc. what you have now more than ever before is the same exact kids applying to the same schools in mass. And schools are being tricked into accepting a larger number of students who will never actually attend there. Itās absurd for a kid to apply to 20 schools; that just tells me the student lacks guidance and a true understanding of what they like and want. Those kids are flooding the system and robbing other students of opportunities. Iāve read these boards and seen the variety and number of schools parents say their kid applied to and it doesnāt even make any sense based on the large differences between the schools in all areas (location, academics, specializations, community etc)
The schools themselves are left holding an empty bag (well a bag full of cash). These arenāt highly regarded academic schools. Most are average. We applied to TN because we are familiar with it, we own a home in TN and spend time there throughout the year. We actively enjoy and support the state very much.
I would also add that UTK has announced they want a class of 2/3 In-state studentsā¦66% is a very high number! Auburn (where my son attends OOS) by comparison is about 54%. It actually greatly diminished the appeal of UTK to my HS junior daughter, who originally had it as a top choice. Although she would like to go OOS, she does not want to be at a school dominated by ālocals,ā if you will. I would agree this mass application process is crazy and certainly affecting admissions. She only has 3 schools on her listāthey are all similar in size, location, school culture, academic offerings, etc. Sheās not even interested in 10 different places!
How this will impact UTK with rankings will certainly be interesting to watchā¦
I think I remember hearing that USC and Clemson both require 80%+ to be instateā¦ is that right? Also, do we know if the 66% is spread across all campuses of UT across the state, like the 90% is in Florida?
With this round, OOS for both USC and UTKā¦I saw only high stats OOS get into UTK while avg stats get into USC over students with higher stats at the same school and with that we assumed higher stat students were part of yield protection? IDKā¦ who knows!
What I meant was that if my kid is a high stats and highly qualified applicant that applies to a school they realistically have no interest of attending and they are accepted; theyāve taken an acceptance away from another student, possibly an in state student deserving of a spot. We were very pointed and responsible about applications. On these boards Iāve seen parents talk about their kid applying to UF, FSU, Michigan, UNC, UVA UTK; the same student. Iām sorry, but if youāre considering UF and Michigan then you really donāt have an idea of what youāre doing other than just looking at a ranking and applying. Those highly ranked schools have little in common culturally, (UNC/UVA are similar) lifestyle, locations, community etc. Totally different schools and a waste of people time. Even UF and FSU are very different places in all aspects.
Does anyone know what Tennesseeās in state percentage was for the past few yrs? It has been amazing to see the acceptance rate fall so precipitously from > 70% to 34%. I canāt say the surprise was all due to the University not being forthcoming. The school published last yearās admissions cycle, statistics, publicly. So people should have been able to see that the acceptance rate would not be greater than 70% as is published on US news. Also, this was the first year under the newly passed state law to Guaranteed admission for in-state high school students in the tops of their class. That was going to affect the admissions. Pool was somewhat of a first time impression. The admissions office did drop the ball on communication with applicants. ā¦ in full disclosure my OOS kid was deferred and then waitlisted and has now chosen a study abroad path to enroll at UTK in the spring. However, his result was not surprising based on the publicly released results from the fall 2023 frrshmen stats.
So itās an artificial 35%. It will likely rise in the coming years as oos applications drop and their in state auto admits increases. Basically most kids can attain a core 4.0 GPA. In state admissions will be almost assured for most kids who have decently applied themselves.
This is another example of a large state school (UTK)that can do this because they have a limited in state talent pool. FL schools could never implement an auto acceptance rule of that type. There are simply way too many kids in tye state who would easily attain a 4.0 core. Itās great they are taking care of their in state kids and not sacrificing them for some mythical ranking status
That is excellent that your son has accepted to study abroad the first semester. Good for him! My daughter accepted the waitlist but did not commit to any of the options. How will the housing/roomate selection be once he returns for spring semester? Where is he studying abroad at and with what major?
Your son has an acceptance to study abroad? Or he chose that as part of the waitlist? Iām not clear on how this Verto Vols works. Has anyone else done it?
Who knows. Anything can happenā¦ Back in the 90s Northeastern was not what it is today. I think I knew one person to apply, average at best, and was accepted. We shall see happens here with UTK.
Probably referring to US News. I believe before the methodology change USC was #105 or #115 in 2022/2023. This past yearās rankings, with the methodology change, USC is now #124. UVM fell to #133 while UNH rose to #115. UTK stayed at #105 as I recall. I view all of these schools as the same academically by the way.
I agree with you, but, on the other hand, shouldnāt the end result be the same? In other words, it doesnāt matter on May 1st because those who never had any intention of going would have dropped out, the same result as if they didnāt apply in the first place. But I agree with you that it has gotten out of hand.