O/T President Bill Powers Out at UT???

[tristatecoog]

I'm guessing pony94 went to St Mark's, Dalton School, PEA, Andover, etc. There are only a handful of rich schools where the top 14 kids all go Ivy. It sure doesn't happen at HPHS.

Assuming pony94 graduated HS in 1990, things were a bit less competitive back then. Today, a 1290 SAT (or 1940 equivalent) puts you at roughly the 80% percentile of UT applicants. If he went to a school like St Mark's, then they don't typically rank. If the top 14 all going Ivy is hyperbole, and it's a big well-regarded public school, then bottom half won't cut it.

Back then, you needed a 1200+ to get into UH if you were in the bottom half of a ranked class. We had a Natl Merit Semifinalist, who didn't make Finalist, that had a 1500 SAT but was near the bottom of his class. He didn't turn out well initially but came back and aced his classes after he matured. Just an anecdote and not meant to relate to pony94 in any way.

So, today UT uses the 7% rule. I don't hear of HP grads having a particularly easy time getting in any more. One guy I know went to Baylor because he couldn't get into UT or A&M. There are a ton of other schools that benefit greatly from the 7% rule at UT and 10% rule at A&M. I believe the UC-system has, or had, a 4% rule.

[gostangs]

its not really that hard for an HP kid in the top 25% of his class to get into UT. You just have to be smart about school within UT you apply to - if you try business and plan 2 as your back up, you will be rejected. If you pick education with liberal arts as your back up, you will probably get in. If that guy couldn't get in to even A&M then he probably should be at Baylor. you want you flagship schools to be good - i am glad it is not a cake walk - but it is not that hard. If you need to make a million dollar donation or you need letter from a state congressman, your kid would probably be happier somewhere else.

[Stallion]

I'd bet the average SAT at St. Marks is at least 1290-it was over 1200 35 years ago (damn) when I was there and the test has been reentered adding about 100 points or so. I think about 25 kids had National Merit recognition this year

[Stallion]

actually in 2012 average SAT was 1393 out of 1600. So I guess Top 10% is probably around 1525? That's pretty tough-but I think UT allows about 15-18% of the Class every year that weren't Top 10%

This year, St. Marks’ senior class has 90 students, with 20 National Merit finalists, 26 commended, one National Achievement semi- finalist, and one National Hispanic Recognition Program- honorable mention. St. Mark’s class of 2012 has an average SAT score is 2072 out of 2400 (1393 out of 1600). That compares to the rest of the state, where the average SAT score is 1462 out of 2400 (989 out of 1600).

Probably 75% of the Class goes to Ivy League or Top 50 equivalent

[gostangs]

i don't really think it is a news flash that St Marks is a great academic school. Next up - Stallions expose on Stanford. You may be surprised to hear it is a great University.

[CalallenStang]

actually in 2012 average SAT was 1393 out of 1600. So I guess Top 10% is probably around 1525? That's pretty tough-but I think UT allows about 15-18% of the Class every year that weren't Top 10%

This year, St. Marks’ senior class has 90 students, with 20 National Merit finalists, 26 commended, one National Achievement semi- finalist, and one National Hispanic Recognition Program- honorable mention. St. Mark’s class of 2012 has an average SAT score is 2072 out of 2400 (1393 out of 1600). That compares to the rest of the state, where the average SAT score is 1462 out of 2400 (989 out of 1600).

Probably 75% of the Class goes to Ivy League or Top 50 equivalent

You realize that top 10% refers to class rank / GPA, not standardized test scores, right?

[smupony94]

I'm guessing pony94 went to St Mark's, Dalton School, PEA, Andover, etc. There are only a handful of rich schools where the top 14 kids all go Ivy. It sure doesn't happen at HPHS.

Assuming pony94 graduated HS in 1990, things were a bit less competitive back then. Today, a 1290 SAT (or 1940 equivalent) puts you at roughly the 80% percentile of UT applicants. If he went to a school like St Mark's, then they don't typically rank. If the top 14 all going Ivy is hyperbole, and it's a big well-regarded public school, then bottom half won't cut it.

Back then, you needed a 1200+ to get into UH if you were in the bottom half of a ranked class. We had a Natl Merit Semifinalist, who didn't make Finalist, that had a 1500 SAT but was near the bottom of his class. He didn't turn out well initially but came back and aced his classes after he matured. Just an anecdote and not meant to relate to pony94 in any way.

So, today UT uses the 7% rule. I don't hear of HP grads having a particularly easy time getting in any more. One guy I know went to Baylor because he couldn't get into UT or A&M. There are a ton of other schools that benefit greatly from the 7% rule at UT and 10% rule at A&M. I believe the UC-system has, or had, a 4% rule.

nah I was the poor kid at Westlake in Austin

[tristatecoog]

It takes a St Mark's type school to send your top 14 graduates to the Ivy League. Smart and rich! Looking at Westlake's website, it's clear that currently UT, A&M, Tech and SMU are the most represented.

http://www.smtexas.org/podium/default.aspx?t=147537
Without looking, which school has the most St Marks graduates from the Class of '14 matriculating? If you guessed the Hilltop, you'd be correct. Seven grads are going to SMU and five each are going to Dartmouth, Princeton and UT-Austin. They have 14 total students going to Ivy schools. Two each are going to TCU and St Edwards!

Anyway, Powers got another year to provide a smooth transition.

[Digetydog]

I'm guessing pony94 went to St Mark's, Dalton School, PEA, Andover, etc. There are only a handful of rich schools where the top 14 kids all go Ivy. It sure doesn't happen at HPHS.

Assuming pony94 graduated HS in 1990, things were a bit less competitive back then. Today, a 1290 SAT (or 1940 equivalent) puts you at roughly the 80% percentile of UT applicants. If he went to a school like St Mark's, then they don't typically rank. If the top 14 all going Ivy is hyperbole, and it's a big well-regarded public school, then bottom half won't cut it.

Back then, you needed a 1200+ to get into UH if you were in the bottom half of a ranked class. We had a Natl Merit Semifinalist, who didn't make Finalist, that had a 1500 SAT but was near the bottom of his class. He didn't turn out well initially but came back and aced his classes after he matured. Just an anecdote and not meant to relate to pony94 in any way.

So, today UT uses the 7% rule. I don't hear of HP grads having a particularly easy time getting in any more. One guy I know went to Baylor because he couldn't get into UT or A&M. There are a ton of other schools that benefit greatly from the 7% rule at UT and 10% rule at A&M. I believe the UC-system has, or had, a 4% rule.

Back then, you didn't need a 1200 to get into UH. You just needed a pulse.

We had about 15-20 people from my senior class go to TAMU. UT probably got a similar number. While I might be forgetting someone, I don't recall anyone applying to UH much less attending.

[tristatecoog]

There were cutoffs at UH back then. I worked in admissions. Maybe it was a 1000 in the third quarter and 1100 in the fourth. Top half was all comers. It was more about enforcing a deadline date. I went to UH (Honors Program) from east TX and would've gone to A&M if not for more money. I visited TCU and it was too preppy. Never visited SMU. None of my high school's top 16 went to UT. A&M and Baylor made up at least 50% Country bumpkins!

[Bergermeister]

Back then, you didn't need a 1200 to get into UH. You just needed a pulse.

Pulse was the only prerequisite at Arkansas, too.

[mrydel]

Still is.

[tristatecoog]

A couple years ago, I knew a guy who graduated from Trinity Christian, and his top choice was Arkansas. I believe he applied near the deadline and they said they were full for the fall semester but he could enroll in the spring. He chose to enroll at TX Tech instead.

Back to SMU, how does the school reach out to more top graduates and convince them to visit and apply? The sticker price seems to scare away a lot of people who will go to a top public school for just a bit less if they are highly talented academically. Getting into the Top 50 may generate quite a bit more applications but then you have to convert.

[StallionsModelT]

Sticker shock is only applicable to people who are either too lazy or too simple-minded to realize that less than 10% of SMU students are paying the full load. The overwhelming majority of SMU students are being greatly assisted through financial aid and scholarships. I came from a lower middle class family in East Texas and when all was said and done it was cheaper for me to attend SMU than UT-Austin (my other choice). SMU will bend over backwards to help kids that need and deserve the money.

[tristatecoog]

So, ModelT, what compelled you to apply to SMU? I only know one person from my east TX high school that went to SMU (a bit behind my year). His dad was an optometrist and was probably upper middle, or upper class, for our town. Maybe the same could be said for Baylor because I assume it has a highly discounted sticker price, but it also has the smaller town, religious aspect to it that also jives with Aggieland.