Recent SMU admissions stories?

[tristatecoog]

I don't know any new undergrads headed to The Hilltop this fall but love admissions stuff and would like to hear any stories you have. Last year, I knew of a wealthy alum whose kid wasn't admitted and ended up in Oxford, MS. Another chose between Pepperdine and SMU and chose Ponies over Waves.

I believe SMU can be skeptical when a SMU-vicinity candidate is applying because many prefer to leave the area.

[friarwolf]

Not the case at all with possibly one minor exception being how many get admitted from the same school. In the big scheme of things however, good applicants are good applicants wherever we find them..........

[gostangs]

Not following you friar. What exactly is not the case?

[tristatecoog]

I was talking about HPHS and heard that second hand from an SMU admissions officer. So, 8% of St Marks last class went to SMU and 9% of the last three ESD classes went to SMU. A similar percentage from HPHS might go there but that seems high. I just hear the yield is low from HP.

[gostangs]

i think there are pretty constantly 10-12 a year from HPHS - which is less than you would think. THe bottom two thirds of the class can't even think about going to SMU - so that is some of the issue. expenses is also some of the issue. also most HP kids don't want to go 4 blocks to college - but the ones that do realize it is not an issue - everything student oriented is on the east side of campus.

[Pony81]

Most of the St. mark's boys go to SMU on pretty significant scholarships. SMU is smart to target the St. mark's student as they are very well prepared and their alumnus have a history of success.

[friarwolf]

Not following you friar. What exactly is not the case?

That SMU is skeptical about offering local students because they think the kids want to go away for school. Local kids with qualifying stats get offered.............

[gostangs]

oh - ok got it. Totally agree with you on that. If they qualify I don't think SMU tries to out guess intent - they just admit and hope they are serious. I do think SMU (and others) favor schools where they see a pipeline - since they think those are more serious applications.

[Stallion]

When I was there the big competitor school that a lot of kids went to was Vanderbilt-I think there were over 10 in my class including H. Ross Perot Jr. Ha! but he married an SMU Kappa

St. Mark's College Matriculation:

Seven Students at:

Southern Methodist University

Five Students at:

Dartmouth College
Princeton University
University of Texas at Austin

Four Students at:

Duke University
Harvard University
Stanford University

Three Students at:

New York University
Northwestern University
Rice University
Vanderbilt University
Washington University in St. Louis

Two Students at:

St. Edward's University
Texas A&M University
Texas Christian University
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
University of Southern California
University of Texas at Austin – Plan II
University of Virginia


One Student at:

Auburn University
Baylor University
Brown University
Northeastern University
Pomona College
St. Lawrence University
Trinity College
Trinity University
United States Naval Academy
University of Georgia
University of Kansas
University of Miami
University of Missouri, Columbia
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Oklahoma
University of Oregon
Villanova University
Wake Forest University
Washington and Lee University
Yale University

[tristatecoog]

Stallion, very very solid and good to see SMU on top. The best private school college admission stats I've seen, for a predominately day school, have gone to The Dalton School in NYC. Two deigned to come to Texas...both for Rice.

http://www.dalton.org/program/high_school/college_counseling

Well, I heard that SMU admissions folks want to see decent intent from HPHS applicants because the yield is low. If they're in that borderline area, whatever that is, the HP kid may need to officially visit and tailor the application to show "why SMU?" With the common app, many seem to apply to SMU as one among 10-15 potentially strong destinations.

[gostangs]

I can also tell you that some counseling services recommend that the HP kids apply to SMU if they think they want to go out of state. If SMU accepts them day one, then they can transfer in later without any other information after the freshman year if things don't work out at the out of state school. Its like a sophomore year parachute for those that think they want to go out of state but may not love it once they get there. It happens pretty often with Texans actually. Hard to measure up.

[EastStang]

The Baltimore, DC, Richmond corridor has sooo many prep schools. SMU has targeted it in fits and starts. But those schools have tuitions in the range of SMU's. My hold high school conference with St. Stephens/St. Agnes, Sidwell Friends, Landon, St. Alban's, Episcopal, Georgetown Prep, Bullis all expensive prep schools. Virginia has St. Anne's Bellefield, Woodbury Forest, Virginia Episcopal, St. Christopher's, and a bunch of military academies like Fork Union, Randolph Macon, and Massanutten. Then there are the Catholic schools and the coop schools.

[tristatecoog]

Today, I learned that some people, not directly admissable into SMU, can go to another university, or JUCO, and pick up 24 hours with a decent GPA and transfer in.

This reminds me of UT's year long Coordinated Admission Program through its system schools. "CAP requires the completion of 30 semester hours of prescribed coursework and a minimal grade point average of 3.20." The summer/fall 2012 freshman admissions cycle included 9589 CAP offers; 1881 students returned their CAP contracts. In the fall of 2013, 723 (or 38%) returned to enroll as transfer students at UT Austin."

http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/research/CAPreport-CAP12.pdf

Transfers from either CAP or regular transfers (one-third of # of CAPs) averaged 3.02 and 3.01 GPAs, respectively, which was about 0.12 points below regularly admitted students. For UT, why not regularly admit more freshmen since they have good stats and perform better as sophomores? Transfers are more Latino than non-Top 9% admits but less white or black. Lack of large lecture hall and dorm space?

Provisional SMU admission can be a way to appease donors and faculty/staff.

[smupony94]

I think SMU has a deal with Dallas community college

[tristatecoog]

I think SMU has a deal with Dallas community college

Found the detail:
http://www.smu.edu/admission/conditionaladmission

One needs 24 hours outside SMU. If you take a science, math (college algebra+) and English you can be admitted with a 2.7 GPA. A bit less rigorous than UT's CAP 3.2 GPA minimum and above college algebra math requirement.