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Surly kids who can't get into UT


texasdago

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On 1/11/2024 at 3:37 PM, Damor said:

It sounds like a few people on this thread have hired independent college advisors -- would anyone be willing to share either someone you worked with who you liked, a good company, or where/how you looked to find someone?

Our current sophomore will likely be on the border of getting into Texas, but probably has some interest in out of state programs.  I'd like to get him connected with someone who can help him explore his options, and frankly, the guidance experience he has access to in public school has been unimpressive.

 

Public school guidance - even at strong public schools - is going to be severely lacking.  My older kids went to a very competitive NW Austin school and the counselors were responsible for a couple hundred kids.  They did their best, but your kid's higher education interests and exploration is low on their list.  They want your kid to graduate and be interested in college.  Youngest kid went to a smaller private school and the guidance counselors - starting junior year - were about 80% focused on your college plan.

Unsolicited advice - you and/or he should take some initial steps ASAP - even if you decide to hire an advisor.  At least you've narrowed it a bit and you'll have a good enough understanding of the landscape to ask informed questions.  You and he might be able to get about 75% of the value of an advisor by spending a few hours a month searching.  The resources available online, esp. post-COVID, are amazing.

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On 1/1/2024 at 3:50 PM, CleverNickname said:

Question: I have an 8th grader. I guess at some point in next few years we need to do campus tours? What do you do on a tour? Is the summer a bad time to go since there are no srudenrs around? I did UT with minimal backup plans. I'm clueless. 

Speaking of 8th grader, and dovetailing into the recent posts about college counseling, we have looked into a private company here in town some of our peers have used for the kids, and they start working with you in the 8th grade to hone in on career aspirations, interests and aptitudes for those who are clueless.

We've had the conversations with our kids and they are aware there is a wide range of options, but they are just not passionate about much at this stage, so it might be helpful to hone in on what they are naturally good at and like.

Essentially, and maybe you can cut out the middle man, but you can sign up for YouScience and do it yourself: https://www.youscience.com/k-12/

YouScience is an aptitude-based career guidance tool. Their program uses a series 11 of engaging exercises or ‘brain games’ to measure the 9 aptitudes most important to career choice as well as interest. The brain games are timed, ranging from 5 to 12 minutes each, and totaling 90 minutes.  After completing the YouScience profile your second session will include analyzing the results.  This includes showing your strengths, suggested careers that best fit your aptitudes and interests, and detailed information on over 500 careers including a personal fit analysis, job responsibilities, salaries, job forecasts, and educational pathways.   

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On 1/14/2024 at 9:27 AM, ABSR said:

Even if you know you will get no need based money, as Grimas stated, schools and other entities require it.   If Bill Gates had a kid applying, the school(s) would require him to submit.

I don't think I've submitted a FAFSA for my daughter for two years.  UT still takes my money.

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Didn't realize FAFSA is actually a requirement to graduate in Texas... (From our school district)

The Texas Legislature established a new requirement for Texas high school students to complete a financial aid application in order to graduate.
Starting in the 2021-2022 school year, 

Edited by Grimas
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35 minutes ago, Grimas said:

Didn't realize FAFSA is actually a requirement to graduate in Texas... (From our school district)

The Texas Legislature established a new requirement for Texas high school students to complete a financial aid application in order to graduate.
Starting in the 2021-2022 school year, 

Why would this be a requirement? Is this a Big Data play?

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Any of you people go back to grad school mid 30's? I finished Economics at UT with a 3.1 or 3.2 and do not know if that will be enough to get accepted. I finished with the bare minimum. No recs, no volunteer work (that was during my 1st degree), no extra curricular, etc. Would you recommend it or not? How was your journey? Debt is not a problem.

Also, is there a better forum to post this?

Edited by Enemy07
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7 hours ago, Enemy07 said:

Any of you people go back to grad school mid 30's? I finished Economics at UT with a 3.1 or 3.2 and do not know if that will be enough to get accepted. I finished with the bare minimum. No recs, no volunteer work (that was during my 1st degree), no extra curricular, etc. Would you recommend it or not? How was your journey? Debt is not a problem.

Also, is there a better forum to post this?

I went to grad school after taking 1 year "off."  I worked full time after undergrad and worked full time while getting MSEE part time.  So, my path was considerably different than yours will be.

That aside, if funding is not a problem and time is not a problem, just reach out to the grad coordinator and/or some faculty at the school/major/etc. you are interested in.  Tell them your story.  Ask questions, etc.  Both will typically take the time to talk.  I would not worry about the GPA.  There are many factors that contribute to an undergrad GPA: work distractions, maturity of an 18 year old, being away from home, some shitty professors your Fr/So year, etc.  You will be far more focused and driven now than then, etc.

Good luck with it!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/20/2024 at 3:30 AM, Enemy07 said:

Any of you people go back to grad school mid 30's? I finished Economics at UT with a 3.1 or 3.2 and do not know if that will be enough to get accepted. I finished with the bare minimum. No recs, no volunteer work (that was during my 1st degree), no extra curricular, etc. Would you recommend it or not? How was your journey? Debt is not a problem.

Also, is there a better forum to post this?

I did (ages 32-35), but I went to a small directional state school and not anything anywhere near UT's pedigree. I also finished Baylor undergrad with a 2.3 so I didn't even bother with any school that anyone would consider decent. 

Grad school was great as an adult that actually cared about the material and wasn't trying to get blackout drunk every night. I took it slow at first with a class a semester then took 6 hours after that and usually read/wrote while my wife was watching tv, so I had plenty of time to do it right.

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On 1/2/2024 at 10:54 AM, DaysOff said:

 AP is a scam; steer your kid towards dual credit.

What's the difference between dual credit and AP?  Depending on your AP test scores you get credit hours for certain courses in Texas.  Is IB dual credit?

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On 1/16/2024 at 11:01 AM, Grimas said:

Didn't realize FAFSA is actually a requirement to graduate in Texas... (From our school district)

The Texas Legislature established a new requirement for Texas high school students to complete a financial aid application in order to graduate.
Starting in the 2021-2022 school year, 

Quote

Stat: Applying to college is stressful enough without the government making it harder, but this year’s high-school seniors have to get through a restructured financial aid form before they can start slacking off, and it’s taking a toll. According to the WSJ, about 57% fewer students than last year had completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to apply for federal grants and loans as of January (~700k compared to 1.5 million). Ironically, this happened because the government revamped the form to make it easier, but the rollout has been slow and glitchy.

https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/fafsa-financial-aid-applications-college-down-23bc2933?

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On 1/20/2024 at 3:30 AM, Enemy07 said:

Any of you people go back to grad school mid 30's? I finished Economics at UT with a 3.1 or 3.2 and do not know if that will be enough to get accepted. I finished with the bare minimum. No recs, no volunteer work (that was during my 1st degree), no extra curricular, etc. Would you recommend it or not? How was your journey? Debt is not a problem.

Also, is there a better forum to post this?

My 2 cents (and prob doesn't apply as much to MBA or Law School programs):

1. I'd go see a graduate advisor and talk to them. They should be very blunt about your chances and let you know what you need to do. I did this at UT and was literally laughed out of the advisor's office but that's what happens when you have a C undergraduate average in Liberal Arts. 

2. One thing that most people don't know is that you can still take UT undergrad classes after you graduate. If you are serious and think you need some extra help, re-enroll to UT and sign up for a graduate class as an undergrad in the department will be applying. You will need to go the professor and ask their permission, but as long as you are taking it for a grade and not auditing or pass/fail, they prob won't have a problem with it. This will get you used to school again and if you make an A (in grad school anything below a B is bad), you can use the professor for a referral on your graduate application. This will show that you are serious and can handle grad level work. I did this and although I made a B, the professor wrote me an appropriate referral and that was the only reason I was able to get into my grad school. If you are not in Austin, doing this may be difficult but if you can take a grad class near you, the same applies. 

3. Figure out what you want to focus on. Grad work is typically very specialized and coming into the application process with a good idea of what you want to focus on will be very important. The more precise, the better. 

4. A cursory glance shows that UT has a terminal masters program for Economics. If this is what you want to study, I personally think your grades would be fine (the advisor would be able to confirm). If you want to get a PhD though, I would guess you might have to show do a bit more to get accepted. Doing well in a grad school class or two might help but you may even have to get a grad degree elsewhere before applying to the PhD program. They may allow people to transfer into the PhD program after they have finished the Masters but since it is labeled as terminal, I have the impression this may be difficult. 

Again - these are just my opinions, I am sure others have their own first hand experiences and may offer different insights.

Good luck - I really enjoyed grad school. It was much more difficult than undergrad but I was more mature and studied subjects I was way more interested in. 

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On 2/2/2024 at 2:27 PM, gsoda3 said:

What's the difference between dual credit and AP?  Depending on your AP test scores you get credit hours for certain courses in Texas.  Is IB dual credit?

 

Not an expert at all, but I think this is correct, more or less: 

AP is administered by the College Board. (Google them). Teacher has to be "accredited" by the College Board. Not sure what that process entails. Very high level, you take a test at the end of the year, the college decides if your score is good enough to get college credit for that class. Test grade is from a 1 (or maybe 0) to 5. So for example, if you take AP Physics 1, and get a AP test grade of a 3, TAMU might say that is good enough for a physics credit for a history major, but UT would say that is not good enough for a physics credit for a chemistry major. 

Dual Credit get your kid a HS and college credit for that class if they pass. Kid graduates HS with a college credit regardless of major or school. (Although I would assume a college that cares about its academic reputation would take a close look at the rigor of the class before awarding that credit, but I don't know). 

Not sure about IB, or how it is different/similar to AP or dual credit. 

 

My feeling is that the AP classes are much more rigorous, and harder to get that credit. 

 

 

tldr: Both are good, take both if the kid can, but AP is probably better, but harder. YMMV. 

 

 

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21 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

AP is administered by the College Board. (Google them). Teacher has to be "accredited" by the College Board.

My kid's AP Physics teacher has never taught physics before so that accreditation can't be too important.  The only time the kids understand the material is when the teacher shows the AP Youtube video over the lesson instead of trying to teach it herself.  That class is a complete trainwreck.

 

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29 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

My kid's AP Physics teacher has never taught physics before so that accreditation can't be too important.  The only time the kids understand the material is when the teacher shows the AP Youtube video over the lesson instead of trying to teach it herself.  That class is a complete trainwreck.

 

 

I'll ask my friend who teaches HS (not physics) what he knows. His son took AP physics a year or two ago (I know because I tutored him a little). Maybe they know what the accreditation process is. I was under the impression that the college board is pretty hardcore, and the AP classes are no joke. Based on the problems I was helping him with, I can verify the physics is no joke. 

 

Sorry for your kid. 

 

note: "accreditation" may be the wrong word. 

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1 minute ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

I'll ask my friend who teaches HS (not physics) what he knows. His son took AP physics a year or two ago (I know because I tutored him a little). Maybe they know what the accreditation process is. I was under the impression that the college board is pretty hardcore, and the AP classes are no joke. Based on the problems I was helping him with, I can verify the physics is no joke. 

 

Sorry for your kid. 

 

note: "accreditation" may be the wrong word. 

My guess is there's an amount of time you can teach before you are required to get the cert.  I would think she doesn't teach it next year since she's in that role because of the teacher shortage and they couldn't find someone before the year started.

 

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  • 2 months later...

Anyone else having "fun" with this FAFSA mess?  We had ours in in January but apparently any of the early ones were flagged as missing signatures and you couldn't actually make the corrections until April 16th.  All corrected now but several of our target schools still haven't got the FAFSA info and May 1 is decision date for most schools...  Argh...

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On 2/9/2024 at 8:31 AM, CooterBrown said:

My kid's AP Physics teacher has never taught physics before so that accreditation can't be too important.  The only time the kids understand the material is when the teacher shows the AP Youtube video over the lesson instead of trying to teach it herself.  That class is a complete trainwreck.

 

This was me with math in HS - taught mainly by coaches.  It wasn't until grad school that I realized it's not a great mystery and is actually pretty interesting and applicable.  

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8 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

This was me with math in HS - taught mainly by coaches.  It wasn't until grad school that I realized it's not a great mystery and is actually pretty interesting and applicable.  

We ended up getting a tutor. That's the best $50 a week I've ever spent.  It's been so successful, we're just going to keep the tutor for AP Calculus next year regardless if she needs it. A side benefit is that the tutor has taught her really good study skills.

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18 hours ago, Grimas said:

Anyone else having "fun" with this FAFSA mess?  We had ours in in January but apparently any of the early ones were flagged as missing signatures and you couldn't actually make the corrections until April 16th.  All corrected now but several of our target schools still haven't got the FAFSA info and May 1 is decision date for most schools...  Argh...

I am going thru this process with two kids right now. I am finding their target schools are pushing the decision date to June 1st, based almost entirely on the FAFSA snafus.

 

Pretty sure UT has.

Edited by yoladu
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11 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

UT seems pretty unconcerned with filing FAFSA.  I've been trying to pay cash for my two kids on campus, and literally haven't filed FAFSA in two years.  I think they might have made it a requirement for year 1?

i know our high school requires that the seniors do FAFSA as a condition of graduation. Not holding out hope that is actually does anything for us specifically.

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37 minutes ago, yoladu said:

i know our high school requires that the seniors do FAFSA as a condition of graduation. Not holding out hope that is actually does anything for us specifically.

That seems like a pretty ridiculous requirement, especially for a high school.

Some colleges require it for a student to have access to merit rewards.  I suspect they'll steer a merit reward to the need-based (or gov't) bucket if they can. 

Some private colleges require it for access to any level of scholarships.

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I assume this is for all schools but ours has an option for graduation where you say you aren't submitting a FAFSA form as an alternative.  I don't expect a dime for either of mine but one thing I plan on doing is having both of mine take that $5K government loan (in their names) so they know they have skin in the game (and I'll pay it off when they graduate...).  We also need the FAFSA for a private scholarship that they apply for in August...

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They changed to a new system and you couldn’t upload your data until January. There was a glitch in the system that rejected a large portion of those submitted between January and early March - most regarding issues with signatures the system couldn’t recognize and the system was locked until mid-April so you couldn’t make corrections. Many schools still haven’t received the FAFSA from the site so can’t send out their letters to students and the May 1 date most schools want the students to accept is fast approaching….   The form itself wasn’t the issue but we have friends who actually need those financial aid forms to chose where their kid will go because of cost and need for the financial aid. Mine aren’t getting crap beyond their merit scholarships so it really doesn’t matter to me other than having a nice summary before I start writing checks…

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7 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

UT seems pretty unconcerned with filing FAFSA.  I've been trying to pay cash for my two kids on campus, and literally haven't filed FAFSA in two years.  I think they might have made it a requirement for year 1?

This has been the case for my first two kids but yesterday my youngest son called me up saying something about having to do his FAFSA again to register for fall classes. I told him what you said, we only do FAFSA once which he did his senior year in high school.

 

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TEC, §28.0256. FINANCIAL AID APPLICATION REQUIREMENT FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION.

(a) Before graduating from high school, each student must complete and submit a free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) or a Texas application for state financial aid (TASFA).

(b) A student is not required to comply with Subsection (a) if:

(1) the student's parent or other person standing in parental relation submits a signed form indicating that the parent or other person authorizes the student to decline to complete and submit the financial aid application;

(2) the student signs and submits the form described by Subdivision (1) on the student's own behalf if the student is 18 years of age or older or the student's disabilities of minority have been removed for general purposes under Chapter 31, Family Code; or

(3) a school counselor authorizes the student to decline to complete and subm

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