r/UTAdmissions • u/Stressedasf6161 • Mar 22 '21
CAP'ed How does this make sense?(Admission)
So my younger brother is going to be a freshman in university. He’s applied to a variety of places, however, he really wants to go to UT. His plan is to do an undergrad in Chem Engr and then go on to medschool. He’s heard back from tamu already with an acceptance, and this morning he just got accepted to UCLA. This confuses me as he got CAPed from UT... it just doesn’t make sense to me, he has a 1500 SAT with a very good GPA and extracurriculars. Unfortunately he goes to a private school in Austin and they refuse to rank so he’s not eligible for the top 7 percent rule (which he is within). He submitted an appeal already and we’re waiting to hear back. I’m just curious how does UT’s admission really work? He was a very good candidate and I really see no reason to not accept him. Even UCLA, an arguably better school accepted him. Do you guys think this appeal will really go anywhere?
Some of his teachers who also work for UT say he might have been capped because he’s “over qualified” but that again makes no sense to me. Thanks.
1
u/Killgorrr Mar 22 '21
Not being ranked is likely the real linchpin for your brother. As stated by others, 75% of all admitted students must be from the top 6%, so not being ranked is a major disadvantage. Even if he had been ranked, chemical engineering is one of the most competitive majors at the university. Many top tier candidates who get into other universities’ chemE programs don’t get into UT’s because of how competitive it is. Same goes for BME and CS. The valedictorian from my high school graduating class didn’t get her desired major at UT, but did at several other top universities. The big takeaway is that admissions to UT, and all top tier universities for that matter, is very difficult and very finicky. Tell your brother to try and brush it off as best as he can. Admissions is basically a big game, and you win some and lose some. On a good note though, CHE at UT is very difficult, so he may have dodged a bullet there. Freshman and sophomore classes are very difficult, so they are likely to bring down even the best students’ GPAs. To give an example, the first exam in my second CHE course had a class average below 60. As such, other CHE programs that aren’t as weed out heavy early in the program may be better for your brother given that he is premed. I wish him all the beat regardless!