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ACT scores

R

RocketDawg

All-Conference
Oct 21, 2011
18,917
2,028
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It directly correlates to the admission percentage ... A&M admits about 6 of 10 applicants; OM admits 8 of 10. In other words, OM takes almost anyone (23 really isn't very good at all) and A&M is a bit more selective. Much of selectivity has to do with the large population in Texas (there are just not that many spots available), and it might even be related to A&M having more technical majors than OM.

Personally, I wish that MSU (and even OM) was a lot more selective but that doesn't seem to be a popular opinion on this and other boards.
 
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holydawg

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
135
0
0
A&M has to take the top 10% of a school' graduating class without exception. All public universities in Texas have too. It was part of Bush, jr's education reform. That tends to make the ACT scores higher than others but screws the crap out of your just below top 10% student.

Yes there is a way to bypass this for student athletes.
 
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DesotoCountyDawg

DesotoCountyDawg

Heisman
Nov 16, 2005
27,208
19,798
113
In a dream world being more selective would be great but with the education system the way it is in the state I don't know if you can be selective like that.

Plus like you said Texas is a big state. They have to do something to limit enrollment.
 
R

RocketDawg

All-Conference
Oct 21, 2011
18,917
2,028
113
Doesn't really screw the others because all the top 10% won't go there; it just says they can if they want to. Seems reasonable to me.
 
DawgNsuds

DawgNsuds

Junior
Jun 4, 2007
608
201
43
So, does this put more emphasis on your high school career than ACT score? I would assume it would be possible for you to make high 20's on your ACT and not be in your schools top 10%, where someone else could make mid to low 20's, but get in due to being in their schools top 10. As we know, not all schools have the same academic requirements, nor academic competitiveness. I think if you were to compare a school like Clinton and some of the JPS schools, you would see this would be very probable.


I actually know someone who this happened too, made higher than the 27 average and couldn't get into A&M because he was outside the 10%. Even with Dad being a prominent Alumnus
 
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holydawg

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
135
0
0
The issue is some school districts' top 10% wouldn't make another's top 50%. So you have students who are very qualified but in a really tough district not getting in and students in an easy district but who are not qualified entrance.

Each student should be admitted based on their own merit and not an arbitrary number.
 
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The Usual Suspect

Junior
Sep 1, 2011
2,498
208
63
The 10% came about because so many kids are in TX applying to TX and A&M... but

it has not been without contraversy. There are kids from the top high schools that have a hard time being in the top 25% of their class, but would be tops in bad high schools. Yet the top 10% of the bad high schools get in, and the 25% kid gets in very good private schools because of SAT score. The top 10% rule does not mean it is truly the top 10% of students overall. Secondly, it has had some other unintended consequeces. For example, if I graduated from TX but I know my kid has no chance at getting in, do I continue to donate big bucks to the school? Probably not. There are a lot of first generation grads in the big TX schools now (especially UT) that don't have huge ties to the university, while a lot of old alums kids are going to TCU, Baylor, LSU, Oklahoma, etc. I am friends with some UT grads that have told me they are seeing a dropoff in contributions from the newer classes coming from this rule, because the students do not have the long term ties to the university (not that Tex. misses the money).
 
notthisshitagain

notthisshitagain

Redshirt
Oct 3, 2008
118
31
28
Ayers Case

RocketDawg said:
It directly correlates to the admission percentage ... A&M admits about 6 of 10 applicants; OM admits 8 of 10. In other words, OM takes almost anyone (23 really isn't very good at all) and A&M is a bit more selective. Much of selectivity has to do with the large population in Texas (there are just not that many spots available), and it might even be related to A&M having more technical majors than OM.

Personally, I wish that MSU (and even OM) was a lot more selective but that doesn't seem to be a popular opinion on this and other boards.
Click to expand...


We are still getting screwed by the Ayers case. While a final settlement was reached earlier this year, I believe OM & State still can't upgrade their admissions standards and selectivity from what IHL (and the HBCUs) sets for all public universities in MS.
 
R

RocketDawg

All-Conference
Oct 21, 2011
18,917
2,028
113
You just pointed out some consequences I hadn't thought of, particularly the top 10% of each school rather than the top overall. Sounds like they need to modify the rule. As far as alumni's kids though, I'm not sure they should have preferential admission over another student with better grades and no ties. That would be paramount to buying your way in because of donations. And yes, I know places like Harvard and Yale place more emphasis on provenance than they do grades, or at least seem to.
 
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CivilEngineerDog

Redshirt
Oct 27, 2007
1,154
0
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Actually it was Bill Waller's Fault. When he was the Gov in 1970 he was afraid to integrate the 8 Colleges, so he punted and made them all Universities. Back then they could have combined Valley and Delta State, MSU and the W, and moved JSU out into the suburbs where it could have been a more diversified school. Unfortunately, all they were concerned with was creating private academies so their kids wouldn't have to go to integrated schools.

If we were a poor state like California, we would have a university system, not 8 separate universities
 
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johnson86-1

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2012
14,205
4,727
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Students were going to be admitted on an arbitrary criteria regardless.

holydawg said:
The issue is some school districts' top 10% wouldn't make another's top 50%. So you have students who are very qualified but in a really tough district not getting in and students in an easy district but who are not qualified entrance.

Each student should be admitted based on their own merit and not an arbitrary number.
Click to expand...

I think the 10% rule was basically supposed to be an alternative to race based affirmative action. The top 10% rule helps high school kids stuck in ****** schools. It's more likely to help disadvantaged kids than race based admissions. I don't know enough about it to know if it's a good idea, but it seems like a good idea if the alternative is to discriminate based on race. The problem is that I think UT still is doing affirmative action on top of this program. I think their case has recently gone or is soon going before the US Supreme Court.
 
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nsvltndog

Redshirt
Mar 30, 2010
380
14
18
This goes on in a lot of states with their top universities. Here in Northern Virginia it is almost impossible for kids to get into UVA. VA Tech is not much easier. We are several years from worrying about college, but I've heard once you make your first B you don't even need to bother with the application process at UVA and that 1-3% of each local high school is typically accepted. If you look at the states that make up the broader definition of the "South" I think you would find this to be the case for the top universities in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas. This creates some really good students from these states that still want to go to a large campus name school environment. This is an area where we should work to improve our recruiting efforts.
 
missouridawg

missouridawg

Junior
Oct 6, 2009
9,388
287
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What is you're in a town of 150 people and you graduate with just 10 classmates? That means whoever finished 2nd, no matter how bright they are, can't get into Texas nor aTm.
 
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Joe Schmedlap

Redshirt
Aug 11, 2010
1,334
33
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There is always a way for smart kids to get into aTm

even if they don't graduate in the top 10% of their class or have a less than stellar ACT. It is called the Blinn track, as in Blinn Community College. Many kids and/or their parents brag about getting into aTm after high school graduation even when in fact, they didn't. Some get into the so called Blinn Community College track where they attend Blinn for their freshman year and are then all but guaranteed admission to aTm in the fall of their sophomore year. Some even get in the spring semester of their freshman year. No matter how smart a kid may be, some get homesick or some party and make bad grades when they first get to college. The Blinn track replaces these washouts with kids who are still highly qualified, yet didn't quite make the cut for initial admission. It's a great idea actually. By the way, because Texas is such a huge state, there are always more qualified kids that want to get into aTm or UT Austin than there are available spots. That is why it is wise for Mississippi State to heavily recruit the state of Texas for students. Let State be a viable alternative to Texas Tech, Stephen F Austin, etc. Let TSUN be an inexpensive alternative to the SMU wannabes.

DawgNsuds said:
So, does this put more emphasis on your high school career than ACT score? I would assume it would be possible for you to make high 20's on your ACT and not be in your schools top 10%, where someone else could make mid to low 20's, but get in due to being in their schools top 10. As we know, not all schools have the same academic requirements, nor academic competitiveness. I think if you were to compare a school like Clinton and some of the JPS schools, you would see this would be very probable.


I actually know someone who this happened too, made higher than the 27 average and couldn't get into A&M because he was outside the 10%. Even with Dad being a prominent Alumnus
Click to expand...
 
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croomin

Redshirt
Oct 6, 2012
532
0
0
MSU vs. OM

Two things I don't like to see:

1. OM's ACT scores have ticked above MSU in 2012 for the first time in years (23.9 versus 23.6), albeit minimally.

2. MSU has flat-lined between 23-24 for about a decade.

We have hit the previously announced critical figure of 20,000 students. Seems we should focus on quality. Instead, the administration puts up new student body growth figures. 20,000 is large enough for administrative scale. If you want to be the best University in the state, you should make damn sure your student body is the best. That's what really matters. MTSU is larger than UT. Which would you call the flagship University in Tennessee?
 
thatsbaseball

thatsbaseball

All-American
May 29, 2007
17,806
6,482
113
Wonder how our attrition rate compares to other schools our size between freshman and junior years ? I`ve been told we`re sucking up lots of Pell grant money for volume and revenue and our drop out rate is pretty bad.
 
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