Prairie View A & M University: This HBCU (Historically Black College/University) and R2 research university provides opportunities for STEM students. Most popular majors are Mechanical Engineering, Agricultural Business, and Nursing; Apple and engineering recruiters recruit heavily. Lots of scholarships available for students who submit test scores, including a full 45k scholarship for the agricultural school and up to 10k per year for students with GPA 3.5/SAT 1260/ACT 26. https://www.pvamu.edu/
Trinity University: Highly-selective, small, diverse liberal arts college in cosmopolitan San Antonio: its urban location sets it apart from other LACs, but like others, Trinity has no barriers to any major and emphasizes academic flexibility. Undergraduates are sought out for fully financed research, freshmen get job offers, and an annual $25k entrepreneurship competition. After graduation, 98% of students are employed/in grad school within six months, and 90% of pre-meds are accepted into medical school. Trinity is a happy home to Trinicats 😸 (cats who live all over campus)! https://www.trinity.edu/news/class-2027-breaks-acceptance-rate-record
Baylor University: Southern Baptist University in Waco welcomes all students. Princeton Review ranks it #5 for first year experience and #5 happiest college. Although 15,000 attend, the average class size is only 26. Required chapel attendance and Christian Heritage and Scriptures courses. Business Entrepreneurship and Science programs are highly-ranked. School spirit abounds, 1/3 students engage in Greek life, and all enjoy visiting the two live bears that live on campus: Indie and Belle. https://about.web.baylor.edu/
Southern Methodist University: Despite its name, SMU is a non-sectarian university. Nationally-ranked Cox Business School’s most selective program is Alternative Assets Management (ED applicants denied to Cox are still committed to SMU). Dual admissions are not offered for CompSci and Engineering (the latter boasts 40% women). PreCalc preferred for applicants, but it’s easy to switch majors (except into the business school). Required core curriculum, including a language requirement so students become world citizens. Exciting new Human Rights program:https://www.smu.edu/dedman/academics/undergraduate-minors-and-programs/interdisciplinary-studies/ehrp. Beautiful campus!
Here’s a quick overview of five institutions I saw in the Lone Star State:
Rice University: Students are not admitted by major (except for architecture and music), and there is no need to declare a major until the second semester sophomore year declaration deadline. Choose courses from 3 distribution groups (like clusters) that students must complete by senior year. House system (think Harry Potter) will be expanding from 11 to 13 residential colleges.
Texas Christian University: Ranked “Happiest Students” by Princeton Review. Beautiful campus, big sports culture. One out of every three students are in the Neely School of Business. Undecided students who really want business should apply to business first because it’s tough to transfer in. Lockheed Martin offers many internships and jobs to engineering students. Possible to double major across colleges. 1/3 of the curriculum is liberal arts-based to build strong critical thinking skills.
Southwestern University: Very selective, regionally respected, the oldest college in Texas (1840) is older than the state itself (1845). Only 28 miles north of Austin, 11th largest city in the US. Personal attention emphasized; 6 advisors for every 375 students. First year seminars are purely interdisciplinary (chocolate course taught by Bio teacher covers economics, psychology, marketing and culture). Exceptional Southwestern study abroad program in London; study away in NYC and DC. Great outdoor adventure opportunities!
Austin College: No adjunct professors. 97% faculty are tenured/tenured track. 90% applicants admitted to health sciences programs. New Master of Medical Science Physician programs is first year didactic; second year clinical rotation. Texas Instruments has made a 34 billion dollar investment in local infrastructure. Largest telescope in North Texas!
University of Texas at Austin: The state flagship now autoadmits the top 5% of Texas high school graduates. 90%of students must be from Texas legally. Under 10% OOS are admitted. Jester Residence Hall alone houses over 3,000 residents. New EA deadline is 10/15. Submit your housing application right after applying!
See the chart from The Common App Report March 2024 below. Notice the low growth of the highly-selective colleges. This means they are all wildcards for even the most qualified candidates.
How hard an individual student works means little, and every applicant is highly qualified. All that matters is that particular college’s institutional priorities. Notice the highest growth is at the least selective (and often less expensive) colleges.
This trend drives selectivity. The Universities of Tennessee and South Carolina now offer admission to the top 10% of students in their respective states, as the highly-selective UTAustin has always done. They will both be more selective for out of state students. The University of Georgia has gotten significantly more competitive in the last five years, so Auburn and Tennessee have followed. Winning sports teams also generate more applications.
Now that Boston College has become nearly as selective as Notre Dame, Holy Cross has a 16% acceptance rate. All are “unlikelies.” Villanova’s admit rate is in the low 20’s, and is still lower for the most competitive majors. Providence is no longer a ”likely” for many students, and the College of Charleston is sure to follow that trend as students look for alternatives to the University of South Carolina, which will see a big increase in apps because of their Women’s Basketball team win at March Madness. While UVA has become increasingly selective, especially for out of state students, James Madison’s apps have doubled.
We are losing our targets and likely colleges, as many students are looking for affordable options where they can be admitted.
Nothing significant has changed at any of these colleges in just a few years’ time. They are not fundamentally better than their peer schools that didn’t experience big increases in the number of applications or reductions in acceptance rates. They simply benefited from certain factors and from enrollment management. Holy Cross, the University of Tennessee, and the College of Charleston are fantastic colleges, but they are not better today than they were three years ago, despite the lower admit rate.
