OK, so my friend isn't actually applying for college but I thought this was a pretty decent photo illustration, haha.
The year before I began college I started a lively correspondence with a new online pal who ended up being my freshman year roommate and my college best friend. When I asked why she, an Austinite, would be attending UTSA, she replied, "Oh, apparently UT let too many students into the 2002 class because they underestimated the Top 10 percent that year, so they rectified it this year by not letting most of us get in. Instead, we're getting bumped to the CAP program."
That was my first experience with the dreaded Top 10. As a homeschooled-through-high-school expat living in Taiwan, I had no idea Texas high schoolers had these percentages to worry about. (Although I heard about a similar, perhaps even more intense set of worries from my friends in Taiwan) Since then, I have encountered the Magic Number a few times - as a journalism student pursuing my first local school district story, as a high school counselor on weekends, and most recently in my Texas government textbook.
My friend's situation was not unique for the high school class of 2003. Most of my friends from that year "enjoyed" the CAP experience, which is a program designed to send students interested in attending UT a year away at one of the sister campuses with priority transfer status the following year (if, of course, they maintain a good GPA). "I was a good student, but there were just better ones in my year. Gradewise, I was fine, but I was in the top 11 percent," my friend said. "Normally that wouldn't be a big deal - I'd still be able to get into UT - but that year, 10 percent was the cutoff."
The original concept of the Hopwood v. Texas law is pretty smart. If high schoolers find it easy to get into Texas universities, they will be that much more likely to stay in the state and give back to the community, as it were.
The suit was created as a protest to affirmative action. As an Asian-American studies major, I have heard rumors of high schools in California where the most discriminated-against groups are Asian girls, because they tend to be some of the smartest in the area. "If you're an Asian girl in certain suburbs of San Francisco," a friend's mom warned, "Good luck getting in to ------ High School." The good thing about the Top 10 law is that merit, not race, is what earns you rewards. But are we giving out too many rewards? Are they fairly offered? How many steps up is Top 10 an improvement from affirmative action?
Today's problem is that there are too many high schools and high schoolers - the sheer numbers of top-tens fill up university admissions slots too soon, leaving everyone behind the cut-off line at a loss. The issue only seems to escalate every year.
The real question is this. Every concept has its pros and cons. While Top Ten [hopefully] eliminates affirmative action, does it build up the social disparity gap? In the text we noted that Demetrio Rodriguez's fight for school equality argued that his daughter's school district was far poorer than that of her neighboring one, and the financial gap was mirrored in the quality of their educational standards. Arguably, a top-20 student from a very poor-quality high school would be far less academically prepared for college than would a top-20 student from one of Austin's finest schools.
Westwood High School in the RRISD is nationally ranked - in 2005, I think, they placed fifth in Texas high schools according to Newsweek. Suppose the average top-10 Westwood junior's SAT score is 2100. Now suppose another high school's similar average is a 1500. Would it be fair to a top-25 Westwood high schooler with an 1800 SAT score to be turned down over a High School B top-ten student just because there were no more slots?
A bill was passed this May, amending the original law to cap top-10 admission at any university to 60 percent of that college's admission number for that year. In reality, the only school this really affects is UT, because Texas is the biggest and most prestigious of the state's public university systems. The current top-10 admissions ratio teeters at around 70 percent of UT's incoming freshmen each year, making it increasingly difficult for non-top 10 students to get in.
Let's see how this affects the 2008 incoming class.
4 comments:
Man.. I was one of those students in the year 2003 that did not make it to UT, but into the CAP Program... I believe I was 12 percent of my class... unbelieveable!
Since this is August and we are in Texas, I think a football analogy is appropriate to help me explain my thoughts on this very well-written article. Remember last January how almost everyone south of the Red River rooted, cheered, and laughed our way through Boise State's triumph over that school in Norman? Without the Top 10 percent rule's equivalent in the NCAA, Boise State might have been left to host a party on its blue-fielded home. The author of this article makes a valid point regarding the differing quality of education between high schools, and the argument that a non-Top 10 percenter in High School A may well be more qualified than a Top 10 percent student in High School B. However, I think we need to stop and consider two other aspects of this argument.
First, while the quality of the education may differ between High School A and High School B, the competition to be in the top ten is probably just as fierce at both schools. In fact, there may be more pressure at the supposedly inferior HS B because the top students at that school recognize their deficits and see the Top Ten percent rule as their only ticket into their chosen school. The top students at HS A may (perhaps falsely) assume that their elevated grades, high test scores, and school's reputation will help secure them a spot in the slots not filled by the Top Ten percenters from the barrios and (in my case) the boondocks. Does anyone really think that TCU won't try to humiliate the Longhorns in September just because they are members of an "inferior" conference to the Big 12? I don't think so.
The other point I would like to make in response to the author's post is this: Without the Top Ten percent rule (or Top 5, 7.5, or 8.75 for that matter), the proverbial system will be penalizing the students of HS B for educational deficits and limitations over which they have no control. It is not these students' fault that they live where they live, or attend the schools they attend. In economically disadvantaged and rural (often the same places in Texas, remember), families have lived in the same area for generations and see no reason for moving. Imagine telling a 6th-generation German-American family in Fredericksburg or New Braunfels (or Castell, for that matter!) that they need to move to Round Rock, Highland Park, Alamo Heights, or one of the Cypress-(fill in this space with a geographic term) schools to help their children get into UT. I'm pretty sure there is German phrase for their opinion that I'm not supposed to know. My point is that without some form of Top percentage reward for excellence at a given level of competition, Texas would create a situation in which only the elite high school's graduates would attend the elite universities, which would only serve to expand the social and economic gaps in the state. Texas would merely perpetuate the cycle of low educational standards without offering a way out of the cycle. As a further example, my rural high school was 98% Anglo, and the few Hispanic students' families had lived in the area so long, that no one really considered them as being from a different background. After two years at UT, I have met, befriended, and been befriended by students from all over the world, from more ethnic backgrounds and religions than I can list. Without the Top Ten percent option, I might well have ended up at a rural West Texas university with no more diversity than my high school. I would have missed out on educational experiences far more lasting than those found in most traditional classrooms--and a few other students would have missed knowing a real Texan who actually lives on a family ranch by a river with a horse in the barn. (If only there had been some oil, I'd fulfill all the stereotypes)
My final thought is to offer an alternative I haven't seen posted. What about leaving the Top Ten percent rule intact, but putting in a minimum standard on the ACT or SAT as a qualifiction? Just a thought...
This is a very well written piece about the top ten rule, but I wish the author would have put more of their opinion into it. I can tell their friend that was placed in the CAPs program wasn't a fan of the rule, but I didn't get a clear picture from the author.
Yes, I don't think the top ten rule is fair, but others still do have a chance of getting into the University of Texas. I would know, I am one of them. I was not top ten at my class. I was in the top quarter. I think its about 30% of those admitted each year are not a part of the top ten percent of their graduating class. I was the class of 2004, so I guess the 2003 class was just a little unlucky.
Each high school does differ educationally, but the admissions office does take this into consideration. They are going to look at other things besides just the class rank and see if they are capable of success at the University. I mean, just look at me if you want an example.
Very nice post indeed. What's the solution? Is there one?
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