| NEWS
| July 21, 2005
CAP and Gain
320 fall students prepare for
UT-Austin
By Tristan
Vawters
The Shorthorn Staff
Kevin Raj still has his sights on attending
the UT-Austin next fall.
All he has to do is fulfill the task of earning a 3.2 GPA within
30 consecutive hours in two semesters here.
Raj is one of 320 students who applied to UT-Austin but is attending
to UTA this school year under the Coordinated Admission Program,
known as CAP. The program gives graduating high school seniors a
chance to attend UT-Austin if they weren’t accepted the first
time around.
Raj, who made A’s and B’s at Plano West High School,
is not worried about meeting the program’s rigorous requirements
to get to Austin.
“I’m kind of nervous about making a 3.2, but I’m
also confident if I put my mind to it,” he said.
CAP began in 2001, as it replaced the UT-Austin summer provisional
program. The provisional program was similar to CAP, but students
had to meet requirements such as taking 12 hours and receiving a
2.25 GPA or above to go on during the summer at satellite universities.
Mike Washington, UT-Austin associate director of admissions, said
the provisional program was dismantled because it was inconvenient
for many students to take the summer classes, he said.
UT-Austin receives a large number of freshman applicants every year.
In fall 2003, 24,519 applied to UT-Austin.
In response to this high volume, the current program gives students
who had been denied acceptance an extra chance to become admitted.
In order for a larger amount of students to enroll in CAP, students
now take their basic courses in the fall and spring.
In fall 2004, the program raised its GPA requirement from 3.0 to
3.2. Washington said the increase was to help students get ready
to attend UT-Austin.
“It was recommended and approved by the faculty council,”
he said. “I believe they wanted to make sure students are
academically prepared as possible for success at UT.”
CAP Students also have to major in liberal arts and natural sciences
for guaranteed admission. These students do have the choice of other
majors but will have to compete with other incoming students for
spots in those colleges.
Washington said the reason for this is that liberal arts and natural
sciences are the biggest colleges on campus with more available
room, while the other schools have limited space.
Students who do make it to UT-Austin as liberal arts or natural
sciences majors can request to change majors, and the respective
college’s dean then accepts or denies the request. Students
will again compete with other incoming students for a spot.
According to Janette Keen, UTA’s associate director of the
University Advising Center, between 40 and 45 percent of CAP students
end up staying here, even though UTA is among the top satellite
schools for sending students to Austin.
“Some students stay because they get involved and meet friends,
and the academics here are challenging,” she said. “We
would love to see the students stay, but our goal is to ensure they
are getting the best education here so they can make the choice
of staying or moving on.”
Despite the possible feeling of disappointment some students may
have by not initially getting into UT-Austin, Steven Allen looks
at coming here as a new opportunity.
“I’ll be experiencing a brand new life and becoming
more mature,” he said. “I don’t feel upset that
I didn’t get in. I didn’t get denied — they just
didn’t have enough room.”
Elise Sharum, an incoming CAP student, said she looks at not receiving
immediate admission as a minor obstacle.
“I was upset about not getting in, but I’ll do whatever
it takes,” she said. “I want to get there because it’s
a big school and because of my major.”
Raj, who will be living at Kalpana Chawla Hall, said he chose to
come to UTA because of its scholastic reputation.
“This is one of the most renowned schools academically,”
he said. “I’m excited about finally preparing for my
career and being away from my parents.”
|
|
