I've heard from reliable sources that Texas A&M is making a strong push to limit automatic admissions to the top 8% of high school graduating classes. While this change may not take effect for the class of 2026, sources indicate it's likely to be implemented for the class of 2027.

How would top 10% advantage any group over any other? Isn't it based on how well the student is doing?

Maybe I'm not understanding the definition.

Oh NM just saw the point about tying it to other metrics.

FlyRod said:

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AggieDruggist89 said:

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Should do away with auto admit. Seems DEI-ish.

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Doesn't "top 8-10%" imply merit? How is it DEI-ish?

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Like others have said or implied, the top 10% thing was for minority/black heavy schools to get auto admit (affirmative action).

Tabasco said:

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FlyRod said:

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AggieDruggist89 said:

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Should do away with auto admit. Seems DEI-ish.

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Doesn't "top 8-10%" imply merit? How is it DEI-ish?

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Like others have said or implied, the top 10% thing was for minority/black heavy schools to get auto admit (affirmative action).

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The reason it survives though is they have sold Rural folks that it benefits them even though you can easily give Rural students a boost without the Top 10% Rule. It works politically though, they have convinced folks from small towns that without Top 10% none of their kids would get in to A&M so they support it even though it actually ends up working against them. Anytime it comes up in a thread on another forum you see the same argument and the DEI folks laugh at how they have convinced the conservatives to do their bidding.

I agree with you, that's how it's sold. I've seen that repeated on here multiple times...even though it's a falsehood. A&M was filled with Rural kids before the 10% rule came into effect, and it would continue to be if it went away.

But out of curiosity, why would rural kids need a boost? Without the top 10 rule, wouldn't the student simply earn their grades and test scores, no matter where they're from?

As long as they're going to continue to use % as a deciding factor, I wish there was some sort of ranking for High Schools in texas that normalized the rankings across the State, for competitive schools.

Gotcha. Good perspective...thanks

Colleges in Texas can't just "decide" to change their automatic admission percentage. The law states that the University must automatically admit enough students to fill 75 percent of available Texas resident spaces. Once they exceed that 75%, they can lower the threshold.

Squid59 said:

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Colleges in Texas can't just "decide" to change their automatic admission percentage. The law states that the University must automatically admit enough students to fill 75 percent of available Texas resident spaces. Once they exceed that 75%, they can lower the threshold.

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Yes, and how it's been relayed to others, the administration is in full support of the change. According to their projections, it is on the horizon and their recruiters are advising counselors about this change in the future since it will probably impact the lower grade levels in high school.

Squid59 said:

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Colleges in Texas can't just "decide" to change their automatic admission percentage. The law states that the University must automatically admit enough students to fill 75 percent of available Texas resident spaces. Once they exceed that 75%, they can lower the threshold.

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Actually I believe the law is 90% In State. That said this is a fig leaf argument because the Texas and A&M Systems have all the political clout they need in the Legislature to get any policy they want like this passed, that has only become moreso as the 2 Systems have grown so large so as to encompass about 400k students between them and are also tied into so many state agencies. A&M and Texas also work together on stuff like this for mutual benefit.

Essentially it does take a change in the law for some things but that's merely a matter of asking for the change. A&M and Texas like to use the Leg as a proxy to act as though they are restricted from doing things but the Leg merely does what the Universities ask of it almost every time because the Leg is filled with people that either went to a UT or A&M System school or are beholden to the same.