[bradchris]

Texan here. There’s still ways to get in if you don’t make the top X% of your class (the percentage is shrinking every year as the school climbs up the rankings and more people want to go… I think it’s near top-4% now? It used to be top 15% I recall), and many of those high achievers go onto other out of state schools, so it’s in the interest of UT system to offer automatic admission to the top achievers from across the state.

Just because the top X% is guaranteed admission, that does not mean all (or even most) of the school is from the top X%.

[dustincoates]

I believe it's only UT Austin that's shrunk the percentage. All of the other public universities are still at the original top 10%.