UT Austin has been providing Texas residents who did not make the cut to be part of their freshman class an alternative offer: the Coordinated Admission Program. In less formal terms, students who did not make the cut for UT Austin must prove themselves by spending a year at one of the system’s sister schools. 

When the initial despair of getting rejected from UT Austin wears off and determination ignites, students have to quickly choose which school they will be spending the first year of their academic career at. Drawn from a selection of universities around the state, CAP students have the following options: UT San Antonio, UT Arlington, UT El Paso, UT Permian Basin, UT Rio Grande Valley, Stephen F. Austin State University and UT Tyler. With its robust cohort of CAP students, it’s clear UT San Antonio has become the ideal stepping stone due to it being the most selective of the CAP schools. Unlike other schools, you must be within the top 25% to have UT San Antonio as an option. 

A member of the program would obviously say yes of course. Without this program, aspiring students would not be guaranteed a degree from their dream school or be given opportunities they would not have had without the program. UT San Antonio has the largest cohort of CAP students of all the schools offering the program, with an active member count of over 600 in the unofficial CAP Club, a student-led organization to create a community and help guide students in the transfer process. 

That being said, CAP students would be remiss not to recognize how the culture of their program impacts students who are here for the entirety of their education. It perpetuates a culture of superiority that emphasizes the fact that their time at this school is just a means to an end, which for some can be true. 

It is important to recognize that UT San Antonio was not any of these students’ first choice. It was a choice forced upon them, an unwelcome detour from the iconic Forty Acres. CAP is an alternative roadmap, providing people with the resources to fulfill their aspirations. Students are immersed into one culture, one that provides them with a set of tools and resources only available in their respective schools that they can hold onto as they progress to the capital city of Texas.