Students who want to attend UT, Texas A&M or any other Texas school in 2014 will have to tackle the essay topics on the Apply Texas application. The NEW topics are posted here.

CNN recaps the University of Texas admissions controversy still pending before the Supreme Court. A decision on the race-based admissions policy is expected later this month.

Wondering if children of alumni get preferential treatment in the college admissions process? Statistics say yes.

The Choice blog details 2013 "yields," which are the percentage of students who accept a college's offer of admission. "Most of the yields reported on our far-from-comprehensive list are well below 50 percent, which may indicate an increasing number of options for students who applied to multiple schools. In fact, some admission officers have told me that this is part of the rationale behind placing such large numbers of students on the wait list," the writer reports.

The New York Times shares some college essays from students who took a gamble by tackling taboo subjects with sensitivity. "For anyone looking to inspire their own children ... who are seeking to go to college in the fall of 2014, these four essays would be a good place to start," the newspaper says.

You can't actually submit the Common App for the 2014-15 school year until Aug. 1, but the five essay topics are available for consideration. Rising seniors definitely should be working on their essays during the summer.

The agency that oversees higher education in Texas has launched a slick website to allow families to evaluate and compare public colleges and universities using measures like enrollment figures, costs and top majors. 

This piece from ProPublica describes how college admissions offices game the system, but it also offers insights into how a student might use those games to his advantage.

The always helpful NYT blog, The Choice, is answering questions about early decision. Students with strong academic records who have a clear first-choice school often go this route.

UT has announced it will limit automatic admission for the freshman class to the top 7 percent in 2014.