Anyone have any idea what the Academic Index cutoff might be for admission to CS, assuming average personal index numbers? Son (hs jr) is trying to decide whether to retake sat/act to try to extract another few points. He is in-state, top 15% of class at one of the top 5-10 public high schools in TX. High test scores but not sure how perfect they need to be.
Have you searched through the Fall 2016 applicants or the Decisions threads? You can compare to other non-auto admits who got in? I don’t know the answer but that is what I would do in your shoes. They are long threads and it will take a couple of hours at least.
I don’t think there is a set number, it looks like a crapshoot. My DD got accepted with a 2250 SAT including a 720 M, top 1% and NMF. She is a varsity athlete which might have helped. I saw an Asian male that had a 2290, top 2% and many math ECs that did not get CS. I also saw a white male, SAT 1990 and a varsity athlete that did get CS.
I do know, if he can get a perfect score in math that will help. The other scores do not seen to be nearly as important. Essays may be important. His best bet is to get his math score as high as possible.
The one thing I learned this year from this process is that nothing is definite at UT besides auto admission. Do have affordable, good, safety backups that are more predictable. Ours is UTD because A&M is going to a more holistic process for engineering as well which includes CS.
@gettingschooled I actually took your advice. Unfortunately, most people who post results do not include enough info for me to calculate AI. Of those who did (7 admits this yr & last; no denieds provided enough info), I see AIs ranging from 3.71 to 4.2 (avg 3.95), w/o any adjustment for class rigor (which would presumably give most of these people another 0.1).
@GTAustin @txserenity @Texaslavender @longhornmomx2 @JLS1963 @pieguy321 if you could provide your HS class rank and the breakdown of your SAT or ACT scores, I could include your data in my little survey.
Thanks, all, this was very helpful and will help me explain to my son why he should re-take the SAT.
My DD had a 720 M, 780 R, 760 W. Her class rank was 5 out of 600+. Her unweighted GPA was 4.0 with 9 AP classes. She also has 2 years of CS.
Happy to help…
My daughter’s class rank was 50 out of a class of 562 (top 8.8%)
Her ACT was: 35 composite (36 English, 35 math, 34 science, 34 critical reading).
GPA: 4.91 weighted…unsure about unweighted
This is the stat for class of 2019 (last year).
Accepted CS, instate, rank top 3%, ACT 33 composite.
11 AP classes. No major ECs other than All-state music.
He only sent one with the highest ACT composite, but it turned out that it has the lowest AI out of all this SAT/ACT attempts. There’s a 0.15 point difference. We didn’t know the formula until the deadline passed 
Based on the formula for Natural Science, his calculated AI submitted was 3.57.
Copied and pasted from the Texas Admissions website:
You may submit as many score reports as you like. If you submit more than one, we will consider the score from the single test date that will benefit you the most. We will not, however, “superscore,” or combine scores from different test dates (a critical reading score from one test date with a mathematics score from another test date, for example).
We strongly encourage you to send us the results from all tests you take.
So taking the SAT or ACT again can only help and not hurt your application.
Here’ where I found this info:
http://admissions.utexas.edu/apply/freshman-admission#fndtn-t33-multiple-score-reports
I did not realize UT used an AI. Can someone calculate this for, or give link to accurate calculator for UT?
SAT 1660/2330
GPA 3.99/4.0 UW
No rank given, probably in top 10 of 62 sr’s
Rigorous selective high school-Stanford Online
4 Ap’s completed, 5 more by May, for 9 ttl
3 post AP college level courses
He got into Deans scholar and Plan II, but we had no idea about UT’s AI. Thought that was only for Ivy League…
Does AI Impact any scholarship awards?
Does anyone know where the AI calculator is for UT?
@jjloehr , I got the formula by google :(. The link is : https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/utsfiles/documents/institutions/best-practice-admissions-processes/ut-system-admissions-best-practices-2014-07.pdf
This document explains AI. The formula is at the end.
@TexasMom2017 S’s class rank is 172/852. His SAT breakdown was 800 M 760 V 680 W
I want you to take a look at this guys chance me post
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-texas-austin/1812341-so-whats-the-damage-another-chance-me-post.html#latest
What do you think his AI was?
Don’t waste your time stressing over UT’s admissions process. I too, spent the majority of my junior year and senior year thus far researching everything I could about UT’s process. I am in-state, only top 26% of my class with an alright SAT score of 2080. And I am happy to say that last week I was accepted into their Computer Science program. Basically everyone was telling me that I had no shot of getting in and I shouldve just chosen a different major but I chose to stick it through. I believe I got in because I invested my entire summer into crafting the best Application I could and I suggest your son does too. I wrote and rewrote essays A, B, C until I just couldnt look at them anymore. I made a very detailed three page resume covering my extracurriculars and I asked my teachers very early on for recommendations so they could have time to write a quality rec. I ended up sending ut 5 recs btw. AI may carry some value but dont forget about the PAI which can prove to be much more important than you think.
@DynamicProphet: That’s very true. My scores aren’t great as well, but I devoted my time on writing essays that express many things about me ( My personality, my passion for computer science, and all the cool projects I’ve finished). By the way, I’m also an International student studying high school in the US so I may be considered OOS ( I don’t know if that makes it easier). I totally agree with @DynamicStyle, AI may carry some important values but CS isn’t just for everyone. PAI can show a lot about the applicant and his/her ability to do well in CS field.
Thanks, all! Very helpful to hear all this. And congrats on your news, @DynamicProphet !
I googled but saw PDF’s and skipped over. Hope it not too much of a bother to ask. That document is probably the most insightful thing I’ve seen anywhere for giving insight to UT’s admissions!!!
Only difficulty is if your school doesn’t rank. The Ivy league has a technique for ranking non-ranked students, but didn’t see any for UT…
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/education/05rank.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
Thanks for providing.