Hello all,
I applied to both Texas A&M and UT Austin back in December. I got my acceptance into my requested major at Texas A&M (Civil Engineering) not too long ago and am still waiting to hear back from UT Austin. Although my stats are fairly decent, my class rank is only 16% and there is a good chance that I will get CAP’d. UT Austin has always been a dream of mine, but I am not entirely sure if getting accepted into the Cockrell School of Engineering is realistic at this point. With all this taken into consideration, if I do get CAP’d, should I do a year at a satellite school, such as UT Arlington and take my chances with getting into Cockrell my sophomore year, or should I just suck it up and go to Texas A&M?
Thank you in advanced.
There’s an old saying, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush! My two cents is, if you want to be an engineer, go to the program you were accepted into and make the best of it. You’ll probably find out you like A&M fine once you have a little time there.
Look into transfer statistics before making a final decision. A&M isn’t a bad choice regardless.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the CAP program only guarantees a place in the school of liberal arts, right? The advantage of going to A&M is that you’re already in a very good program without playing the waiting game to see if you can go to UT eventually. You can always do your undergrad engineering degree at A&M and get your masters or doctorate at UT, if that’s what you’re interested in pursuing.The best thing for you to do at the moment is wait anyways to hear from UT. 16% isn’t bad by any means and many students get in with worse ranks at UT Austin.
I feel that 16% would get me into any other school within UT, other than maybe McCombs or Cockrell. Yes, you are right that it only guarantees admission into the College of Liberal Arts. I have decided that I will just attend A&M for my undergraduate degree if I do not gain admission into UT Austin and then maybe get my masters from UT. Believe me, playing the waiting game is not exactly my forte haha. Thanks for all the advice!
If you want to be an engineer and got into your choice of major at A&M that’s where I’d go, because if you’ve been capped odds are you WON’T be able to transfer to Cockrell anyway. 
So, congratulations!