Chance a non-auto-admit Texas resident for Mathematics

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
1

Incoming Senior in a competitive houston school. I’d appreciate if you could give me an idea of to what I’m looking at in UT admissions.

Info:

  • Asian Male
  • Low income family (<$40K income for family of 4)
  • Mother had mental issues as a child and verified mental hospital institutions which heavily impacted my childhood a lot - been getting better in my highschool years

Stats:

  • SAT: 1540 ( 790 M, 750 RW)
  • Subjects (I know they're not required but I took them for questbridge so might submit if they're ok): 770 Math 2, 730 Chemistry
  • Rank: 13.3%, will improve to somewhere like 12% range. Oof, I know.

----> I couldn’t afford to take summer school classes that were common for most kids in the top 10%, e.g world geography, world history, or us history, which cost around $400 per course. I also took band for 2 years and did not exempt the course from rank calculation until last semester junior year. My school never told us about this which pissed me off. I would have been in the top 10% had this happened.

  • APs: 4 WHAP sophomore year. Junior year, most likely getting these scores: 5 AP lang, 4 chem, 3 spanish, self taught calculus AB and apush and predicting 3 and 1, probably wont send apush
  • Course Rigor: Hardest course rigor possible besides career-oriented classes that weren't APs (so health in favor of ap computer science) but also regular us history instead of AP. 3 aps junior year, 1 sophomore year

ECs:

  • Writing Artificial Intelligence related News Articles on a website with over 500K visitors. It's also connected on to Apple News.
  • Research Pertaining to mathematics with a professor at UHD during the summer - Stem Cell research that creates statistical models on embryonic cells and the most accurate cell structures they will become. Might get a rec letter from my professor, and hopefully we can submit our research somewhere.
    • Competitive pre-college program during the summer in Journalism at UH. Discuss nonfiction literature and films in seminar settings and at the end of the program we submit a writing sample connecting one example of a nonfiction work to the current world and present a speech on it. I will plan on bringing in mathematics/statistics in to this sample and speech. Will possibly get a rec letter from the teacher here as well.
  • TSA reporter & state qualifier in Essays on technology junior year. Will help the club by expanding the TSA blog website in order to explain all the events and activities we do in TSA to the entire student organization. Also helped manage fundraisers as part of the staff.
  • Unincorporated nonprofit and club founder as well senior year. Can't say the name bc of privacy reasons, but the focus of the club was to combine my passions for humanities (specifically writing as you can see from all the essay-related stuff I did) with STEM. We plan to start the first science fair in our school and communicate the ethics of modern issues in STEM in the club such as bioethics. The money raised from the science fair will go to impoverished schools in our area and I plan on giving speeches at those schools as well, which is why I view it as an unincorporated nonprofit more than just a club (also can't afford to make it a true nonprofit). It will have its own website as well listing our activities and proof of what we have done.
  • Internship in an insurance agency senior year to challenge my mathematical knowledge for risk and statistics. Not sure 100% where yet, but through a program in my school we have to land an internship at an agency depending on what we want to major in and I am looking through the insurance ones to match my major for mathematics, as a possible career path I would enjoy is an actuary.
  • May or may not include my role in HOSA as the committee chair member and 8th ranking over 30 in regionals on Prepared Speaking, or marching band for 2 years which i had to quit due to the cost of my trumpet and enrolling in band.
2

I’d encourage you to talk to your school counselor to understand what percentage your high school has been sending to UT. Some high schools are as high as 10-12%. It all depends. You want your HS grades high the first two months!

Since you will be in Hollistic Admissions you want to make your Admissions the absolute best it can be. Do ALL the essays (even the optionals - do them this summer!) and UT loves a good adversity story. Appeal to what the University looks for. How you overcame, what you are looking for and wanting to be, etc. Remember it is all about standing out above everyone else who has something similar to you. If it means taking another Test like a SAT Subject or anything else - Do it. Think what you can do that is ‘above and beyond’ what someone else is doing.
Have some Great Letters of Rec. For your Admission - it isn’t about just doing enough - it’s about showing them THEY NEED to look at you.

Remember everyone in Hollistic Admissions is a Reach but some Reaches make themselves look more appealing. Tell your Story.

I wish you the best!!

3

OUCH didn’t know I was that screwed. Thank you though bahaha. And yeah my school has very good UT rates. Similar to Cinco Ranch and Clements (dont want to say its name)

4

Wait, hang on, what are you talking about? I said I’m applying for the math major as well. Is the math major that insanely competitive? So do CS, engineering and business have no people that aren’t auto admit? I’m so confused. Would you have said the same thing for a future gender studies major that isn’t autoadmit?

5

No one is saying you are screwed. You have the same chances as someone else applying who is Non-Auto Admit. Your SAT is great but for Non-Auto Admit - they’ll look at the entire picture and compare you to everyone else applying for that major and what slots are left after Auto-admit.

UT publishes exactly how it selects for Admissions - it starts on Page 31. There is also another website online that discusses admissions - we can’t post blog links:

https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Best%20Practices%20in%20Admissions%20Processes%20for%20Undergraduate%20and%20Professional%20Programs/ut-system-admissions-best-practices-2014-07.pdf

Auto-Admit is only admission for General Admission. Everyone who applies to CS, Engineering and Business goes through another competitive Admission selection process. That process is dependent on who applies. Some years certain majors are more competitive than other majors. Perhaps they will fill up through Auto Admit or not. Some in Auto-Admit won’t get in and might be offered their second choice or some undergrad studies choice if both choices are not options.

Your major is as competitive as the number of other students who are applying and of course what UT is looking for. Auto-Admit is first, Non Auto-Admit is second.

For Non-Auto Admit admissions you are in Hollistic Review.

You increase your chances by going above and beyond. UT even says this in that document.

6

Oh, thank you very much. That explains a lot!

7

I think you look very competitive for UT. However with your scores and family income you should apply very broadly as you may get incredible merit and need based scholarship offers at many schools. Lots of schools will waive your application fee as well. Work with your college counselor on coming up with a strong list. Best of luck!

8

Your rank is really going to hurt you, I’m sorry to say. But try and see what happens!

9

…Didn’t really hurt me all that much! Thank you for atleast telling me to try rather than leaving it at that lol. (Possibly but very likely,) UT 2024.

10

Sounds like you got in tonight! Congratulations!