Chance Me (Non Auto Admit)

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

Hi all! I am a rising senior and am currently reviewing colleges to apply to in the fall! I would very much appreciate it if you wouldn’t mind taking a look at some of my stats and giving a few pointers on any colleges that aren’t worth applying to or some I might have missed.

Thanks!

GPA : 3.46(UW) of 4.0 / 4.62(W) of 5.0 or (110 on 100 scale)

Class Rank: 135 of 935…(top 14%)

ACT 35/36©, M(36),E(34),R(35), S(35)

Major Intended: Mechanical Engineering/ Biomedical Engineering

Activities:
FIRST Robotics Team Captain, Lead Programmer (2 yrs)
VEX Team Captain, Lead Programmer>>Worlds Appearance (2 yrs)>>Runner Up in Grand Finals (NBN season)
FIRST Lego League Mentor
Eagle Scout
Technology Students Association Biotechnology, Tech Bowl and SciVis Captain>>Nationals Appearance( 1 yr)
Symphonic Orchestra 1st Chair Violin
Research at UTD with professor in biomedical engineering field(to be published soon)
Math Tutor
Physics Tutor
Over 200 hours of Community Service

Teacher Recs: 9/10… all of them liked me a lot as a student
Essays: 7/10 (still working on them)

Also, not sure if this justifies the lower GPA, but for the end of my freshman year and my entire sophomore year, I suffered from a really bad flare of eczema (which was already severe), and it kind of put my life on halt. It was hard to focus when it itched, and it really took a toll on my grades, and at the time, I was taking the most challenging curriculum my school had to offer (still am…11 APs WOO). After I received the proper treatment though rebounded from B’s to A’s, so a definite upward trend. Can I explain this to the admissions committee? have any of you guys been in a similar position?

2

I would hope you could get in. You have everything accept the automatic acceptance. Maybe in one of the essays you could explain the eczema issue, the how you overcame a challenge essay or maybe one of your recs could address it. You are applying to a competitive major so do treat it as a reach. I would think there would be many schools that would really want you. You are already aware of UTD and could probably get a great scholarship. Texas A&M would be another good choice.

3

Thank you!