chances for a non-auto admit?

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

Hi! I’ve already submitted my application to UT, but I’m definitely curious as to what everyone’s thoughts are regarding my chances with admission. Here’s my stats + intended major:

Major: Anthropology (I eventually want to specialize in archaeology. UT is home to the Texas archaeological research lab, which is a major reason I’m considering going there! I find their osteology research fascinating)

SAT: 1290 (740 R, 550 M)
ACT: 28 (34 R, 32 W, 28 S, 19 M)

GPA: 4.4 Weighted (3.6 UW. A 95 is a 3.5 on my school’s GPA scale.)
Rank: Top 11%. I transferred into a competitive school junior year and hadn’t had access to as many AP or honors courses as my peers. I went to a fine arts academy for the first half of high school.

I’m an IB diploma candidate. Here’s my classes and predicted scores:

  • HL English Literature (7)
  • HL Biology (6)
  • HL History of the Americas (6)
  • SL Art (5 or 6)
  • SL Math Studies (7)
  • SL German Ab Initio (5)
    Some of these predictions (art and German) are unofficial and based upon how I think I’ll do on the exams in May. My predicted scores weren’t sent to UT.

Past AP classes and scores:
Human Geo (4), English Lang (4), English Lit (5), US History (5), Macroeconomics (2. A bit disappointed in that, but I tried my best.)

Essays: 8/10. I think they were solid, but definitely not perfect by any means.
Teacher/Counselor Recs: From my IB Lit teacher and IB coordinator. I can’t rate them because I didn’t read them, but I can assume they were positive.

EC’s + Honors:

  • President of the Gay-Straight Alliance. I wrote my leadership essay about this.
  • Member of NHS, NAHS, and liberty club (political debate/discussion). They aren’t super important but I still mentioned them.
  • Art! I was a state and regional medalist in the Visual Arts Scholastic Event. I’ve also had my pieces in exhibitions. This is a passion of mine and I plan of minoring or double majoring in it.
  • My poetry has been published twice and awarded a silver key in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
  • I played the French horn and jazz trumpet for 5 years. I quit when I transferred schools, but I still mentioned it.
  • 100+ volunteer hours at animal shelters and my local nature reserve.
  • AP Scholar with Honors
  • Superintendent’s Scholar

Weaknesses in application and comments:
As you can tell based upon my stats, I struggle with math. I know that UT will likely view this as a stain on my application. I’ve come to the conclusion, however, that if they don’t admit me (a liberal arts applicant) because of my barely average math scores, I’m not meant to be there. I also know that my EC’s seem all over the place and unrelated to my major. There’s very few archaeology/anthropology related opportunities for a high school student in the DFW suburbs, so I tried to show my interest through my related higher level courses. During freshman year I made the decision to just follow my passions and not force myself to do any EC’s for the sole reason of them looking good on an application. That’s just unhealthy and ingenuine, and it hurts me to watch people squish themselves into the “perfect college applicant” mold. I hold a similar ideology in regards to my standardized test scores. These scores do not define me. I took the tests, and refuse to take them again and contribute any more of my time or money to collegeboard’s monetization of the already absurdly expensive college admissions system. I know that UT won’t care about my mindset during my application, but I do hope that this gives you guys some context into why my ECs and scores are the way they are.
It’s also important to note that I mentioned my experiences with ADHD and autism on my application. My disorders make me who I am, and I wrote how they (and my experiences with teachers and professionals as a high-functioning girl) have uniquely shaped my worldview in one of my short answer essays.

Thank you for your time and have a wonderful day! Sorry if I rambled a bit! I just wanted to give you guys a detailed insight into me as an applicant

2

A bit of statistical analysis for you and other non auto admits. UT Austin enrolled about 9000 frosh. Of those, by law, 6800 were auto admits. About 200 were recruited D1 athletes, 100 were children of faculty, development, or other dean’s interest kids, and 900 were kids from OOS or international. That left about 1000 slots, which given yield rates for non auto in state kids, probably caused about 2200 offers. It is a large state with many excellent high schools with top scores, and there are institutional needs to balance the class.

3

Children of faculty don’t get any bumps.

Without giving identifying info, my nephew by all rights should have had a BIG advantage in getting in as a non-auto admit, but he was rejected even after appealing.

4

Stats are on the low side. They’re probably going to CAP you and send you to UTSA for a year. They’ll automatically let you in if you keep a 3.2 GPA. The downside is that you’d be stuck in a liberal arts degree with no flexibility to change majors to something more employable.

Most college students change their major at least twice before deciding on what to study. I recommend choosing a university that allows flexibility to switch majors. If you find out that you don’t like Anthropology as much as you thought, It’s a lot easier to change majors at a school like University of Houston. At UT, it’s virtually impossible. Employable majors like computers, nursing, or business are virtually impossible to get into unless you’re admitted as a freshman.

5

From what you’ve indicated with your SAT and ACT score, it does appear that you would be within or near the average range/middle 50% for non automatic students in Texas. Given that the admission rate for non auto (info that is on UT’s student profile) is less than 20%, that should give you an understanding of how competitive it is even with it be a College of Liberal Arts program… it’s highly selective. That being said, use the university motto as a way of standing out in the app process with the change or issue you wanna change in the world is my best advice. Good luck and be sure you have other colleges on your radar, you seem like a brilliant student.