Hi there,
So really to cut to the chase, I’m about to be a senior in high school, and i’m extremely passionate when it comes to rockets. So naturally, my dream is to study aerospace engineering at UT Austin. To list my credentials I’m rank 22/740 students at my school (Top 5%. I do live in Texas, so technically the automatic admission rule applies to myself, however i don’t think that is the case in regards to the major) and am currently about to take 7 AP courses next year (I will list them if needed). When it comes to extracurricular stuff, I am apart of the chemistry club, helped form my school’s programming club, in multiple UIL academic events,am apart of NHS, NEHS (english), and am president of the SNHS (science). I also have earned the presidents volunteer service award (gold) twice if that helps. I actually haven’t taken the SAT yet (I know, pretty late) and will do so on October 1st. However, I have taken practice tests, and am scoring about 1180 on the new SAT. It’s a rather low score, so my mother (rightfully so) has been warning me of the possibility of being rejected. Of course, I will be doing everything I can to increase my score, but as of right now, is it safe to say that I have a good chance of being accepted?
Thanks guys, all advice will really help! 
You’ll need a higher score than an 1180 to get accepted. And you’ll need to do really well in math in particular. Have you tried the ACT? Some people do better on it. No one can tell you your chances of acceptance without test scores so just work on killing your standardized tests and come back. You really should have taken one during junior year though. It’s a little odd to only take it once senior year, because if you do poorly it will be difficult to retake.
I agree with danfer91 that your SAT score will need to be higher, but what are you getting on the individual sections of the test? If your math section is really high and the reading is low, then that wouldn’t be such a bad thing because for the major your want, they are going to care a lot about your math score. You seem to be doing well with your EC’s and your rank looks good. Universities in Texas care a lot about rank, so that will be helpful.The engineering program at UT is pretty good, so it will be competitive and harder than many other engineering programs in Texas to get into. I would think that you have a good chance of getting accepted. I am trying to get into the Computer Science program at UT this year and I am a bit worried about not being able to get in, and the CS program there is really hard to get into, so I understand what you are feeling.
The bottom line, I would say, is to make sure that you try really hard to do well on the SAT, particularly on the math section because that is way more important to the college you want to go into than the english part. Good luck!
I know, not taking the SAT sooner is something i really regret 
. Generally my math scores are higher than reading, but still, i intend to work crazy hard the next few weeks.
@RocketKSP for 2014, the average SAT score for admitted students to cockrell was a 1420. The rest of your application is definitely good enough, but if you score less than a 700 on the math section it’s going to be tough to get in. Study really hard for that SAT.