Chances of getting into UT at Austin

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm really on the fence over whether or not I'll be accepted by University of Texas at Austin. I'm currently in my summer going into senior year, so I'll be the class of 2012. Here is some information:</p>

<p>GPA freshman year - 3.3
GPA sophomore year - 3.8
GPA junior year - 4.1
GPA senior year (predicted, I'm fairly confident I'll achieve it) - 4.4
Overall GPA (again, this is predicted) - ~3.85</p>

<p>So as you can see, I didn't try at all the first year in high school (zeroes on countless homework assignments). Sophomore year I made the effort to not make those zeroes, but I was in all regulars classes so it didn't allow for anything special GPA-wise. Junior year was my first year taking challenging courses, and I did perfectly fine. Made a 4.8 in my AP US History class (94 both semesters)...still waiting for my AP Exam score, but I'm fairly confident I made at least a 4, if not a 5. Next year I'll be taking 3 AP classes, all of which I plan on making an 85+ in (so far no class has been so challenging as to where I can't make that type of grade if I put the effort in). So what I'm hoping from all this is that they will notice the dramatic increase in GPA once I got my **** together...am I right in the assumption they will see that? And even if I am right, will they care?</p>

<p>Class rank: Around top 30%. That's where I get screwed over, because I'm in a VERY competitive district (Plano ISD). You need around a 4.1 GPA just to be close to top 10%. The only plus side of this is that my counselor told me any Texas school will recognize my school district and know how competitive of a school it is, but still, not even being in the top quarter is really hurting me.</p>

<p>SAT (only taken it once, without ANY prep, I plan on retaking in the Fall):
740 Critical Reading
700 Math
650 Writing</p>

<p>ACT (taken it twice, and I think I'm sticking with my score):
35 English
28 Math
36 Reading
30 Science
Composite: 32</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities: All I've really done is do community work freshman/sophomore year :/ I plan on getting involved next year though with clubs/more community service. Will admissions officers be able to easily recognize if it seems like I'm just doing things in my last year to impress them? If so, what other options, if any, do I have?</p>

<p>So as you can probably tell, I feel I'm MUCH smarter than my class rank and overall GPA would lead someone to believe. It's just I simply didn't care my freshman/sophomore year about challenging myself. I know I'll write an impressive essay, as I'm usually a pretty good writer. </p>

<p>What would you guys guess are my chances of being accepted, given all this information? Any tips on other things I can do to increase my chances?</p>

2

<p>Bump please. BTW, the GPAs are on a 5.0 scale (meaning a 97+ in an AP class will get you a 5.0, 97+ in honors will get you a 4.5).</p>

3

<p>I think you should be all right. Your SAT scores are above or at the high end of UT’s middle 50%, and an improving grade trend is always a clear sign of academic dedication. The top 10% rule is only important for automatic admission, but that also means that waves after waves of applicants will be admitted before you are considered. All that you really need to focus on at this point is your essay, since that will definitely be the deciding factor with your stats.</p>

4

<p>If you can get your ranking into the top 25 percent, the doors open as an Academic Admit. This is at TAMU but UT probably has a similar policy, albeit tacit. </p>

<p>[Academic</a> Admits](<a href=“http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshmen/gettingin/waysAdmitted/academic.aspx]Academic”>http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshmen/gettingin/waysAdmitted/academic.aspx)</p>

<p>Also remember that the automatic Top 8% (no longer 10) admission does not apply to the most competitive majors. The low rank will not help but your high scores might give you a better chance.</p>

<p>My prediction is that you will get accepted at UT, but probably with a summer acceptance.</p>

<p>PS You could also learn to shoot like Dirk … and you will be fine. :)</p>

5

<p>UT doesn’t have an academic admit policy like A&M, unfortunately. What is your intended major? Being 30% hurts you at UT, but being from Plano, they’ll see that. You still have a chance at the COLA or Natural Sciences (or Nursing, Geosciences, etc). If you’re applying to Cockrell, McCombs or Communications…I’d say your chances would be lower and there would be a possibility of you getting CAPed. I think your chances are pretty good though if you aren’t applying there, you have nice stats.</p>

6

<p>The main reason I want to go to UT is for the pharmacy program…I don’t know too much about the process (probably should considering I’m this far through high school, but oh well), but I want to say I’d be majoring in a science and then switching into pharmacy school, correct? So would that be hurting/helping my chances of getting in? I definitely will not be going into Law/Business, two of UT’s most prestigious schools I believe, but I want to say Pharmacy is pretty competitive as well. </p>

<p>And even if UT did have an academic admit program, top 25% would be impossible for me to reach I think. I just messed around too much the first 2 years :confused: Wish I could go back, but obviously that’s not an option so there’s no point in dwelling over what’s past.</p>

<p>Any tips on my essay? Should I include somewhere that I was definitely a slacker freshman year, but I corrected my habits?</p>

<p>Thanks for the opinions. I’m not getting my hopes up, but some of these are giving me a little more hope than I previously had. My counselor originally told me UT would be a reach school, but that was before I had taken the ACT/SAT. I will take the SAT again and am really aiming for a 2150 or maybe even higher. Do any of you know if UT allows for superscores?</p>

7

<p>Another thing: is there any point in me trying to improve the ACT score of 32? I’m thinking no, because if I don’t make it in it won’t be because I “only” made a 32. I don’t see them saying “ahh, well, if he made a 34 we might have let him in.”</p>

8

<p>For some reason it won’t let me edit my last post…but I wanted to add that I have taken 4 years of Spanish. I’ve heard this sometimes helps in admissions, but I’m not sure.</p>

9

<p>I don’t really know about the ACT…I did horrible on it, but did great on the SAT. UT doesn’t superscore. UT likes it when you exceed the requirements, so taking 4 years of Spanish is always good. I have 3 (all that my schedule would allow :/). I’m at more of a disadvantage than you because I go to an extremely small school (19 people in my senior class) with no rank, but I’m applying to COLA. UT’s pharmacy school is after undergrad, so are you trying to go to UT for pharmacy school? I mean, as an undergrad they have you take pre-pharm requirements, but pre-pharm isn’t a major, just like pre-law isn’t. As far as your essay goes, I don’t think explaining that you were a slacker is necessary, unless you want to do that for Essay C which is optional.</p>

10

<p>Yeah, so since pre-pharm isn’t a major I’d most likely be majoring in some type of science, correct? If so, is that hurting/helping my chances of getting in?</p>

11

<p>Yeah, you’d be majoring in a science. That does help, since CNS (College of Natural Sciences) isn’t as competitive as McCombs/Cockrell/Communications/Plan II/Honors.</p>

12

<p>That’s a little comforting. Just curious, and this is going a little off-topic now, but is it that hard to get into Pharmacy school with only 2 years of college? I know having 4 years isn’t MANDATORY, but I’ve heard with how competitive UT’s Pharmacy school is, you might be putting yourself at a big disadvantage by applying with only 2 years. I’d like to not have to go to school 8 years (main reason I’m not interested in being a doctor of any sort…11 years of school/residency is just too much).</p>

13

<p>Umm well I honestly don’t really know how pharmacy school works, but I’d think that doing 4 years for undergrad would be a better idea. You’d probably be able to make better connections/internships and just generally have more time over 4 years instead of 2.</p>

14

<p>Texas’ Common Data Set says that it considers class rank and does not consider high school GPA.</p>

15

<p>There are better chances at A&M than UT. UT this year is at top 9% and they have some open seats that don’t consider that but you need to apply really early to find out, like in August.</p>

16

<p>Can someone give me insight as to why “class rank” is so important, rather than GPA/Test scores? It seems obvious that some schools will have WAY more “smart kids” than other schools, and it seems ridiculous to know that if I went to a small school out in West Texas and had the exact same grades as I do now, that I’d be top 10% and be guaranteed admission. But this isn’t the place to complain; life isn’t always fair. Any other opinions/suggestions?</p>

17

<p>Mavspride, class rank is important because the Hopwood Decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that UT can’t use race or ethnicity as a factor in accepting students. Since blacks and Hispanics in Texas frequently come from areas with poorer schools, they are dealt a bad hand when competing for admission against whites based on SAT and ACT scores. So the State of Texas began the Top 10% rule, which effectively meant students at poorer schools were competing against each other, and not against students from better school districts. This had many unintended consequences, including the one you describe. The CAP program is essentially an acknowledgement of the failure of this system – UT delays admitting qualified students until the students they did accept have a chance to flunk out and make room for them. But it’s a state law and the UT admissions office has no choice.</p>

18

<p>Also, everybody at UT knows how competitive Plano ISD is, but honestly I don’t know how much that will benefit you. My daughter’s high school is nationally ranked, and we didn’t see that make a lot of difference in college admissions. Your best bet is to check the scattergrams in Naviance to see how your scores and GPA stack up against previous students from your school.</p>

19

<p>It is the law of the Texas land. </p>

<p>It is considered the great equalizer. Back in late 1990’s the supreme court (?) struck down any admission processes that considered race. George Bush was against Affirmative action but wanted to have a fair admission process that seemed equitable for all schools in Texas without consideration for race. So he wanted a kid in a small school in West Texas and some hispanic/african-american kid in inner city school in Houston or San Antonioto to have an equal chance with some rich school district kid in suburbs of Dallas without calling it affirmative action, i.e., solely based on merit from their own school.</p>

<p>They figured out there were enough seats available in Texas colleges to promise top 10% of every school an admission in a school of their choosing. So the 10% law was born.</p>

20

<p>Thank you guys for the information regarding that rule. I knew it was a state-wide rule, and not the individual universities’ decision, but I was a little shaky on why they implemented it. Like I previously mentioned, there’s no point in complaining about laws seeing as how that’s just the way it goes (and probably rightfully so). Hope I didn’t come off as a bitter “white kid from the rich suburbs of Dallas”; that was not my intention.</p>

<p>spdf - I’m not sure about the ACT, but I know my SAT score was about top 5% for my school…the in-depth score analysis on SAT’s website showed me that information. I know I’m smart enough to be in the top 10%, but like I said, I was just simply too lazy in my first 2 years of high school, and in such a competitive district, even 1 year of slacking almost certainly guarantees you to be out of top 10%.</p>

<p>So is the general consensus that it’ll be about 50/50 on whether I get in (or maybe slightly better chances of not getting accepted)?</p>