Chances of Getting into UT... Not top 7%

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I heard from a lot of people the UT and TAMU are hard to get into if you don't have automatic admission. This has been getting me really nervous because those are the only two schools I plan on applying to. I plan on going into Computer Science, which is in the School of Natural Sciences for UT and School of Engineering for TAMU. Here's what I've got.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.875 Rank: 73/371</p>

<p>SAT
Critical Reading: 530(Highest 590)
Math: 800
Writing: 570
Overall: 1900 :: Super Score: 1960</p>

<p>ACT:
English: 29
Math: 34
Reading: 21
Science: 25
Writing: 27</p>

<p>Taken: WHAP, APUSH, AP English Language
Taking: AP Calc AB, AP English Lit, AP Physics C, AP US Government, AP Macroeconomics, and AP Computer Science</p>

<p>EC:
SkillsUSA:
Member - Sophomore
Reporter - Junior
Vice President - Senior</p>

<p>Math and Science Society:
Member - Junior
Vice President - Senior
Nation Science Bowl Team - Senior
Calculus Bowl Team - Senior</p>

<p>BPA and NHS Member - Senior</p>

<p>Head planner of The Game* 5 and 6 - Junior and Senior
*Local Social/Mental/Physical strategy competition</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:</p>

<p>I volunteer at 2 churches and help set up/clean up before and after service. Have well over 50 hours invested in each one since freshman year. I was also in charge of the "youth reconstruction" group after a hurricane hit one of the churches. </p>

<p>I volunteer at my school every change I get; which is mainly setting up for special events like college night or pep rallies and stuff. I also volunteer at a local elementary school for similar stuff. </p>

<p>The Game, that local competition I mentioned earlier, is at the Arlington Convention Center and along with the planning and organizing, I helped set-up both events(12 hours each)</p>

<p>Those are the main reoccurring ones, excluding small events I do for EC that I'm involved in.</p>

<p>Awards:
I have multiple Architectural Drafting Awards Ive won from SkillsUSA(2nd place at District and 2nd Place at State Junior Year, along with another medal I won from getting the highest score on the Workforce Ready exam for Architectural Construction on the state level). I also achieved Best of Show of a 1" = 1' scale model of the spiral staircase in the center of my school at the District and State level my Junior year. I also have Mathematics Awards from the same club(5th place on a math competition Sophomore year and 3rd place Junior year, highest in my high school both times.) I also won the 4th "Game" my Junior year as well(The Game thing is completely separate from school by the way. I don't know how I feel about including this because I doubt they have any idea what it is) Similarly, I won 1st place at the Watauga City Championships for Pokemon TCG, but I dont know how I feel about putting that on my app either. haha.</p>

<p>So I know I don't have the best GPA or ECs, but I was kind of hoping that a 1900 SAT score with a perfect Math score and a near perfect Math ACT score would maybe put me in range. I was hoping that since I'm going into a math based course, they would focus more on my SAT and ACT math scores. I'm not too sure though, so that's why I'm asking here. I'm taking the SATs again in December and I can send those, so hopefully I do better than last time. Thanks for taking the time to read this!</p>

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<p>First of all, and regardless of how you feel about UT and TAMU, you shouldn’t be applying to only two schools.
You need a list with:

  • 2 schools you like, are 100% sure you can get into, and can afford
  • 2-3 schools that match your stats (you’re close to the “top25%” mark and above the average) and where you’re reasonably sure you can get into with sufficient financial aid
  • as many dream schools as you wish or can afford - those are typically the easiest schools to find. It’s the rest of the list that’s typically difficult… For you, these dream schools would be TAMU and UT. So it’s time to borrow a Fiske Guide or an Insider’s to the Colleges and check out good tech schools and schools with strong CS majors.</p>

<p>Now, your class rank is the last allowed for automatic merit and you have above 27 at both English and Math ACT, but you don’t have the 30 composite; you do have 1330 M+CR on the ACT, but not the minimum 600 on each.
So WITH YOUR CURRENT SCORES, TAMU looks improbable since all students who apply with these stats are automatically admitted. Add athletes, legacies, etc, and your odds are very low. UT is basically out of reach, especially for CS.
However, if you can bring your CR score to 600 + have 750+ in math + do not slip even by one rank number, you should be good for admission into TAMU however they don’t guarantee admission into a major so you might not be able to choose CS since it’s high in demand.
Apply to UT Dallas (I think you’d qualify for automatic admission so that would be a safety, at least) or TAMU Corpus Christi, perhaps?
Another solution is to attend Austin Community College and complete the requirements for an automatic transfer agreement into UT Austin (although many who take that route simply don’t make it). Note that the transfer agreement doesn’t allow you to choose your major.
A better solution would be applying to NM School of Mining and Technology, Missouri School of Science and Technology, perhaps Colorado School of Mines. If you’re adventurous, you could even apply to wpi or rpi out in the North :slight_smile: . These schools are excellent tech schools for computer science and their graduates don’t have problems finding good jobs.</p>

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<p>My son applied to both schools 2 years ago. Top 20% with approximately a 2100 SAT. Applied to college of Natural Sciences at UT - did not get in (CAP). Got into A&M. Personally I think A&M is the better school now (my father was a Dean at UT and I graduated from UT). My son is studying computer science at Trinity University and loves it. Look into Trinity, SMU and Baylor - you may be surprised by how much scholarship money you are offered. Also when you consider that you are more likely to graduate in 4 years from the private schools they actually may be just as affordable as the state schools.</p>

4

<p>Low chance</p>

5

<p>Update: I retook my ACTs</p>

<p>Composite :: 30
English :: 29
Math :: 33
Reading :: 27
Science :: 30</p>

<p>I sent these scored to Texas A&M and got automatic admission. I went into Engineering Review and just got accepted into the Dwight Look College of Engineering yesterday morning!</p>

6

<p>Excellent! Happy it worked out for you.</p>

7

<p>Congratulations!</p>

8

<p>Nicely done (just got to the end of this thread to see the OP’s happy news!!)</p>