Confused about the top 7% rule

<p>Hello, I am going to be applying in the fall and I was wondering..
Since I know that I'll be automatically admitted into UT Austin, does that mean I will be automatically accepted into my desired major of computer science? If not, do you think I will be accepted being in the top 3% of my class, 1750 SAT, 25 ACT, 3 leadership positions, Good ECs, over 100 volunteer hours, and good rec letters?</p>

<p>No
And honestly no your scores are way too low for CS
It is incredible hard to get into CS now. Because they have so many applicants and few few spaces, because of lack of funding. But ut pulls from top 1% to top 2% and top 3% up to 7% to fill majors. Remaining spots are for the non auto. So perhaps if test scores for CS are not too competitive around the top 3% you will get in if not try internal transfer. FYI all the applicants trying to get into CS this year were rejected even with gpa’s ranging from 3.8-4.0</p>

<p>@htownkid‌
What is your race?
At a school like UT Austin, chances are crapshoots, though still apply and to the best you can.</p>

<p>@Fredjan‌ @135pipe‌
Thank you for your responses!
oh and I’m asian… that probably doesn’t help lol
I’ll probably take my ACT again in september cuz i KNOW i can get above a 30</p>

<p>Yeah, a 30 will indeed give you greater chances. Send everything in (rec letters, well-written essays), and hope for the best!</p>

<p>You have a great chance just kill those essays </p>

<p>135pipe, what did you mean by “FYI all the applicants trying to get into CS this year were rejected even with gpa’s ranging from 3.8-4.0”? Did they not admit anyone into the program at all? Or just none from the auto-admits? </p>

<p>No I meant the internal transfers that were admitted to ut but didn’t get there major last year. They tried internal transferring all were rejected. Transfer students were also rejected trying to get into CS </p>

<p>Thanks for clarifying. That’s tough. </p>

<p>To the original poster, although you will get into UT I don’t think you will get into CS with those test scores. In fact, I believe the way it works is you could also be offered CAP (maybe someone else has done this here). This means that you will be accepted into the UT system, but not Austin. You would also be given some type of guarantee that if you do well enough your freshman year you could transfer to UT Austin. So unless I am mistaken even getting into Austin is not a given.You really need to get your ACT/SAT scores up.</p>

<p>No, according to the website, even kids who are automatically admitted due to class rank still undergo the same process as everyone else when it comes to awarding majors. If they don’t think you are a good fit for your first choice, they will put you in your second choice.</p>

<p>@texansfan1‌
The person is the top 3% so = auto admission they cannot be capped lol.
You will get into ut no matter what but retake your sat/act and see if you can raise it to 1900+ or 28+ then you have a solid chance for getting your first choice major. But regardless @htownkid‌ you will get into ut</p>

<p>re: comment #10 - I don’t believe that an auto-admin is guaranteed his 1st or 2nd choice of a major. My understanding is that the applicant is placed into General Studies if he is not accepted to either of his major preferences. I’m going by the experience of a recent HS valedictorian who applied to UT-Austin, but was rejected by both of his major preferences.</p>

<p>@htownkid - It’s worth contacting the UT Admissions Dept. to confirm this. If you’re absolutely certain you want to major in CS, you will want a safety school if it doesn’t work out at UT. You mentioned that you are Asian, so, as you noted, that won’t help, but it would help if you happen to be a female…</p>

<p>@denali21 is correct. Automatic admission guarantees you admission to UT; however, it does not guarantee admission into your preferred major. CS along with Engineering and Business are probably the three toughest majors/colleges to get accepted into. I think the problem you may experience is with your SAT/ACT test scores. UT utilizes a formula to project an applicant’s first year college GPA which is based on your class rank and SAT/ACT test scores. With respect to the formula, class rank is just one of the inputs and an applicants SAT Writing Score, SAT Critical Reasoning Score and SAT Math Score are individually included in the formulas as well. Applicants are compared to applicants of the same major/college for admission, so not everyone is in competition with each other. This means someone applying to the College of Education does not compete directly with someone applying to the Business School, applicants are compared to their peers seeking admission to the same major/college. Therefore when you see news publications state that the average or mean SAT/ACT score for applicants accepted to UT is X, you can pretty much assume that as far as admissions is concerned you need to score over X for admission into colleges like the School of Business, Natural Science and Engineering. On the other hand, an applicant probably stills has a shot if they score under X for admission into the School of Education and Fine Arts. </p>

<p>If you are not accepted into CS, you will be offered admission to the College of Liberal Arts or Undergraduate Studies. As stated above, if you know you want to Major in CS, you should also consider a safe school along with UT.</p>