<p>My daughter has applied for the Dean's Honors program at UT. Her rank is 10/483 students. I heard that there is automatic admission for the top 2-3% students at the Business School. Does anybody know if there is one for the DS program? Her SAT scores and extracurricular are not great. What are her chances?</p>
<p>Hi, concernedmom69, the Bus School is no longer admitting that way, and Coll of Natl Sci never admitted that way. This year, all admissions to choice of major, for both auto admits and non-auto admits, will be by holistic review. Here is what they consider: [Application</a> Review | Be a Longhorn](<a href=“http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/freshmen/after-you-apply/review]Application”>Review & Decision Process – University of Texas Admissions) Honors programs look at the same thing plus indicators for that field, e.g., for Dean’s Scholars, they are naturally looking for some involvement in the sciences outside of going to science class. Many of the applicants have engaged in scientific research projects, competitions, organizations, internships, etc. See [Dean’s Scholars | Selection](<a href=“http://web2.cns.utexas.edu/ds/index.php?page=selection”>http://web2.cns.utexas.edu/ds/index.php?page=selection</a>)</p>
<p>Did you mean to say your daughter’s SAT scores and ECs are “not” great? All of the honors programs at UT are extremely competitive. The target yield for Dean’s Scholars is about 50 kids, so you can imagine that their credentials are extremely impressive. If that “not” wasn’t a typo, perhaps you are just being overly concerned. 
It’s a mom’s privilege! There must be a reason she believed she would be a competitive applicant. If she isn’t admitted, but excels first year, she can try again. Also, she should definitely consider applying for a Freshman Research Initiative. [Freshman</a> Research Initiative](<a href=“http://fri.cns.utexas.edu/]Freshman”>http://fri.cns.utexas.edu/)</p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>Thank you, for a quick reply. Yes, her SAT scores are not very impressive for a DS program, but she wanted to try anyways. Most of her High School courses are either pre-AP or AP classes. On two of her AP tests she got a 4 and a 5. Rank 10/483, National Honor Society, in Chorale for 4 yrs, volunteered at a Hospital and Food Bank. She is taking SAT subj test (biology E/M and Math lev 2) this Nov. I’m not sure if it would help her getting into DS. There aren’t many oppurtunities at her school for research projects, science fairs or internships. I too heard that she can try as a Freshmen, but how hard is it to get into the program during Freshmen year? I’ve heard that FRI program is great too. Also, most of the classes have high student to teacher ratio. I’m not sure how it is in the FRI program. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, once again.</p>
<p>FRI can be a door into the DS program. If she impresses the prof, she can be invited to join DS for her sophomore year. That’s what happened with my son, who didn’t initially apply to DS.</p>
<p>You can do FRI and be in DS program. DS is overrated though. Some students love it, some hate it. I’m not in it (because I didn’t apply because I knew I didn’t want to do the program) and I’m happy that I didn’t apply.</p>
<p>Hey, welcome to the forum ImOnOne! A decent amount of the expertise here tends to lean towards engineering so it’s good to have some CNS representation around. I’m a newly transferred Biology major myself (pre-med epiphany haha)</p>
<p>Hopefully as both of us get more experience we can offer the community better advice. I’ve done a decent bit of med school research if you happen to have any questions too. (taking ochem 1, cell bio, 205L, medical terminology and medical ethics now)</p>
<p>Sure thing frever. I know a lot about med school ‘stuff’, so I can offer input on here about things like that and things related to UT.</p>