I’ll try and keep this as short and sweet as I can. I am currently 24 and serving in the military and will be getting out next year. I will be applying to various school by the end of the year but my number one option will be UT Austin. I am trying to see what you think my chances of getting accepted are along with any advice any of you may have. To give a brief summary I went to college for 2 years before I joined the military but was definitely less than the ideal student. My GPA was pretty low (about a 2.0) and I even went on academic probation for a semester. My whole issue with school back then was a combination of things from lack of maturity, procrastination, and being in a bad situation to where I had to sleep in my car for a year as I couldn’t afford a place to stay. All those things played a part that led me to join the military.
I am interested in getting into Cockrell School of Engineering. Since I’ve joined the military I have completed over 20 credits with a 3.91 GPA ( mainly comprised of calculus, linear algebra and physics courses). Aside from taking college classes I have also been learning several programming languages (python, matlab, c++) and even done several arduino projects. So not only am I taking classes that should make my transition from the military to an engineering student easier but I also enjoy the self projects as well.
I am never one that likes to brag but my time management/ dedication to do all these things while still working 12 hour shifts is far beyond what I demonstrated years ago. While I don’t think college will be a cakewalk when I get out I am pretty confident that I can definitely do so much better than when I first attended. Given what I have presented do any of you have any other recommendations I could possibly do to help my chances of getting in? I am hoping that my latest academic success, my previous hardships, the military aspect with all the leadership and responsibilities I have and just conveying a good message on my essays with all the projects I have been working on will be enough to get my accepted. I know my previous grades will hurt but what do you think my chances of getting in are?
Thank you to those of you who took the time to read.
Have you visited the school and met directly with an admissions counselor? I don’t know if a school the size of UT Austin does that but if they do, it would be a good idea. You could as them your questions directly.
Your story is an excellent one and speaks to the reality that teenagers are still very young and not everyone is quite ready to jump through all the hoops yet.
Thank you for your service and I sincerely hope you are accepted.
I suggest you touch base with someone at the Veteran Resource Center at UT Austin. It looks from their website that they might have a special admissions officer for veterans. You are a great candidate, and schools do understand the different paths of students like you. You just need to make sure they hear the story of your path.
Visiting the campus is kinda hard right now with how far way I am stationed away from the school but I will definitely try to talk to someone down there when I visit back home. Thank you for your input I appreciate the help.
I will try and get a hold of someone at the veterans office Monday and see how it goes. Hopefully they have separate boards or considerations to veterans even if it only helps a little bit. Thank you for the advice, I appreciate that you took the time to actually look on their website too.
I would definitely make contact with the vets office at UT. I think your story is pretty compelling and I would start working on how you would craft that into your admissions essays. The application to UT is pretty extensive and a lot of work, but I think that if you put time and thought into it you have a great shot.
As another option - look at SMU for engineering. It is easier to get into than UT Austin, but it has a smaller program which I think has some big plusses. Also, they are likely to give you a ton of financial aid. Look into vets programs there as well. Another great option could be UT Dallas.
There are great lists out there for Universities that are veteran friendly and it seems like UT Arlington is towards the top of the list. Great graduation rate and a huge number of veteran students. I don’t see UT Austin listed on any of the lists but it is worth looking into. Some of these flagships have a wonderful office of veterans affairs on campus and their websites are a wealth of information. Best of luck. It seems that Universities are finally figuring out the value, discipline, and life experiences that our veterans bring to the classroom and are rewarding them.
Being a veteran, and especially a veteran that is a Texas resident will help a lot. Like others have said I recommend contacting the Veterans Services office. They gave me some great advice for my application process (they have student veterans that work for the office) and provided more help than the admissions office did. Look around at other schools though, I recommend Syracuse as well, they are super veteran friendly. Also, TXST is right down the road and a great school for veterans as well.
Okay thank you everyone. I’ll definitely will be talking with the veterans office on monday and see what they have to say. I also have been looking at a lot of other universities but just want to make sure I do my best to have as many options available to me as I can.