High test scores, but sucking class rank... Is Cockrell out of my way?

Colleges & Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
1

<p>Asian male applicant
2260 SAT, 800*4 subject tests (bio, chem, physics, math IIC)
AMC 100.5, AIME 5
4.0 UW GPA, 4.4 W GPA (if ALL my AP classes become weighted, then it will be around 4.6 W GPA), top 15% rank.</p>

<p>All 5's AP's: Bio, stats, APUSH, English language, French lit and french language.
Senior coursework: AP chem, AP physics C, AP english literature, AP economics, AP government, AP calculus BC, track, theater.</p>

<p>Awards/Talents:</p>

<ul>
<li>Valedictorian conservatory music theory class: graduated with nationally accredited diploma in music theory/piano</li>
<li>10 yrs piano playing/ 3yrs guitar/ 8 yrs music theory</li>
<li>National Merit Semifinalist</li>
<li>National AP Scholar w/ Distinction</li>
<li>AIME qualifier</li>
<li>I got awards from my school on every single subject (top departmental awards)</li>
<li>Trilingual: french/vietnamese/english</li>
<li>1st place American Chemical Society scholarship examination (of a big city)</li>
<li>1st in physics and biology (District); 4th in region in science competition</li>
<li>1st place math team (district); (...we got killed in regionals lol!)</li>
<li>UIL scholar award</li>
<li>NHS</li>
</ul>

<p>Activities:</p>

<ul>
<li>track varsity (9, 12)</li>
<li>Science team captain (11, 12)</li>
<li>math team member (11, 12 probably)</li>
<li>Literature team member (12)</li>
<li>Volunteer hospital (50 hrs), volunteer pagoda (50 hrs)</li>
<li>Mentoring freshmen for school, mentoring team leader (12)</li>
<li>Ping Pong club (11, 12)</li>
<li>Math club (12)</li>
<li>MUN (9)</li>
<li>Student Council (12)</li>
</ul>

<p>Work Experience:</p>

<ul>
<li>Worked in restaurant since 10 yrs old (15 hrs/week, all year) until 14 yrs old</li>
<li>Internship pharmacy (1 week)</li>
<li>Shadowed doctor (48 hrs)</li>
<li>Did research on biochemistry over the summer, wrote a research report</li>
</ul>

<p>What should I do to ensure acceptance to the honors engineering program at UT?</p>

2

<p>so do you go to some extremely competitive magnet school or something?</p>

3

<p>No, I just go to a Newsweek top 100 public school. It’s not crazy competitive, but it sends dozen of students to top 20-30 schools every year.</p>

<p>Also, I did biochem research at UT last summer. If it helps any. and I’m instate.</p>

4

<p>I feel so bad for applicants like you. You are more qualified than 95% of the applicants who get automatic admission simply because they are in the Top 10% of their class but other than that they have low SAT’s and not much else. You have proven yourself by scoring extremely well on tests and taking advantage of many meaningful EC’s. You prbly have better chances at Cornell Engineering just because they don’t put so much weight on class rank. Cockrell unfortunately does…</p>

5

<p>Some of the Cockrell Students get in on “holistic review” - he should have a good chance there, don’t you think?</p>

6

<p>There is NO question… your in.</p>

7

<p>Oops: its not National AP scholar in the awards secton, it’s AP scholar w/ distinction (haha… inflating my ego a bit)</p>

8

<p>Can anyone confirm or reject what foxshox said? Has anyone w/ my situation been rejected from UT engineering?</p>

<p>Thanks. I’m kind of stressing out because UT is the only real match/high match school I have. The rest are safeties, which I would not be undividedly happy to attend, or crazy reaches.</p>

9

<p>i think if you have a 2200+ sat, you are in at UT, so im gonna agree with foxshox</p>

10

<p>I can’t speak to your exact situation, but…</p>

<p>Totally anecdotal, so take it as that: Last year, a kid we know who was top 14% at a top feeder school for UT (don’t know his scores so can’t compare) got bumped to liberal arts. He was accepted to A&M’s honors engineering program, so that’s what he ended up doing. He really wanted UT, but didn’t want to turn down the honor’s engineering at A&M for the chance that he could transfer into engineering after a year at UT.</p>

<p>Anyway - best of luck to you, you are obviously an amazing student and will do well anywhere!</p>

11

<p>Well, you can apply to OU as a backup. LOL.</p>

12

<p>I got into Cockrell as a non-honors( might have been able to get it if i applied or cared at all about honors) with a 32 ACT(2100ish i think converted) and top 14% and you are way above me on the SAT. Oh and I had like no ECs other than a few years of soccer and a club that had 2 meetings total.</p>

13

<p>I’d give you the thumbs up for acceptance.</p>

14

<p>Watson&Crick you should not have a problem.</p>

<p>I was in engineering honors all 4 years. For the First Year Engineering Honors program, I think they mainly consider SAT scores. They know all the good high school’s in Texas. Your score should be on par with rest of the engineering honors students. I had a 1510/1600 and I know people with 1460/1600 in engineering honors. </p>

<p>I strongly encourage you to apply for the program. You get the best professors in much smaller class size for the basic classes your first two years. You get to mingle with some more the top incoming students.</p>

<p>I also encourage you to live in the Honors Quad (Andrews, Blanton, Carothers). It has a more academic atmosphere versus the other side of the campus by Jester. You get to hang out with some of the best mind at UT (from Plan II, to Liberal Arts Honors, Engineering Honors, Dean Scholars, etc.) Since you are in engineering, it’s a much closer walk to the engineering campus. I used to go home to nap between classes. The food in Kinsolving is better than Jester’s food as well. I really enjoyed my time there.</p>

15

<p>“The food in Kinsolving is better than Jester’s food”- True!</p>