Is there any chance to get into UT CS program if you are not ranked in the top 10% of you High School Class? If so, does it make sense to apply for another major which is easier to get in and then transfer over to CS?
Thanks
It’s near impossible to transfer into CS at UT so I wouldn’t count on it. I know someone who was in Aerospace Engineering there and couldn’t even transfer into CS. He wound up self teaching himself everything instead. It’s also difficult to get into CS courses if you’re not a CS major. If you really want to do CS, then you should go for it, but it’s a reach. UT for any OOS is a reach in any case, especially if not in top 10%.
They just started a new major/school though I think School of Information or something like that, modeled after Michigan. That may be the closets non CS major to CS you can get. Since it’s new, you may want to look into that as you may have a better chance at getting into that major. It sounds fantastic. The program used to only be for graduate students, but this upcoming year I believe is the first (maybe 2nd) for undergrads. School of Information < The University of Texas at Austin
Don’t fall in love with one school. Don’t try to back door into a school.
Apply as a reach, have targets and safeties you could also see yourself attending and that’s it.
You’ll end up where you belong. Schools like UT know all the transfer tricks. So that path won’t be open. If you want CS, there’s lots of colleges out there offering Cs. Find another one if UT doesn’t work.
Thank you! So basically apply directly for the major and college you are interested in and take your chances rather than going about indirect routes.
Thank you! Great advise. I actually looked into the new Informatics major your mentioned at UT. It looks great. What I’m not sure of though is if it’s basically “Ccomputer Science-Lite” which would mean that the recruiters would mainly go to the CS college and any tier-2 or leftover jobs would spill over to this new Informatics degree. We are setting up a zoom session with the Informatics dept. to get more information.
That’s my opinion. Take the sure thing. CS is employable from anywhere. So whether it’s Texas or Tennessee you’ll be fine.
There’s thousands of schools. You can like many of them so in the end the one you choose satisfies.
1 Like
Great that you’re having a meeting with them. The Masters program has been around for awhile and the undergrad is actually modeled after Michigan’s highly regarded program. It really sounds like a spectacular program especially for those who may be interested in a Data Analytics or FinTech type of thing. Ultimately though with UT, CS is near impossible to get into so it’s a real crapshoot in general and not worth trying to transfer into from another program there. Unlikely it will happen so if you want CS you just have to shoot for that and since UT weighs the essays very heavily along with what is on your resume/application, make sure you spend a lot of time on those things.
Just to give you a little bit more insight into how good this program is ultimately going to be –
Here’s a recent posting about the graduate program being in the Top 5 nationally. It’s the high ranking of the graduate program which is what encouraged them to start an undergraduate program. Texas iSchool Remains in Top Tier of U.S. News Grad School Rankings | UT iSchool | The University of Texas at Austin
Michigan’s program is 6th and it’s the Michigan undergrad program which is what UT modeled their new undergrad program off so it’s likely that their undergrad program will be top ranked as well very quickly if the graduate program is already higher ranked than Michigan’s, you can’t lose there.
Thanks. This is defintely food for thought. Tough choice - try for CS where chances are almost zero vs. Informatics where the chances might be better but it’s a brand new major with no historical recruitment data etc (other than ofcourse the Graduate program). I think the devil is the detail. Will need to spend some time looking at the courses in this program and what exactly is the differentiating factor from the CS major.
UT is hyper competitive, especially for technical degrees. It’s not uncommon for applicants in the top 10% to end up stuck in liberal arts majors. That’s how UTSA doubled in size over the past several years. Don’t let any school tell you what to major in. If UT doesn’t let you have the major you choose, there are plenty of schools in Texas that will. CS is ridiculously employable. It really doesn’t matter where you graduate from.
1 Like