Hello,
I’m planning on attending UT in the fall as a Civil Engineering major. I looked through various majors and this one happened to catch my attention. I know some general ideas about what civil engineering consists of, but not much about the major itself. I’m slightly afraid that since UT has a fairly notable CivilE program that other students will know all this extra stuff about the subject while I’m merely a blank slate.
So I’m just wondering if it’s okay to not know much about a subject, or if we’re expected to know a lot about the subject (before college), especially when you’re participating in a somewhat recognizable program?
You should know why you want to be a civil engineer. As far as knowing about the major itself, well, that’s why you’re in college 
Along the same lines of what Muad_dib stated, the important thing is to know what civil engineering is and what the field encompasses. You should know if this major will help you reach your post-college goals. There’s really nothing else to worry about. Relax!
Of course, if you want, there’s so many resources out there online nowadays if you want to learn more about the field. Not only are there websites, but there are online communities as welll. I’m actually part of a Discord server that chats about architecture, engineering and construction.
UT-Austin? Don’t worry about it, you’ll learn much more about it at college. I would recommend you join a few student groups and start talking with other students, faculty, and employers.
http://www.caee.utexas.edu/students/organizations
ASCE is a good place to start. Attend a few meetings, and go on some of the field trips…
Good Luck!
I would say that most engineers don’t understand what they really will be doing until well into their undergraduate career. You read over and over that it doesn’t “click” until third or even fourth year. Good luck and have fun!