I'm not top 7... yet? Am I competitive enough?

I’m a high school junior in TX who plans on applying to UT Austin for an undergraduate degree in Psychology.

I took one AP as a sophmore, I am taking 4 as a junior, and I plan on taking 5 as a senior.

I recieved a 5 on my AP exam last year for world history and my plans are to get 5s on AP English, Psych, Human Geo, and US History this year. I have recieved A’s in all of these classes except for AP Eng, in which I had an 88 first semester.

I had straight A’s my freshman year when I took 4 honors classes, but I had 3 B’s as a sophmore when I took only 1 AP and 1 honors course. I plan on writing my essay about the circumstances I was under when my grades dropped.

My first semester of junior year ended with 5 As and 2 Bs, both of which I KNOW I can raise. The only reason I had 2 Bs is because I live in a Harvey affected area and we had missed a solid 3 weeks of school which caused some chaos. Right now, I have all A’s (5 A+).

I am top 16%, ranked 91/538. I think it will increase after my performance this year, but I am not sure by how much, considering many kids in my grade are taking 6 APs, whereas I’m only taking 4.

Clubs/Activities:

Mock Trial (freshman year in California) Team manager
Speech and Debate (sophmore)
African Student Association (junior) I’m indian, but i still have an officer position in the club
DECA (junior) I’m headed to states this year
Young Women’s Leadership (junior) running for an officer position
Model UN (junior) Running for Sec Gen
NHS (junior)
National English Honor Society (junior)
Rho Kappa Honor Society which is for social studies (junior) running for secretary

I plan on getting a rec from my World History AP teacher(10/10). I had the highest test scores in her class and she raves about me to my councilor who also loves me so I might get one from her too.
my honors English teacher of 2 years(10/10), who asked me to write her a rec for District Teacher of the Year (we’re very close)
and my Psychology AP teacher(9/10) who I also had for Human Geo first sem.

I have completed 100 hours of service working with an equestrian therapy program that focuses on the rehabilitation of people with special needs. I plan to continue to volunteer with them till I graduate, because a lot of what I want to do in the future has been inspired by my experiences at this program. I volunteered in India to teach underpriveledged youth English and mathematics (30 hours) and I volunteered at a disabled/blind insitiute in India as well for 20 hours.

I know I haven’t continued any clubs for a long time but that’s because I had personal issues that interfered with extracurriculars and I hope to convey that even though I can’t take back the past, I am taking control of my future and trying to ensure I’m being the best student and member of society that I can be.

IMHO, UT’s holistic review (which will help you since you will not be Auto-admit) focuses on the depth of your activities and less on the breadth…ie get involved in things that you love (it will show through your essays) and stick with them. Also, demonstrating and supporting your chosen major of psychology will be important. The equestrian therapy program is perfect. Great essays and strong test scores (ACT/SAT) will be important too. I think you have a good shot. UT admissions is really hard to pin down these days.

Have you taken the SATs or ACTs yet? I would be very careful about having your essay be about your drop in grades. It could come across as making excuses.

27ACT, 4.86 wGPA, 80/586 (top13%), 9 APs (mostly 4s), varsity cheer co-capt, NCA All-American, NHS, Rho Kappa, NSHS, Latin Club, etc, etc, etc and lots of volunteer hours from a competitive suburban TX HS was not enough for my DD2018 who applied for Psych. She was CAPPED. Maybe a stellar SAT/ACT score would make a difference, but I doubt it.

Next year, you will need to be top 6 percent for auto admit. Definitely not a safety for you. Give it your best shot but find a safety you will be okay with.

i got a 1360 on my SAT.