Hello,
I just finished my junior year of high school and received my official class ranking and was pretty disappointed to see I missed the top 6% of my class by just 4 places. I’m rank 55/850 students. Going to UT has always been my goal and is what I’ve worked towards my whole high school career. Since I’m not in the top 6%, I’m very worried and have been looking a lot to see if I will have any chance into getting into UT into the majors of my choice as I know they are highly competitive. I’m wondering as to what are my chances of getting into engineering like chemical engineering or biomedical engineering or if I would have a better chance at going for a major such a biological sciences or one in that area. I want to do something pre med. Engineering would be my top choice but I’m open to other majors as well. Would anyone with experience on this mind telling me what are my chances of acceptance into either engineering or bio sciences and which might be a better option?
I’m top 7%
32 ACT
NHS
Eagle Scout
Good amount of service hours
Many AP classes
In state
To be honest, I think a 32 is on the low side for acceptance to UT engineering especially since you are not an automatic acceptance. I think your chances are greater with a biological science. Do apply to other schools. UTD has an excellent acceptance rate to med schools and med schools don’t really care if it is UT vs UTD or A&M. They are looking for an excellent GPA, research and a high GMAT score. It actually may be easier to achieve at another school.
Ok thanks. So would I still have a possible chance of getting into bio sciences then at UT? Would I have a good chance of being accepted into A&M engineering with those stats? I forgot to mention that my math subscore is only a 27. I know it’s easier to get into A&M and am thinking maybe engineering there might be an option.
I think you have a chance of getting into UT biological sciences but there is no guarantee. Treat it as a reach option. You will be accepted to A&M because of your rank. As far as getting accepted to engineering, I don’t know because a 27 in math is on the low side. These are the stats for Aggie engineering acceptances http://profiles.asee.org/profiles/8221/screen/19?school_name=Texas+A%26M+University
Again, if I were you, I would apply to UT, A&M and UTD and see where you get accepted and hopefully you will have some options.
I wanted to say that I actually do think you would be accepted to A&M engineering because of your rank but it there is no guarante. So again, cast a wide net.
I would also take the ACT and SAT again just to see if you can get al little boost - to a sub score of 29 at least. I do think the likelihood of you getting into engineering at TAMU is high. But apply early. Like the first week of July if possible (you can always send in improved test scores before the deadline). You will get admission to the university first - and then find out about engineering, after the October engineering priority deadline.
TAMU and UT have more applicants every year - making for fewer and fewer spaces - but watching the College Confidential 2023 TAMU admissions threads last year, many students with your stats, who applied EARLY did get in.
This is a hard question to ask - but with a 27 sub score in Math - are you sure that engineering is the direction you want to go. My daughter, who had a 28 ACT overall - but a 29m sub score, would NEVER have considered a career in engineering.
I agree with both @BlueBayouAZ and @itsgettingreal17, if your aspirations are for medical school getting a biomedical engineering degree is one of the hardest paths to do it.
Thank you all so much this is all super helpful to me because this is all very new and I haven’t been able to find advice like this anywhere else. I’m going to take the ACT again on July 13th and I’m glad I’ll be able to send in those scores too sine I was planning on applying to TAMU on July 1st as soon as the application opens. I’ve always considered myself to be stronger in math than other subjects (despite what my test scores show), and have heard that an engineering undergrad can go into med school, which is why I’ve been thinking of engineering, since I know I’d be much more interested in that over something like biology, and if I ended up not going to med school I would still have a pretty good career possibility. I didn’t know it’s much harder to go into med school if I did do engineering. So if I understand correctly, if did do engineering, y’all are saying it would be much harder to sustain a high enough gpa to get into med school, and would I most likely have to continue into the engineering field if I did that? What majors would y’all recommend as solid pre med majors?
Unless you have some strong hook that UT-A is seeking, you have virtually no chance, looking at the % of non 6% kids accepted. Talk to your GC who can tell you what the results have been for kids like you at that high school.
My nephew was 8%, very high SATs, top rigor curriculum , got into a number of selective private schools, but did not get accepted for Bio/Chem major at UT Austin and only one kid other than the top 7% (cut off his year) or without URM status got in from their highly rated high school. My BIL and SIL still quite bitter about it. He did get into TAMU.
You can get into medical school with any undergraduate degree as long as you take the required biology/chemistry requirements but I think medical school is easier if you have a more comprehensive background in biology/chemistry. My nephew majored in CS and is now in medical school. He is finding that he has to study harder than the other students who are more familiar with the material. Another advantage for majoring in bio/chem is doing research as an undergrad.
You are right about being concerned with taking those majors and not making it into medical school. Your statement that “I’ve been thinking of engineering, since I know I’d be much more interested in that over something like biology” brings up a question. The medical profession is biology and chemistry and you do need to have a passion for it and it is a long process to get there.
I’m going to put in another plug for UTD. The advantages that UTD has over UT and maybe TAMU (I’m not as familiar with A&M) is flexibility. It is easier to change majors. UTD does have a good results in medical school admittances, www.utdallas.edu/pre-health/results, good pre-health advising, and lots of undergrad research opportunities. UTD does allow changes in majors, as long as your GPA is good. It allows you to explore a bit before making a final decision.
To answer your question about GPA and medical school, you do need to have close to a perfect GPA to get in. It is really hard to get that type of GPA in engineering.
It’s not easy getting a high GPA as a Science major either, though statistically s but easier than engineering. A lot of premeds drop those med school plans.
I think @GTAustin is on the mark when talking about flexibility. UT and TAMU have pretty structured degree plans and majors. Right now you don’t exactly know what you want to do @cw3131 and that is okay. You are still young and have time to make up your mind.
Back when I went to college - there were so many core required classes, and duel credit and AP were not as nearly prevalent - that the bulk of your first two years were taken up with core classes. Now you start major class much earlier. And it is great because, in theory, you are taking classes you are passionate about.
But a drawback of starting major classes so early is that at some schools for certain degrees - there is very little flexibility to change majors without putting yourself a year or more behind.
Some schools like UTD still offer a great deal of flexibility. UTD does not offer pre-med or pre-law degrees. But they have a whole advising office dedicated to making sure whatever you choose to major in, you are still fulfilling your admissions requirements for med or law school. They went as far as to say if you want to be a dance major - they can structure your degree plan so you will have all the course requirements for law or med school admission.