My high school does not rank, and I am wondering if I will be ranked according to my high school or according to everyone applying to UT-Austin. I have looked at my school profile that my school sends to colleges, and it does not have a GPA quartile chart or anything like that. The only thing it shows is the averages and percentiles for SAT and ACT scores. On the profile it lists that the average ACT score is a 30.2 and the average SAT score is a 1950 (old SAT). Since I only got a 30 on my ACT, would they rank me at 50% or just below that?
Thanks
Good question. We just went through that in the past year–how UT, a school that is obligated to accept in-state based on a top 7 percentile. Without the rank, it puts you into the non-auto admit group for evaluation, which is holistic. They will look and make judgments on your “implied” rank with your GPA and course load and others in your HS. Your essays, SAT/ACT (score high in one of these tests and APs/SAT subject tests will help here) will lead to judgments relative to others they admit outside of your HS. It has never been clear to me whether APs actually help admission into any school or not --other than a show of motivation relative to your HS compatriots.
Overall, 30 ACT is good not great for UT admissions–it could get you into UT non-auto admit for liberal arts. Your essays/writing and extracurricular presentation will make the difference if your programs of choice are the uber-competitive majors. Keep taking some tests and in subject areas if you can, it could help.