Should I apply on August 1st (when the application opens)?

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
1

<p>I am a rising high school senior and want to apply to UT. My rank is 20th of 189 (I may be able to raise it by the end of my first semester of senior year), and I attend (one of) the most rigorous high school(s) in Austin. My latest SAT scores were: 750 math, 720 verbal, and 680 writing, with an essay score of 6, but I am scheduled to take the ACT on September 10th, 2011. According to practice tests, I should be able to get a 34-35 pretty easily. My question is: should I send in my application on the day it opens?</p>

<p>If I do so, it will be difficult to write two (do I need three?) truly meaningful essays that will help my chances, and my test scores won't be as good. Is it crucial for applicants in review status to submit as early as possible (I know they have a rolling admissions policy, like many large schools)? I'm not even sure if my counselor and registrar at school are ready to send off all my scores, transcripts, etc, and my teachers certainly won't be able to write recommendations that soon.</p>

<p>I guess what I am really asking is this: when UT reviews applicants, as opposed to automatically admitting them, is it more important to have a top-notch, thoughtful, well-edited application (like selective, small liberal arts schools want) or should I just turn in my application as early as possible?</p>

<p>Other info about me:
I took 4 APs junior year, got 5s on Physics B and Japanese, and 4s on US History and English Lang, and will take 5 APs senior year (Env Sci, BC Calc, Gov, Econ, and English Lit).
I have taken three SAT subject tests (800 Math 2, 800 Physics, 790 US History) and will probably take Japanese on November 5th (I anticipate over a 750)
I have plenty of extracurriculars: Marching Band (since freshman), Jazz Band (since freshman), Japanese competitions (since freshman), Environmental club (since freshman), and other minor ones I dabbled in.
I have little recorded volunteer service (all through environmental club)
I probably got national merit commended but not semi or finalist (PSAT 73 verbal 80 math 63 writing, 216 in all)
No work experience
UT probably knows my school pretty well, and I'm well above the median accepted student from my school in test scores and GPA, even without better ACT scores
UT is a target for me, I prefer smaller schools in general</p>

<p>So, please give tips, criticism, anything as long as it relates to UT.
For example:
Should I even bother to write a good essay (will they look at it)?
Do they care if I have a 2150 SAT versus 35 ACT?
Should I apply to the college of engineering, or apply to UT in general and transfer later?
Is there anything important that I have not mentioned which I might not know about UT or the college application process in general?</p>

<p>Sorry that was so long, you don't have to read all of it, but I thank you for your time and help, regardless of how much you read or respond.</p>

2

<p>Neonb88,</p>

<p>I would suggest you wait instead of applying as soon as the application becomes available. I will be attending UT next year as a freshman and I remember the application process pretty well. I did not qualify for automatic admission and I did not submit my application to the university until October. </p>

<p>My situation was pretty similar to yours. I was close to the top 10% at a competitive high school, and I had a 2150 on the SAT. My extracurriculars were different from yours but I had about the same number and level of involvement, and I had taken about the same number of APs.</p>

<p>My experience was that the “rolling admissions policy” didn’t really apply to review applicants. Everyone qualified for automatic admission heard about their acceptance within days of submitting their applications, but very few review admits heard from UT before mid-February, no matter when they submitted their applications. I was waitlisted and did not learn about my acceptance until mid-May. </p>

<p>I don’t know exactly what goes on in the UT admissions office, but I get the sense they set review applications aside until they’ve largely dealt with the automatic applicants. UT explicitly says that it uses a “holistic review” process for review applicants that takes into account things like essays and recommendations. </p>

<p>A thoughtful and well-edited application is definitely going to look better in the holistic review process than one that was thrown together, although I can understand your feelings of urgency about the application. Also, you’ll learn fairly quickly that all college essay prompts are all relatively similar. If you write a couple of good essays for the UT application, you can tweak them and recycle them for other applications. (As a side note, I don’t think you should write the third essay unless you really do have additional information or extenuating circumstances the admissions committee needs to know about. DEFINITELY don’t regurgitate your resume in essay form for the third essay, because some people do that and my admissions counselor told me it’s a bad idea.)</p>

<p>I also think you should apply to UT in general and transfer later. I applied to the college of liberal arts (which is one of the least selective colleges at UT) and I almost didn’t get in. The engineering college is more selective and hard to get into as a freshman, but you should have no trouble transferring from another college within the university if you get good grades your freshman year.</p>

<p>Also, try to get the 35 ACT. 2150 is certainly a good score, but the better your scores, the better your chances.</p>

<p>Most of all, remember that applying to colleges is going to be a LONG and stressful process, but ultimately it will be ok. With test scores and extracurriculars like you’ve listed, I think you have a great chance at UT or any other school you’re interested in.</p>

<p>Let me know if you have questions! Sorry, this response may actually be longer than the original question. :)</p>

3

<p>That’s very reassuring, Junebug. I know that the automatic admissions policy makes the review process competitive, and it’s a relief to know that I can take the process slowly and polish my work so UT sees the best side of me. Do you know how well UT knows your high school? 285 students from my school have applied to UT in the past 4 years (maybe 3 or 5), which makes an average of 57-95 students each year, so I’m pretty sure their admissions office is aware of my school’s difficult curriculum (that’s a minimum of 30 students each year admitted through review). If you applied to any small liberal arts schools, do you think that UT’s review process is similar to small liberal arts schools’?</p>

<p>I ask because I am also applying to:
Oberlin
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (not liberal artsy, but similar application considerations)
Harvey Mudd
Reed
Stanford</p>

<p>and I’m considering:
Princeton
Swarthmore
Deep Springs
Bard
Pitzer
Lawrence</p>

<p>Thank you for the depth of your response, and your confidence in my competitiveness, Junebug. I will apply to the college of liberal arts and put a lot of effort into my application.</p>

<p>Also, if you live in/near Austin, did you attend LASA, McCallum, Anderson, Westlake, or Westwood?</p>

<p>Does anyone else have info on UT’s review process or rolling considerations in general?</p>

4

<p>I’m sure UT is familiar with my school-I went to A&M Consolidated in College Station, and although the vast majority of collegebound seniors there go right across the street to A&M, there certainly is a good number that apply and are accepted to UT. It is true, however, that UT probably has a special relationship with certain high schools in Austin that they know very well, and that will probably help you. They’ll most likely take your class rank more seriously than a similar class rank from a school they’ve never heard of.</p>

<p>Also, I didn’t really apply to many small liberal arts colleges. I wanted to go somewhere slightly bigger. But I do know that most selective liberal arts colleges also use holistic review processes. That doesn’t mean that they don’t care about test scores or grades, but those are just one factor in the process and they really want to see who you are as a person. So write good essays and get good recommendation letters from your teachers. (Try to read them if your teachers will let you. Some of mine were amazing and some of them had some pretty scary grammatical errors.) The essays and recommendations will help you out at UT and the other schools you’re applying to.</p>

<p>Although I don’t know much about engineering programs, I know that all of the schools you’re considering are very well-respected, and I think that your stats would give you a good chance at getting into most of them. If you’re looking for a safety, could I suggest A&M? Obviously I’m biased, coming from College Station, but I know you meet automatic admissions criteria there, and even though in many ways UT is a better school, I think A&M’s engineering programs are more highly ranked nationally. Just a thought.</p>

<p>Also, Deep Springs sounds amazing. I really wanted to apply there, but I’m a girl, so that wasn’t really an option. But spending two years on an alfalfa farm in California sounded weirdly cool. </p>

<p>Anyway, good luck with the application process!</p>

5

<p>Scratch that. UT’s ranked higher than A&M in engineering. But they’re both in the top 20, so I don’t think the difference really matters.</p>

6

<p>Yes, I am sure UT knows about your high school, but humans do not make the admission decisions at UT, formulas do. The formulas do not take into account competitiveness of the high school attended. </p>

<p>Remember that UT goes strictly by formula for their review applicants, but it is not all academic. 50% of your “score” is determined by a formula using your test scores, GPA, and rank. The other 50% is based on formula using scores admission counselors gave the objective portions of your application. Then the computer puts all the scores on a chart and they accept a certain amount which creates the cut-off score. This process is repeated for each college that incoming freshman can apply to. </p>

<p>PAI- Everything that is not AI
AI- SAT/ACT, Class Rank, Completion of required curriculum, The extent to which the student exceeded the required curriculum. (No GPA)</p>

<p>The PAI takes these things into account:</p>

<p>o Scores on two essays<br>
o Leadership<br>
o Extracurricular Activities<br>
o Awards/honors<br>
o Work experience<br>
o Service to school or community<br>
o Special circumstances:<br>
ƒ Socio-economic status of family<br>
ƒ Single parent home<br>
ƒ Language spoken at home<br>
ƒ Family responsibilities<br>
ƒ Socio-economic status of school attended<br>
ƒ Average SAT/ACT of school attended in relation to student’s own SAT/ACT<br>
ƒ Race (addition approved by the UT Board of Regents in 2003) </p>

<p>If you want to see the formulas and the whole process this explains it pretty well. <a href=“http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/research/HB588-Report12.pdf[/url]”>http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/research/HB588-Report12.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you want the short version. Your PAI is 50% of your overall score. Your essays are 3/7 of that. So basically your essays are 3/14 of your total score when applying to UT-Austin. </p>

<p>Also, are you at a public high school that reports rank? I didn’t realize there were any in Austin that only had 189 students. Maybe if LASA is considered its own high school?</p>

7

<p>Wow, solid exchange. Keep it up junebug!</p>

<p>My (tiny) input:</p>

<p>Definitely don’t apply on the 1st day if you haven’t even started your essays yet. And if you can even get a 34 ACT, it’ll be well worth the time and effort to take the test. A 32 ACT is considered to be even with a 2150 SAT, so even a 33 ACT would be considered an improvement to the adcoms.</p>

<p>More questions:</p>

<p>What exact major are you applying for? If you don’t know the answer to this then you’re definitely not ready to apply in less than a week. This question deserves a lot of time. If you’re applying to engineering then definitely put an engineering major as your first choice. It can’t hurt and you have a definite chance of getting in with a 34+ ACT. Everyone’s “third choice” is automatically general admission.</p>

8

<p>You guys gave me lots of great advice; thanks! @junebug: personally I think I’d fit in more at UT; I’m kind of a hippy-liberal, keep Austin Weird type. That’s not to say I have anything against A&M, but I’ll make decisions when I make more trips to visit both schools. @Hkem My high school reports rank to me, so I would say yes, they report rank, and LASA is a program on the LBJ campus. Thank you so much for breaking it down for me. One more question: does UT want to see the third essay? I have two written for A&M (rough drafts), and since I’m guaranteed admission there I don’t need a third, but I know A&M likes to see the third essay. Would sending a third essay to UT help me considering my review status? @frever I won’t apply to UT on the first day, and I’ll definitely wait until my ACTs are back. Hopefully I can get a 35, maybe even 36. I think I’ll apply for environmental engineering, if they have that, and as a second choice environmental studies, maybe physics. How important are majors in admission? I’m pretty sure some kids from my school get into UT with lower stats (at least GPA) than I do, so I might have a chance to even get into the engineering school. Anything else I should know about majors?</p>

9

<p>@Neon88, I suggest you hold all of your apps until National Merit semi-finalist notifications go out late Aug/early Sept. The Texas cutoff was 215 last year and has hovered at 215-216 the past several years, so your 216 stands a very good chance! If you are, in fact, a semi-finalist, your overall college application strategy will likely change a bit.</p>

<p>Regardless, don’t submit any apps until you can put in your best work, and try not to make yourself crazy guessing what UT will do…some review candidates are admitted on a rolling basis very quickly after applying, some have to wait it out until the end. Based on what you’ve shared so far (and on my experience as parent of two successful review applicants who also applied to the same/similar type of schools on your “beyond UT” list), you will be a strong review candidate, and yes, they will be very familiar with your high school and how competitive a candidate you are based on your performance within the context of your school. I encourage you to learn more about UT’s degree plans and honors programs so you can craft your application accordingly and apply timely (although Dec. 1 is the final deadline, your chances are better if you apply earlier to some programs, e.g., you might be interested in applying to Plan II, which has a priority deadline of Oct. 15).</p>

<p>Your overall college lists look good for giving you a range of matches to high reaches, but be sure to add a safety you would be thrilled to attend if nothing else comes through for you, even better if it’s from a rolling school or non-binding early action. It is really hard to make it until April 1 without any acceptances under your belt–many of your peers will have acceptances in hand before winter break. Be sure you know any family budget constraints before you start–your game plan will need adjustment if you will be seeking any form of money, whether merit awards or financial aid.</p>

<p>@hkem123, you are correct that the admission formula involves AI + PAI. However, I think the idea that “humans do not make the admission decisions at UT, formulas do” misses the entire point of holistic review, and I definitely disagree with the notion that the competitiveness of the high school attended is not considered. The thing is, while AI is derived from purely objective stats, PAI numbers–which represent the heart of holistic review–are wholly subjective valuations. Humans are coming up with those figures based on their interpretation of you within the context of your high school background and total life experience. The fact that UT is more transparent than most schools about the factors considered in the holistic review process (a result of litigation and legislation) doesn’t mean that UT admission officers throw their humanity out the window when they are reading your essays, considering your ECs and any personal factors you’ve shared, and evaluating what earning a B+ average on the AP curriculum at your particular HS really means (assuming you attend a Texas HS, those folks know whether you can be proud of that GPA or should’ve/could’ve done better).</p>

<p>–> UT admissions personnel make many presentations around the state. I encourage all of you to attend one, ask questions and talk to an admission officer one-on-one if desired. You will learn a lot about how they weigh your applications! Call to find out when they are coming to your school or some place nearby.</p>