Any advice for homeschooler trying to get into A&M or UT? What does it take when going through the holistic review process to get accepted?
My son was accepted to A&M for 2020, engineering major. He was homeschooled K-12. We sent everything required on the website before the early action deadline.
I think the best thing we did was to visit A&M engineering advisors the summer before 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. We were in town every year for state contests and I emailed beforehand to find engineering advisors who would meet with us. They answered questions about his school classes, dual credit, activities, etc. They taught us how to look up dual credit courses to make sure they transferred. They asked my son what his interests were and explained what he could expect as a freshman. Of course they never assured us of admission, but it felt good to have that personal experience. During the school year I also emailed them a few times to make sure we were still on the right track, esp. for math courses.
Engineering applicants to A&M go through holistic review, but we were never really told what that meant. We knew it meant they “looked at everything” but no one told us how things were weighted or what was more/less important. I was told by other homeschoolers whose kids had graduated and gone to Texas universities (including A&M) that his test scores, essays, and dual credit course load would “count” more for admissions because his transcript was issued by his mom…so I pushed him in those areas… but HE was the one who insisted he wanted to be an Aggie engineer, so he accepted the challenge 
Also, I made sure his homeschool plan followed the Texas high school requirements for graduation. His transcript includes the same course titles that a Texas public school would include, so it is easier for a Texas admissions counselor to read. For example, his economics class is just called “Economics” even though I could have easily titled it “Economics with Biblical Principles of Money Management.” I hope that makes sense.
Sorry I don’t have info. about UT, he did not apply there.