Wondering the same thing! UT-Austin and the RTF program is my son’s IT! This is brutal.
@jellybean5 Where are you getting that information?? There are a number of scholarships that are merit based that can be applied for, first of which is Forty Acres. It is open to all applicants both IS and OOS, and probably Int’l. For those looking for scholarships, there are links within your UT EID status pages. Sorry I don’t have time to add the links, but click around. You can also look/search the UT website for others, ie specific to your major/UT college. Agree that MOST scholarships are for IS, but OOS applicants that are high achievers can also request a waiver to get IS tuition. Good luck.
@ammeaps idk but im thinking the same thing!
@jellybean5 Thank you! So UT only offers need-based financial aid to OOS students or nothing now? A girl that I know got half tuition (state tuition or less) probably 10 years ago. I guess things got changed a lot?
@TXDad56 Thank you for the info! That’s encouraging. My child is working on his application and can’t seem to see anything without an UT EID. So we will get UT EID after we send the application? Do they auto-consider you for scholarships or there will be essays again? Thanks!
@Carebear603 I believe the way the process works is this: you choose your first and second choice majors. If both are highly sought after majors, e.g. business, natural sciences, engineering, then if you don’t get first, you likely will not get second. In that situation, UT will offer you one of 2 choices, you can either going into the UGS school for up to 2 years, which is the old “undeclared” major, or they will offer you a choice of 3 or 4 majors that have openings, usually English Lit., Political Science, History, or something like that. When we met with our son’s Applications Advisor she told us that many people worry about their major choice but, in fact, 75% of admitted students receive their first choice major. That figure is watered down a bit as well by the McCombs applicants because their admissions rate is much lower. She told us that if we were not applying to McCombs, we were very likely to get our first choice. Caveat: honors and Plan II are not part of the 75%. Hope that helps.
@TXDad56 UT might give very small scholarships but probably not what @kli586 is hoping for. My D already got awarded an automatic 5K presidential scholarship from Texas Tech, that amount each school year off of the in-state tuition, of course keeping a certain minimum GPA. UT doesn’t do that.
@UTDad1995Grad that’s very interesting response that you received from your son’s admission counselor as it contradicts the information I’ve read on UT’s website and in the blog of the former UT admissions counselor.
On UT’s website, it states the following about second-choice major: “You also have the option of selecting a second-choice major when you apply. We consider applicants for their second-choice major in limited circumstances, including some situations related to honors programs and some in which applicants admitted to the university are not admitted to the major they selected as their first choice.”
https://admissions.utexas.edu/apply/majors
Thus, in UT’s own words they consider second-choice major “in limited circumstances” only. Those circumstances would for example include if an applicant listed Plan II as their first choice and was not admitted to that program, but still qualified for admission to their second choice major. Or if the student by state law automatically qualifies for admission but does not pass muster on the holistic review of the applicant’s desired major they may be offered the second choice if they could qualify for that major.
As I understood @Carebear603 question, the applicant is not someone who qualifies for automatic admission to UT. Under those circumstances it is not clear that UT would even consider the applicant’s second choice major. The former UT admissions officers posts on his blog that review applicants are NOT considered for their second choice major. In relevant part, this is what he wrote: “On Apply Texas, you are offered the options of a first and second choice major. In 98% of cases, UT will only consider your first choice. If you are in the pool for automatic admissions, and you are not selected for your first choice major, you will be given a short list of colleges/schools… If you do not qualify for automatic admission or are an out-of-state or international applicant and not chosen for your first major, you will most likely not gain admission.”
https://texadmissions.com/blog/does-your-second-choice-major-matter
If it is true that UT only considers second choice major in “limited circumstances” pertaining to applicants who are not admitted to an honors program, or auto-admits not admitted to their first choice major, then a review applicant would need to very carefully consider what major they identify as their first-choice.
@fatherof2boys I don’t think it contradicts what you or the UT website is saying at all. What she told us is that it is highly unlikely that anyone will receive their second choice major unless it is a major that is not highly sought after. The majors I listed, i.e English lit, political science, and history, were 3 of the majors she listed that he would get if he listed them as second choice because there is always room in those majors historically and they are among the choices of majors that the admissions office will give to auto admits if they don’t get their first or second choice. She also recommended listing a liberal arts major as a second choice because that school is large, but there are so many majors within LA that you have to choose the right one if you want your second choice over the ones I listed or UGS. Bottom line that we both took away from the meeting was that unless you are set on McCombs or Plan II, or another Honors program, it is very likely (75% or greater) that auto admits will get their first choice. The other take away (and this differs from the website a bit) was that 95% of the incoming class would be from Texas. She said demand is so high this year with qualified, in-state applicants, that there is very little room for out-of-state students.
My daughter’s application still shows under review, however, I just noticed that now it shows under the “Recommended” section “On-campus housing application”. That wasn’t there before. Does that mean anything? Is that standard for all applicants, no matter where they are in the process? We are OOS and our flagship university doesn’t have you fill out a housing application unless you’re accepted, so maybe this is wishful thinking to see this, especially since it wasn’t there before. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!
My apologies for the confusion on my part @UTDad1995Grad. I had assumed that because your post was a response to @Carebear603 you were referring to how the admissions process works for non-auto admit applicants as the poster stated that he/she is “not ranked top 6 percent, so I am NOT an auto admit.”
From my understanding of UT’s freshman admission process, what you state above is accurate for auto admit applicants. State law only requires UT to automatically admit students who qualify for admission based on rank to the University, but it does not guarantee them any particular major. This is how UT describes this process on page 33 of the admission report it issued back in 2013 regarding how SB 175, the state’s auto admission law, applies in regards to auto admits who are seeking one of the competitive first choice majors:
“SB 175 and the routine described above apply to admission to the university. At the college and major level there are cases where there are more SB 175 eligible student applicants than available spaces. (Examples include the McCombs School of Business, College of Nursing, College of Communication, and the majors in the Cockrell School of Engineering.) In those cases automatic admission is limited to 65-75% of the admitted class for the impacted programs. Thus, in some cases, automatically admitted students, while guaranteed a place at UT Austin, will nonetheless compete for a slot in their first-choice major.”
Our status changed on Monday too include that, as well. We signed up, but nothing else has changed and you can’t pick a room until you’ve been notified that you are accepted. We are OOS too and feeling like his odds are pretty slim. I wish they would just tell us. This is the only school that takes three months. UGH.
We are also OOS and the housing application tab appears on my son’s page. Doesn’t mean anything. But according to many, you should complete the initial housing application ASAP as housing is very difficult to obtain and the applications are date stamped. Once your child has an EID#, the application becomes available.
@dcmom3boys You need to apply for housing this early? We have not even sent the application yet and no EID#. Did you get your EID# AFTER your sent your application or you got it before then? We are OOS as well.
OOS: son’s portal changed to include housing as well. Just posting to help keep track.
@KLI586 you get the EID within about a day after submitting application. Yes, you have to register for housing as soon as you get the EID, if you want to guarantee a housing spot. $75 non-refundable fee.
HI… yes apply for housing now… you want to make sure that they will be in the pecking order for a room
Yes you will get the EID# approximately 24-48 hours after application is submitted. My son definitely wants to live on-campus (OOS) so we completed the housing application as soon as it became available on his mystaus portal. If he does not get in, $75 lost, but at this point, what’s another $75?
NEW RELEASE COMING!?!?
UT Austin posted this morning on Twitter:
“We’re so excited to have a new group of Longhorns on the horizon! Tag us in your #GoneToTexas banners to show your Texas pride! Remember to protect your UT EID & other personally identifiable info. #UT23”
Freaking out!