I won’t name names, but the ones complaining on here that your kid didn’t get it, please stop. You are not helping your child by throwing this temper tantrum. Your comments seem spoiled and snobby-as you can’t imagine your child didn’t get in. Obviously, you are very upset and think UT admissions isn’t fair, I don’t think this is true. UT is a top school, and in engineering, top 10 (with some of the engineering in the number 1 spot). They turn away great kids because there are so many trying to enter the top programs in the country (better than Ivy). I am sorry your kids didn’t get in, but please stop saying all the terrible things you are saying. While you throw this tantrum, you are also ‘shaming’ the students who did get in with scores lower than 36/1600 (receiving a perfect score on a standardized test does not make them better/smarter in any way). Some of the best students are the ones who work hard but may not make the perfect ACT/SAT score!! Perhaps, join/comment on the college CC website your child is going to instead of continuing to post on CC UT. Ridiculous!
@UTWannabe23 it’s undeclared so that might be why. Liberal arts is my second choice. My first choice is McCombs. When I applied I heard UT rarely considers applicants’ second choice so…
I say freedom of speech for all. i have no idea if UT’s system is fair-nobody but the people that do it can tell u. my D scores were way lower than others SAT 1320 rank top 8% OOS great essays excellent ECs. im inclined to believe that so many OOS are permitted to help pad the budget. not saying my D isnt worthy but surely there are plenty of in state kids that are just as or more worthy. its really good business practice from purely a financial perspective. sometimes people need to vent and i dont think they directly insulted others. I dont think its fair when u work ur butt off and are rejected for holistic stuff but thats the liberal way and nearly every institution is infected. so i guess im saying that there are probably quite a few that got the shaft that shouldnt have. God works in mysterious ways and im certain your hindsight will have u seeing 20/20 and u will be thankful u didnt attend UTA. for everyone accepted congrats and enjoy. UT is a highly regarded school by many. For all, gratitude does the soul good.
they only accept 10% out of state (8%) international (2%). 90% are Texas residents, so they do a great job taking care of Texas students. 
I don’t understand why it keeps being said that UT’s admission rate is 40%. Sure, OVERALL it is. But that’s irrelevant to the discussion of who gets in through holistic review. UT can’t help that it is forced to auto admit 3/4 of its class. For the remaining spots it DOES have total control over, the admission rate is 15%. That’s comparable to many other selective institutions that routinely have to turn away highly qualified applicants. And that’s for all majors. If you isolate for non auto admit AND engineering/business/CS it will be much much lower.
So whatever happens with auto admit is a separate conversation from how they choose their holistic review kids. For those kids, they should expect, just like at other very selective schools, that even strong resumes and high stats is no guarantee.
Both information may be incorrect (40% and 15%). The auto admit is only of the university. Not for the Major in each dept. The dept does its own AI/PAI review and have their own cutoff. Some dept has its own rules, for example, Architecture will not review the application if they are not the first choice and 97% of admitted students are in-state.
The most important is a preference for in-state (OOS is <10 or International <5).
@nikbert How did your DS get scholarship already? Was it merit? Are you in-state or OOS?
@Suave123 I think we are on several same threads
Is any one getting a “this service is currently unavailable” message when trying to log into the portal?
Since the last wave came out, this thread really took an ugly turn and some of the recent posts have been pretty eye opening for me as the parent of a potential OOS student, and not a good way. It makes me wonder whether my OOS son would even be supported or welcomed at UT given some of the things I’ve read (and I was already a bit concerned given the small % of OOS kids). I’m truly sorry for people’s disappointment…we have dealt with it too. The competition for limited spots at high ranking schools is very tough across the board, that’s just the environment we’re living in. I don’t remotely envy the job of the admissions committees. The process is what it is, and it’s really tough (and sometimes “random” seeming) at SO many schools this year. I sincerely hope you can turn the page quickly now that a few days have passed, channel your enthusiasm into plan b and support your kids wherever their path may lead them.
Rejected OOS with a 35 act and 4.0unw gpa, also legacy… but I absolutely understand that stats aren’t the end. I decided to apply to UT on a whim (due to a personal issue that at this point is irrelevant) so my essays were not at the level of those I’ve sent to other schools. I 99% wouldn’t have attended even if admitted so it doesn’t matter to me much.
I’m not sure what exactly the issue seems to be but personally I don’t think UT is doing anything wrong. It’s a great school with a whole lot of qualified applicants that they have to reject. I was accepted OOS to UMich and UNC. I know my worth. UT knows it too. They just didn’t have the space.
@DodosAreDead exactly. I meant to include in my comment above that based on the posts I’ve seen here and on other threads (and based on my personal interactions with my son and his friends), I think the students “get” the numbers at play at top schools and don’t take things as personally/can move on more easily. And you all seem to understand the VALUE of a holistic review - you’re all much complex and nuanced than a few stats of course. Good luck to you, you have great choices.
If your child gets and and wants to come to UT, please don’t worry about the comments on this thread. The ones complaining/shaming the loudest are the nutty parents of kids who did not get in. The kids (and their parents) at Texas are very welcoming and it is an amazing school! Everyone knows the out of state kids had to be outstanding kids because it is so hard to get into Texas from out of state.
@dogwood18 definitely. I think that anyone who DOESN’T understand the numbers at play and how impersonal a rejection from top schools actually is, is setting themselves up for unnecessary heartache and failure in both the immediate and distant future. Surprisingly, it’s the parents that seem to do this more than the kids. Perhaps we’re just too done with this entire process to care too deeply, lol.
@DodosAreDead: exactly, and you’ve got a great perspective on it. I admire your maturity (and the other students who have posted here). You’re all dealing with a tough process at the competitive schools, and will be well served understanding your worth and value beyond what an admissions committee might say. It’s one decision path among so many in your lifetime, and life will be what you make of it wherever you land.
And @grlgotexas I really appreciate you saying that. My son was accepted and had applied due to the strength of the program in his area of interest. If he attends, it would be a really big change for him geographically (we’re from the northeast), and in terms of the size of the school compared to his small HS, etc. Some of the prior comments were really giving me pause.
as a current UT parent with a current senior who just got rejected,… I can only say that the wave process was awful… we are OOS and perhaps like many other schools there should be one day that they all check… MY OOS child was so anxious as they heard others getting in ( other majors not theirs which was business) and he couldn’t wait to find out yes or no… it seems like they waited til the last day to do their rejections which seems normal but would have stung less or for a shorter period of time if they all heard 2/1 at 5pm… boom… UT is an awesome school and to those who got in best of luck… lucky us we still get to enjoy the atmosphere there and now become D! football fans elsewhere…
I 100% agree about the wave process, it is terrible! I wish UT would disclose decisions all on one day. The waves cause a lot of stress and anxiety!
Personal observation of auto-admit and non, the non auto-admits work a year on improving their resume, jobs and paying for tutors and the SAT several times to get it up to competitive status, while the auto-admits don’t worry about any ECs, volunteer work, and taking the SAT only once. That’s just statistics from the five 6A schools in my district. Those parents and students are understandably frustrated when the statistics also show UT routinely denies the 7%-20%, possibly to admit those that will actually choose UT to increase their yield and increase their rating? We know it ultimately all comes down to the USNews ranking to the university and will do whatever it takes.
https://www.liberalartscolleges.com/us-news-college-rankings-meaningless/
@collegerigged Can you direct me to the statistics that show that UT "routinely denies 7% - 20%? I have done a lot of research on this topic and haven’t seen those specific stats. Thanks.
Rice has a long history of being a top engineering school and a school that prioritizes academics over everything else.
Niche ranks Rice the #5 engineering school in the country. UT is #30. US News has them flipped. I have family that studied at both UT and Rice and the UT grads even agree that Rice is a higher caliber school (although they probably wouldn’t admit that to each other). On top of that, Rice has stepped up their financial support for middle class families so the competition will be fierce this year. I’m waiting on my Rice RD decision and even through I have multi-generational legacy, I’m not holding my breath about getting in.