UT Admissions

So I am a senior in high school, applying to all of my colleges right now and almost done. UT has been my dream school for forever and all of my family went there and I didn’t realize the difficulty of getting in until about second semester of sophomore year. My class rank is in the 18-19% range at a competitive 6A high school. I got a 1240 on my SAT. What are my chances of getting in? Does legacy help at all with UT? Three members in my family played football there, one being on the team when they won the national championship against USC with Vince Young. The rest of my family also went there. Can my essay and short answer questions help a lot? Letters of recommendation? Or do I really have no chance at all?

UT does not consider legacy. The fact that you are not an auto admittance does hurt your chances. You do not mention what your major will be. If you want a competitive major as in CS, Eng, business, nursing, I do not think you will be accepted. If you are interested in a less competitive major such as education, there is a chance. You are above the 25% number of 1140 and you are in the top 25% of the class. Both of those are important. The essay can help you. Again, alot depends on your major.

@GTAustin UT actually does consider legacy to an extent. It cant be a coincidence that a sizable amount of the student body comes from alumni and/or donors.

There is only a very few spots where legacy is considered and it is not just legacy, it is large cash donations. The previous President of the university got in trouble for doing this and it is extremely limited now.

Per UT’s common data set, they do not consider legacy at all. https://utexas.app.box.com/v/CDS2016