One last thought to anyone who is still reading this thread… I don’t know if it’s true that UT throws out applicants based on an undeclared major — but if it is, it is absurd to suggest that high achieving students who haven’t mapped out their lives by age 17 are somehow less capable of being successful in college. Be proud of your obviously very successful high school career and go somewhere else. 
I would say it is one of the potential reasons. In your S case, it looks like yield protection. They read his application. A top OOS student that obviously has other less costly options to choose from. Why WOULD he choose UT undeclared major at $50K per year, when he could get in a lot of other highly regarded schools, closer to home state and at a better cost?
If he did his research on UT, then he knows that it is much more difficult to get into the most competitive majors like CS, Business and Engineering after being there as an undecided student. There just are not many spots for internal and external tranfers. So if he aspired any of those he would have been better off applying as an incoming freshman. Then he appears to be a serious applicant.
A lot of students these days just apply to top schools to see if they can get in. Admissions can spot those sometimes and sometimes it is a judgement call or a crap shoot.
Good luck to your S, he will do well wherever he lands.
I appealed a couple days ago, and my appeal was approved today to be under review. How long will it take for a decision to come out? Is it a good sign that it has been approved or is that a common occurrence?
@msahr how to appeal?
I also want to do
I haven’t received any details yet, but I am interested in following this thread. How long did it take for you to receive your acceptance or denial letters once you submitted your applications if you don’t mind me asking? Was it a few weeks or months? @msahri @StanfordAspirant I saw you both and your nephew,@MaineLonghorn , had heard back already and was just hoping could give me an idea of processing times; I’d love to hear from others in this thread too so maybe an average could be figured out. Of course, sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason, but I’d still like to know if you’re okay sharing those details!
Oh, my nephew was a few years ago, not this cycle. I can’t remember when he heard back.
@OGmandyV I submitted it on 29 Nov and got my result on 17 Feb as per IST
Anyone appeal this year? Hear anything back yet?
I submitted an appeal last Monday, UT received my documents on Friday, and I just got my appeal approved today. I go to a concurrent enrollment high school so I appealed to be considered a transfer and my application changed from a freshman app to a transfer one.
@champagnemami123, congrats!!
@MaineLonghorn thank you!!
My son submitted an appeal 2 weeks ago but has not yet received a reply. He is Auto Admit, Requested CS 1st, Mathematics 2nd. He ended up with UGS because they did not offer any STEM alternatives. I spoke with the counselor today and she said it might be 4 to 6 weeks before a reply is sent because all of the STEM majors are full. As prospective students receive offers, Admissions will determine based on declines what opens up over the course of the next few weeks. She said they have numerous appeals. I guess they will have to scrutinize and weigh the appeals against each other as slots open.
atas22, what were your son’s stats?
My son is in a similar position, auto admit, wanted CS major, given only non-stem alternative, went undeclared until hears back from appeal. Top 5% from class of 600+, AP Scholar with distinction, 5 on AP CSA, 790 SAT Math 2, 1500 on SAT. Filed appeal 2 weeks ago. He did realize that there were some things missing from his application that may have mattered.
@TexArt, My son has very similar stats on test scores and rank …top 5% out of 710+ Taken 4 years invested in Technology classes. He made it clear on his app he wants Computer Science path. Honestly why do they ask for second choice?! It’s not what they really want. Hopefully things will open up and our sons get into the depart. UT needs to expand. Living in the age of technology and virtual classes, you’d think they could make it happen, especially for at least some of their coursework, and especially for these CS majors.
@atas22 What is his back up plan?
My son signed up for undeclared until he hears back, he is still waiting to hear from UMich, Hopkins and Yale. He has a full ride to UT Dallas he has to accept by 5/. UTexas was his first choice. I think they should just withdraw from automatic admissions if they are going to go around it by denying a major imho.
@TexArt Those are great avenues for your son and I’m sure something will formulate for him very soon. He has a gifted mind and it will all come together for him.
My son received a very compelling offer this week for the Engineering Honors program at Texas A&M and is moving forward with it. The smaller classes with more opportunity for discussion are very much in line with his interest in theory and mastering concepts. He does not want UGS …it’s too ambiguous with no guarantee of transfer. He knows he wants to pursue CS.
My son doesn’t want undergraduate studies either, but if you don’t do that while the appeal is going through, then your appeal could last longer than the commitment period and admission would be denied on the lack of commitment. It was what the admissions office recommend while he in appeal.
UT told us you can accept UGS while you are waiting on appeal. Meanwhile they suggested pursuing other options if you have them, because it could be a few weeks to hear result based on info mentioned in previous post. If you accept another option, find out if it is binding. Meanwhile at UT you can either pay the admissions fee or not before 5/1. If you pay before 5/1 and change your mind, it’s refundable before 5/1. The decision is non-binding until 5/1. They had over 400 appeals last year and only 4% were accepted. Close to 500 offers to CS were extended and about 350 accepted for last year.
1 Like
@champagnemami123, congrats! What type of documents did you include with your appeal to be considered a transfer applicant? And did you have to reapply as a transfer applicant with a new application, essays, etc…? Thanks in advance!