Hi what are the chances I can be accepted into UT Aerospace or mechanical engineering program?
And/ Or what major do you think I may end up getting if not admitted to these majors?
FEEL FREE TO INCLUDE RECOMENDATIONS, THANKS IN ADVANCE! if you need additional information feel free to ask me below
Top 7% of my class
SAT: 1100 (math: 560) (writing/reading: 540)
Female, mixed race
Decent Essays and responses
Leadership: president of business club for two years, captain of track team 1 year, cashier at Kroger for year
Acedmic acciomsihment:
I’ve taken 2 years of the engineering program at my school and have gotten a high A in each class
AP physics, A+ in all math classes and A in all science classes.
I have taken 6 advance sciences and I’ve gotten A’s in all of them
I’ve taken two years of dual credit English and have gotten an A in both
For engineering classes( through PLTW, got 8/10 on both tests allowing me to have college credit at UT Tyler)
Extracurricular:
Business club 3 years (achieved getting to National all 3 years)
Varsity track 4 years (got to regionals all 4 years)
Engineering club 1 year
Robotics club 1 year
Math honor club 1 year
Health club 2 years
Volunteering organization 1 year
Science UIL 1 year
Senior courses:
AP chemistry
AP Anatomy
Engineering #2
AB AP Calc
Track
English D.C.
Government DC (half year)
Economics D.C. (half year)
Also, I am instate and graduate high school with 21 college hours by taking AP and D.C. Classes. And have teacher recomendation letter (science, math, tack coach, engineering and enlglish letters)
What stands out is the difference between your grades and your test scores. Also, did you take the AP Physics test?
You don’t meet the calculus-ready requirement for engineering, which means you will need to retake the SAT, or submit an ACT. You are running out of time, you really need to study and get your math score up!
Unfortunately, I know a number of students denied engineering at UT with much better stats. If you really want to go into engineering, I would definitely have a backup plan.
@ollie113 Thanks for the advice! I did poorly on the AP physics test. I believe Math degree will be my backup, however do you think going to UT Tyler would be a good option, since I will have engineering credit at that specific college?
I do believe at UT Austin, if you don’t get your first or second choice major, then you are asked to choose a major that is open at the end of the admission cycle. It is a difficult process because all students that don’t have a major are given access to all open slots at the same time. Its like hitting the lottery. Math will be a difficult major to get because many students who can’t get into CS go for math. General studies, education and COLA seem to always be open.
As a safety school, A&M engineering is also a reach but you would have a better chance there. UT Tyler, I don’t know about. I do know both UT Dallas and UT Arlington have well respected engineering programs as well as Texas Tech.
@GTAustin thanks for the advise! I’ll consider UT Dallas for sure, I also hear they have a great cs and Engineering program. But i still defiently need to improve my SAT and try the ACT lol no matter where I go. I think my scores will improve because I took the SAT at the beginning of the year I took precal, so at this point I can only hope
@GTAustin if I take general studies, am I allowed to take engineering classea required for mechanical engineer? Also if I get a 3.5-4.0 could I just transfer into the engineering program?
My understanding is that you cannot take engineering classes as a general study major. You would probably take your GE required courses and you would need close to a 4.0 to be considered for a transfer.
@GTAustin is it better to stay at UT austin and work hard for a 4.0 than transfer to the engineer program or work less hard at a smaller Ut school get a 4.0 while being in extra curriculars than try to transfer to UT austins engineering school. Lastly, if I don’t make the cut for UT austins engineering school, could I transfer to a small UT school and finish engineering there? Or perhaps have at least a 3.5 and go to A&M
Maybe even a small UT school then transfer to A&M. I was thinking about junior college, but i don’t think I will get a good education or foundation for engineering
If you stayed at UT and didn’t make the cut for engineering, you could transfer to other UT schools as long as your GPA is over 3.0. I don’t know what the transfer GPA for A&M is - again, the higher the better. If you really want to be an engineer, you can get a good education at other schools - UTD, UTA, TTU, UH, A&M. They all have good engineering programs.
As far as working less hard at other 4 year schools, I don’t believe that is true. I have a daughter at UTD who was top 1%, NMF and she is working very hard in her major classes (CS). The GE classes were easy for her but her major classes are difficult. So, I guess what I am saying that at any of these universities you will be working hard to get that high GPA.
One thing to consider about UT vs going elsewhere is how many hours are you going in with. If you are going in with 30 AP hours, you really do not have many GE hours left and would need to start on your major’s hours. If you do not have those AP hours, you could go to UT and get them done the first year and see how your GPA is and then make the decision about what to do.
I will say that I think you can be successful with a degree from any of these schools. That is one of the reasons that my daughter is at UTD and not UT. You need to think about which school you could be most successful at. The key is to get the degree from an accredited university, have internships/research and keep a high GPA. Whichever school gives you the most support to achieve those goals is the one you should go to.
Also, this is not a decision you need to make any time soon. Take the SAT/ACT again, apply to UT and do great essays, and apply to other schools. You will not know about UT until February, most likely. You probably will have heard back from some of the other schools. Use the time to research each school and what they can offer you as far as support, research, class sizes, things like that. Visit, if you can, to see how you like the campuses. You will have to make the decision in the spring, so you have time to do that now.
Thank you @CryptoRabbit12. My kids give me grief for being on CC but I’m just trying to pass on things I have learned about this whole process after having 2 kids go thru it as well as their friends. So, take it a step at a time, don’t get overwhelmed, and create and keep options open until you get all the information you need to make a decision.
One of the biggest pieces of info you won’t receive until March (I think) is the financial piece. Make sure you file the Fafsa in the fall unless you know you are going to be full pay. The FA packages between universities can vary. Do not go $100,000 into debt for one university if there is a better package elsewhere.
@GTAustin I think I’m slowly leaning towards UT Tyler because I will be able to be apart of the track team and additionally I will have a lot of college credits there. However if UT Tyler is not lower than 18,000 for attendance I will have to consider elsewhere. I’ve also heard how small classes are which is great for my first few years. And if I do good I can later decide to transfer. I might also consider UT Dallas because that’s really an exceptional school. Your kids are gifted.
I just looked on line at UT Tyler’s program because I do not know anything about it. Mechanical engineering there is ABET accredited, which is good. UT Tyler does not belong to ASEE (American Society of Engineering Education) that gives on line profiles for each college. The profiles will show how many students are in each engineering discipline and also the 75%/25% scores for newly admitted students. Most of the other UT schools are a member of ASEE.
Right now, you shouldn’t limit your choices. Apply to UT, UTD, UT Tyler, A&M, maybe UTA or UH. I do like the schools in the larger cities because it is easier to get internships. Keep your options open, see where you get accepted into the engineering school and wait for the financial information before you make your final decision.
I hate to say it, but it sounds like your school has done you an disservice if you’re at the top of the class with those SAT scores. I can relate, it happened to my daughter with regards to math. The main problem is that your math scores are very low for an aspiring professional engineer at UT, though not so bad for lesser or private colleges in Texas. Take full advantage of automatic admission, especially if you qualify for a UT grant, just know that you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you before you can transfer in to Engineering.
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" i don’t think I will get a good education or foundation for engineering"
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The foundation you need is math, and math is math. You don’t need a good teacher to learn any of it.
@GTAustin It’s incredibly hard to beat the UT Grant when it comes to non-medit aid. It covers full tuition for many students, falling off as EFC approaches $25,000 - and at that level, $100k in loans is not a big deal, especially since $60k of that is is merely the cost of living in Austin for 4 years.
