I was wondering if I should go ahead and apply for UT Austin’s priority deadline. I want to get into mechanical engineering and was wondering if i have good chances or not. I am ranked 2 in a class of over 450, will graduate high school with about 60 college credit hours, am in a lot of clubs and national societies, plenty of volunteer hours, decent to good essay. The only thing that will maybe hold me back is my 1350 SAT score. Should I wait and test one more time for the regular deadline or just use my decent SAT score.
Also, does a lot of the engineering spots get taken up from the applicants from the priority deadline.
You have automatic admissions. Your SAT is within the average of the school. Considering you’re 2 in your class and have plenty of EC’s, I dont see why you shouldnt be accepted. As for priority deadline, if you feel your application is complete, submit it. If not, sending it in a few weeks later wont ruin your chances for the major.
I agree with @GTAustin.
Your SAT score can hurt you in admission to engineering. My son was enrolled at UT Mechanical Engineering this year, and his combined score is 1540 (top 1%).
I guess it varies. Last year, everyone in my school’s senior class who was automatically admitted got into their majors, despite their scores. Some of them had 1200s and still got in.
A lot has changed then because I know several from the class of '17 (current freshman) who did not get their requested major and were auto admits. Engineering & Business always seemed to be the ones that were difficult to get into.
I know of several kids who were in the top 5 (not 5%) out of classes close to 600 in competitive HS’s that did not get their engineering major choice. They were not mechanical engineering though - bio and chemical. I have known kids that were doing research there in their Senior years that did not get accepted. I just think the higher SAT/ACT score you can get helps your chances.