Hi, so I recently got accepted into UT Austin. I applied for ChemE Honors as my first choice and BME as my second choice. I saw that on my application status page that I was not offered admission to my first choice major. I am utterly devastated as UT was my top choice. Here are my stats:
-Asian female in state
-2180 on First SAT: 770 M, 680 CR, 730 W
-2230 on Second SAT: 730 M, 710 CR, 790 W
-National Merit Commended Scholar
-34 on ACT: 35 English, 33 English/Writing, 32 Math, 35 Reading, 33 Science
-750 on both Biology M and Math I subject test
-6.8085 GPA on a weighted 6.0 scale
-15 out of 875 in class (top 2%)
-In 5 AP classes this year; was in 6 in the past two years, so 11 total
-3 on French Language
-4 on World History
-5 on English Language
-5 on Psychology
-3 on Physics I
-4 on Biology
I plan to take Calculus BC, English IV, US Government, Macroeconomics, and Chemistry tests this year.
-Did Dual Credit at community college for US History
-Extra Curriculars:
In orchestra since 6th grade; varsity orchestra of high school for 2 years
-Member of Key Club for four years; was Junior Representative for junior year and Senior Representative for beginning of this year
-NHS member
-Did debate in the 9th grade
-Was a part of French National Honors Society for two years
-Was a part of a Youth Leadership Development Program last year
-Distinguished Honor Roll (all A’s) for 11 years
-Went to engineering camps this summer at the University of Houston and Texas A&M
-Went to Honor’s Colloquium at UT
I also had my essays proofread by several people and had two teachers write me recommendation letters. Another thing is that I have a sibling with special needs, and I know Cockrell does holistic review, so this is a factor that makes me stand out in that I was inspired by my sibling’s needs to become a chemical engineer. I have gotten into A&M chemical engineering, U of H chemical engineering and Rice’s chemical engineering (through early decision, but I could not afford the school at all so I sadly had to withdraw my application).
In short, I thought I was very qualified to at least get regular chemical engineering. Is there anything I can do? I really want to go to this school. I have left a message for my admissions counselor and emailed him about the situation. I am also going to write an appeal. Is there any chance that I can still get chemical engineering or at least into Cockrell?
I know that you applied to the toughest majors to get into in Cockrell. I had actually heard that BME was the toughest with ChemE being next. A valedictorian from an adjacent school district was denied a couple of years ago and it is a good school district. When my older DD did the Honors Colloquium at UT a couple of summers ago, she realized how tough the competition was. She thought her resume was great (very similar to yours) but these kids had research, patents, internships, papers and national awards. It was not that these kids were smarter than her or yourself but instead of having a more well rounded HS experience they were already working in their chosen field.
From what I have read, I don’t think the appeal process will be helpful but all they can say is no. so give it a try. My DD did get accepted to CE and I don’t think EE is quite as competitive. She did not go to UT and is doing great. So this is not the end of world. I was thinking both UH and A&M had very good ChemE programs. You might consider which school will promote you the best. My older DD had a friend that turned down UT for CS and went to Trinity in SA because of money. She is on her third Google internship (in London) because she is good and the school promoted her. Look at all the opportunities at the other schools.
@thebluesmurfi So you say you were accepted into UT. Did you get your second choice, BME?
This is only a guess but with oil prices being where they are a lot of applicants may have applied to Chem E instead of PE. As a data point, the GPA to internally transfer into PE in 2014 was 3.9. In 2015 this dropped to 3.6. I would expect this trend to continue in 2016. I don’t remember the exact numbers for Chem E internal transfers but I do recall that they increased from 2014 to 2015 and that Chem E had the highest GPA. So the hardest to get into. I applied in August for PE first choice and Chem E second. I was an auto admit with 33 ACT, 35 Math 31 E/W and 31/809 class rank. I got PE in November. Reading about applicants that did not get in I feel really lucky. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason with regard to applicants with similar stats.
Just an FYI, while designated as Chem E for TAMU you will have to reapply after your first or second semester to actually get into the program.
It should have something like Congratulations, xxxx! You are Admitted to the University of Texas at Austin…Welcome to the Class of 2020, and to the ____, Entry-Level major.
UT is frustrated by the state requirement that they admit a fixed percentage of the top HS graduates. They want more control over who they admit. One way they try to twist that requirement is that they do not award desired majors to over-represented groups. Asians make up 3 or 4 percent of Texans, but 19% of students at UT. Unfortunately, you are one of the targets of UTs attempt to exert control over their student body diversity.
Also, for a very competitive spot you have low math scores. Not really in human terms, but when UT is trying to split something, they would compare your credentials against the other Asian female admits. They cannot use your ethnicity in admissions, per se, but they can use it in determining if you get your major choice. Probably still not entirely legal, but too hard to prove. They can just show that the other admits had higher scores in math and move on.
TAMU is every bit as good an engineering school. The ‘ratings’ are mostly skewed by the variance in spending (Austin is more expensive than College Station). At least in my part of Texas, Aggies are more highly sought after as employees because they have a reputation for working harder while Longhorns have more of a reputation of feeling entitled. Not saying that this is fair or even legitimate, but it is the perception here.
I know of people who got the same scores as me who got into ChemE two years ago. And, there are people who had lower stats than me who got into other engineering majors. I think it’s because of the competition for ChemE this year that I didn’t get it.
hmmm- don’t know what to say about the lack of major. Does it say you will have a list to choose from 2/26? (I think I have read that from other posters)
Hope it all works out- best of luck to you & btw- 770 is an excellent math score!
Yes, 770 is excellent…as is the 32 on the ACT test… but many of the accepted candidates for Engineering at UT will have 800s and 35+ on math. Not that those scores are required, but when the college wants to split hairs, they will use anything they can to build the class they want.
I would let them have the loss. You are better off going to a college that values you more.
Thank you. I’m going to try and appeal to see if they can give me the spot that someone declined for another school. If not, I may try to major in mechanical or electrical engineering.
Does UT direct admit kids into engineering specialties? A lot of engineering schools will only direct admit you into the college of engineering. You apply for a specialty in the second half of your first year (and decisions are not made until after final first year grades are available and are competitive with a limited number of slots available for each specialty). You can also apply to the engineering college during your first year if you are not directly admitted.
Interesting. Thanks. Do they direct admit to a full class (such that there isn’t a chance for someone who is not direct admitted to the major to get in it after admission to the university)? If not, do they publicize the percentage of direct admit?
@saillakeerie Yes for Cockrell you can look up the admission stats for the last three years. I am doing PE so that is what I looked at but they are shown for each engineering discipline. For 2015 PE had 1400+ applicants and they took 90. In previous years about 120 were accepted. For internal transfers of current students Cockrell shows what the average GPA was for students transferring but does not show the number.
I would think the direct admit would be a great hook for UT for the kids who get in. Don’t have to worry about getting in after your first year of college. And presumably there is some type of minimum GPA requirement to keep your direct admit?
Those odds sound pretty rough. Rougher than what I have seen for engineering colleges that do not direct admit. Having an average GPA would be helpful but knowing the bottom (or even bottom quartile) would be more helpful though. (at least for kids who are below average but who still stand a good chance of being admitted).
Adm.McRaven wants to take on this auto-admit law which is unique to Texas. Too many top students leave the state and never return, and it keeps UT from more aggressively recruiting top students in-state, OOS and international. With a $25B endowment, second nationally only to Harvard, and a faculty salary lower than the average of comparable top public or private schools (Mich, Cal, UVA, etc)…you would think the resources are available for just about anything.
Also, I forgot to mention that I’m in honors classes (have been in 12 for four years) and I have had a job at Kumon as a student assistant for 8 months now.
