Undergraduate Admission

The Office of Admissions is responsible for the admission and readmission of undergraduate students to the University. Application procedures for freshman, transfer, former, international, and transient students are outlined later in this chapter and details are available on the Admissions Web site .

Application deadlines. For 2016-2017 undergraduate admission, application materials must be received in the Office of Admissions by the deadlines listed below.

Prospective students are encouraged to apply early for the enrollment period in which they are interested. Beginning the process early allows ample time for applicants to assure that their applications are complete by the deadline.

	Summer Session 2016	Fall Semester 2016	Spring Semester 2017
US and international freshmen	December 1, 2015	December 1, 2015	October 1, 2016
US and international transfer students	March 1, 2016	March 1, 2016	October 1, 2016
Former students	May 1, 2016	July 1, 2016	December 1, 2016
Transient students	May 1, 2016	not applicable	not applicable

Application processing fees. A nonrefundable fee of $75 is required with each application for domestic undergraduate admission. (The undergraduate fee for transient admission is $60.) Fee waivers based on financial need are available. International applicants (those who are not United States citizens or permanent residents) must submit a nonrefundable fee of $90; waivers are not available for international applicants.

Admission to requested majors. Although Texas law offers automatic admission to the University for eligible undergraduate applicants, it does not guarantee admission to an applicant's requested major. All undergraduate applicants are considered on a competitive basis for admission to the majors they request.

Accepting admission. Applicants who are offered undergraduate admission to the University must take steps to accept the offer of admission. To accept admission, most summer/fall admitted students must pay a $200 enrollment deposit, which is applied to the payment of tuition when the student enrolls. Students who demonstrate financial need may qualify for assistance to cover the amount of the deposit. Enrollment deposits are refundable only until the May 1 summer/fall enrollment deposit deadline.

Major changes following acceptance of admission. Undergraduate students are limited in their ability to change majors after accepting admission offers. Incoming undergraduates are not allowed to change majors from one college/school to another during summer or during orientation. Students admitted as freshmen must remain in their original major for one academic year; transfer students must remain in their original major until the next available fall semester. Students interested in changing majors within their college/school should speak with an academic advisor about the requested change during orientation.

Rescinding offers of admission. The Office of Admissions has the authority to rescind an offer of admission to a student who, after being admitted to the University, fails to maintain the level of academic, achievement, or honor code standards that were displayed in the information the student submitted when applying for admission to the University.

Students at the University are expected to conduct themselves in ways that reflect the University’s Student Honor Code:

As a student of The University of Texas at Austin, I shall abide by the core values of the University and uphold academic integrity. The University’s core values are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility.

Scholarship recipients. The director of admissions may admit recipients of bona fide scholarships designated by the president.

Undergraduate Applicants with College Credit

Many undergraduate applicants come to the University after enrolling in college-level coursework or earning college credit.

Reporting previous college coursework. An applicant who has undertaken coursework at another collegiate institution (including freshman, transfer, reentry, and international applicants) must report all such coursework on the appropriate section of the ApplyTexas application. Applicants who fail to report all college coursework or who otherwise falsify any part of their application or the documents required to complete the application process are subject to disciplinary action. Disciplinary action will include a one-year ban on enrollment and a permanent statement on the student’s record about the failure or falsification. Action may include expulsion and loss of credit for work taken subsequently at the University, as well as appropriate action by the dean of students.

Awarding college credit. The University awards college credit to some incoming undergraduate students for courses that are transferable from other colleges and universities, for designated scores on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, and for dual credit courses the student took while in high school.

Students seeking transferable credit must submit official transcripts of all coursework taken at all other institutions for evaluation by the Office of Admissions. This evaluation determines whether the coursework could in any circumstances qualify for transfer credit at UT Austin, but it does not constitute approval of the credit for use toward a degree; such approval is solely within the jurisdiction of a student's academic dean.

The following policies govern evaluation of credit:

• Institution types: Transfer credit is generally awarded for academic course credit earned from regionally accredited institutions or from institutions that are candidates for regional accreditation if the course credit was earned during the candidacy period. In rare circumstances, course credit earned at other institutions may be accepted.
• Courses that are not transferable: Workforce (vocational) courses, developmental and remedial courses, and courses classified as below freshman level by the institution at which the student took them are not transferable and will not count toward a degree.
• Credit for military training: Transfer credit is awarded for some kinds of military training; details are given at Transfer Credit for Military Training and Experience . Credit awarded for military training usually does not count toward the thirty hours of transferable credit needed to apply for admission.
• Coursework level: Junior and community college courses transfer as lower-division (freshman or sophomore) credit. Undergraduate courses from senior colleges transfer at the level (lower- or upper-division) at which the student took them. Graduate-level coursework is not transferable as undergraduate credit.
• Limits on use of credit toward degree: No limit is placed on the total amount of course credit accepted in transfer from either junior- or senior-level institutions. However, use of transfer credit toward a degree may be limited by the student’s academic dean.
• Credit by exam at another institution: Credit earned by examination at another institution is treated as transfer credit only if the sending institution records the credit on the student’s transcript with regular catalog course numbers and with a grade of at least C-, the symbol CR, or a similar designation representing credit earned without letter grade.
• Computing an applicant’s GPA: When computing an applicant’s grade point average (GPA) for admissions purposes, the Office of Admissions includes grades earned in all academic courses (except developmental courses), whether passed, failed, or repeated, including those in which the student earned a grade of D+, D, or D-. However, a course in which the student earned a grade of D+, D, D-, or F is not transferable and will not count toward a degree. During transfer GPA calculations, an A or A+ earned on transferable coursework is awarded four points. (See Academic Policies and Procedures for information about how the University computes GPA.)
• Transfer coursework and the University’s GPA: Grades earned at other institutions are not averaged with grades earned at the University to determine the student’s internal University grade point average.

College credit for earning an International Baccalaureate diploma. Students who are admitted to the University and have earned an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma during high school may qualify for twenty-four hours of college credit. Details about the program are available from Student Testing Services .

College credit for military service. Military veterans who enroll as entering undergraduates (freshman, transfer, or returning students) at UT Austin and meet certain requirements are eligible to receive up to twelve semester hours of undergraduate elective coursework credit for the time they spent in the service. Eligibility requirements are defined in Section 51.3042 of the Texas Education Code .

The credit is awarded for having served, not for any college-level courses that the veteran may have taken while in the military. To be eligible to receive credit for military service, a veteran must

• Have graduated from a public or private high school accredited by a generally recognized accrediting organization or from a high school operated by the United States Department of Defense.
• Have completed at least two years of service in the armed services (unless he or she was discharged because of a disability).
• Have been honorably discharged from the armed forces.

Admitted students who may qualify for credit for military service should speak with a representative of the Office of Admissions upon enrollment at the University.

Recruiting Students and Promoting Undergraduate Admission

The Office of Admissions offers a variety of services and resources to assist prospective students with the undergraduate admissions application process. Undergraduate applicants are encouraged to use all available resources, especially consultation with the University’s admissions representatives and counselors and the resources of the University’s admissions centers.

Admissions representatives work and live in communities throughout the state of Texas. The University’s regional admissions centers and representatives provide detailed information about, and assistance with, the freshman and transfer admissions and enrollment processes through consultation, information sessions, and local events.

The Undergraduate Admissions Center (UAC) is located in John Hargis Hall on the University campus. Each day the center welcomes prospective undergraduate students and their families for campus visits, information sessions, and on-campus events. Each year, tens of thousands of visitors come through the UAC and through the University’s Visitor Center, which also serves prospective students. Admissions counselors serving the Austin area are also housed in the UAC.

The Office of Admissions participates in a variety of activities and efforts designed to recruit prospective freshman and transfer students.

• Collaborating with high school counselors in Texas and in other states and with junior and community college officers across the state.
• Hosting counseling and information sessions and conducting campus tours for prospective freshman and transfer students.
• Hosting meetings with representatives from UT Austin admissions, student affairs, and academic affairs offices for prospective transfer students visiting the campus.
• Hosting on-campus events for prospective freshman and transfer students.
• Participating in community college recruiting events across the state and visiting community colleges and business and industry locations to provide information for prospective transfer students.
• Participating in college nights and college fairs across the state and the nation to provide information to prospective freshman and transfer students.
• Working with academic and student affairs offices and departments across campus to assist students in their transition to UT Austin.
• Working with alumni and outreach centers across the state and nation to facilitate student recruiting through information distribution, events, and activities.