Freshman Admission
Freshman applicants should take advantage of the detailed information and resources available through the Web site Be a Longhorn, http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/freshmen/ . The site offers the latest details about freshman admission application requirements; information about the factors considered in making admission decisions; secure access to personal information like application status and admission decisions; details about academics, financial aid, housing, and more; event information and registration for freshman applicants; and an online Counselor Finder.
High School Preparation
To be eligible to apply for freshman admission to UT Austin, an applicant must be on track to graduate under the high school coursework requirements defined in the state’s Uniform Admission Policy. Applicants must complete at least the Recommended High School Program; the Distinguished High School Program is also an option. The recommended program requires students to complete at least 26½; units of high school credit in grades nine through twelve. The Uniform Admission Policy is defined in sections 51.801 through 51.809 of the Texas Education Code.
Exemptions are available for students who are not able to complete the Recommended High School Program even though they attend schools that offer it and for students who attend high schools that do not offer the program, including private Texas high schools and high schools outside Texas. Achieving certain benchmarks on either the SAT or the ACT may also serve as an exemption. An applicant claiming an exemption must (1) submit a certification/exemption form completed by a high school counselor, and (2) meet UT Austin’s minimum high school coursework requirements. No student is exempt from the University’s minimum coursework requirements.
Additional information, including details about coursework requirements and exemptions and printable certification/exemption forms, is available online at http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/freshmen/admission/hs-courses/ .
Admission Deficiencies
Some applicants who claim an exemption from the high school preparation requirements above may be required to complete the University’s deficiency process in order to meet UT Austin’s minimum coursework requirements. Applicants who appear to be deficient after applying for admission are notified by the Office of Admissions that they must submit additional information through an online process. Notified students who fail to complete the deficiency process will not be considered for admission.
Admitted students must complete the coursework required to remove a deficiency before they enroll at the University. A deficiency in foreign language must be removed by earning credit for foreign language or classical language courses numbered 506 and 507 (or the equivalent) or by earning a passing score on the appropriate placement examination given by the University. A deficiency in mathematics must be removed by earning credit for Mathematics 301 (College Algebra) or 303D (Applicable Mathematics) or an equivalent transfer course. For all other subjects, one semester of college credit is required to remove a deficiency of one year or less of high school credit.
Freshman Application Procedures
To be considered for admission as a freshman, the applicant must submit the following items by the deadline :
- A completed US Freshman ApplyTexas Application (submitted via https://www.applytexas.org ), including at least two required essays. Either essays A and B or essays B and D are required. Applicants who wish to provide additional information about their special circumstances may submit essay C as well. Essay C may not be submitted in place of essay A, B, or D.
- An official high school transcript showing rank and class size and coursework through the junior year; or a transcript and a statement from the high school that it does not rank its students; or a transcript and a statement from the high school showing the applicant’s class rank and the class size. In order for a student to qualify for automatic admission, the high school must report the student’s rank as prescribed by section 51.803 of the Texas Education Code.
- A completed Self-Reported High School Coursework Form submitted online, providing responses to all required items.
- Documentation showing that the applicant is on track to meet high school coursework requirements or that the applicant is requesting an exemption; applicants who claim an exemption must submit a certification/exemption form as described above.
- An official test score report for the SAT Reasoning Test, including the student-written essay, or for both the ACT Assessment and the ACT Writing Test. Scores must be sent directly from the testing agency (see the section Admission Tests below) to be considered official.
- The application processing fee or a request for an exemption, described in the section Application Processing Fee .
A freshman applicant may not disregard any part of his or her academic record, including college credit earned as dual credit. Such coursework must be reported on the ApplyTexas application, and the applicant must submit official transcripts of the coursework.
Admission Tests
All applicants for freshman admission must submit scores on either the SAT Reasoning Test, including the student-written essay, or both the ACT Assessment and the ACT Writing Test. Official scores must be sent directly from the testing agency; a photocopy of test results and results listed on a high school transcript are not acceptable.
Information and registration materials are usually available from the student’s high school counselor. Information about SAT tests is available at http://www.collegeboard.com/ . Information about the ACT is available at http://www.actstudent.org/ . Online test registration is available at these sites.
Applicants seeking admission to the Cockrell School of Engineering must submit appropriate scores indicating calculus readiness by the application deadline. Details are given at http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/freshmen/admission/majors/engineering/ .
Most applicants to fields other than engineering are not required to take SAT Subject Tests or other exams for admission purposes. However, students admitted to majors that require precalculus or calculus courses must take the required placement exam before registering for classes in order to ensure appropriate placement. For more information, please see Course Placement and Credit by Examination .
Freshman Application Review Process
The Office of Admissions uses an individualized, holistic review process to consider each completed freshman application. Applications from students who do not qualify for automatic admission are reviewed to determine which students will be offered admission and to determine majors for those offered admission. Applications from students who do qualify for automatic admission are reviewed to make decisions about majors.
The following items are considered during holistic review:
- Class rank
- Strength of academic background
- SAT Reasoning Test or ACT scores
- Record of achievements, honors, and awards
- Special accomplishments, work, and service both in and out of school
- Essays
- Special circumstances that put the applicant’s academic achievements into context, including his or her socioeconomic status, experience in a single parent home, family responsibilities, experience overcoming adversity, cultural background, race and ethnicity, the language spoken in the applicant’s home, and other information in the applicant’s file
- Recommendations (although not required)
- Competitiveness of the major to which the student applies
No specific class rank, test score, or other qualification by itself—other than automatic admission based on section 51.803 of the Texas Education Code—ensures admission.
Admission decisions are made on the basis of the information submitted as part of the student’s application. Applicants who believe that supplemental items will help convey information about their qualifications are encouraged to submit such items with their applications. Supplemental items often included with applications are expanded résumés of accomplishments and extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, and letters addressing an applicant’s special circumstances.
Texas high school graduates eligible for automatic admission. Section 51.803 of the Texas Education Code defines the rules that govern automatic admission to Texas universities. The automatic admission law was established in 1997 through HB 588; in 2009, through SB 175, the state legislature modified the rules that govern automatic admission to UT Austin.
The 2009 modifications require the University to use automatic admission to fill at least 75 percent of the spaces available to Texas residents in each entering freshman class, beginning with applicants to summer/fall 2011. Each September, the University must inform school districts of the rank that will be required to earn automatic admission to the University in the next application cycle. On September 15, 2011, the University notified Texas school districts that it will automatically admit students in the top 8 percent of their high school classes to the 2013 entering freshman class.
To be eligible for automatic admission, applicants for freshman admission must submit a complete application for admission by the deadline and must meet the other eligibility requirements defined in section 51.803 of the Texas Education Code; this section also defines the way an applicant’s high school rank is to be reported. An applicant who submits an official high school transcript and rank from a school in which the student has yet to complete coursework may be required to submit an official high school transcript and rank from the high school in which he or she was previously enrolled.
Automatic admission does not guarantee admission to the applicant’s requested major. Some of the University’s most competitive programs restrict automatic admission for students automatically admitted to the University.
To be considered for admission to the Cockrell School of Engineering, applicants who are otherwise eligible for automatic admission to the University must meet the calculus-readiness requirement described at http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/freshmen/admission/majors/engineering/ . To be considered for admission to another math-intensive major (mathematics, business, physics, or computer science), an applicant who is otherwise eligible for automatic admission to the University must demonstrate math proficiency by the application deadline. Math proficiency can be demonstrated by high school credentials that show current enrollment in or successful completion of mathematics coursework at the level of precalculus or above; by an SAT Reasoning Test math score of 600 or above or an ACT math score of 26 or above; or by documentation of concurrent enrollment in dual-credit precalculus or calculus. Applicants who do not meet the math proficiency requirement are not eligible for admission to math-intensive majors, but they are eligible for automatic admission to the University.
Texas high school graduates not eligible for automatic admission, homeschooled students, and all graduates of out-of-state high schools. To be considered for freshman admission, applicants who are not eligible for consideration under the provisions of section 51.803 of the Texas Education Code must normally have graduated from or be on track to graduate from high school and have met the High School Preparation requirements.
As a state-assisted institution, the University reserves 90% of its spaces for Texas residents per Texas law; 10% of the spaces are reserved for out-of-state and international students.
Enrollment pressures at the University may not permit admission of all who qualify for certain academic programs. When this occurs, the Office of Admissions will, within applicable law, admit those students who are judged to be most able to contribute to and benefit from the University’s rich, diverse, and academically challenging environment. The Office of Admissions may also use a wait list to help manage the enrollment process. Details about additional admission requirements for some undergraduate programs are described in Additional Requirements and Restrictions for Some Freshman and Transfer Applicants .
The director of admissions may admit recipients of bona fide scholarships designated by the president.
Before applying for admission, homeschooled students should review the information available on Be a Longhorn (http://bealonghorn.utexas.edu/ ), including details about the information that should be submitted with the student’s application.
Under Texas law, graduates of unaccredited high schools may seek admission to the University.
Students who did not graduate from high school. Texas residents who did not graduate from high school may seek admission through special consideration. In addition to all application materials, the student must provide a copy of GED results. It is important for the student to provide as much information as possible in support of the application. Some important indicators of the student’s academic competitiveness are SAT Reasoning Test and SAT Subject Test scores, evidence that the student completed Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses, and grades in college-level courses the student took while in high school.
Students graduating from high school with college credit. Freshman applicants who have earned college credit while in high school should submit official high school transcripts showing high school credit earned and official college transcripts showing college credit earned (through dual credit or early college programs, for example).
Admission Decisions
When making admission decisions, admissions representatives initially consider individual applicants for their first-choice major and their second-choice major. Applicants who do not qualify for admission to either their first- or their second-choice major are then considered for admission as undeclared majors in the School of Undergraduate Studies.
The Coordinated Admission Program. A Texas resident who meets the University’s high school preparation requirements and completes an application for admission by the required deadline, but is not offered regular admission for the summer or fall semester, is eligible to participate in the Coordinated Admission Program (CAP). (Nonresidents are not eligible to participate in CAP.) CAP students spend their freshman year in residence at a participating University of Texas System component institution other than UT Austin. Students who are offered participation choose from a list of institutions open to them when they complete the CAP agreement.
To receive guaranteed admission to UT Austin following CAP participation, a CAP student must meet these requirements:
- Complete at least thirty hours of approved coursework with a grade point average of at least 3.20 in residence during the fall and spring semesters at the participating UT System component institution at which the student enrolls
- Complete at least one mathematics course beyond college algebra from the list of approved courses as part of the required thirty hours
- Complete requirements 1 and 2 by June 1 of the year in which the student participates in CAP
Although applicants offered CAP participation do not need to apply to the UT System component institution, they must meet the admission requirements of the institution they choose to attend. UT System institutions participating in CAP may establish additional requirements and fees for students enrolling in the program.
Students who successfully complete the CAP requirements are guaranteed admission to the University of Texas at Austin as regular students in the fall semester of the following year. Students are guaranteed admission into the School of Undergraduate Studies, the College of Liberal Arts, or the College of Natural Sciences, although CAP participants may requst admission to majors in other colleges and schools. (Some of the University’s colleges and schools may have made their admission decisions for the fall by the time CAP participants complete their first-year requirements and therefore may not accept applications from CAP students.) Students who request admission to another program do not jeopardize their admission to the School of Undergraduate Studies, the College of Liberal Arts, or the College of Natural Sciences.
CAP participants who do not complete the program requirements may seek admission to UT Austin for a subsequent semester by applying for transfer admission. Such applicants are evaluated as part of the competitive transfer applicant pool; all college-level coursework, including that completed during CAP participation, and any dual credit work completed during high school are considered when transfer admission decisions are made.
Whenever admissions through CAP exceed 60 percent of total external undergraduate transfer admissions, a review of the CAP requirements for entry into UT Austin will be conducted, and new requirements will be established as appropriate.