Admission and Registration
Admission
Admission and readmission of undergraduate students to the University is the responsibility of the director of admissions. Information about admission to the University is given in General Information .
Within the College of Fine Arts, the departmental advising offices and dean’s office provide assistance to students who plan to attend the University. For information about a particular academic area, prospective students should consult the advising office in the Department of Art and Art History, the Butler School of Music, or the Department of Theatre and Dance. They should consult the Office of the Dean, Student Affairs for general information and for answers to questions about degree requirements. Because of the variety of degree options available in the college, prospective students are encouraged to visit the campus and meet with an academic adviser or admissions coordinator. An appointment should be arranged in advance.
Admission Policies of the College
To major in any field in the College of Fine Arts, a student must be admitted to the University. He or she must also meet the following special requirements.
Department of Art and Art History
To major in the Department of Art and Art History, a student must have the approval of the Art and Art History Admissions Committee. Information about admission requirements, procedures, and deadlines is available from the undergraduate admissions office in the department or online at https://www.utexas.edu/finearts/aah/admissions/undergraduate
Students admitted to the design major must pass annual performance reviews to continue in the major.
Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music
To major in music, a student must pass an audition conducted by the Butler School of Music. At the discretion of the school, a student who fails an audition may be allowed to reaudition at a later date. Information about audition requirements, procedures, dates, and deadlines is available from the undergraduate admissions office in the Butler School or online at http://www.music.utexas.edu/admissions/undergraduate/
Department of Theatre and Dance
Admission to programs in the Department of Theatre and Dance requires the approval of the Theatre and Dance Admissions Committee. Information about admission requirements, procedures, and deadlines is available from the undergraduate admissions office in the department or online at http://www.utexas.edu/finearts/tad/undergraduate/how-apply
Transfer
Internal Transfer
A student may transfer from another division of the University to the College of Fine Arts in accordance with the procedures and policies given in General Information . However, a student seeking admission to any department of the college must also satisfy the special admission requirements described above.
External Transfer
A student who begins study in the fine arts at another institution should consult the transfer adviser in the departmental undergraduate advising office (art and art history, music, theatre and dance) before applying to the University.
Transfer Credit Evaluation
Most credit accepted from another college or university is evaluated by the Office of Admissions to determine equivalent courses at the University of Texas at Austin. For some transferred courses, especially in the fine arts, credit is accepted but no specific University equivalency is assigned. If, for example, a student has completed twelve semester hours of transferable coursework in studio art at another institution, the Office of Admissions may accept the work only as twelve semester hours of unspecified credit in art. The same will often be true for courses in theatre and dance and music.
Unspecified transfer credit outside the student’s major is evaluated by the Office of the Dean, Student Affairs during the degree audit process described in the Degree Audit section. For unspecified transfer credit within the student’s major, however, the student must seek a transfer evaluation from the designated adviser in art and art history, music, or theatre and dance. The adviser will identify courses in the major that are equivalent to University courses and forward his or her written recommendation to the Office of the Dean, Student Affairs.
Transfer credit in music performance may not be counted toward a degree in music until the student has completed additional music performance coursework at the University.
Registration
General Information gives information about registration, adding and dropping courses, transfer from one division of the University to another, and auditing a course. The Course Schedule , published each semester and summer session, includes registration instructions, advising locations, and the times, places, and instructors of classes. The Course Schedule and General Information are published on the registrar’s Web site, http://registrar.utexas.edu/ .
Approvals Required
Before registering for any semester or summer session, a student in the College of Fine Arts must obtain written approval of the proposed schedule of classes from his or her designated adviser.
Prerequisites
The student must also meet the prerequisite for each course in which he or she enrolls. Prerequisites are given in the relevant catalog section and often appear in the Course Schedule. A student who registers for or adds a class without having met the prerequisite may be dropped from the class.
Fine Arts Registration Requirements
In addition to individual course prerequisites, there are special registration requirements for certain courses and areas of study in the College of Fine Arts.
Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music
- A student with transferred college credit in music theory must take a diagnostic examination in music theory. The results of the examination determine the level of music theory for which the student is advised to register.
- Before beginning upper-division coursework in the major instrument, students majoring in music performance (including those pursuing the pedagogy option) must pass a full faculty jury examination in the major instrument and must be admitted to upper-division standing in that instrument.
- Before beginning upper-division coursework in the major area, a student majoring in composition or music studies must obtain the approval of a designated committee composed of faculty members from that major.
- Fulfillment of the music performance requirement signifies the attainment of a given level of artistic performance, rather than the completion of a specific number of semester hours of credit. At the discretion of the faculty, a student may be required to repeat any course in music performance; in such a case, the course may be repeated for credit. No music performance requirement is fulfilled unless approval of the faculty has been obtained.
- A student who receives a grade lower than a C- in any music performance course may not register for that course during the next semester or summer session until the requests of other students for such work have been met.
- A student whose degree plan requires a piano proficiency of Music 210K must continue with group piano classes in consecutive semesters until the requirement is fulfilled. In exceptional cases, a student with permission from the group piano supervisor may enroll in private instruction Piano 201 until the Music 210K proficiency has been reached. The student may not enroll in private instruction Piano 202 until the Music 210K proficiency has been completed.
Department of Theatre and Dance
A student must enroll in an appropriate production or performance laboratory course, under the supervision of a Department of Theatre and Dance faculty member, in any semester he or she wishes to participate in a production sponsored by the department. A student majoring in the Department of Theatre and Dance must consult his or her adviser to determine the appropriate course. Nonmajors who wish to enroll in production or performance laboratory courses must consult the undergraduate advising office of the department.