<p>Hey everyone. I went over to the admissions office today and spoke to a senior admissions counselor. I have no idea how someone already got accepted, as they have not even looked at the Spring 2015 applications. She said that the entire admissions committee had a huge meeting this morning, and that most decisions should be posted this Wednesday (11/19) for those who have more than 30 hours. She also mentioned that the average GPA for Spring 2015 applicants was 3.62, a slight increase from last year’s applicant pool.</p>
<p>I also speculate that they don’t read our essays or resumes. It’s all based on your GPA. UT uses a system called Mainframe, a university-wide database used for billing, time-sheets, and of course, admissions. When an admissions officer is making a decision, he or she just pulls up the student’s profile, where they can see the total hours, courses taken, GPA, and other personal information (phone, address, DOB, etc). That’s all. They don’t have our essays in front of them, though I’m sure they have access to them. So I’m pretty sure it is entirely up to them whether they want to read them or not.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t think multiple people look at your application. Even though the term “Admissions Committee” sounds like a bunch of people sitting around a table reviewing applications, that’s not how it is. It’s actually different people in separate offices each pulling up one application at a time in a very systematic, sort of “rushed” manner. What’s frightening is that a decision is entirely up to one person. </p>
<p>I really don’t want to discourage anyone, but it only makes sense for them to do things this way. They get so many applications, and don’t have a lot of people to carefully review thousands of applications.</p>
<p>I was rejected last year with a 3.24 GPA. I"m applying this year with a 3.52, so I hope to hear good news. I definitely wish everyone the best, and hope we all get in! </p>