Chance/advice for a scared junior

DadTwoGirls
Tue, 05 Apr 2022 02:02:20 +0000

If you are auto-admit at UT Austin, then you are already in at a very good university. Congratulations! It looks like you have earned this through your own hard work and success throughout high school.

When you are auto-admit at a university that is this good, then you can relax.

U.Mass Amherst is a very good university. However, I do not understand why it is worth paying more than you would need to pay for UT Austin. I could say the same thing about CU Boulder. Both do however have some merit aid for a few out of state students which might reduce the cost difference given your excellent results.

I think that you are competitive for your reaches. However this puts you in a group along with 80% or 85% of applicants. Your reaches are “reaches” for a reason. Most of them do not give any merit based aid.

I do wonder whether you would be better off attending UT Austin for your bachelor’s degree, then considering your reaches (and perhaps also Stanford) for a master’s degree. This assumes that you will continue your excellent work through university.

By the way, I was a “math or physics” major until I met up with quantum physics. Then I became a math major.