<p>Hey guys. I’m a rising senior and am planning on applying to UT this fall. I know it shouldn’t matter but for the record I am an URM and a female.</p>
<p>ACT Score: 27
GPA: *3.48 W/3.38 UW
Rank: Certainly not in the top 9%; the school I go to is one of the larger schools in the North Texas region so my class size is around 1200+. I’m around 300-350.</p>
<p>AP Exams I’ve Taken:
-English Language
-U.S. History
-World History</p>
<p>Senior Schedule:
-AP English Literature
-AP Government/AP Macroeconomics (each are a semester only)
-Environmental Science
-Pre-Calculus
-newspaper (double blocking using independent study)
-band</p>
<p>Extra-circulars:
-Editor in Chief of newspaper (actively involved with newspaper for the past 3 years)
-Won first place at UIL district for both feature and headline writing (I didn’t place for State this year)
-Active Girl Scout member since kindergarten and have earned Silver and Bronze award; am now working towards Gold Award that will be completed before spring of 2012
-Organized international organization Invisible Children to come to high school and have raised over ten thousand dollars for the school to school program
-Over 500 hours of various volunteering service, including working at the library during the summer and at three different vacation bible school’s every summer for the past three years
-Vice President of Rotary Sponsored Club Interact (previously secretary during this past year)
-Member of band as clarinet player since 6th grade and have earned several local awards
-Member of the Environmental Activist Club
-Founding member/president of Novel Writing Club
-Member of Secret Drawer Society: local club aimed at inspiring others and ensuring optimism in the student body (helped organize benefit concert that raised almost a thousand dollars in one night)</p>
<p>*I know my grades are obviously not stellar but I did have a family hardship and other circumstances that prevented me from achieving higher grades than I am capable of. My parents had a very rough divorce, including almost 40 missed days of school because of court dates and other related events. The judge for the case will be including a written statement for my application going into more detail about the circumstances.</p>
<p>Honestly, with UT it is extremely rare that some gains admission without being top 8%.
Your ECs are solid, but your biggest thing will be your grade/rank/standardized tests. </p>
<p>Try taking the SAT and see how you do on it.
Texas’s top 10% rule the the most absurd policy in the collegeworld.
Especially with a school like Austin, it sadly comes down to rank 99% of the time.</p>
<p>If your dead set on UT, and there’s no way to squeeze your way into the top 8, I’d suggest considering the Cap program.</p>
<p>I wish you the best of luck on your Senior year!</p>
<p>“-Organized international organization Invisible Children to come to high school and have raised over ten thousand dollars for the school to school program”</p>
<p>I DID THE EXACT SAME THING. Haha, weird!
Anyway, I think you still have a chance even if you’re somewhere around the 25%-30% range, the only thing I’d say is holding you back is your ACT score. Get it in the 30s or take the SAT and get it in the 2000s with a 1400+ CR/M and you have a better shot.</p>
<p>I will march across campus and personally slap everyone in the admissions department if you do not get admitted. Your ECs are very good and it sounds like your grades are too considering the circumstances.</p>
<p>@tenderisthenight Your stats look great and I’d bet you have a good chance at applying. Best of luck to you. Write some killer essays and talk to the admissions counselor. I was THE ACTUAL last kid in the top 10 percent and I made it in last year (like number 60 of 650 or something like that). Shame they had to cut it even shorter after that. </p>
<p>Good luck, crossing my fingers for you! :)</p>
<p>Thanks, guys!</p>
<p>@PleaseRice I took the SAT but it was no where near good enough for UT. I got a 1720 for the June one, which was a slight improvement from before. I felt a lot better about the ACT, however, so hopefully whenever that comes back it will be in that range.</p>
<p>I would be okay if I was CAPed, it’s just obviously not my first decision or hope to be.</p>
<p>You’ll get in. Your resume seems very similar to what mine was.</p>
<p>51/229 (22%)
30 ACT
29 Dual Credit hours
Class President, VP of business club, Baseball, NHS, Stuco, not near as much community service as you, worked 30-40 h/week during most of senior year.
Also went through parents divorce my sophomore year which had big impact on grades.</p>
<p>I got into my first choice major in the Communications school.</p>
<p>You have such a strong list of extracurriculars and respectable enough grades/stats that they will almost surely accept you when they also consider your hardship. </p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>hi, Tender Is The Night, a Fitzgerald lover, huh? Then,you’ll enjoy that AP Lit class in senior year.<br>
So, are you planning to major in journalism? I’ve seen a couple of students gain acceptance (even though not top 8% ) because of journalistic feats.<br>
Which other schools are you interested in besides UT? At the stage where you are as a rising senior, always have a “reach” school as well as a couple where you can be 95% sure of being accepted.</p>
<p>Who knows why one gets in and one doesn’t beyond the automatic top % rule. For Fall 2011, it was top 8%. That left some room for students from high schools with a history of churning out successful UT students who were below the top 10% and out of state students, as well. </p>
<p>If you really want to attend UT, get the standardized scores up. ACT should be 30 or better. Write compelling essays. Apply for honors in your major. </p>
<p>Good look and hook 'em!</p>
<p>To be honest, my stats were comparable to you and UT was a reach for me as well.
My extracurrics were stellar though my grades/scores were far from perfect. </p>
<p>I was admitted to UT in February and will be attending UT this fall. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>