It is too early. Come back junior year when you have a clearer idea of your GPA/class rank and standardized test scores.
Yep. Plenty of OOS publics get aggressive dependent upon stats. Privates too - like Hendrix which will give you UT tuition. Budget ??
Good in state options too.
But if you’re a sophomore, let’s see where you are academically after first semester junior year.
Think about what you want in a school. It’s easy to make big names. But do you want big? Mid size ? Small ? Urban like UT or suburban like A&M or rural ?
Big sports? Greek life ? What’s your true interests academically vs just the easiest to get in ?
Does weather or distance from home matter ?
Think of the type of school you want. If you don’t know, when you have a chance (no rush), go visit some local ones of different sizes and environments to get a feel.
I completely disagree with the people here who say you don’t have a shot, if you’re flexible on major.
Someone with decent stats - which you have since you are top 25 percent of your class, have taken Some honors classes and are in state - has a decent shot at UT if you apply to the school of education. That’s what so many kids at our private school and our neighboring public high school do to get in. It’s not a guarantee but you absolutely have a reasonable shot.
For A&M I’d say you are likely admission, again depending on major. For unaffected majors they accept most applicants. Last year our school had 100 percent of applicants (77 total) accepted to A&M. While that’s not normal,
Our long term acceptance rate is 80 percent and, importantly A&M overall acceptance rate is over 60 percent. Don’t forget about BLINN team. Getting in to that IS considered being accepted to A&M since you enroll in both schools and take classes at both as a freshman and get a degree from A&M. Again, You are in state, decent stats, coursework and ECs…apply to a less competitive major and you have a good shot to get in.
Finally, if you really want UT and don’t get in,
You will almost certainly get CAP. Virtually all in-state applicants who are not admitted get CAP. Through that program you can transfer to UT as a sophomore into the school of arts and sciences. Admission is guaranteed as long as you accept the program and complete a year at another state school with a 3.2.
I’m not saying you’ll definitely get in but I wanted to give a different, much less bleak perspective on your chances at UT and A&M. I think you have a shot at both if you’re wiling to apply to less competitive majors.
Good luck!
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I don’t mean to be argumentative but wanted to address this point. It’s true for many majors at UT but it is definitely not true for all majors, including things like majors in the Moody School of Communications or the School of Education. Consistently every year the kids at our private school and our neighboring public school have an overall acceptance rate to UT of about 50 percent. Many of these acceptances are to these two “easier” schools at UT. It’s true that it’s a huge reach to get into McCombs, engineering or computer science. But, I would not say it’s a huge reach to all schools at UT from in-state. There are so many people that just want to go there and so they look specifically at majors in these less competitive schools. I’m not recommending it for everyone but I think it’s important to know that there are many majors where you do not have to be top 5 percent. When you look at the overall UT acceptance rate of nearly 30 percent…that’s how it gets this high…the “easier” majors have acceptance rates above that.
Get a tutor. Look at Kahn Academy.
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Agree about the major being part of it, but note:
–The OP’s stated long term goal is law school with a specialty in space or AI law so I’m guessing some STEM type of major would make sense (rather than Education or Communications). I am a believer in studying a major that makes sense for one’s long term goals rather than majoring in something of no interest (or trying to arrange an internal transfer which could be unlikely) just to gain entry to a specific college but YMMV.
–The OP is currently in the 20th percentile with more B’s so far this year. PSAT 1250.
–I would never say to not apply when the time comes. The OP should, however, understand the landscape and apply to affordable match and safety schools as well.
–Also at some point, the OP should educate his/her (immigrant) parents on the TX public system so they are not as stuck on the prestige factor of UT. As I said upthread, one can get into a fine law school from many many undergrad places.
Anyway, as I said earlier, it seems too early (sophomore year) for the OP to ask to be chanced. But I think it is likely that the OP will need to expand his/her college search at the appropriate time. As a sophomore I believe the OP really should focus on classes in progress and (at some point) preparing for standardized tests.
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If you can afford it, you might want to consider getting a tutor. It is important that you click well with your tutor, and that the tutor understands the subject. However, otherwise a rather wide range of tutors is at least possible. You might get help after school from your teacher. You might find another student who can help. There might be a former teacher in your area who tutors.
You should make sure that you are comfortable with the concepts. The further you go in math, the more that it is not just about memorization – it is also about fully understanding the concepts and understanding why things work the way that they do.
You are very young to be taking AP Physics. Is it possible to drop back to regular physics? Otherwise I think that you just need to pay attention and do the work. Other than also understanding the concepts and understanding the underlying mathematics, I do not recall any particular trick to doing well in physics. If they have you doing experiments it does help to write up the results as soon as possible. With time the memory tends to lag if we have not written things down.
NEVER let a school pick your major. The typical college student will change their major 2-3 times before settling on what to major. Employable majors at UT are notoriously competitive and they usually pick their students as freshmen. Otherwise you get to study liberal arts and humanities. That’s probably fine if you’re REALLY going to law school. But as mentioned, you might decide you like business or something more employable. If I were you, I would go to a school that offers better flexibility, like Texas Tech, Univ of Houston or UTSA.
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For a lawyer, prestige and selectivity of your undergraduate school matters little. However, prestige and selectivity of your law school matters a lot. Whatever undergraduate school you attend, you will need to do better than a 3.4 GPA in college, and do well on the LSAT (in comparison to pre-law college students who are a stronger cohort than high school students taking the PSAT) in order to get into a more prestigious and selective law school whose graduates have better employment prospects.
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