Should I apply on August 1st (when the application opens)?

junebug693
Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:09:00 +0000

Neonb88,

I would suggest you wait instead of applying as soon as the application becomes available. I will be attending UT next year as a freshman and I remember the application process pretty well. I did not qualify for automatic admission and I did not submit my application to the university until October.

My situation was pretty similar to yours. I was close to the top 10% at a competitive high school, and I had a 2150 on the SAT. My extracurriculars were different from yours but I had about the same number and level of involvement, and I had taken about the same number of APs.

My experience was that the “rolling admissions policy” didn’t really apply to review applicants. Everyone qualified for automatic admission heard about their acceptance within days of submitting their applications, but very few review admits heard from UT before mid-February, no matter when they submitted their applications. I was waitlisted and did not learn about my acceptance until mid-May.

I don’t know exactly what goes on in the UT admissions office, but I get the sense they set review applications aside until they’ve largely dealt with the automatic applicants. UT explicitly says that it uses a “holistic review” process for review applicants that takes into account things like essays and recommendations.

A thoughtful and well-edited application is definitely going to look better in the holistic review process than one that was thrown together, although I can understand your feelings of urgency about the application. Also, you’ll learn fairly quickly that all college essay prompts are all relatively similar. If you write a couple of good essays for the UT application, you can tweak them and recycle them for other applications. (As a side note, I don’t think you should write the third essay unless you really do have additional information or extenuating circumstances the admissions committee needs to know about. DEFINITELY don’t regurgitate your resume in essay form for the third essay, because some people do that and my admissions counselor told me it’s a bad idea.)

I also think you should apply to UT in general and transfer later. I applied to the college of liberal arts (which is one of the least selective colleges at UT) and I almost didn’t get in. The engineering college is more selective and hard to get into as a freshman, but you should have no trouble transferring from another college within the university if you get good grades your freshman year.

Also, try to get the 35 ACT. 2150 is certainly a good score, but the better your scores, the better your chances.

Most of all, remember that applying to colleges is going to be a LONG and stressful process, but ultimately it will be ok. With test scores and extracurriculars like you’ve listed, I think you have a great chance at UT or any other school you’re interested in.

Let me know if you have questions! Sorry, this response may actually be longer than the original question. :)