<p>Hi! I hear UT Austin OOS apps are reaaaaaally difficult (as difficult as the IVY league I’ve heard?)
I really like this school and would love to see what CC has to say!
Please chance and give me tips!</p>
<p>I live in the northeast! Brrr it’s so cold this time of the year >.< hate it!
Rank: top 5% (will go up by end of this year)
SAT: 2140/1470 (770M, 700R, 670WR) -> first and only score, will retake again soon
ACT: 32 (35M, 29R, 33WR, 30S) -> should I retake?
GPA: 4.5W/3.8UW -> my GPA has a very strong upward trend
I’ve skipped a lot of courses by self-learning/summer courses and then passing the school final with an 90+ so my courses are pretty rigorous.</p>
<p>AP Bio: 5
AP Calc AB: 5
AP Stat: 4
AP Chem: 5
AP Chinese: 5
AP English: 3
SAT II Math II: 770
SAT II Bio: 740
SAT II Chem: 740
SAT II Physics: 700ish?</p>
<p>EC: years are projected because I’m currently a junior
Math club 4 years (VP currently)
Robotics club 4 years (President currently, we made it to 2nd in state freshman year, state championships/worlds qualifier last year, and good luck to us this year and the next!)
Google Open Source Contributor 2 years
Google Code-In (won award) 2 years
Key club 4 years (appx 120 hours community service)
Interact club 4 years (appx 100 hours community service)
FBLA 2 years (all computer events, this is my first year!)
EPGY Stanford summer program
iDTech summer program for code and robotics
NHS 2 years (this is the max for our school)
Animal shelter volunteer 4 years (about 80 hours because our town’s opens very infrequently)</p>
<p>Thanks for reading all the way down here How do I look? How can I improve?</p>
<p>EDIT: oh and I’m an Asian girl applying CNS for computer science!</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick responses :D! And @labeisoup, thanks for telling me about this, this is very helpful I’ll definitely tell my parents about this possibility.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore at UT in the Turing program from Boston. You seem like you’d be a great match. Make sure to apply for the Turing CS honors program :). You have to apply in the spring after you accept for the tuition waiver, and they can be competitive.</p>
<p>Yes, tuition waivers are very hard to get. For example, the entire school of engineering has only 7 or 8 to hand out, for ALL students (not just freshmen).</p>
<p>Sounds reaally tough… I heard that the Turing program is super prestigious tho And yeah, I’m just gonna try to raise my stats as much as I can so I can have a better shot at a waiver or Turing haha so excited for college! Thanks for the replies everyone!</p>
<p>joshhb-
Saw your post that you are a sophomore Turing Scholar so I hoped you could help. My daughter was offered admission to the Turing Scholar program for Fall 2013. She is an out of state student (florida) and honestly would sell her right kidney (if that were legal) to go to UT.
She is waiting for merit scholarships but feels like she will never be able to cover the out of state costs. Obviously I don’t know if you are comfortable sharing your financial situation but am curious how students are able to afford non resident tuition rates. We are high enough income to receive no need based financial aid - but not high enough to spend $32 K per year on an undergraduate degree. As a Turing Scholar did you receive any big scholarships?</p>
<p>Ironically my Dad and I were just discussing UT cost this afternoon(and I’m talking pencil to paper on the kitchen table, ugh). I am also an OSS applicant but am still waiting to here back from UT. My stats don’t really apply to this conversation but here they are (Rank 1/525, 4.0 GPA, 30 ACT (took 4 tries, i know I suck), lots of EC’s and Leadership . So what spurred the conversation was a full ride scholarship to our state school that came in the mail today and he asked if UT was still my #1. He is a Texas alum. I also have a brother in his second year at Vandy (will get back to that),. Family is middle class with a FAFSA EFC of $31000 year according to my Dad. Ok, enough with the stats. </p>
<p>So lets talk Texas, the way I understand it. First off they admit about 500 OOS’s out of 6000 or so OOS applicants and 2000 or so they accept. Basically most of the kids who attend know the cost and families can afford it. We talked to the financial aid people and the vast majority of OOS’s that apply will just pay the OOS tuition. I few receive OOS waivers and a few will receive some scholarships. But most will pay the first year or two. but hear is the hitch, UT is pretty generous when it comes to establishing residency and we were led to believe they have a whole office dedicated to helping students establish residency. However, we have not met with them or actually seen the office. My Dad feels that this would be the best course of action to pursue after the first year and seems to think a real estate purchase would be required. But I actually have no idea.</p>
<p>Ok, is the cost worth it. I don’t know. My brother is at Vandy and even with a fairly high EFC he gets substantial financial assistance making his total cost about $20000 a year cheaper than paying for everything at Texas. (Wishing I would have applied there now, my bad) So is a UT education and experience worth $20000 more per year over Vanderbilt. I guess it depends on the individual but I suspect not. </p>
<p>I am facing the same issues your daughter is. I can’t remember if you posted her stats but I’m sure they were excellent, surly she was excepted to other schools that offer equal to or better education and college experience. Even coming from a family of Long Horns I’m not sure I can justify the cost of UT when I have a full ride to our State Flag Ship and generous financial aid packages to 1 top 50 Universities and 1 top 20. With all that said I soooooo want to be a Long Horn. But if I cant figure out how to get instate tuition the cost are to much for me, the dollars are better allocated to better schools and or grad school. Good luck to your daughter. If I am accepted and figure a way to get instate tuition after the first year I will send you all a message. If there is a way I’m sure my Dad can find it, he lives for that crap.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply to my post. My daughter’s stats are posted somewhere on CC. Very similar to yours. As soon as she got offered admission I emailed financial aid. They gave a very bleak outlook saying to be prepared to pay OOS rates for 4 years. She could work 20 hours a week and get in state tuition, but then she will probably fail her classes because she wouldn’t have any time for studying. Still considering this option if all else fails.
When I emailed the Turing program to ask about scholarships, they were very positive that she would get some money (no amounts shared of course) but I don’t think they have a clue that non-resident rates are $32 K per year (and that’s just tuition…nothing else)
My daughter was accepted to Georgia Tech - no financial package yet. She was also admitted to University of Florida - no financial package yet and probably none will be offered–they don’t have to give merit aid because of the number of kids dying to get in there. However, with our state merit system called BrightFutures, she will have half her tuition covered. That makes UT about $120K more than UF…for an UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE!!! That seems insane, but she SOOOOO wants to be a Longhorn too. I guess we will wait for the end of next month and see where we stand with scholarships…and I thought the wait on admissions notification was difficult. THIS IS AWFUL! Good luck to you. Please let me know when you get accepted. (notice I said when and not if) Wishing you the best.</p>
<p>Do you have to work 20 hours a week for the University of Texas or just have a job and work 20 hours a week, to get the tuition waiver. If it is just have a job for 20 hours a week I would think we could easily create a business and pay ourselves. Maybe contract a payroll service to take care of Social Security, FICA and Fed Tax. Also providing a legitimate paper trail in case the school needs a W2 for proof. That’s definitely an option I had not thought of. Or maybe pay your self to be a landlord of a duplex or quad or something.</p>
<p>I will say this, there is no way I could work a real job for 20 hours a week and still make good grades. </p>
<p>Also, I lived near GA Tech for 6 years and it is a great area to live. Atlanta is a great town with lots to do. Tons of boys at GA tech too. (But I digress) So if the financial aid package is good it will make the decision just that much more difficult. Great! nothing like a little more stress.</p>
<p>Of course being a Gator would be cool and then having lots of money for grad school is appealing. Sound like your daughter and family have lots of great options.</p>
<p>Sorry I’m rambling. It looks like some UT acceptances are rolling out tonight. Unfortunately the servers appear to be overloaded so I have not been able to log in.
But I keep trying:)</p>
<p>CONGRATULATIONS!!! So excited for you. Came online today just to see if you had heard. Good luck with your decision making. I am not sure about the job thing…in one email from CNS I was told that working as a proctor/tutor/assistant can get you resident tuition, but on the website it says that does not count as gainful employment. Either way I would worry about her doing 20 hours a week at any job. She did suggest she could marry a Texan…but that will have to be a last resort!;)</p>
How do I look? How can I improve?</p>
I’ll definitely tell my parents about this possibility.</p>
And yeah, I’m just gonna try to raise my stats as much as I can so I can have a better shot at a waiver or Turing