Also, this is not a decision you need to make any time soon. Take the SAT/ACT again, apply to UT and do great essays, and apply to other schools. You will not know about UT until February, most likely. You probably will have heard back from some of the other schools. Use the time to research each school and what they can offer you as far as support, research, class sizes, things like that. Visit, if you can, to see how you like the campuses. You will have to make the decision in the spring, so you have time to do that now.