<p>I have been interested in UT lately even though it is far away from where I live (NJ). What makes Texas unique from other universities? What is the average student at Texas like? What GPA W or UW should I have to get into Texas? Also, how is the city of Austin?</p>
<p>Austin is… weird. All I’ve got for you there.
UT admission is heavily rank, followed by standardized test scores. They do not look at GPA unless your school does not rank, then by that they assign you a rank themselves.</p>
<p>Austin is weird, but a good weird - though I guess that’s a matter of perspective. I grew up in a close-minded, heavily conservative Texas town. Austin is an extremely refreshing change, while still remaining “homely” and not too much of a shock.</p>
<p>Rank is indeed super important…</p>
<p>This provides a lot of info:</p>
<p>[University</a> of Texas | University of Texas–Austin | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-texas-3658]University”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-texas-3658)</p>
<p>Also, I’m not fully sure about how Austin is since I live in Dallas, but since they are both major cities in Texas I’d like to think they are kinda similar. I here there is A LOT of things to do while on campus and off campus in Austin. I think there is a music festival is held there. The one time I went there to visit campus I thought the city was very pretty and very urban.</p>
<p>I think the ACL festival is the one you’re referring to, but they have music gigs going on all the time. I live an hour outside Houston but I find Austin is a lot more livelier than Houston.</p>
<p>Speaking of ACL, SXSW is a HUGE music/movie festival there right now</p>
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<p>They are SO different, I can’t even know where to begin…</p>
<p>My class doesn’t rank so what would be a good GPA? I also have been to Dallas which was a really nice city and I also have been to Houston and San Antonio which were also nice</p>
<p>They’re going to give you a rank. Their academic index formula doesn’t even take GPA into account. If your school does not rank, it probably provides a grade distribution which UT will use to estimate your rank.</p>
<p>My son was admitted this year from OOS. We went to a presentation last summer and they did an excellent job of going through the admission process. Basically, if you are from oos, they really do look at you in a holistic manner (much more so than many other state schools). They want you to do all the essays and the resume even if they say it is optional. I think the max they can take from oos is 10% but many oos students do get in.</p>
<p>We were at an accepted student reception yesterday in NYC. We are from NJ. It was explained like this… Austin is the blue dot in the red state! LOL! It is rated as one of the top 20 most liberal cities in the country. It has also been called the music capitol of the world. I hear it is very hip. We are visiting 4/1, so I only have info we have researched. I believe UT Austin is a combination of an intellectual environment with really smart kids and a really fun party school with big sports (as everything is bigger in Texas!!). Sounds ideal for my D! As per the last 6 years of history from our high school (VERY COMPETITIVE!) looks like this:
avg GPA- 3.85
avg SAT- 1990
avg ACT- 30
avg rank (guesstimated)- top 15-20%
Overlaps: UMich, UWisc-Madison, Penn St, Tulane, UMD-College Park, Indiana U, USC, UIL-Urbana-Champaign, UFlorida, Rutgers… However, this just reports back the most common overlaps and many of these schools are used as safeties at our HS, like Rutgers, Penn St, IU, and UMD. With that said, UMich, UWisc, USC, UFlorida, and UIL are probably the real comparisons. To that you could probably add UMiami (depending on what you are studying, and even UWashington, although not many students apply there from our HS. Throw in a reach school or 2… maybe UNC, Northwestern, Cornell, and there is a good solid list! LOL! Visit, visit, visit because sometimes you get there and you know immediately it is not for you. For us, UIL was absolutely wrong. Not great for her major, not her type of kid, just wrong. IU, on the other hand, although it was a safety school, she was very impressed and felt right at home! Can’t wait to see UT Austin! It has consistently been a top 3 for her and everything sounds perfect… just gotta get that “feeling” before she commits! Hook 'em Horns!</p>
<p>Texas: lower cost of living, from clothes to taxes and everything in between, mostly flat, lots of countryside, conservative, down to earth practical, oil business, hot summers, mild-er winters, informal and welcoming in general, cosmopolitan -although most foreigners still are Hispanic immigrants. Everything is big in Texas, starting with roaches.</p>
<p>Austin: open minded, feel-good, casual dress code, younger population, small city (compared to Dallas, Houston, NJ, Boston, etc), very much a pedestrian town, green, environmental, peace-type atmosphere, lots of cafes and night life (6th street), THE major festival/networking event all over downtown includes many disciplines/conferences but mostly young music is SXSW going on right now (EVERYONE under 80 is there), hills, several lakes at short distance, one of the 10 top sought after cities to live in for young adults, dry weather, can be hot but not as humid as Houston/Dallas, traffic is a big issue -hence the pedestrian preference, big silicon valley this side of California, the best food in Texas (many local farmers, organic, sustainable options), few shopping options.</p>
<p>UT: the soul of Austin, right in the center of town, walk or short ride to all attractions, pedestrian college, huge college (many classes 300 students), one of the cheapest and top ranked state universities in US (tuition near $9,000), actively attracting quality faculty, most students live off campus after freshman year, very competitive for out of state students, rank matters, a few Texas-size scholarships that include flight home, personal stipends and paid summer overseas classes.</p>