The University of Texas at Austin is one of the most well-known, and well-respected, public universities in the United States. They offer an impressive education, and have a strong commitment to their Texas students — which has created a bit of a bottle-neck. It is true that UT Austin is a great school regardless of whether you are from Texas or not, but the university has become exceptionally hard to get into for out-of-state students mostly for an impressive public relations team. The guaranteed admission program for Texas students ensures that the best of the best have a seat, but out-of-state students face high odds. The difficulty of getting in has only driven up demand, and the most recent available data shows an out-of-state acceptance rate of only 10%.
When applying to UT Austin from within Texas, the strongest applicants are actually guaranteed admission by ranking in the very top of their class. Other students in Texas can get in, though, and do still have a boost as UT Austin is required to fill 75% of the first-year class with Texas residents. If you are an out-of-state applicant, you still need to be at the very top of your game academically, even though there isn’t a set minimum class rank. The university does not publish a minimum GPA or even he GPA range or median for recently accepted students, so we can’t tell you that there is a set of numbers that you need to be aiming for. We do know from experience, though, that to get into UT Austin as an out-of-state applicant requires an outstanding transcript and scores. A high B-range grade as a freshman can often be overlooked, but from sophomore year on you need to be in A territory.
The university also requires the SAT or ACT, but doesn’t publish the score ranges for accepted students. For the ACT, we’d recommend a 35+ and on the SAT a 1540 or higher. This doesn’t mean that it is impossible to get in with lower grades, but the demand for a spot in the UT Austin first year class from students outside of Texas is too high for them to lower their standards. They have tens of thousands of applications to sift through, and those that don’t measure up may not even be read fully. It is also important to know that Unlike many other top schools, UT Austin does not superscore. They will only consider the highest score from a single test date, as opposed to looking at the highest section score across multiple test dates.
If you are hoping to get a boost by applying Early Decision, you are out of luck there, too. You can apply to UT Austin Early Action or Regular Decision, but there is no Early Decision option.
Once you have your grades and scores in order and have decided whether to apply EA or RD, it’s time to get into the supplements — so let’s do it!
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The UT Austin supplement only has three questions, and they give you a good amount of space to develop your answer for each. Before you even answer the questions, though, let’s talk about the resume.
If you go to the ‘Activities’ section of the UT Austin-specific section of the Common App, you’ll see that they invite you to upload a resume. This is not required, but if you have read our posts for other colleges, you know that optional is not optional if you want to get in. It also is required if you want to be considered for some freshman honors programs.
We have other resources specifically focused on building a strong resume, but here are two very important tips:
The resume cannot be more than one page. It does not matter how much you have done or how many details you want to include. It must be one page.
It must be focused — which will help it also keep to one page. You need to focus your resume on what is most relevant to UT Austin: academics, internships, and work experience in addition to extracurricular activities. The point is not to reiterate what is already in your activities section, but to go deeper into a focused group of super-relevant activities.
UT Austin allows students to submit their resume after submitting the Common App, but we always recommend submitting all pieces of the application together unless it’s actually impossible to do so…which it isn’t with the resume, so make your resume.
Now to the supplemental questions.
Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first-choice major? (250-300 words)
This is the most obvious question they could ask. You are applying to college to study something, and they want to know the what and the why of your prospective major. Now, UT Austin knows that your focus may change, but it is extremely important that you convey confidence and clarity in this response as that shows the university that you have strong drive and deep passion.
Any successful response to this prompt needs to include a specific major (your ‘first choice’), but it actually needs to start with a story. Yes, you are going to get sick of us mentioning story, but it truly is immensely important. The story that you start this supplement with should spotlight your passion for the subject and how you are already pursuing it beyond simply taking the bare minimum coursework. This could be additional study, independent work, a connected extracurricular, or a particularly formative experience. For example, a student interested in biology could start with a story of them out in a river in tall wader taking water samples.
From that opening story, you need to pivot to why UT Austin is the best place for you to study this subject. This should include at least one course you want to take, but probably two, as well as a professor you hope to study under. If research would be a piece of your UT experience, that should be included here with details like the lab you hope to work in and research from that lab that is already inspiring to you.
End the supplement by mentioning a specific academic student group at UT Austin that you would join to supplement your classroom study and envisioning the role you would play in their success and growth.
Think of all the activities — both in and outside of school — that you have been involved with during high school. Which one are you most proud of and why? (250-300 words)
For this second supplement, it isn’t about UT Austin at all. This one is all about you and what you value. Note, they are not asking what you have spent the most time on. This is about what you are most proud of, so it may not be a daily or even weekly thing, but it is likely an activity that you worked towards over a long span of time.
Maybe you made it to the championships in a certain activity, contributed to your community in a measurably impactful way, or created a new opportunity for others in your community that will outlast your time in high school.
UT Austin also invites applicants to write about a job or a family responsibility, but remember that this response is not about what took up your time most. So, watching a sibling may not be a good option here, but if you helped your sibling accomplish a goal it could actually be a perfect match.
Whatever you choose to write about, you need to, again, center it on story. This supplement is a total flop without a compelling story structure, even if what you are writing about is objectively interesting and impressive. Use most of the supplement not to explain or paint a big picture, but to focus on a moment that the pride you are spotlighting was particularly strong — like tackling a set-back that lead ultimately to success. A smaller portion of the supplement should contextualize whatever you are focusing on.
End with what is next. Is there something coming up that will challenge you even more, or are you helping younger students do even better than you did?
Please share background on events or special circumstances that you feel may have impacted your high school academic performance. If your response to this question is similar to one of the Common App Personal Essays, feel free to simply copy and paste the important parts of your essay here. (250-300 words).
This one is optional, and the first sentence of the prompt suggests that it actually is only best for students to answer it if they really have something to explain. Then they say that you can include chunks of your Common App personal statement, which is confusing.
If UT Austin did not consider the Common App essay as part of your application, we would say that this question is in fact not optional. However, they do consider the Common App personal essay. So, why is this here?
It’s likely that this is a situation explained by the fact that the Common App is not the only way to apply to UT Austin. They also have their own application system, ApplyTexas, which is quite different from the Common App. This question may be a sort of mistranslation from ApplyTexas. Regardless of why it is here, we do need to make a case for why we say ‘skip it’ to most applicants.
When you write an explanation for a struggle or disruption in your education, you put yourself into yet another comparative game. Your grades and scores are being compared against other applicants. Your activities are being compared, too, as is your interest in your major. We consider it ill-advised to join the pool of students whose hardship is being compared, too, unless you have a good reason to do so.
If you have a really important an impactful special circumstance that must be mentioned, it should be in your additional information section for schools beyond UT Austin to see. If you have done this, you can copy-and-paste that section to this supplement. Whether your special circumstance is truly impactful enough to spend time on is subjective to you as an applicant. We can’t tell you what is enough to matter in a broad strokes way, so get in touch if you think that you have something that needs to go here but are not sure.
Whether you are applying as a resident of Texas or are an out-of-state student, getting into UT Austin requires more than simply being impressive. We help students tell a story that captures admissions’ attention and leads to an acceptance. This breakdown of the supplement will guide you in the right direction, but to gain the greatest advantage reach out.
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