Can I get into UT Austin if I am technically not in the top 6%?Answered
I am a new Texas resident and I know that UT Austin has to admit 75% of texas applicants as auto-admit students. Since I am new to Texas, my school does not rank me and will not rank me until after the application process (which is stupid) due to their school policy. I have a high GPA and I am certain that I am in the top 5% of my class. But due to the school policy, colleges will not get to know this fact. Is there a way for me to let the admission officers know that I would have been in the top 5% if it weren't for the school's policy? And how does not having an official rank hurt my chances?
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1 answer
Hi @Moksh191,
As a '22 Texas hs graduate, I have some experience with this. Though the statistic you presented looks correct, it is still very possible to gain admission to UT without auto-admission if you are a (generally-speaking) competitive candidate for your major.
Personally, I was one rank away from auto-admission, but I was still admitted to UT CS through holistic admissions consideration (as was the student ranked immediately above and immediately below me at my hs).
So, I think your grades/gpa should speak for itself in this matter, as well as your ECs. In my experience (knowing several UT admits from various graduating classes in my hs), I feel that UT looks more for aptitude rather than prior experience for auto-admits but more at ECs/Essays as the distinguishing factor in holistic admissions (if you have the right academic qualifications, which you seem to have).
As for the school policy, in the additional information section of your ApplyTexas application, you can mention the reason that you don't have a rank and that you suspect that you may have ranked in the top 5% of your class if not for your extenuating circumstance.
But make no mistake, this additional info will not get you switched into the auto-admit consideration pile; it will act as a possible moral sway to AOs (i.e. he should be admitted bc he is on-par with our auto-admits rather than he must be admitted bc he is an auto-admit)
I also suggest that your additional information statement sound as if it is offering the information on the policy to answer a question you think would be raised when reviewing your app and the 5% info since you thought it may be useful to provide the AOs with contextualized gpa. If you think the 5% might not be coming across too well (which is a risk), I would say you could even leave it out. Since others from your school will likely be applying as well, I think AOs would be able to contextualize your gpa on their own (should they need to) by comparing to auto-admit gpas from your hs.
However, I encourage you to just do what feels right with the addl info; use your best judgement and just make sure to proofread.
Hope this helps!
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Thanks you! Your story makes me feel better! If you don't mind, what were your test scores and your gpa that got you into UT CS? And how good were your ECs?