Recommended UT-Austin Majors Rank and Test Score Minimums
Chopping up freshly gathered coconuts in Kurrimine Beach, Far North Queensland, Australia
Hoping to make the cut for UT-Austin? What rank and test scores do you need to be competitive? Worried you rank outside of the top 6%?
It’s no secret UT admissions is more competitive than ever. UT received approximately 73,000 applications admitting around 17,000 applicants for an enrolling freshmen class of 8,500 for Fall 2024 applicants. Almost three-quarters of all applicants will not gain admission
The admissions rate for Texas residents outside of the top 6% was 12%. Less than 8% of out-of-state and international students gained admission.
I prefer not to take students outside of the top 15% or who score less than a 1400/31 on the SAT/ACT whose primary focus is UT-Austin. It isn’t appropriate for me to accept fees when I feel the student as little to no chance of gaining UT admission. However, each cycle, I work with a few students who have lower academics and are aiming for schools outside of the top 50, like Texas A&M, CU-Boulder, Clemson, Tennessee, SMU, TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Indiana, Wisconsin, etc.
Outstanding academics are necessary but are no guarantees of having admissions success. Since UT and most other universities “holistically review” their applicants, you need to have a strong resume demonstrating your “fit” for your desired program. Nowadays, it’s expected to have relevant experiences to be competitive, especially for STEM. Students with great academics who are well within the below charts will routinely get denied.
In this post, I present data from the past four years to visualize your chances and help you select your first choice college/school/major. I recap Fall 2020 admissions and provide an overview of how UT uses rank and test scores. I discuss my process for producing these academic minimum rules of thumb and conclude with a conversation about how these can help build your college list and decide whether UT is a realistic match.
Check out my new book Surviving the College Admissions Madness and Youtube Channel
Summary of client outcomes from Fall 2017-2024
I’ve compiled and modeled more than 310 client outcomes for Fall 2017 - 2022. Here are my clients from the past five years admitted and denied across all majors, regardless of residency. Since Fall 2017, 240 out of 388 first-time clients have gained admission (62%). 7 out of 14 test-optional clients have gained admission (not pictured).
N = 374
Texas Residents rank and test score minimum recommendations by college and school
When students complete my questionnaire for a free consultation, I don’t hesitate to share the disappointing news if they are highly unlikely to get in. Every year, I also get a few wrong with students who receive pleasantly surprising news of their admission. There are always exceptions in both directions.
These are the rules of thumb, conservative estimates. I’ve built them based on general competition trends from previous years, the approximate number of spaces available, data from my clients, observations from online communities, and forecasting a more competitive environment in future years.
I use these to determine whether my professional services could help a student gain admission. I turn down many more prospective clients than I pitch because I only feel comfortable working with students who I feel have a reasonably good shot at getting in.
Drawing on three years at UT five years working with students independently, I provide below my best guesses for whether UT is worth applying and considering.
Note: I include only Texas residents recommendations here. International and out-of-state students should presumably have higher academics than these to consider UT a “match” school
Fine Arts not modeled because their majors have widely varying admissions processes and selectivity
Client outcomes since 2017 for Computer Science, Engineering, and Business
37 admits among 64 clients (58% acceptance). Ten Turing Scholars admits.
36 admits among 52 clients (69% acceptance). Seven Engineering Honors admits, including three with honors scholarships
59 admits among 80 clients (74% acceptance). Sixteen Business Honors admits.
Academic Minimum Recommendations for Prospective Fall 2025 Clients
The biggest change since Fall 2022 is inching up my recommendations for Computer Science, McCombs Business, Natural Sciences, and the most competitive Engineering majors like Biomedical and ECE.
I have excluded Fine Arts from these recommendations because the audition or portfolio plays a large role in their process. I have broken up Engineering into similarly competitive groups since, unlike most other UT programs, decisions are made on the major selection rather than the college/school.
STEM programs place more weight on the math/quantitative subscores, so there are exceptions to these rules of thumb, which present only the SAT Composite. You can convert your ACT score using these tables.
Competitive CS applicants absolutely need relevant programming and coding experiences, moreso than any of the other UT majors.
The confirmed admissions rate in a recent admitted student information session for McCombs first-time freshman applicants is 17%, down from 25% from a few years ago.
Note: Top 6% Texas Residents are guaranteed Liberal Arts if they choose it first. The top 2 and 5% rules of thumb are for OOS/Foreign applicants.
Cockrell School of Engineering Recommended Rank and Test Score
Below, I estimate the relative competitiveness between engineering majors and provide rules of thumb for UT Cockrell majors to be an academic match.
Similar to Computer Science applicants, competitive students for these engineering majors MUST have extensive relevant experience to be competitive. Chart also includes Environmental Engineering
These are the least competitive Engineering programs
Check out my new book Surviving the College Admissions Madness and Youtube Channel
What to make of these recommendations?
My message isn’t to deter anyone from applying to UT. My hope is that students and families begin managing their expectations will in advance of receiving their decisions. Putting all of your emotional eggs in the same college basket, especially one was selective as UT, is setting you up for potential heartbreak later.
Because UT makes admissions decisions based on a student’s first choice college or school, it is a good idea to at least have a family conversation about aiming for a different program if you’re anxious about your chances.
Having realistic expectations is important for building your college list with “match” programs where you have a reasonable chance of gaining admission. All students need at least one “assured” program where they will 100% gain admission based on their rank and test scores.
Again, these recommendations are conservative estimates whether UT is a realistic possibility. Last year, I had a few clients gain admission that I probably wouldn’t take on this year, and others who I felt confident would gain admission that don’t.
College admissions is extremely uncertain and unpredictable. Variables like rank and test score are two among many.