UT-Austin External Transfer Admissions Guide
Caving in Waitomo, New Zealand
UPDATE FALL 2024 TRANSFER REQUIREMENTS: UT now only requires the Essay A Statement of Purpose from Fall 2024 onward. Applicants will not need to submit a second easy. It remains unclear if you have the option to submit a Special Circumstances essay.
Note: this post is for External Transfers who are not UT students. Current UT students wanting to change their major or internally transfer can consult this post.
Public Service Announcement: Enrolling at Austin Community College (ACC) does not improve your UT transfer chances.
Navigating the college admissions process, especially as a transfer, can sometimes feel like crawling around in the dark. I build upon this previous post 9 Tips for Transferring by compiling all relevant questions into this comprehensive post. I provide perspectives and additional resources to help you consider your options while addressing these themes and FAQs:
Why Students Transfer
The Coordinated Admissions Program (CAP) and Pathway to Admission through Co-Enrollment (PACE)
Transfer Eligibility and Prerequisites
Automatic Transfer Admissions
Spring versus Fall Transfer
Admissions Statistics and Trends
GPA Recommendations by College/School
Essay and Resume Tips
Receiving Your Decision
Check out my new book Surviving the College Admissions Madness and Youtube Channel
Why transfer?
There are a few reasons why students might attempt a transfer. Some remain committed to the UT dream and want to get there as soon as possible. Others enroll at a great university, but the major they come to love isn’t offered there, so they must switch campuses to pursue their new interest. Students sometimes want to stick with their major, but they feel limited by their current environment and that their ceiling for growth is low. They are attracted to UT’s extensive opportunities and resources. Approximately 40% of Bachelors degree earners nationwide graduate from a university where they did not start their studies.
Many transfer students are nontraditional. They are mid-career professionals looking to complete their degree or pursue a second bachelor’s in a different field. There are veterans who want to take advantage of the GI Bill, which covers most costs. International students, especially from China, South Korea, Taiwan, and India are increasingly enrolling at community colleges before finishing their bachelor’s degrees in the United States. The range of transfer applicants is much more extensive than first-time freshmen who are overwhelmingly high school seniors. There is no “typical” transfer student.
I discuss veterans and non-traditional students in this post.
Coordinated Admissions Program (CAP)
About a third of incoming fall transfers enroll through the Coordinated Admissions Program (CAP). CAP is something Texas residents must choose during their HS senior year. It isn’t something one can request. CAP requires students to take 15 hours in the fall and 15 hours in the spring. A 3.2 GPA guarantees admission to Liberal Arts. All other majors are competitive with the rest of the transfer pool.
You can view the HS Rank/Test score requirements for each UT-System campus. Keep in mind that UTSA and UT-Arlington always fill up within an hour or two of the CAP portal opening.
CAP may not be a good option for students with many dual credit or AP because CAP requires students to take a rather rigid curriculum, so having many hours may limit your CAP options. If you’re solely focused on enrolling in a more competitive major like Business, Engineering, or Computer Science, CAP may not be a good fit because it offers no guarantees. Internally transferring into these programs once you’re a UT student is also challenging and would delay your graduation. It may be better to enroll at a four-year university where you have a guaranteed pathway into your major
Transfers arrive roughly equally from community colleges, four-year universities, and the CAP program. In 2013, UT sent 10,539 CAP offers. Of those, 1,981 applicants took their offer and enrolled at a UT system school, and 773 transferred to Austin after their freshman year. Unlike first-time freshman application numbers, which have steadily increased over the past decade, transfer applications remain relatively static if not slightly declining in recent years.
Interested in maximizing your transfer admissions chances? Complete my questionnaire for a free e-mail consultation.
Pathway to Admission through Co-Enrollment (PACE)
Around 200-300 Texas resident HS senior applicants will receive PACE as an option each year. It isn’t something students can request or, to my knowledge, appeal into except in exceptional circumstances (like your twin gained admission and you didn’t).
PACE allows select students to begin their studies by taking 12 ACC Rio Grande and 3 on UT’s campus. After completing 30 hours, if the student earns a 3.0 (with a few other considerations), they’re guaranteed transfer to UT.
There is a ton of speculation on who receives PACE and why. Anything you see publicly on Reddit or College Confidential is nothing but best educated guesses. I worked at UT when they rolled out PACE in 2012 or 2013. They didn’t inform counselors of the admission parameters then, and it seems there is nothing publicly available now. The PACE admissions portal has very little content.
A few of my clients have received PACE over the years, and I don’t know why some do and others don’t. It seems if you apply first choice for one of the colleges/schools that PACE guarantees admission, like Liberal Arts, Communications, Education, or Social Work, then you have a chance of getting it. To my knowledge, and I may be wrong, no Business or Engineering applicant has ever received PACE.
As far as rank and test scores requirements, who knows. It seems extremely random to me, and there aren’t enough offers or data to have a large enough sample size to make any conclusions.
Students offered PACE may also choose CAP.
Check out my new book Surviving the College Admissions Madness and Youtube Channel
Transfer Eligibility and Requirements
Hours: Prospective Spring applicants must have 24 hours of transferable coursework completed by the September 1 spring deadline. For spring transfers, any fall hours in progress will not count either for the 24 hour minimum or prerequisites.
Fall applicants need only to have 24 hours completed or in progress by the March 1 deadline. If you have less than 24 hours completed by the deadline, admissions will wait for the semester to end and receiving your transcript/grades to make a decision.
All transfers must also have graduated HS or earned their GED.
Some recent HS graduates attempt to transfer in the spring immediately after graduation by having more than 24 hours from AP or IB. They might also have two or three summer classes and post-HS college grades. However, this pathway is tenuous since you will compete against older applicants with substantive post-HS college transcripts. There is no penalty for applying for spring and trying again for the subsequent fall if your spring attempt doesn’t work out. Only recent HS graduates with significant dual credit college hours and grades should have a viable shot at gaining admission for the spring.
Some older applicants ask if they can apply as a freshman applicant again rather than with their transfer credentials. However, after graduating from high school, if you take even one college course, you cannot pursue first-time freshman admissions. You must apply as a transfer. Consequently, 99% of high school graduates will apply as transfers, unless they are taking a true gap year.
GPA: UT used to have a 3.0 minimum for your application to be considered, but they’ve quietly removed that requirement as of last year. Keep in mind that they do not replace grades, so if you failed Calculus and earned a B later on, both are considered in your GPA calculation. UT admits students who earn mostly all A’s. The university average applicant is a 3.4 and the typical admit has around a 3.75. Some programs, especially for STEM and Business, are substantially more competitive with competitive applicants having a 3.9+ GPA.
You can use this GPA calculator to help see you’re overall grades/credits.
Applications: Applicants must complete Apply Texas OR the Common Application and pay a $75 fee or request a fee waiver. You must mail in or upload your college transcripts from all hours earned or attempted from all colleges or study abroad programs.
HS Academics: Admissions reviewers will not look at any academics from high school like your rank or ACT/SAT scores. They also will not see any previous first-time freshman or transfer applications.
The transfer process only considers your college-level coursework. The Office of Admissions does not evaluate your high school grades, rank, or standardized test scores. I have reassured many adults seeking transfer that they don’t have to sit for the SAT.
Admissions Review: Decisions are still made using the Academic and Personal Achievement matrix, but the only academic factor is your college GPA. Your college GPA and transcript account for 50% of the admissions criteria while a review score of your essays, resume, and other factors accounts for the other 50%.
More than 90 hours or already have a Bachelors?
UT discourages applicants originating from a four-year university who have exceeded ninety hours from attempting to transfer. You need to spend at least two years at UT to earn your degree and three years for some programs, so they prioritize students who are entering as sophomores and juniors. If you claim AP credit at your current institution, and it shows up on your transcript, those credits will count toward the twenty-four-hour minimum requirement but not your GPA.
What about Honors Programs?
In theory, some first-time freshman honors programs admit transfers, namely Business Honors. However, transferring into a freshman honors program is exceedingly rare and almost impossible. Instead, you should consider on-campus honors and certificate opportunities intended for upper-division students.
Interested in maximizing your transfer admissions chances? Complete my questionnaire for a free e-mail consultation.
Prerequisite Courses and Credit Equivalency
It is necessary to research any prerequisite courses that you need. Business, Engineering, Geosciences, Nursing, Natural Sciences, Environmental Science, and Economics all have a few required courses. You can meet these prerequisites through AP or other credit by exam. These courses must appear on your transcript by the deadline; you cannot take them in winter or summer sessions. Other majors “recommend” courses, but they are not prerequisites for eligibility.
Business requires macro and microeconomics and Calculus 1 and 2.
Engineering requires at least four technical courses including Engineering Physics 1 with lab and Calculus 1 and 2. Competitive applicants will have additional core technical courses in their proposed major (like chemistry for Chem Engineering or geology for Petroleum)
Geosciences requires Calculus 1, Chemistry 1 with lab, and Geology 1 with lab
Natural Sciences generally requires three technical math and science courses and possibly more depending on your major
Nursing, which is nearly impossible to gain admission, requires Biology and Chemistry 1 with lab and Calculus 1
Will my credits transfer?
It is important to reference UT’s “Transfer Guides” and the “Automated Transfer Equivalency” system to see what may be required and how your credits will transfer to UT. All regionally accredited Texas universities have credit equivalency agreements. For out-of-state students, any courses that are part of your college’s core curriculum should transfer without issue. Non-Texas college transcripts are evaluated by hand and accreditation granted on a case-by-case basis.
This reference on UT-Austin’s admissions page for “common credit transfer issues” provides a comprehensive summary of which Calculus sequences you need for business, engineering, economics, etc.
Note: If you apply from OOS or International, it isn’t possible to know which credits will for sure transfer. A good rule of thumb is core curriculum classes or “for science” with lab should be fine.
HS Dual Credit
Credits earned during high school or early college students who have earned their Associate’s will count towards your overall college GPA. It isn’t possible to grade replace.
Dual credit can be both a blessing and a curse. Some HS students don’t take their classes as seriously and come to regret that their dual credit B’s and C’s are on their permanent record so to speak. Admissions will evaluate upward grade trends, however.
Some years, it has been possible to appeal for consideration as a transfer student with your college grades if you are denied as a HS senior. It seems UT may be cutting down on this loophole though.
It isn’t possible to apply as a transfer if you are still enrolled in HS.
Interested in maximizing your transfer admissions chances? Complete my questionnaire for a free e-mail consultation.
Academic Fresh Start
If it has been more than ten years since you began college, you may qualify for the “Academic Fresh Start.” Under Texas law, some students may be eligible to erase their previous college record. Sometimes, at eighteen or nineteen, you may not have taken your college courses seriously. This law is in effect so that your thirty-five-year-old self isn’t punished by performance in the distant past. If you believe you are eligible for invoking Fresh Start, contact the Office of Admissions to begin the process.
Check out my new book Surviving the College Admissions Madness and Youtube Channel
Automatic Transfer Admission
There is one less-known pathway called Automatic Transfer Admission (ATA). It has very specific and strict requirements to potentially invoke. Legislators bundled the ATA pathway into the original 1997 HB 588 bills “top 10%” admissions bill. The idea is for students who can’t afford or move too far away from home a four-year university to allow them transfer after the core curriculum at their local community college.
For the longest time, I had a false belief about how this pathway worked. One reason is that I’ve never worked with a single eligible ATA case either while working for UT or independently with Tex Admissions.
I mistakenly thought that to qualify for automatic transfer to UT-Austin, a student would have needed to graduate in the top 6% and opt to enroll immediately in community college and complete the requirements. One of my clients did a deep dive and called the various admissions powers that be and clarified that, as long as you graduate in the top 10% of your high school class, you may be eligible for ATA.
ATA eligibility requires meeting a number of specific conditions, which is one reason why invoking it is so uncommon. You can read it directly on UT’s site. To my knowledge, ATA only guarantees admission into Liberal Arts.
“Some students who graduate from Texas high schools qualify for automatic transfer admission.
To be eligible, you must:
Have graduated from high school in 2008 or later
Qualify based on Texas law for automatic freshman admission to a Texas university
Enroll at a Texas community or junior college after you graduate from high school
Complete the core curriculum at a Texas public junior college or other Texas public or private lower-division institution of higher education
Earn a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 on a four-point scale (or the equivalent)
Apply for transfer admission to a term no later than four years after the academic year (e.g. 2014-15) in which you graduated from high school
Requesting Automatic Transfer Admission
If you want to be considered for automatic transfer admission, check the box on the ApplyTexas application to indicate that you believe you qualify. In addition to the regular application requirements, you must submit:
A completed Automatic Transfer Admission Form
An official high school transcript indicating your class rank at graduation
An official college transcript indicating your completion of the core curriculum
After you apply, refer to MyStatus for additional details about your automatic transfer admission status.”
Students interested in ATA DO NOT need to enroll at ACC to invoke. They may complete their core curriculum at any two-year college.
Spring versus Fall Transfer
Applicants can apply for either the fall or the spring semester. Around eight thousand applicants apply for fall while only a few hundred seek spring transfer. Spring admissions is limited only to majors in Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences, Education, and Social Work. Admission for spring depends more on the needs of the university to fill spaces rather than the merits of an applicant.
The deadline for spring admissions is September 1, and you must have 24 hours or more already earned. Fall courses in progress do not count.
I discuss Spring transfer further in this post.
External Transfer Fall Admissions Statistics and Trends
Historically, UT had enrolled about 2,500 transfer students each fall. Fall 2018 enrolled 1,581 transfers, a substantial decrease, due to the historically large freshman class. For Fall 2013 to 2017, the number of transfer applicants ranged from 7,741 for Fall 2012 to 8,515 for Fall 2014. Fall 2015 saw a slight dip in transfer applicants at 8,197 admitting 3,499 students.
Fall 2018 transfer admissions were the most competitive ever. 8,335 applicants tried for 1,993 spaces (24% admissions rate) and 1,581 admitted students chose to enroll, a matriculation of 79%, much higher than the first-time freshman enrollment rate that tends to be between 45-50%. I reflect on the Fall 2018 transfer cycle here where, for the first time, students with 4.0s across all majors got denied.
Fall 2019 transfer admissions was slightly less competitive than 2018 due to less applicants. 7,496 applicants tried for 1,868 spaces (25% admissions rate) of which 1,398 admitted students chose to enroll, a matriculation rate of 74.8%. I discuss Fall and Spring 2019 transfer admissions results here.
Out of State Applicants: 95% of admitted transfer applicants are Texas residents. The OOS admissions rate is less than 15%.
UT isn’t always forthcoming with their transfer numbers, but you can view this page for any updates. What these numbers mean for applicants and families is that the number of spaces available AND applicant numbers fluctuate each year university-wide and also within colleges, schools, and majors.
Check out my new book Surviving the College Admissions Madness and Youtube Channel
GPA Recommendations by College/School
The average admitted transfer GPA has gradually increased from around 3.6 five years ago to 3.75 nowadays. Since about a third of admitted students come through CAP, the “real” average GPA is actually a little bit higher because we can presume a subset of CAP admits would not have gained admission if they had GPAs between 3.2 and 3.5.
Although a handful of Spring 2020 applicants with less than a 3.5, even some as low as 3.25, reported gaining admission to Liberal Arts, this seems to be an exception and anomaly.
Earning outstanding grades is a necessary condition but won’t be enough to get you in. You also need a strong resume and interesting essays that demonstrate your fit for major and supply compelling reasons why UT is where you need to be to continue your studies.
The days of transfer students regularly getting in with a 3.4 or 3.5 are mostly over. If you have less than a 3.5 and gain admission, and some inevitably will, consider yourself very lucky.
Transfer admissions depends largely on the number of spaces available in a given program, so in some years there are a lot of spaces and others there aren’t.
Programs that always have limited spaces: McCombs Business, Nursing, Architecture, Computer Science, all Engineering majors except Architectural.
I have posts dedicated to the Cockrell School of Engineering, The McCombs School of Business, and Computer Science.
Admissions statistics for each college and school are incomplete and hard to find. The average admitted GPA for Natural Sciences is a 3.8 with presumably strong STEM grades. One of the most popular majors, McCombs, has an average admitted GPA of 3.96 and admits less than 12% of their applicants and almost none for out of state.
For Fall 2019, Moody’s Radio-Television-Film and Advertising seemed very full for whatever reason. Almost every RTF and Advertising applicant got denied, so if you’re transferring to these programs in the future, and it’s possible they may or may not be full again, if you have less than a 3.9, consider another major. We’ll see what happens for Fall 2020.
Here are my GPA minimums to be competitive and for UT to be a “match” and also take on clients for either Spring or Fall transfer admissions. Under no circumstances will I take on clients with less than a 3.5.
Education, Social Work, Undergraduate Studies, College of Fine Arts (non-portfolio or audition programs): 3.55 or higher
Moody Communications and non-restricted Liberal Arts: 3.7 or higher
Restricted Liberal Arts Majors (Psychology, Economics, Environmental Science, Urban Studies, Health and Society, IRG: 3.8 or higher
College of Natural Sciences and the Jackson School of Geosciences: 3.85 or higher
Cockrell School of Engineering: 3.9 or higher
McCombs School of Business: 3.9 or higher
Computer Science, Electrical/Computer or Biomedical Engineering, Architecture, Nursing: 4.0 or don’t bother trying
For STEM programs or majors that have prerequisite courses, you need to earn a perfect 4.0 especially in calculus to be considered competitive.
Interested in maximizing your transfer admissions chances? Complete my questionnaire for a free e-mail consultation.
Required Essay A Statement of Purpose Tips
Transfer applicants must submit different essays from first-time freshmen. Submissions can be around 750 words. The required Essay A Statement of Purpose reads:
The statement of purpose will provide an opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances that you feel could add value to your application. You may also want to explain unique aspects of your academic background or valued experiences you may have had that relate to your academic discipline. The statement of purpose is not meant to be a listing of accomplishments in high school or a record of your participation in school-related activities. Rather, this is your opportunity to address the admission committee directly and to let us know more about you as an individual, in a manner that your transcripts and the other application information cannot convey.
UT wants you to demonstrate why you deserve a space in your desired major. There are, however, a few key differences. Reviewers have higher expectations for transfer students. Since you are at least one year removed from high school, your essays should reflect those additional experiences.
As a transfer applicant, you should have a clearer vision of where you come from, where you currently are, and where you want to go. You should ask yourself these questions to help craft your statement of purpose:
What reasons have you identified that make your current situation less than ideal?
Is it the cost of attendance, lack of access to needed coursework, have you outgrown your environment, or are there things going on at home?
What were your expectations before enrolling and how did those differ once you arrived?
Does your decision to transfer go back further than the past few years?
What experiences did you have growing up at home or in high school that help tell the story of where you currently are?
If you attended a community college immediately after high school, what were the circumstances surrounding that decision?
Did you want to attend a university closer to home or do you want to save money?
Did you not feel quite ready to jump feet first into a four-year degree?
Was there a particular program or set of courses offered at your college that appealed to you?
Pick up your copy of my college admissions book Your Ticket to the Forty Acres
UT admissions reviewers expect you to identify resources on campus and in the city of Austin that appeal to your specific goals and ambitions. You can easily find this information online. It is critical to demonstrate that you have done research before applying. Since you have already taken at least some college-level courses, it may be helpful to identify and describe a few that inform your chosen major. You should also discuss what differentiates UT from other universities and how it is the right fit for you.
I suggest avoiding vague statements like “Austin is the Live Music Capitol of the world” or “I want to research and study abroad and I believe UT is a great place to do this.” Be as specific as possible.
Consider this example:
I am intrigued by the Humanities Honors Program in the College of Liberal Arts because I have a variety of interests: education access, child development, and the political economy of poverty. UT is one of the only Texas universities that has a self-designed interdisciplinary curriculum where I can create my own major. I am from the Rio Grande Valley and I am the first in my family to attend college. I am interested in researching education access in Mexican-American communities, and I am excited to conduct research at the Benson Latin American Collection.
I want to work with Dr. Robert Crosnoe in the Department of Sociology. He investigates the complex web of poverty, education, and human development. I am also interested in pursuing a Children and Society certificate in Bridging Disciplines. I am fluent in Spanish, and I am interested in spending a summer in Guatemala working with indigenous elementary school students through UT’s School of Social Work Maymester Abroad. Eventually, I want to work as a college adviser at a low-income school in the Valley to share my knowledge and story with future college students.
Notice the explicit link between their biography, academic goals, and professional aspirations. This applicant minimizes vagueness by citing concrete examples unique to UT. They have demonstrated at least some prior research and offer a level of maturity more than one would expect from a high school senior.
You should also highlight characteristics or your personal story that may set you apart from other applicants. Since there are no standardized exams or a class rank to compare you to other applicants quantitatively, it is particularly important to use your personal statement as an opportunity to stand out from the pack.
Consider these five Statement of Purpose Essay A examples of admitted external transfer students.
Required Expanded Resume Strategy and Optional Recommendation Letters
Unlike for first-time freshman, UT requires transfer applicants to submit an expanded resume. It is a good idea to still complete the Apply Texas resume sections as thoroughly as possible, but it also isn’t a big deal if you skip it.
UT recommends including the past five years worth of experience on your resume. For recent high school graduates, this means you should include your information from HS. For mid-career professionals, veterans, or adults returning back to school, you should include your relevant experience since high school.
Especially for non-traditional applicants, don't get so caught up on whether you have enough volunteer or extracurricular activities. If you are working full-time, there is no expectation that you have a similar profile to a full-time student.
In your resume, you should market what separates you from the crowd. Just like a recent HS graduate discussing what set them apart in their extracurricular activities, talk about how you excel within your workplace. What are your roles and responsibilities? Do you manage anyone? Are you responsible for meeting sales quotas or completing projects under budget?
Regardless of the type of applicant, UT and other more selective universities want to see that you work hard, have at a few interests and curiosities, can write thoughtfully, and are hopefully doing something besides sitting around.
Whatever it is you are doing outside of your courses, be sure to include as much detail as possible. This is not a one-page professional resume. It can be as long as you would like.
Consider these varied resume posts for more tips and resources.
Recommendation letters
You can submit recommendation letters if you want to introduce an outside perspective to your employment history or habits in the classroom. Recommendation letters for transfer applicants can be useful, especially if you have worked a full-time job or served in the military. A reference letter from your boss or commanding officer can help provide context to your roles and responsibilities. A letter can be an effective way to set you apart from applicants with similar experiences. Let these questions guide whether you should submit a recommendation letter:
Is there something specific you want them to discuss or emphasize?
Is there an accomplishment you are proud of that sounds better coming from someone else rather than you writing it in an essay?
Can your writer speak on how you would do in your desired major?
Should I submit recommendation letters? If so, how many?
It depends. Very few recommendation letters make a difference.
First, to “make a difference” in your admissions decision, the letter would have to elevate your score on the 1 to 6 Personal Achievement Index scale. Recommendation letters can certainly tip the scale if you are truly in between two scores. An admissions reviewer may bump a 4 to a 5 based on a stellar reference. Letters are the last items that reviewers see. By the time they reach them, they have a good idea which score they will assign.
Second, most recommendation letters are not very good. Perhaps one in fifty letters I read while reviewing applications offers a fresh perspective or new information. Almost always, recommendation letters restate what can be found elsewhere on the application, such as in the transcript or resume.
Recommendation letters should always add new information.
Students choose referrers who don’t know them well or based only on their referrer’s credentials. Too often, students procrastinate in reaching out. Their recommenders may be unaccustomed to submitting letters, or there isn’t enough collaboration between student and referrer to submit a useful recommendation.
You don’t get any bonus points for submitting a recommendation letter. It is also very rare for a letter to hurt an applicant’s chances. In 98 percent of cases, they are unlikely to make a difference. If you are finishing your application last minute and haven’t secured a letter, consider not sending one.
Check out my new book Surviving the College Admissions Madness and Youtube Channel
Receiving Your Decision
Once you have completed your application by the deadline, the waiting game begins. Since no GPA guarantees admission, all transfer applicants receive a holistic review. If you have applied for spring admission, and you have completed 24 hours by the October 1 deadline, you should find out by mid-November to early December.
Fall transfer applicants should not expect to hear back until mid-June regardless of the major or number of hours you have completed or in progress. Since 2019, essentially all applicants have received their decision on or around June 15. I can’t rule out that isolated cases may hear back early, so if you see reports online, don’t freak out. 99% of applicants will not receive an early decision.