UT Austin is a highly selective university whether or not you are a Texas resident, but it is much harder to get into from an out-of-state address than for those that live in Texas. The published acceptance rate sits around 30%, but that is completely useless as a gauge for out-of-state applicants, who have to face odds that are about one-fourth of that.
This is because UT Austin is a state institution committed, first and foremost, to educating Texans. A massive number of the seats in each class are allocated to top Texas students. Those applying from out-of-state wrestle over the relatively small number of seats open to non-Texans. The admissions priorities, when combined with a top educational program in a super fun college city, have made UT Austin extremely hard to get into.
We know that this may not be reassuring, but it is useful when trying to chart future strategy after an early setback. You are a hard-working, passionate, and driven student who saw UT Austin as a strong fit, but they decided to reject you instead of issuing an offer of deferral. What does this tell us? It tells us that something in your application made them certain that you aren’t a strong fit.
One reason could be your grades and/or scores. UT Austin prioritizes high standardized test scores, and they expect to see straight A’s. But it could also be the way that you approached the application. UT Austin has their own stand-alone application, as you experienced, and they give you a lot of room in the app to show them who you are. Sometimes, students without strong support through the application process simply take this in the wrong direction, resulting in essays that turn application readers against you, even if you have above adequate grades and scores.
In this post, we’ll break down how to turn your application experience around, including building your college list and strategies to impress application readers through your writing. You can have an exciting college application experience after a setback, but successfully turning things around depends on what you do next.
Applying to college is stressful, especially after an early rejection. Contact us to get to smooth sailing.
Step 1: This is not a Crisis
First and foremost, you need to feel the disappointment and wallow a little in a binge-worthy show or a hard workout or a bowl of ice cream. There’s a lot of work to do, but good work doesn’t come from a bad headspace. We highly encourage that you take a day or two to be frustrated and sad and all the other feelings before jumping back into applications. You are hardworking. You are a strong student. Both of those things will still be true after 48 hours of just letting yourself be upset.
Then, once you feel like you have gotten the initial shock of rejection out of your system, it’s time to get back to work.
Step 2: Reevaluate Your College List
The most important piece of any college admissions strategy is the list of schools that you’ll be applying to. This is so fundamental, and so important, that people often overlook or rush through, slapping schools together based on emotion and trend, not actual fit. But fit is the most important piece. It’s all about how a school matches up with your academic goals, the type of environment you thrive and grow in, and your applicant profile, or the grades and scores you’ll be using to make the case for your admission. All of these things have to line up for a school to be a good addition to your list, and, even then, they must be distributed across three “buckets.”
The buckets are probably familiar to you: safety, or foundation, target, and reach.
When students experience a surprise rejection in the Early Action round, it often can be traced back to a mis-measurement of exactly where UT Austin landed for you: safety, target, or reach (and, beyond that, far reach or moonshot). The ideal school for an ED or EA application is a near reach, a school that you have a real chance at, but have to use all the tools in your toolbelt to pull off. If you compare your grades and scores with the expected UT Austin SAT and ACT scores for competitive applicants, and you didn’t hit the bar, it may have been a misfire to pick the school for EA in the first place. If your scores were at or above what they average for accepted students, something else went wrong.
Before you start to fix that, though, you need to rebuild your list in light of the UT Austin decision. Look for 3-4 safeties, 3-4 targets, and 2-3 reaches that you would be happy to attend — yes, even the safeties. There is no point in applying to a school you wouldn’t attend, even if you’d have transferring on the mind. As you narrow things down, too, remember to prioritize academics above all else. If a school doesn’t offer your prospective course of study, it shouldn’t be on your list. At the same time, you need to stay open-minded about things like location and size.
And remember to seriously consider an Early Decision II option. The best EDII is somewhere between target and a reach, and deploying this tool right can make a huge difference.
Step 3: Essay Time
Once you have your list, it’s writing time. UT Austin had their own application, so while you’ve done a lot of writing that could theoretically be used in the Common App or another application, like the University of California system application, starting over feels less traumatic when you’re not having to excise hard work from a previously finished application. Yes, by this we are saying that you should start over.
We’re not arguing that your main essay, or any of the supplement, were fundamentally terrible. We haven’t seen it, so we can’t make that judgement. However, it also didn’t get you into UT Austin. If your grades and scores were competitive, this means that something in your narrative went awry.
Let’s start with the main essay, most often the Common App essay. The core of a strong main essay is a story that is, counterintuitively, small. Even when dealing with big issues and challenges, the essay should focus on a small moment or experience that is emblematic of the whole. This may then expand outwards through the essay to a bigger picture perspective, but starting small is what draws the reader in and helps them feel connected to you as more than an applicant — but as a person.
Our guide to the 2024-2025 Common App essay should serve as your starting point, then read a few successful essays from past students to spark ideas on how to creatively communicate core aspects of who you are without hitting the application reader over the head with them.
Once you have a full draft, it’s supplement time. Supplements offer an opportunity to show more sides of yourself, so one critical thing to remember is that supplements headed to the same college should never be repetitive. If one highlights your leadership skills, don’t repeat that focus in the next one. Instead, maybe spotlight creativity, or active listening, or curiosity. Each supplement should stand alone as strong writing, too, and speak, when asked, specifically to the college. If they ask what you want to major in and why, don’t assume that anything is obvious. Answer the question specifically, including particular courses, professors, and programs that make it attractive to you. Showing that you’ve taken your time getting to know them will encourage them to take their time in getting to know you.
And when you’re stumped (or even before you start), check out our school-specific guides to the supplements of dozens of colleges and universities.
Step Four: Ask for Help
For top-performing students, asking for help on college apps can feel a little like cheating. We get it. But you’ve also not gotten to this spot all by yourself. You’ve received support from teachers, family members, mentors, and likely a tutor or two. That same support is critical to creating outstanding, and acceptance-earning, college applications. Having someone alongside you who has been there, aced that, and knows how to get you through it, too, makes a massive difference in outcomes. This is why we offer the “It’s Going to be Okay” package specifically for Seniors who experience a setback early in their admissions process.
We help strong students gain access to the best schools in the country. Email us to learn more.