The University of Texas at Austin has transitioned from being a well-respected state school a few decades ago best known out west to being one of the most sought-after universities by students across the country. Attending UTAustin as an out-of-state student is no small accomplishment. The overall acceptance rate of about 29%, is heavily skewed due to the preference given to in-state applicants. They are required to reserve the majority of seats for in-state applicants, so the acceptance rate for out-of-staters and international students is only about 12%. This is based on the most recently released Common Data Set.
If this doesn’t intimidate you, you’re in good company. Over 73,000 students applied for admission in 2024. The student body represents 130 countries, and UTAustin is ranked as a top ten public university in the US. The university is especially known for entrepreneurialism and innovation, so they look for students who think big, and who think differently.
In this post, we’ll break down how to show how you think differently in your application essays. This is from the perspective of students using the Common App for admission, but it’s just as applicable to those using the ApplyTexas application. Either way, you need to represent yourself as strongly as possible to improve your chances of admission — and we’re here to help. You should also note that applying to UTAustin does require and SAT or ACT score to consider your application, which is true for all applicants.
If you’re considering top-tier universities with low acceptance rates, contact us. We can help.
The UTAustin supplement includes one core essay (and you can use the Common App essay even if that isn’t the application format you submit), and three supplements. Below, we’ll break down each supplement and how you can best approach it.
Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first-choice major? (250-300 words)
This is the classic application supplement that you’ll be encountering throughout your college application process. We like to think of the perfect answer being a formula, but the finesse and skill comes in making it not sound formulaic. First, though, the formula.
Major + Specifics + Activities + Emotions = Perfection
What do we mean by that? First, you need to make it extremely clear what you are going to major in. If you aren’t sure, pick something that makes sense given your academic successes and what you’ve focused on with your extracurriculars. We cannot, in good conscious, ever let a student list themselves as ‘undecided.’ UTAustin knows you may change your mind, but they want to see direction and focus.
With your major clear, it’s time to dig into the academic experience you aspire to have at UTAustin. You should share 2 classes you want to take, and a professor you’d like to study under and why. Next, reach outside of your major to share a potential minor plus something about the minor that you’re particularly drawn to. For example, you may want to major in engineering and minor in American Sign Language Studies because deafness has impacted your family or community, and you see opportunities to link that knowledge with engineering.
Once your academic bases are covered, it’s time to remind the admissions officials that you know you are more than just what you do in the classroom. This supplement should be academically focused, but you should identify one or two activities outside of the classroom that are related to your major that you’d like to join or take part in as part of the UTAustin community. Again, these should be things related to your potential major.
Finally, you want to make the emotional play (and it doesn’t all have to be in this order). In one sentence, or maybe two, emphasize how strong your passion is for the program you’ve specified for your major at UTAustin, and why or how you’ll be a strong member of that academic community.
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? (Guidance for students: This can include an extracurricular activity, a club/organization, volunteer activity, work, or a family responsibility.) (250-300 words)
We love this prompt, but we also know it can lead some students astray. The easy way to answer this is to pick whatever you are most ‘accomplished’ in and focus on that. But that’s actually not the right approach. The activity you should write about may also be the one you are most accomplished in, but instead make your selection by really reflecting on the phrase “most proud of.” If you simply pick the one you have the most awards in or the most leadership in, that may come off as you saying you’re most proud of what has elevated you, as an individual, most. Instead, we want you to prioritize community here — whether it’s your family, your friend group, your community at school or at a job, or another community your part of. Where have you supported others the most? That’s where we want you to focus.
Once you’ve picked a community, you need to identify a story. This should be something specific and time constrained. Ideally, it is something that happened in a single hour, or a single day. This is true even if there is a bigger, longer-term story. You’ll get to that longer and bigger story later in the supplement, but start with something small. Maybe it is a moment helping a customer at work, or making breakfast for a sibling, or helping a tutoring client work through a problem. Then, zoom out. Write about the bigger picture of this activity and the role it plays in your life. This is where the “and why” is shared.
At this supplement, and only if you have space and only if it is relevant, we like it when a student is able to look towards the future. How will you continue to do this type of work in college. It may be in making breakfast for a roommate, continuing to work, or volunteering as a tutor at UTAustin. Whatever it is, give them the confidence that you’re not leaving your contributions to others in the past. You’ve underlined that you’re a community-minded, high-performing, and driven person, and they’ll love you for that.
Please share background on events or special circumstances that you feel may have impacted your high school academic performance. (word count not given yet)
This is the last supplement, and it’s optional. This is the kind of supplement that is actually optional, as compared to most “optional” supplements that we don’t actually consider to be optional at all. But this one is…if that makes sense. This is the equivalent of the additional information section.
They only want to hear from you here if you have something to share that “impacted your high school academic performance.” And rare circumstances aside, we do not recommend writing about neurodivergence like ADD or ADHD here. We do not recommend writing about divorce unless it required you to change households or schools, and we do not recommend writing about COVID-19 unless it impacted your high school grades in ways that were not shared by millions of other students across the country. If you are going to write about something here, it should be truly rare/unique. If that applies to you, keep it short and sweet. Don’t make excuses, and do take ownership of your experiences. And, again, keep it short.
Applying to UTAustin, especially has an out-of-state or international applicant, requires grit, focus, and tenacity. If you have the grades and the scores to stand out, make sure to match those aspects of your application with writing that fully represents who you are and why you are amazing.
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