Your official SAT/ACT scores must arrive in our office by the application deadline. For applicants to summer/fall 2010, that means your scores must arrive by December 15, 2009.

• Test dates are available in the summer before your senior year and in the fall of your senior year.
• You must take the SAT no later than November 2009 or the ACT no later than October 2009 in order for your scores to get here on time.

It’s important to plan ahead for the SAT or ACT. The registration deadlines for the tests are weeks before the actual test date.

If you’ve already taken the test but you didn’t have your scores sent to UT Austin, be sure to make your request to have a score report sent to us in time for your scores to arrive by the deadline.

Find out more about our testing requirements on the Be a Longhorn Testing page.

If you’d like to stay on top of UT Austin information and events, sign up for our mailing list. Signing up will create a UT EID for you, which you’ll use to access targeted and personal information online—including information about the status of your application once you submit your ApplyTexas app.

• Already have an EID? If you already have an EID, then you’re already on the mailing list. Various steps on your part, such as sending us your SAT/ACT scores, will create an EID for you and automatically add you to our mailing list.

If you already have an EID and are on the mailing list, then it’s a good idea for you to periodically review and update your profile to make sure that we have accurate contact information for you.

The Office of Admissions and other offices across campus use the information in your profile to contact you by mail and by e-mail. If we have the wrong information, what we send you may never reach you.

Using the information we provide online about applying for admissions, honors programs, housing, scholarships, and financial aid will help you to stay on track when it comes to getting everything in on time.

Remember that it may take a while for some of the items you’ll need to submit to reach us. Your SAT/ACT scores, for example, must be official (that means they have to come from the testing company) and must reach us by the deadline. High school transcripts are another example of something that might take a while for your school to generate and send to us.

Finding out what you need to submit and when will help you complete your application on time. Waiting until the day – or even the week – before the deadline to begin the process could mean that it’ll be difficult if not impossible for you to get everything done on time.

Writing ability is a big indicator of potential success in college-level courses. To help universities judge writing ability, most universities require applicants to submit one or more essays.

UT Austin requires all applicants to submit two essays. These essays make up a part of the personal achievement component of your application review. Because of that, it’s important to submit essays that are truly examples of your best writing.

Another way that you can help your application to stand out from other applicants is to submit an expanded resume. Although the ApplyTexas Application asks students to submit information about their extracurricular, volunteer, and work activities, many students have a difficult time including all the things they’ve been part of in the space provided.

If that’s true for you, we encourage you to submit an expanded resume along with your application for admission. Include information about all the things you’ve been involved in during your high school years. Have someone who’s known you during high school look over the list to make sure you haven’t left anything out.

When you apply for admission to UT Austin, you’ll be asked to select both a first-choice and a second-choice major. To help you make that decision, it might be a good idea for you to do a bit of research ahead of time – both about available UT Austin majors and about your interests.

Visit the Selecting a Major page for more advice.

If you’re having trouble deciding on a major, or if several majors seem as though they might work for you, you may want to consider applying as an Undeclared Major in the School of Undergraduate Studies.