UT Austin - GPA and Test Scores for Admission

By Allen Grove, About.com Guide

With an acceptance rate under 50%, the University of Texas at Austin is one of the country's more selective public universities. In the graph above, green and blue represent accepted students. As you can see, the majority of accepted students had a GPA of B+ or higher, an SAT score (CR+M+W) above about 1600, and an ACT composite score of 22 or higher. Chances of admission improve as those numbers go up. Realize, however, that hidden beneath the blue and green on the graph is a lot of red -- some students with excellent transcripts and strong standardized test results still get rejected from the University of Texas.

Note also that a number of students were accepted with test scores and grades a bit below the norm. The University of Texas has holistic admissions, so the admissions officers are considering qualitative as well as quantitative information. Students who show some kind of interesting talent or have a compelling story to tell will often get a close look even if grades and test scores aren't quite up to the ideal. A winning essay, strong letters of recommendation, and interesting extracurricular activities are all important pieces of a successful application.

To learn more about UT Austin, high school GPAs, SAT scores and ACT scores, these articles can help:

• UT Austin Admissions Profile
• What's a Good SAT Score?
• What's a Good ACT Score?
• What's Considered a Good Academic Record?
• What is a Weighted GPA?
• Articles Featuring UT Austin:
  • Top Public Universities
  • Top South Central Colleges
  • Top Texas Colleges
  • Top Business Schools
  • Big 12 Conference
  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Association of American Universities