Applying for Admission

Both the ApplyTexas and the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success summer/fall applications open on August 1. The spring application typically opens in late January.

After you submit your ApplyTexas or Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success application, you’ll receive an email from us that includes your UT EID, allowing you to access MyStatus and the Document Upload System. During peak periods, this can take 2-3 days.

Typically, the deadline for receipt of supporting credentials (such as essays and transcripts) is extended a few days beyond the application deadline in order to allow those who complete last-minute applications time to upload items after they receive a UT EID. 

If you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and will not graduate from a Texas high school, select the option to apply for freshman admission as an international applicant.

If you can’t afford the application fee, request a waiver in your application. We may request that you submit documentation in support of your request; to do so, use the Document Upload System to submit a copy of your SAT, ACT or NACAC fee waiver or a letter from your high school counselor or principal explaining the financial circumstances that qualify you for a waiver. 

International applicants who do not qualify for Texas residency are not eligible for a fee waiver.

If you are an international applicant and are not able to pay your fee online using a credit card, mail your payment in the form of a cashier’s check, bank money order or bank draft in U.S. dollars to:

The University of Texas at Austin
Graduate and International Admissions Center
P.O. Box 7608
Austin, TX 78713-7608

Make checks payable to The University of Texas at Austin, and write your six-digit Application ID number, UT EID or UT Assigned Student ID number on your check or money order. Do not send cash or personal checks.

All applicants must submit an essay responding to Topic A.

Topic A   

Generally, you should plan to submit your essay in conjunction with your admissions application; do so even after you’ve submitted other portions of the application by logging in to your ApplyTexas or Coalition account.

Essays written in response to Topic N may not be submitted through ApplyTexas. To submit these essays, use the Document Upload System. 

You may also submit other essays using the Document Upload System—or by mailing them to the Office of Admissions—although these submission methods are not preferred.

All applicants must submit three short answers responding to prompts in your admissions application. Answers are limited to no more than 40 lines, or about 250 – 300 words. 

Short Answer 1: Career Plans  

You should plan to submit your essays in conjunction with your ApplyTexas or Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success application. You will be required to complete the short answer responses in order to complete and submit your admissions application.

Transcripts must include your class rank in addition to information about high school coursework.

Rank should be indicated as your numerical position out of the total number of students in the class. For example, if you’re fifth in your class of 130, your transcript should report your rank as 5/130. Applicants should submit transcripts indicating rank for the latest completed semester prior to the application deadline.  

If you attend a Texas public school, your transcript should indicate the high school diploma program you will be graduating under, as defined in the state's Uniform Admission Policy.

Applicants who attend a Texas public school should ask the school to submit their transcript through TREx, a system managed by the Texas Education Agency.

Document Upload System

If TREx is not available, submit a copy of your official transcript using the Document Upload System, or you may use the system to ask someone to submit the transcript to us on your behalf. The uploaded document must be a digital scan or PDF version of an official transcript. (Be sure to include both the front and back!) Any document labeled “unofficial,” grade reports or advising reports, photos (i.e., images taken with a smartphone) and screen shots are not acceptable. 

Track upload status by logging in to the Document Upload System. 

Mail or Hand Delivery

You may also submit transcripts by mailing or hand-delivering them to the Office of Admissions, although these submission methods are not preferred and may result in processing delays. (International students may not use these methods.)

We cannot accept transcripts submitted via email. 

Home-Schooled Applicants

Applicants who were home-schooled must submit a transcript that:

• Lists all courses undertaken at each grade level, along with a brief description of the course content and information about the format of the course (in a classroom, via correspondence, online, etc.)
• Is signed by a school official, defined as the adult person who was primarily responsible for the education of the student

Special GED Requirements

Applicants who earned a GED must submit high school transcript(s) showing any coursework completed, along with a copy of the GED certificate.

Rank Will Be Assigned

In accordance with Texas Senate Bill 1543, applicants who present evidence of obtaining a non-traditional secondary education (for example, those who were home-schooled or earned a GED in lieu of a high school diploma) will be assigned a percentile rank comparable to the average class rank of students from traditional schools who have equivalent SAT or ACT test scores.  

If you are an international applicant, you must submit documentation showing that you have completed an accredited secondary school series equivalent to that of a U.S. high school.

Submit an official record or transcript (mark sheet) that shows all your secondary school work and grades (or marks) starting with ninth grade and continuing through at least the end of 11th grade. You should also include copies of your official final examinations taken at the end of the secondary school program, including external exams such as the General Certificate of Education (GCE) “O” and “A” level examinations, school leaving certificates and matriculation exams.

If the documents you are submitting are written in a language other than English, you must also submit complete and official English translations together with the original-language records.

You must report your entire academic record, including all college credit earned. Such coursework must be detailed on your admissions application, and you must submit official transcripts documenting the coursework.

Some colleges and universities are able to submit transcripts to the university on your behalf using our SPEEDE server.

If SPEEDE is not available, submit transcripts documenting college credit earned by mailing or hand-delivering them to the Office of Admissions.

We cannot accept transcripts submitted via email.

You must request that a testing agency—SAT or ACT—send us an official report of at least one set of test scores. (We do not require the SAT Essay or ACT Writing scores.) Scores included in transcripts and copies of score reports first sent to you don’t meet this requirement.

When you ask the testing agency to send your scores, use the codes the agencies have designated for the university:

• SAT — 6882
• ACT — 4240

You may submit as many score reports as you like. If you submit more than one, we will consider the score from the single test date that will benefit you the most. We will not, however, “superscore,” or combine scores from different test dates (a critical reading score from one test date with a mathematics score from another test date, for example).

We strongly encourage you to send us the results from all tests you take. 

You are not required to submit SAT Subject Test scores as part of a complete application for admission. Some students may choose to submit these scores—for instance, home-schooled students may send them if they feel they reflect academic potential, or those hoping to earn course credit by examination may submit them for consideration after the application cycle is complete.

International applicants must submit either an official Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score report demonstrating an adequate knowledge of English. The TOEFL iBT is preferred over the IELTS. We cannot accept institutional TOEFL (ITP) scores.

International applicants are exempt from this requirement if they:

• Are from a country where English is the only official language; or
• Graduate from a high school in the United States or in a country where English is the only official language after completing at least three years of study.

Minimum scores acceptable for admission are:

• TOEFL: 79 (internet-based test)
• IELTS: An overall band of 6.5 on the Academic Examination

The university’s TOEFL code is 6882. There is no institutional code for the IELTS examination. To fulfill the requirement with scores from the IELTS, have official scores sent to:

The University of Texas at Austin
Graduate and International Admissions Center
P.O. Box 7608
Austin, TX 78713-7608

Messages prompting you to submit additional items to meet major-specific requirements post to MyStatus following submission of your admissions application or after you’ve requested a major change. Be sure to regularly monitor MyStatus, and to complete all to-do items prior to the application deadline.

Major-specific application requirements by college or school include:

Cockrell School of Engineering

Meet the calculus readiness requirement, and demonstrate it by submitting an appropriate test score or transcript.

College of Fine Arts

Butler School of Music

• Submit the Butler School of Music application.
• Perform an audition.    

Read more about completing Butler School of Music application requirements on its freshman or international admission webpages.

Department of Art and Art History

• Respond to a short-answer prompt in your admissions application.
• Design, Studio Art or Visual Art Studies: Submit a portfolio.

Department of Theatre and Dance

• Acting (BFA): Complete an audition.
• Dance (BFA): Complete an audition. 
• Theatre and Dance (BA): Complete an audition or submit a portfolio.
• Theatre Studies (BFA + Teacher Certification): Take part in an interview.

Jackson School of Geosciences

Meet the calculus readiness requirement, and demonstrate it by submitting an appropriate test score or transcript.

College of Liberal Arts

Economics or Environmental Science (Geographical Sciences): Meet the calculus readiness requirement, and demonstrate it by submitting an appropriate test score or transcript.

College of Natural Sciences

Environmental Science (Biological Sciences): Meet the calculus readiness requirement, and demonstrate it by submitting an appropriate test score or transcript.

School of Nursing

If applying first-choice, submit an essay addressing Topic N.

Steve Hicks School of Social Work

Respond to a short-answer prompt in your admissions application.

Other Colleges and Schools

Colleges and schools not listed above do not have major-specific application requirements.

Your résumé should include all your achievements, not just those that didn’t fit on the ApplyTexas or Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success application. That said, if you’re able to list everything on your admissions application, there’s no need to submit a separate résumé. 

If you submit a résumé, you should include:

• Details about what each activity involved rather than a general description
• The number of hours per week and weeks per year you spent on each activity

Submit your résumé using the Document Upload System.

Letters of recommendation are helpful only when they provide meaningful information about you, offered by someone who can speak of you in an unbiased way. If you choose to submit a letter of recommendation, select someone who is capable of providing a well-written, sincere, personal account. Avoid recommendations from those who know you too well to be unbiased—family members, for instance.

Although you have the option to detail special circumstances in your life in Short Answer 2, you might prefer that someone else tell us about it. In that case, ask that person (even a doctor or counselor, when appropriate) to write a letter on your behalf. 

Letters of recommendation may be submitted via the Document Upload System, or you may use the system to ask someone to submit their recommendation to us directly. Track upload status by logging in to the Document Upload System. 

You may also submit recommendations by mailing or hand-delivering them to the Office of Admissions, although these submission methods are not preferred and may result in processing delays. (International students may not use these methods.)

The permanent resident card requirement applies only to non-U.S. citizens who have permanent resident status in the United States. 

If the requirement applies to you, submit a copy of the front of your permanent resident card using the Document Upload System.

Most applicants don't need to submit the Student Information Form. MyStatus will prompt those who are required to complete the form.

The Student Information Form is used to streamline our processes, allowing us to confirm that you meet our high school coursework requirements and move your application into review. 

To complete the form, you’ll probably need a reference copy of your high-school transcript. 

Most applicants don’t need to submit a coursework exemption form. Those who do include Texas private-schooled students who do not satisfy test score requirements — either an SAT score of at least 1070 (combined critical reading and math) with a minimum of 500 on critical reading (if the test was taken prior to March 2016); a minimum SAT score of 480 on evidence-based reading and writing and 530 on math (if the test was taken in March 2016 or later); or an ACT score that meets ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks. Students who attend a Department of Defense high school who are not exempt based on test scores should also submit a form. It will be used in determining qualification for automatic admission.

If you believe you need to submit a coursework exemption form, do so using the Document Upload System, or you may use the system to ask someone to submit the form to us on your behalf. Track upload status by logging in to the Document Upload System. 

Most applicants don’t need to submit the residency affidavit. If you aren’t a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident but graduated or will graduate from a Texas high school, you may qualify for residency for tuition purposes and should submit the affidavit. The ApplyTexas application will prompt those who indicate they meet these criteria to download the appropriate form.

To submit the residency affidavit, mail it to the address listed on the form.