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Getting into Texas Universities: Create your Perfect Apply Texas and UT-Austin Applications
How to use this course (updated 2024)
Welcome to my course! (2:15)
Course Walkthrough (3:47)
UT-Austin First-Time Freshmen Admissions Presentation FAQs Answered (57:24)
Helpful resume, essay, and other resources
Book Copies
Your Ticket to the Forty Acres, Third Edition (2023)
Surviving the College Admissions Madness
Audiobook: Your Ticket to the Forty Acres (2021)
Introduction: Stumbling into Admissions
Section I: Introducing Holistic Review
Chapter 1: What are my chances?
Chapter 2: The Personal Achievement Index
Chapter 3: Factors you can control
Chapter 4: The Academic Index
Section II: What Does the Reviewer See?
Chapter 5: Who is your admissions reviewer?
Chapter 6: College fairs and high school visits
Chapter 7: Admitting for "fit"
Section III: Dispelling Myths: Race, Privilege, and Affirmative Action
Chapter 8: A brief legal history of affirmative action
Chapter 9: Why does UT-Austin consider race?
Section IV: Putting Your Application Together: A Tactical Approach
Chapter 10: Correcting Misconceptions
Chapter 11: Crafting Compelling Essays
Chapter 12: Building Effective Resumes and Recommendation Letters
Section V: College, School, and Honors Admissions Data
Chapter 13: Regular Admission Data and Statistics
Chapter 14: Honors Admission and the Application Process
Section VI: What Comes Next? Receiving Your Decision
Chapter 15: The Transfer Guide
College and Honors Admissions Data
Architecture, Business, Communications, Computer Science, Geosciences, Natural Sciences, Nursing
Cockrell School of Engineering by Major
College of Fine Arts by Major
Honors Programs Data and Application Advice
First-time Freshmen Application Review Updated 2024
Introduction to File Review (4:25)
Computer Science AD (12:03)
Communications and Leadership AN (9:53)
Business Honors AR (8:29)
Moody Communications AS (11:15)
Computer Science AT (10:21)
Business Honors CV (10:56)
Moody Communications GT (8:27)
Business HJ (10:13)
Computer Science KG (9:32)
Business and Plan II MC (9:42)
Computer Science NR (9:15)
Business and Plan II NZ (16:13)
Computer Science RG (9:10)
Chemistry and Plan II SJ (10:40)
Computer Science SW (11:39)
Liberal Arts Honors SY (9:50)
Crafting your application
Introduction and Advice from Former Applicants (12:00)
Diversity and Fit for Major (14:29)
Writing and Editing your Essays (69:37)
Essay A Brainstorming Worksheet
Expanded Resume and Recommendation Letters (31:21)
Recommendation Letter Templates
Beware of overediting!
Resume Workshop
Application Workshop Introduction (3:17)
Rajanathan Skills Resume (10:10)
Johnson Education Resume (4:46)
Schmidt Fine Arts Skills Resume (7:18)
Harris Transfer Skills Resume (5:04)
Recommendation Letter Forms
Resume Template
Essay Building Workshops
Main Essay and Supplement Examples
Essay A Tell Us Your Story Workshop (60:07)
Transfer Essay A and E Drafting Workshop (42:10)
Freshman Essay Drafting Workshop (121:05)
Short Answer Essay Workshop (19:23)
Transfer Final Drafts
Essay A Personal Statement
Essay C Special Circumstances
Expanded Resume
Recommendation Letters
Transfer Application Review
Introduction to Transfer Admissions Review (6:30)
Transfer: Tomlinson Communications / RTF (12:28)
Transfer: Harris Communications / Public Relations (12:08)
Transfer: McGill Liberal Arts (9:22)
Transfer: Sethu Business (9:57)
Spring Transfer: Diehl Natural Sciences (15:15)
Spring Transfer: Evensen Liberal Arts (13:55)
Transfer Essays A and E Brainstorming Worksheets
Additional reading and resources
University resources and reports
Book Recommendations (13:12)
Identifying Anxiety and Managing Stress with CBT
Interview Tips
Audiobook: Surviving the College Admissions Madness
Disclaimer
Argument part 1
Argument part 2
Argument part 3
Chapter 1 College Essay Madness
Chapter 1.1 Most college essays are not very good
Chapter 1.2 Students—the madness isn’t your fault
Chapter 1.3 You get an essay! And you get an essay! Everybody gets an essay (requirement)!
Chapter 1.4 Introducing a new measurement unit for essay length: a Princeton
Chapter 1.5 Not-optional optional options
Chapter 1.6 Authenticity and many other institutional values
Chapter 2 Can Anything Stop the Madness?
Chapter 2.1 A brief overview of admissions anxieties and worries
Chapter 2.2 Parents are not the primary problem
Chapter 2.3 Independent educational consultants are also not the primary problem
Chapter 2.4 My intentions
Chapter 3 A College Essay
Chapter 3.1 Where's Bobina?
Chapter 4. Stoicism and the Gap Theory of Happiness
Chapter 4.1 A few cognitive traps and distortions to avoid
Chapter 4.2 Less-obvious anxiety sources
Chapter 4.3 Life and death decisions
Chapter 5. Historical Perspectives and Admissions Systems Abroad
Chapter 5.1 Admissions systems abroad
Chapter 5.2 Decentralized application portals and requirements contribute to the madness
Chapter 6. Holistic Review is Bullshit
Chapter 6.1 A note on definitions
Chapter 6.2 Reliably selecting talent is impossible
Chapter 6.3 Community college transfer applicants are especially screwed
Chapter 6.4 Cheaters often win
Chapter 6.5 Reviewing files as a UT-Austin Undergraduate Admissions Counselor
Chapter 6.6 Shaping the class and related hocus pocus
Chapter 6.7 Bias, errors, and privilege
Chapter 6.8 Do recommendation letters make a difference?
Chapter 6.9 The truth about interviews
Chapter 6.10 “Chance me” and the ludic fallacy
Chapter 7. Avoiding Application Mistakes
Chapter 7.1 Minimizing debt
Chapter 7.2 Building a reasonable college list
Chapter 7.3 More cognitive distortions to avoid
Chapter 8. Questionable Enrollment and Recruitment Practices
Chapter 8.1 The Early Decision racket
Chapter 8.2 Admissions purgatory: deferrals, waitlist, appeals, and letters of continued interest
Chapter 8.3 Dashboard and the darkside of big data
Chapter 9. Rethinking Diversity
Chapter 9.1 Diversity-themed essay topics are problematic
Chapter 9.2 Professional ethics revisited
Chapter 9.3 Antiracism in college admissions backfires
Chapter 9.4 Poverty matters more than race
Chapter 10. Meritocracy Madness
Chapter 10.1 On moral luck
Chapter 10.2 Admissions by partial lottery?
Chapter 10.3 Nietzsche’s gap year
Pre-2020 First-Time Freshman Application Review (Old)
Amrita Vasanti McCombs Business (13:34)
Adriane Kerr Liberal Arts (13:35)
Bhavika Farha Natural Sciences (Environmental Science) (14:25)
Cecilia Baines McCombs and Plan II (18:05)
Christopher Donadio Business Honors Program (15:22)
Javed Sikh Business Honors Program (11:58)
Lauren Sanders Liberal Arts (12:23)
Jackson Pettigrew Aerospace Engineering (11:41)
Louis Mehl McCombs Business (11:46)
Mahir Arya Computer Science (14:57)
Meredith Fredrickson Liberal Arts (11:55)
Russ Lyle Plan II and Engineering Honors (17:25)
Tiana Mahati Computer Science (14:26)
Travis Honeycutt Mechanical Engineering (11:27)
Will Eide Computer Science (18:09)
Zach Saiki Computer Science (8:12)
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Chapter 9.3 Antiracism in college admissions backfires
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