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Applicant Checklist
- Online Application, includes personal statement and essay
- Application Fee (or fee waiver, if eligible)
- Transcript(s) - high school and college, if applicable
- Standardized Test Score
- Letters of Recommendation (two)
- Admission Interview (by request only)
While incomplete applications are considered, applicants must satisfy all application requirements or receive an express exception from the Office of Admissions to be admitted.
1. Online Application
Applicants must submit an online undergraduate application, which includes a personal statement and essay. Visit Apply Now to start your application today!
Personal Statement
In no more than 1,000 words, please respond to the following prompt: What does the prospect of a University of Austin education mean to you? How did you come to form your opinions on this matter?
Essay
In no more than 650 words, please respond to one of the following prompts:
- “Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos; the materials must, in the first place, be afforded: it can give form to dark, shapeless substances, but cannot bring into being the substance itself.” – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- “Pure logical thinking cannot yield us any knowledge of the empirical world; all knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it…. Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience. You need experience to gain wisdom.” – Albert Einstein
- “Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” – William Shakespeare
2. Application Fee
Each applicant must submit a nonrefundable application processing fee. The required application fee varies according to which admission plan the applicant is pursuing. Students seeking a need-based application fee waiver may request the same by providing the requisite documentation as part of their application.
Early Decision and Early Action applicants owe a $25 application fee. Regular Decision I applicants owe a $50 application fee. Regular Decision II, or any applicants expressly granted permission to apply thereafter, owe a $75 application fee.
3. Transcripts
Applicants must submit official transcripts, or equivalents thereof, from all secondary education institutions (e.g., high school) and official transcripts from all higher education institutions (e.g., college, university, military academic institution, seminary, or divinity school) previously attended, even if the enrollment resulted in drops or withdrawals, regardless whether a degree was completed.
No transcript issued to a student will be accepted, and transcripts must be received by the applicable application deadline.
Official transcripts may be sent electronically through Parchment or Scoir. Schools sending official paper transcripts should send them to the address below. No transcript issued to a student will be accepted, and transcripts must be received by the applicable application deadline.
University of Austin
Attn: Office of Admissions
522 Congress Ave, STE 300
Austin, TX 78701
Note regarding Transcripts for Home-Schooled Students
Home-schooled students must be sure they submit transcripts that contain the following:
- Cumulative GPA
- Semester-by-semester coursework and GPA
- A grade for each course, preferably traditional letter grades
- Very brief course descriptions for each course if not obvious from the course name (include the type of curriculum and/or textbooks used)
- Indication of any completed college or co-op coursework
- Signature of a parent or the applicant’s education administrator, if not the parent
Final Transcript
Applicants will be required to submit an official final high school transcript, or equivalent thereof, showing the awarding of a diploma before they will be allowed to register for University classes.
4. Standardized Test Scores
Absent significant extenuating circumstances, the University of Austin requires the submission of a standardized test score. Any exception to this policy can only be granted in writing by the Office of Admissions. Applicants who have not already taken the ACT, SAT, or Classic Learning Test (CLT) should budget at least six weeks between when they sit for an exam and when official scores are received by the University.
Standardized test scores must be sent to the University of Austin directly from the testing agency and received by the Office of Admissions by the applicable application deadline. The University equally accepts the ACT, SAT, or the CLT in satisfaction of the standardized test score requirement.
Applicants who take more than one of the above-mentioned standardized tests, or who take a particular standardized test more than once, are asked please to report individual scores for each separately administered test.
The University of Austin’s ACT code is 8137. The optional Writing section on the ACT is not required, nor is the Writing subscore used in the application review process.
The University of Austin’s SAT code is 9190. For applicants submitting SAT score reports that include the optional SAT Essay, the Essay will not be used in the application review process.
Applicants who intend to submit an official CLT score report may do so through their CLT student account by searching “University of Austin” and requesting official score reports be sent directly to the University.
5. Two Letters of Recommendation
Applicants must submit two letters of recommendation that address the applicant’s character and suitability for undergraduate work:
- The first letter of recommendation must be provided by a teacher or guidance counselor who knows the applicant well.
- The second letter of recommendation may be from any reference who knows the applicant well (e.g., a current or former employer or supervisor, another teacher or guidance counselor, a school official such as a principal or vice principal, a coach or mentor, or a personal friend).
*IMPORTANT: Applicants should send requests for letters of recommendation as early as possible to ensure references have adequate time to submit recommendations before the applicable application deadline.
6. Admission Interview (by Request Only)
The University may request that applicants make themselves available for an interview to assist the Admissions Committee in making its decision. Such applicants will be provided reasonable notice regarding the interview request and an opportunity to schedule the interview within a specified window of time. The University cannot accommodate applicants’ requests for an interview at this time.