Applying to the Program

Students with 30 or more credit hours earned at UT Austin and a GPA of 3.5 or better may apply for admission to the program. Students should generally apply before they have accumulated 70 hours of credit. Applicants who already have more than 90 of hours of credit will probably not be admitted to the program. Freshmen are particularly encouraged to initiate the advising consultations that precede admission, though no one can be admitted to the program before earning 30 hours at UT Austin.

The first step to admission is the preparation of a proposal in consultation with the adviser. The proposal includes a program of courses in the form of a contract, and a letter to the program director defining the goals of the proposed plan of study and defending the coherence of the program. Several revisions of the proposed contract may be needed to bring the student's intentions and interests into focus.

This major is not appropriate for the student who hopes simply to sample many interesting courses with no particular direction. Nor is it appropriate for the student who has a strong interest in a subject taught by a given department, but hopes to avoid certain parts of the major in that department. Proposals that fall into either of those categories will not be approved.