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    • Frequently-Asked Questions: Fall 2009 Freshman Application

    Where do I send application materials if I'm applying to Plan II?

    All application materials go directly to the UT Office of Admission. Do NOT send any documents or materials directly to Plan II Honors.

    Send to UT Office of Admission via US Mail to:

    Office of Admission-Processing
    University of Texas at Austin
    PO BOX 8058
    Austin, TX 78713-8058

    To express/overnight materials to the UT Office of Admission through a private delivery service
    (FedEx, DHL, etc), use:

    Tel: 512-475-7387
    UT Austin
    Office of Admissions/Main 7
    2400 Inner Campus Drive
    Austin, TX 78712

    What is different about the UT application process if I apply to Plan II?

    To be considered complete, a Plan II fall 2009 freshman applicant must submit all of the following documents electronically or by mail:

    How many applicants apply to Plan II?

    Plan II receives between 950--1250 applicants each year.

    We admit around 350 applicants each year to reach our ideal entering freshman class of 180 students. Our "yield rate" (those who are offered admission and decide to attend UT and Plan II) is about 51%, which is quite high ... most small private institutions have a yield rate around 42-44%.

    How many graduate?

    At Plan II, we have very few issues of retention. Of the 180 (+ or -) students who enter Plan II Honors each year (including transfer students), approximately 165-175 students will graduate with a major in Plan II Honors in 4 or 5 years. In an average year, 3-8 students may be dismissed for not maintaining the minimum GPA requirement (3.25) for several semesters (usually in the spring of their second year or fall of their third year). Each year a few Plan II students will leave the University for academic, family, financial, health, or other personal reasons; a very few students will complete another major at the University, but not the Plan II Honors major.

    May I apply for early consideration?

    Plan II Honors has an "early consideration" application process. In the fall application cycle, Plan II Honors will review some freshmen applications at an earlier time. Students who submit a completed Plan II Honors application by November 1 will be eligible for early consideration and will be notified of their Plan II admission status by December 15. Most early consideration application will receive an offer of admission or a denial. However, some Plan II early-consideration applicants' admission decision may be deferred to the regular admissions notification period in late March.

    An early consideration applicant who is not be admitted to Plan II Honors, may still be admissible to the University (to any other major in the College of Liberal Arts or to majors in the College of Natural Science) and to other competitive admission majors/colleges such as Engineering or the College of Communication.

    Early consideration applicants who have not received a response in the mail by December 20 you should contact Plan II. (Please note that UT offices will be closed between Christmas and January 2.) Applicants should track their UT admission status via the BeALonghorn website. However Plan II admission decisions will not appear on the BeALonghorn site. Applicants will hear from Plan II Honors concerning Plan II admissions decision only via the US mail.

    Plan II Honors early consideration offers of admission do NOT require a binding commitment from the applicant to attend the University of Texas at Austin and/or Plan II Honors. All applicants have until May 1 to make a final decision about attending the University of Texas and Plan II Honors. However, admitted applicants should be aware that the UT Division of Housing and Food Services will not offer a housing contract until the admitted applicant has paid the $200 UT enrollment fee. So, the sooner an admitted applicant pays the $200 enrollment fee, committing to Plan II Honors and UT Austin, the better the chance of being assigned to on-campus first-choice housing options, including honors housing options.

    Please do NOT call the Plan II Honors Program office to ask about an admission decision. We will not discuss admission decisions over the phone. Please note that early completion and submission of your application does NOT increase the likelihood of admission to Plan II Honors.

    May I specialize or double-major if I'm in Plan II?

    Yes. The flexibility of the Plan II curriculum allows students to complete the equivalent of a second major -- or even a second degree in a particular subject area if they so choose. Most departments have honors programs for their majors, for which Plan II students are eligible. A student might use his or her Plan II electives to complete the History Honors Program in preparation for graduate study in history. Many students complete the premedical curriculum in conjunction with their Plan II major or take courses in business or communications as preparation for careers in those areas. Some Plan II students concurrently earn two degrees: one in Plan II, and another in Engineering, Natural Science, Architecture, Fine Arts, Communication or Business. Admission to Plan II does not guarantee admission to another college.

    How do I register for dual degrees?

    As a first-year student, you will be able to declare and be registered in two colleges or two majors at the same time. During orientation, however, you will have only one major and one college listed. If you plan to register in two different colleges, you are a dual degree student, and you need to read this message. You will not be alone. See the listing at the bottom of this page.

    If Plan II is your only major, you are in the College of Liberal Arts. If you have been admitted to another college (such as Engineering), that is the only college and major listed for you during orientation. At the end of May, the Plan II office will have a Plan II suffix added to your major code in order to allow you access to the Plan II courses when you register this summer.

    If you plan to have two majors or register in two colleges, this is how to do so. During your orientation in Plan II, complete the paperwork to be officially registered and coded in two majors or two colleges.

    This system of simultaneous major coding is fairly new at UT, and there may be some confusion about it in other colleges. If you have any questions about information you receive from other colleges or departments concerning this, please check with Plan II for clarification.

    Will I have time to get involved in extra-curricular activities?

    Yes. We encourage you to do so, but keep in mind that college-level activities can be very demanding. Plan II students have their own organizations for theater, music, writing, and community service; they also frequently write for the Daily Texan, march in the Longhorn Band, help out in local schools, take leadership posts in Greek letter societies, run for office in student government, and play on varsity teams.

    If Plan II is so demanding, will my grades suffer?

    On the contrary, the great majority of Plan II students finish the program with a flourish. About three quarters of our graduates receive university honors each year, and many are elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

    Do many students drop out of Plan II?

    The attrition rate in Plan II is quite low. A handful of students transfer to other colleges, and a few are dismissed from the program after two years for failing to maintain our minimum GPA of 3.25.

    Do Plan II students study abroad?

    Yes. Many Plan II students spend a summer, a semester, or a year studying abroad. UT Austin sponsors programs and exchanges all over the world, and students are free to participate in other university programs or to apply directly to foreign institutions.

    Plan II Honors supports students wishing to study abroad with a number of travel grants. More importantly, thanks to a recent $1 million gift from the founder of CarMax, Austin Ligon (Plan II, “73), Plan II can help send hundreds of Plan II students abroad each year through 2011 (and, we hope and expect, beyond). This gift was given in 2007 to be used, over the next five years, exclusively to support Plan II students studying abroad through the Ligon-Lamsam International Study Fund:

    What sorts of careers or graduate programs do Plan II students enter?

    We find our alumni active in virtually every profession. The only limits to what you can do with a Plan II degree are your own imagination, ambition, and determination. Many of our graduates go to law school or medical school, where they excel. Many others start directly on careers in fields such as business, teaching, software design, or journalism. A summary of the placements of our recent graduates is available in our Web site under "profiles of graduating classes."

    What about AP credit and other credit by exam?

    The University of Texas and the College of Liberal Arts accept and counts toward the degree all credit granted by UT's Instructional Assessment and Evaluation office (formerly known as the Measurement and Evaluation Center). Plan II does not decide what credits students receive for AP or ther test credits. Although students may receive credit for many tests (with the appropriate scores) not few can be used to "place out of" Plan II core requirements. For instance, a student may be able to claim credit for an introductory Chemistry course, but those credit hours will not exempt the student from any particular Plan II requirement. But the chemistry credit hours will count toward the students math/science required hours and toward the total number of hours required to graduate. The AP English and SAT II English tests are exceptions in that any credit earned from those tests will "evaporate" and will not count toward elective or required credit hours. The credits from the AP English or SAT II English or writing tests will not be accepted in lieu of the Plan II world literature course. For more information, see: Instructional Assessement and Evaluation.

    At the IAE office site, you’ll see that UT is quite generous in the credit hours students are allowed to claim through test credits. UT gives credit, with grades, for most, perhaps all, AP exams and SAT II tests, according to a formula that varies by subject. The number of hours credit depends on the exam, the subject, and the grade. At the MEC site, you’ll find all kinds of great tables that explain credits awarded for specific scores on every test imaginable.
    See: AP tests; SAT II tests; IB Tests; and CLEP.

    It is not at all uncommon for Plan II Honors students to enter with 20-70 hours of credit through testing (25-35 hours credit is the average). Those credit hours do not make Plan II students “sophomores” or “juniors” though. In fact, Plan II students do not usually graduate in less than four years; Plan II is not a “fast-track” program. We do not encourage our students to rush through their undergraduate education. But test credit hours do give students “air” in their degree plans that make it easier to incorporate internships and study abroad programs; to add a second or third major; or to explore more non-required courses for the sake of intellectual stimulation and exploration.

    There are pros and cons involved in claiming extra test credit hours too. We encourage all first-year students to discuss these issues with their Plan II academic advisers at summer orientation or during their first semester, but PRIOR to petitioning to have the test credits added to their official UT transcript (which happens during the first semester).

    Students also will find that every credit earned through testing will not necessarily help them to advance faster toward a degree. In Plan II, for example, everyone must take the year-long world-literature course we offer in small sections, because this is the defining course for Plan II. The English AP exam and the SAT II writing exam credits will not count toward any requirements for Plan II students.

    Another good example is Physics. Approximately 25-30% of entering Plan II freshmen enter with 10 or more hours of introductory Physics credit. They are ALL STILL required to take the Plan II Advanced Theoretical Physics course (3 hours) or TWO advanced chemistry or two other advanced physics courses (6 hours) in its stead.

    Many students earn credits (from 5 hours to 19 hours) if they studied a foreign language in high school. Ditto math/calculus, biology, world/European history, government, etc. The credits one may earn for the Calculus AB exam (maximum 4 hours credit) will not complete the Plan II math requirement. Students are still be required to take the Plan II math course (3 hours) or the second semester of the calculus (4 hours). But, again, as is true with Physics, those math credit hours will count toward the minimum of 18 hours in math and/or science each Plan II student must complete.

    It is almost always worthwhile to take the Biology and Government exams. The American History exam will count toward the state legislated requirement of 2 courses in American History and the European History exam can fulfill the Plan II requirement of 2 semesters of a non-US History course. (But then students miss out on some of the best classes offered at this University and some of the most fascinating faculty on campus.)

    What if I'm not admitted to Plan II Honors?

    If you are not admitted to Plan II Honors, you will still be considered for any other programs or majors to which you applied. It is possible to be denied admission to Plan II Honors, but to be admitted to UT in the College of Liberal Arts or any of the other UT colleges. If you receive a negative admission decision from Plan II Honors--or from another competitive admissions school--early in the admissions cycle (before March 1), it is usually possible to ask for your application to be reviewed by a third college or major with competitive admissions. So, as an example, if you were denied early by both Plan II and Architecture, you might still be able to have your application considered by the College of Communication or the College of Engineering.

    To change your major choices after denial of admission from a competitive admission program or college, contact the UT Office of Admission via email or in writing.The email must clearly state your name, UT EID, and that you would like to change your major choice(s) from "A" and "B" to "C" (and "D"). Your timing and the major and college for which you hope to be reviewed will determine whether this is possible.

    Entering freshmen can declare a major in any of the major choices in the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences. This means that if you initially apply to the Red McCombs School of Business and Plan II Honors, for instance, but know that you wish to pursue a major in History, Molecular Biology, Geography, or Physics (to name a few examples in Liberal Arts and/or Natural Science) if you are not admitted to Plan II or to Business, all those options are easily available without you having noted them on your freshman application. Applicants in the top 10% of their high school's class and applicants who are not in the top 10% or who are from non-ranking high schools but who are admitted by the University, are already admissible to the College of Liberal Arts or the College of Natural Science. So, for instance, if you apply to Engineering and Plan II Honors and are not admitted to either, you can still pursue a major in English, Sociology, Math or Geology without another application or review process.

    Appeal Process
    Plan II does have an appeal process. If you decide to appeal, you must send a formal appeal letter addressed to the Plan II Admissions Committee (hard-copy via US mail—NOT an email or email attachment). That letter will (usually) result in a denied applicant moving from Denied to Wait List status. Unfortunately, we can’t give any firm number on an applicant's chances of admission from the wait list.

    Your appeal merely needs to say that although your application was denied, you wish to be placed on the wait list if possible and reconsidered. What you include in addition to that is up to you. In the past, we have received three sentence appeal letters and three page appeal letters. If you have strengths or experiences you feel may have been overlooked or that you did not have the opportunity to explain, you should highlight such things in this letter. It’s important to emphasize that chances of success are limited. Those applicants placed on the Wait List, rather than denied, will be reconsidered before those on the Wait List through the appeal process. So, emphasizing strong motivation, and writing a strong letter of appeal are very important.

    After the May 1 deadline for admitted students to notify Plan II of their decision—during the second week of May—Plan II will rank and re-review applicants on the wait list to offer admission if there is any space available. In past years, we have admitted as few as five and as many as thirty from the wait list.