UT Austin Supplemental Essays 2025-26 – Prompts and Advice
August 14, 2025
The University of Texas at Austin is one of the top public universities in the United States, and its ultra-elite business, engineering, and computer science programs attract brilliant teen minds from all over the world. It鈥檚 no wonder that close to 73,000 students applied for a chance to join the Longhorn Class of 2028. This enthusiasm has caused the annual acceptance rate to drop significantly. Thanks to a state policy that guarantees admission to Texas high schoolers who finish in the top 6% of their class, close to 90% of UT Austin鈥檚 40,000+ undergraduate students placed in the top decile of their high school cohort. Additionally, the mean SAT for entering freshmen is over 1400. That brings us to the immense importance of the UT Austin supplemental essay prompts.
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In a rare move, UT Austin did not change the supplemental essays that students need to write for the 2025-26 admissions cycle. Below are the University of Texas at Austin鈥檚 three supplemental prompts for 2025-26 along with advice on how to address each one.
UT Austin Supplemental Essays 鈥� 2025-26
Responses are limited to 300 words per prompt, typically the length of 1-2 paragraphs.
1. Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first-choice major? (Required)
Share your authentic story of why you are interested in a particular discipline. For example, what books have you read on the subject? What documentaries have you watched? Which podcasts have you listened to? What subtopics most intrigue you? Did a teacher excite you about a topic or was it a parent or outside mentor? Do you know where you want to take this knowledge post-bachelor鈥檚 degree? Do you aim to one day go on to pursue a graduate/professional degree or is there an occupation you are shooting for right out of undergrad? Include as much detail as possible.
You can structure the narrative of this essay as a soup-to-nuts chronicling of your entire journey toward your discipline of interest or you could share one or two vignettes that illustrate your burgeoning passion for engineering, history, French, computer science, business, psychology, etc.
2. Think of all the activities 鈥� both in and outside of school 鈥� that you have been involved with during high school. Which one are you most proud of and why? Guidance for students: This can include an extracurricular activity, a club/organization, volunteer activity, work, or a family responsibility. (Required)
Perhaps you are the captain of a team, the editor-in-chief of your school paper, or the president of a club. On the other hand, you may simply be a valuable contributing member of your school’s Coding Club or church’s food bank initiative. Regardless of whether you are a leading man/woman or a still-essential bit player, make sure that you use your writing ability to show the admissions officer what type of involved team member you are and why you are proud of your contributions.
Finally, draw a link between your past efforts and future aims by researching and citing UT Austin organizations or initiatives that you’d like to get involved with as a student. The admissions committee wants to understand precisely how you will contribute to their campus community.
Please share background on events or special circumstances that you feel may have impacted your high school academic performance. (Optional)
This section functions similarly to the Additional Information section of the Common App. Feel free to use this space if you encountered any hardships that impacted your academic performance. This could be anything from dealing with a divorce to challenges faced from a learning disability.
However, this prompt is truly optional, and you should only take advantage of the space if you need it. If your high school performance has not been majorly impacted by special circumstances or events, you do not need to write this essay.
How important are the essays at UT Austin?
In essence, UT Austin鈥檚 admission staff 鈥渦ses an individualized, holistic review process to consider each completed freshman application. Applications from students who qualify for are reviewed to determine admission to specific colleges, schools, and majors. Applications from students who are not eligible for automatic admission are reviewed to determine admissibility and to make decisions about admission to specific colleges, schools, and majors.鈥�
The following items are considered during the holistic review:
- Class rank
- Strength of academic background
- Test scores
- Record of achievements, honors, and awards
- Special accomplishments, work, and service both in and out of school
- Essays
- Special circumstances that put the applicant鈥檚 academic achievements into context, including his or her socioeconomic status, experience in a single-parent home, family responsibilities, experience overcoming adversity, cultural background, race and ethnicity, the language spoken in the applicant鈥檚 home, and other information in the applicant鈥檚 file
- Recommendations (although not required)
- Competitiveness of the major to which the student applies
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