UT-Austin Major Supplement Nine Tips and Admitted Student Essay Examples
I started taking abstract painting classes, an activity far from my comfort zone.
For the past seven admissions cycles, UT has required its applicants to write two or three supplements in addition to the Common App Main Essay. One of those supplements has always been: “Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first-choice major?”
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Consider these nine tips when writing your UT-Austin Major Short Answer, followed by seven UT Major Short Answer essay examples.
1. Why does UT require students to apply for a specific major?
I know it can be frustrating that UT requires students to select a first-choice major early in their career. UT also makes it difficult to change between colleges and schools after enrolling. It’s their system, though, so I encourage you to approach this prompt with an open mind and reference specific experiences, interests, and skills demonstrating your fit for the major. Your reviewers understand your goals may change, so focus on getting into UT and figuring out what to do after you arrive on campus.
The university pigeonholes students into majors because it increases four-year graduation rates. Internal transfers are less likely to graduate on time, so they’re more willing to admit and hopefully enroll students who are more likely to complete the degrees within which they enroll.
2. The Major short answer should be largely about you.
After all, UT and other universities want to learn about you, not themselves. The essay question also omits any mention of “your major at UT” or other kinds of “why are you applying to our university” variations. Still, it is helpful to provide a maximum of two sentences about your specific UT major, which I will discuss later.
3. You must be as precise and personal as possible.
Providing concrete, personal examples is good college essay and writing advice in general. Almost everyone submits a vague supplement about the general characteristics of computer science or architecture. Many supplements read like they could’ve been written by any applicant because the applicant does not develop specific examples that demonstrate their major or provide personalized examples.
4. Discuss your relevant resume and extracurricular experiences
It’s critical that you include examples from your academic, extracurricular, professional, or independent studies experiences that influence your first-choice major. You should also develop context around how and why you’ve pursued some of your most major-relevant and significant extracurriculars.
One of the biggest mistakes students make is not discussing their resume at all. They mistakenly believe that the resume submission speaks for itself. You don’t want to overextend yourself by sort of discussing six different things, but consider using the Major short answer to develop in detail one or two of your most prominent experiences.
5. Share about independent studies, hobbies, or classroom interests
Many students also pursue their interests independently of the classroom or student organizations. If there is a topic or theme where you find yourself losing track of time or you voluntarily pursue certificate programs, this can be a great opportunity to share with your reviewer experiences that may not appear on your transcript or resume.
Consider developing lessons you’ve learned in a specific course or from a teacher who has influenced your future goals. If you have participated in an internship, discuss your roles and responsibilities and how the opportunity helped you explore and refine your interests. Particularly with STEM, if you’re competing in robotics, engineering, or science fair competitions, discuss your most memorable events or projects.
6. Consider citing a specialization within your major.
For example, if you apply for civil engineering, you could identify sustainable materials as an area of interest. It helps to pair the UT-specific mention with experiences and activities you’ve already pursued. So, suppose you’ve helped a business with their social media marketing, and you’re applying to the Moody Advertising program. In that case, you can tie your interests to their particular major resources regarding social media.
Another example is biology, which is the most popular major in the College of Natural Sciences. They have many tracks, including botany, marine biology, genetics, and so on. Including a few UT-specific mentions helps demonstrate you’ve done your research about your major and how you see yourself in UT classrooms.
7. It isn’t necessary, but you may spend one or two sentences citing specific UT resources within your major
You can research and identify professors, courses, research opportunities, extracurricular activities, outreach efforts, study abroads, and so on that match your interests. All UT departments have a list of faculty, their CVs, research interests, and courses they teach. You can often find their syllabi. Spending even a little bit of time digging deeper about opportunities within your major will go a long way towards demonstrating interest in your major.
8. You can locate resources, certificates, or courses outside of your major
One great thing about UT is all of their academic units are strong and well-funded. Many students often say their favorite courses or commitments were those not directly related to their major. Even though UT only considers your first-choice major for the admissions process, it is advisable to locate similar opportunities in other colleges/schools and discuss in a few sentences why they interest you beyond “UT’s broad offering of different courses.” There are a ton of certificate and interdisciplinary programs. The Bridging Disciplines Program was one of my favorites and greatly aided by undergraduate studies by helping me combine my curriculum with research abroad opportunities.
9. You have the option to share relevant personal or family circumstances
Often, students have personal reasons for choosing their first-choice major that go beyond professional prestige, money, academic interests, or hobbies. Common cases include students who have experienced illness or injury, or support a loved one living with chronic conditions or substance abuse.
Family concerns may influence studies in Education, Psychology, Nutrition, Social Work, Speech Language Pathology, or any number of different programs where you feel a special connection. Some student-athletes suffer from serious injuries and may want to study Applied Movement Science before pursuing graduate studies in occupational or physical therapy. Others may have a passion for cell biology or organic experimental chemistry following a grandparent’s cancer diagnosis.
If you have compelling personal reasons for choosing your major, by all means, include them, especially if you haven’t mentioned them in your Main Essay or other short answers. There are no sob stories in college admissions, and I encourage you to be open about any adversity you’ve experienced, particularly if it influences your future academic goals.
UT-Austin Major Supplement Example: McCombs School of Business
During my freshman year, I took a “Survey of Business, Marketing, Finance” class offered at my school, but I wanted direct experience with an actual business beyond walking dogs and selling products with my sister. To begin, I completed an internship with the education startup, GG, during the summer after my sophomore year. They provide coaching for academics, college admissions, and study skills. I helped them build their online brand through content creation, course validation, and writing taglines. My favorite experience involved working with previous customers to develop their ideal buyer profile. As their only teenage employee, I shared my perspectives about their target market’s desires, anxieties, and uncertainties.
Last summer, I shadowed the founder of a startup data analytics company, CC. I created an outline for and recruited future interns, walked through a handpicked machine learning course, and developed basic models to further my understanding. I also assisted with their communication materials and pitched to clients and investors. I learned more about business operations and how members of small tech firms often juggle many tasks and responsibilities.
During my sophomore and junior years, my BPA teammates and I constructed a financial analysis for a hypothetical startup yoga studio and a prospective sandwich business. I enjoyed constructing financial statements, calculating ratios, performing SWOT, and creating a storyboard. Competing offered a taste of running a small business. After achieving state alternate sophomore year, we qualified and competed at nationals the following year.
Finally, I deepened my business interests through Independent Studies and Mentorship. My mentor is a strategy and analytics lead at Albertsons who helped me create a written stock report on Google accounting for key economic and cultural trends. A McCombs degree will provide me with essential business skills to excel in my future career and someday start my own business.
UT-Austin Major Supplement Example: Computer Science
During the summer after eighth grade, I sent two dozen cold emails to professors at nearby universities for research opportunities. A Texas State CS professor referred me to Dr. T, who invited me to join her T Lab, which applies machine learning and advanced algorithms for High-Performance-Computing, as the lab’s only high school student. I initially converted her lab’s data into a more efficient HDF5 format and displayed the lab’s visualizations, learning Plotly and HTML tools and posting on forums to enhance my code.
These experiences prepared me for a larger correlation analysis project utilizing Dr. Ver Steeg’s Linear Sieve Machine Learning Algorithm. After learning about the algorithm through scrutinizing research papers, I implemented it to identify correlations in Dr. T’s raw data, compiling results in a poster presentation.
I deepened my involvement the summer before junior year when our lab coordinated with Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Dr. W to analyze correlations in raw data and interpret them using Circos Visualization, another novel process. We compiled a polished result and submitted it to an international conference.
This past summer, I developed parallelized code to parse thousands of research papers to create datasets and finetune Large Language Models (LLM) for queries regarding hardware optimization. I interacted with LLMs and allocated hardware tasks using unfamiliar interfaces like PyTorch, CUDA, Transformers, and vLLM. I also worked on TACC supercomputers and learned about Ubuntu OS.
Working closely with LLMs and LinearSieve in Dr. T’s Lab has piqued my interest in machine learning. I’m excited to deepen my skills through the Robot Learning Stream in UT’s Freshman Research Initiative. I’m also excited to work in Professor Greg Durett’s TAUR research lab to build Natural Language Processing systems based on LLMs.
UT-Austin Major Supplement Example: Cockrell School of Engineering (Civil)
Since elementary school, I’ve attended summer camps related to the life sciences, computer science, and math, which nurtured an early enjoyment of STEM. At the earliest opportunity, I pursued VEX Robotics as an extracurricular during middle school. My friend Andrew and I programmed our robot to move through mazes and pick up blocks.
My interests have grown in high school. I’ve maximized the academic resources in my environment by taking an accelerated math and science curriculum. I earned an A’s in senior-level calculus and physics as a junior. I especially like calculus because of its many engineering applications and principles that are surprisingly applicable to robotics, like integrals and differential equations. Outside of class, I have competed in computer science competitions like USACO and helped code an online forum on a college counseling website, ABC.ai.
In the summer of my junior year, I attended an engineering camp at Texas A&M. One of my favorite classes was “Trust the Truss,” where we worked in teams to build bridges. The course taught me the many trusses that bridges are built with and how different trusses serve different purposes, enhancing my appreciation for the engineering behind the Golden Gate Bridge.
Finally, my favorite way to spend my free time is walking in the park and tending my garden. Connecting with nature helps me see the bigger picture of how math and science can contribute to a more sustainable and biodiverse world. I’m especially interested in recent developments in nuclear energy, which include newer generations of smaller, more efficient, and more powerful power plants. Nuclear energy plays a crucial role in limiting our dependence on fossil fuels. Civil Engineering is my perfect fit because it will prepare me for sustainable architecture and alternative energy sources.
UT-Austin Major Supplement Example: Electrical/Computer Engineering
I explored engineering formally for the first time in middle school when I completed Engineering Design through the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY). In high school, I took CTY’s Aeronautical Engineering to learn about aircraft design principles like aerodynamics, center of mass, and lift.
Afterward, I founded and served as Vice President of my school’s Computer Science and Robotics Club. Establishing the club and navigating school bureaucracy pushed me out of my comfort zone. I helped onboard new students, organized meetings, and planned activities. As President last school year, I organized programming projects, trained our team for competitions, and expanded club membership. I've also mentored my classmates since most members have an interest but no experience with computer science and robotics.
One of my favorite experiences last school year was the NASA High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS) program. I enjoyed exploring how the Hubble telescope captures images and how a planet's atmosphere and geology influence where interplanetary pioneers might land and settle. Using CAD, I created a 3D model of a satellite and a multipurpose tool for use aboard space missions. I learned how to use NASA tools to analyze, research, and select coordinates on celestial bodies for a settlement. As my final project, I designed a habitable working base on Mars using CAD.
I was selected among the highest-achieving participants from the NASA HAS program to participate in the NASA HAS Summer Moonshot Experience. I worked collaboratively with a team to complete an Artemis-themed mission to the Moon and a design challenge by working with NASA mentors. Taking on the role of a NASA engineer has encouraged me to major in electrical engineering because circuits and sensors are essential to space travel. I'm interested in designing and integrating electronic systems for astronautics.
UT-Austin Major Supplement Example: Moody College of Communications (Advertising)
My summer and work experiences encourage me to major in Moody Advertising. After freshman year, I enrolled in a Fashion Design course at the Glassell School of Art to explore using different fabrics and production methods. I learned to use a sewing machine and install zippers and buttons. I’ve also taken four years of mixed media and printmaking classes. However, clothesmaking is tedious, and I’m more interested in marketing and branding clothing lines than creating them.
So, during the summer after sophomore year, I interned with JM Interiors, a local interior designer. For two weeks, I attended meetings, picked fabrics, and browsed furniture stores to design specific spaces. Our time together allowed me to build a room and cater to the client's needs from the ground up. I prefer client relations over interior design or architecture.
I’ve also worked at ABC Apparel Co. every summer. My primary role is content production and social media outreach. Each shift, I video and photograph our clothes and products before scheduling posts, editing reels, and posting short Instagram stories. I update the Instagram page daily, notifying customers of sales, discounts, and new products or seasonal offers.
I recently interned with The ABC Guide, under the mentorship of an experienced advertiser, to market and produce another edition of the magazine. My contribution involved contacting many companies and compiling a guide to Houston through research, pictures, photoshoots, and written work. This opportunity allowed me to discover I liked working with multiple companies in varied industries because I enjoy helping them share their stories. Moody appeals to me because I am very interested in learning more about how social media and advertising campaigns affect brand awareness and perception, and how companies can use these emerging tools in their consumer strategies.
UT-Austin Major Supplement Example: College of Natural Sciences, CNS Biology
My favorite classes were pre-AP biology with Mrs. Thompson and AP Chemistry with Mrs. Lopez. Mrs. Thompson introduced me to the scientific method, and my favorite project involved a research project on chemotherapy. I examined an innovative drug sponge that absorbs excess treatment to minimize side effects. Mrs. Lopez brought chemistry to life with hands-on experiments that helped connect theory to practice, and I earned a 5 on the AP exam. I’m enjoying organic chemistry and Anatomy and Physiology senior year.
During 11th grade, I volunteered with Memorial Hermann’s junior volunteer program. Some of my responsibilities involve running the main lobby front desk to provide directions and information to patients and families and also assisting nurses with discharges and bed transport. I loved seeing the nurses' and doctors' immense work ethic and dedication toward their patients. When I discharged patients, many of them told me how grateful they were for their accommodating medical professionals. This past summer, and continuing into senior year, I led volunteer shifts and onboarded new members by touring the hospital. I assign them tasks like running the front desk or working in PACU.
Finally, this summer, I completed an internship at ABC Orthodontics, where I was a previous patient. I worked with records technicians Lauren, Max, and Casey, who took X-rays and consulted with patients. I assisted with X-rays by learning to use the lip retractor, my first time doing hands-on work in a medical setting. Uploading the photos to the Dolphin Imaging software allowed us to build and edit them to show the doctors. The Medical Laboratory Sciences major will offer advanced diagnostic skills and learn pioneering technology treatment. It provides directly applicable skills for jobs following graduation and seems less theoretical than a chemistry or biology degree.
UT-Austin Major Supplement Example: McCombs School of Business
International business aligns with my cross-cultural and academic interests. However, what truly interests me is Space Commerce. My teachers encourage me to imagine careers or industries that don’t exist now but may be prominent five or ten years from now. Collaborating on an award-winning entry into the NASA/AMES Space Settlement Design Competition motivated my interests. At the 2018 International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles, we presented to various media, space experts, and leading industry professionals.
I’m an active member and attend monthly Sunday meetings of North Texas’s National Space Society of North Texas (NSSNT) to build grassroots connections. I presented at the anniversary of the first lunar landing in 2018 and volunteered at NSS’s ISDC event in 2023. Event planning and outreach match my personality and skill set, encouraging me to major in business.
I prefer business over engineering because I enjoy communications and project management more than design. For example, companies like Astroforge are pioneering asteroid mining. Firms like these need professionals to communicate with government agencies, secure the necessary contracts, and facilitate their projects. I’m open to new experiences and confronting daunting challenges, so a high-risk industry excites me, particularly compared to my peers set on more established career paths. When I gaze at the stars, I imagine a transportation, tourism, communications, and scientific research network beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
Space commerce depends on a complex supply chain web and regulatory frameworks that involve materials and labor from dozens of countries to construct single components. UT’s global skills track will help me achieve my ambitious goals. Austin-based Space Commerce companies like CesiumAstro and Skyways provide internships for McCombs students. International business and McCombs study abroad programs in Spain or Turkey will provide opportunities for me to deepen my existing language abilities and cross-cultural perspectives.