UT-Austin Computer Science is Highly Competitive. Consider These Alternatives
Journal writing and hot cacao at Sayuri Cafe near my home in Ubud, Bali. Competent writing and communication abilities will be more in-demand as our world becomes more automated.
The easiest way to reach me is by email kevin@texadmissions.com and to complete this questionnaire for a free email admissions assessment and to discuss pricing and services.
UT Computer science was once nearly-open enrollment
It might surprise you to hear that computer science majors at UT and other top universities have only recently become extremely competitive. During the first year that I worked at UT in 2011, UT CS received fewer than 600 applications and admitted over 50% of its applicants. Back then, petroleum engineering was the most desirable and competitive major since the price of oil was around $100. However, five years later, CS received more than five times the number of applications for around 2,700, but even then, the admissions rate was still over 20%.
UT refuses to make the CS admissions statistics public, but I suspect the range is 10,000 to 13,000 CS applicants in recent cycles while admitting 700 students. A comparison would be with UC Berkeley, who has published their CS stats, and fewer than 4% of their CS applicants get in.
Computer science application numbers have skyrocketed since 2015
Application numbers have skyrocketed in recent years with the emergence of AI, large language models, quantum computing, nanotechnology, and blockchain into the mainstream, making CS an appealing choice. Students and families also see it as a probable way to have a secure, well-paying job that might also offer flexible and work-from-home opportunities. There’s also been an explosion of coding boot camps, programming summer programs, and other opportunities to explore programming and CS outside of school. Specific to UT, Austin is increasingly a hub for prominent tech startups and legacy corporations.
Approximate guess. It wouldn’t surprise me if CS app numbers are over 15,000 nowadays. UC-Berkeley and every other STEM university have seen a similar trend in the past fifteen years.
A Computer Science degree no longer guarantees a well-paying, stable career
However, there are genuine concerns about the viability of computer science degrees in the coming years. The emergence of LLMs that program and code well enough that some employers are hiring fewer recent graduates. Hiring rates in 2024 and 2025 of mid-career white collar workers in most industries are at similar levels to those of the 2008 Great Recession. No-code programming allows users like me with no programming experience to make an adequate e-commerce storefront. The varied CS job subreddits seem to be freaking out over their job prospects.
Overhiring during the pandemic has also led to significant layoffs from prominent tech firms in the previous two years. They’re taking away many cushy perks and work-from-home setups. A recent video, “Why ‘Learn to Code’ Failed,” makes the same argument that the supply and demand for computer science degrees are dysfunctional and don’t match the labor market. An interview in the New York Times with Ross Douthat and Daniel Kokotajlo, “An Interview with the Herald of the Apocalypse,” provides sobering theories about the coming obsolescence of human programmers and software interviews.
So, even if you’re sold on a CS degree, it might be helpful to try to imagine the world into which you’ll be graduating. It wouldn’t surprise me if the demand for CS degrees decreases in the next decade and shifts to other programs. It would be a cliché to say that if it weren’t true, the careers and most in-demand skills five or ten years from now would be in fields we cannot yet imagine. For example, the Bitcoin white paper was released during my sophomore year at UT in 2008, and now, cryptocurrency is a global industry worth over three trillion dollars. Other examples not on the radar in the late 2000s include biomedical engineering and CRISPR technology, data science and big data, cloud computing, smartphones and the app store, electric vehicles, and privatized outer space industries.
I queried ChatGPT to forecast the most in-demand jobs over the next decade. It referred to a US Bureau of Labor Statistics study and a few other reports to generate the following. Software-related jobs are still likely to increase, but the competition for those college-degree-required jobs is substantially higher compared to those with lower labor supply, like green energy technicians or nurses:
“The fastest-growing U.S. careers requiring a college or advanced degree include Nurse Practitioners (45%), Data Scientists (41.7%), Information Security Analysts (41.4%), Medical and Health Services Managers (36%), Statisticians (32%), Epidemiologists (27%), Software Developers (26%), Occupational Therapy Assistants (25%), Physical Therapist Assistants (26%), Actuaries (23%), Environmental Engineers (15%), Hydrologists (13%), and Urban and Regional Planners (10%), while non-degree yet high-growth green energy roles include Wind Turbine Technicians (60%) and Solar Photovoltaic Installers (48%).”
If you rank outside the top 10%, it’s almost impossible to get into UT Computer Science (or Electrical/Computer Engineering). So, you should strongly reconsider applying.
UT-Austin Alternatives to computer Science
UT-Austin has many programs that are adjacent to computer science. Some of them are more competitive than others. Alternatives that are still pretty competitive include mechanical engineering with an emphasis on robotics and mechatronics, electrical and computer engineering, and aerospace engineering for drones and unmanned flight. Moderately competitive alternatives include the McCombs Management Information Systems program, Statistics and Data Science in the College of Natural Sciences, applied math, computational biology, and physics. The demand for data science and information-oriented careers are likely to exceed software or computer engineering jobs over the next decade.
Somewhat less competitive majors are Informatics, the Arts and Entertainment Technologies (AET) program in Fine Arts, and the new major in the College of Liberal Arts BS in Behavioral and Social Dats Sciences. You can also look at certificates or minors that any major can pursue in statistics and data science, Computational Science and Engineering, applied statistical modeling, elements of computing, quantum information science, and scientific computation.
Still apply for CS/Engineering at Texas A&M and UT-DAllas
I also raise these alternatives to also point out how some of these might fit better for our rapidly changing global economy and technology sectors. If you’re a student who ranks at the very top of your high school class, has a 1500 or higher on the SAT, and has a strong CS-related resume, then you should consider putting UT CS as your top choice. You can also apply for CS or computer engineering at other universities at A&M and UT-Dallas, where your chances are higher, and then try for different first-choice major at UT. Still, it’s a good idea to think more broadly about your future studies and career than computer science since that’s what almost everyone defaults to nowadays.