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Essays & Short Answers

Freshman

Essays

Summer/Fall 2025 Essay

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Please keep your essay between 500–650 words (typically two to three paragraphs).

Spring 2025 Essays

All freshman Spring 2025 applicants must submit a required essay:

  • UT Austin Required Essay in the Common App, or
  • Topic A in ApplyTexas

Please keep your essay between 500–700 words (typically two to three paragraphs).

Spring 2025 Essay Topic

Tell us your story. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today?

Submitting Your Essay

You can submit your essays:

  • In conjunction with your application.
  • Using the Document Upload System in MyStatus.

*Students do not need to submit other Common App essays. We’ll only review what is required.

Short Answers

  1. Submit the required short answers to prompts in your admission application.
  2. Answers are limited to no more than 40 lines, or about 250–300 words per prompt, typically the length of one paragraph.

Summer/Fall 2025 Prompts

  1. Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first-choice major?
  2. Tell us more about one of the activities included in your application. This may include an extracurricular activity, a club/organization, volunteer activity, work or a family responsibility.
  3. Think of all the activities — both in and outside of school — 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.)

Optional Short Answer

Please share background on events or special circumstances that you feel may have impacted your high school academic performance.

Spring 2025 Prompts

  1. Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first-choice major?
  2. Describe how your experiences, perspectives, talents, and/or your involvement in leadership activities (at your school, job, community or within your family) will help you to make an impact both in and out of the classroom while enrolled at UT.
  3. The core purpose of The University of Texas at Austin is, “To Transform Lives for the Benefit of Society.” Please share how you believe your experience at UT Austin will prepare you to “Change the World” after you graduate.

Optional Short Answer

Please share background on events or special circumstances that you feel may have impacted your high school academic performance.

Submitting Your Short Answers

You can submit your short answers with either your Common App or Apply Texas application. Short answer responses must be completed in order to submit your application.

Transfer

Essays

  1. Transfer applicants must submit one essay responding to Topic A.
  2. Applicants to the School of Architecture and Studio Art, Art Education and Art History are required to upload Topic D in addition to Topic A. 

Essay Topics

Topic A (Required)

The statement of purpose will provide an opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances that you feel could add value to your application. You may also want to explain unique aspects of your academic background or valued experiences you may have had that relate to your academic discipline. The statement of purpose is not meant to be a listing of accomplishments in high school/college or a record of your participation in school-related activities. Rather, this is your opportunity to address the admission committee directly and to let us know more about you as an individual, in a manner that your transcripts and the other application information cannot convey.

Topic D (School of Architecture majors and Studio Art, Art Education and Art History majors only)

Personal interaction with objects, images and spaces can be so powerful as to change the way one thinks about particular issues or topics. For your intended area of study (architecture, art history, studio art, visual art studies/art education), describe an experience where instruction in that area or your personal interaction with an object, image or space effected this type of change in your thinking. What did you do to act upon your new thinking and what have you done to prepare yourself for further study in this area?

Submitting Your Essay(s)

You can submit your essays:

  • In conjunction with your application.
  • Using the Document Upload System in MyStatus.