↓Skip to main content

How to Apply to Public Universities in Texas

·3 mins
University University Application

Here is a step-by-step guide to applying for universities in Texas.

Preparation #

If you are still in high-school or in community college, you can take advantage of this time to build your resume.

  • Study for the SAT and take it. The SAT is basically an IQ test that universities want you to take. Your application will be seen less favorably if you do not submit an SAT score or if the SAT score is low. Find someone at your school or university to help you schedule a test.
  • Participate in community service. Find someone in your school or university that is engaged in volunteer work like cleaning, planting trees, building fences, etc. It will be fun. Don’t forget the sunscreen.
  • Get a part-time job. It may be beneficial to get a school-related job like tutor, lab assistant, or student assistant. It will reduce your commute time, help you review what you have learned, and socialize with people you probably already know.
  • Join a club. Some clubs do volunteer work like recycling. Others do leisure activities like build robots, read books, or play ping-pong. If I could go back in time, I would have played ping pong!
  • Apply for scholarships. Whenever you write your submission, express your emotions clearly and sincerely. Imagine that an old, sentimental, caring lady is reading your submission. I once read scholarship submissions to determine the scholarship winners, and I did not penalize harshly on spelling mistakes. The winner had to have qualities like being hard-working, financially-struggling, dedicated, disadvantaged, etc. I rated tear-jerking submissions higher than submissions formatted like research papers.

Application process #

  • Determine which public university or college you want to attend, like University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech.
  • Find the application deadline. You will need to gather many documents, which may take weeks to gather. The sooner you begin the application, the better.
  • Go to https://www.applytexas.org/ to apply to your public university of choice. Depending on your university, you may need to submit the following documents:
    • High school transcript
    • SAT report
    • Diploma
    • College transcript
    • Letter(s) of recommendation
    • Proof of meningitis shot

Tips #

  • Fill the “request for letter of recommendation form” below, print it out, and give it to a teacher, boss, pastor, friend, etc., so that he or she can use it to write you a letter of recommendation.
Request for Letter of Recommendation
Student name:
Date requested:
Date Needed:
Purpose of recommendation letter (college entrance, scholarship application awards, honors, community service, etc):
Awards and Honors (UIL, fine arts, athletics, academic, etc):
Offices(s) held in school clubs and organizations:
Office(s) held in community clubs and organizations (sports clubs, civic organizations, 4-H, reading clubs, etc):
Volunteer work (relay for life, habitat for humanity, church volunteering, beach clean up, etc):
Work experience (tutor, student assistant, cashier, etc):
Future plans (university and degree, career path, life goal, etc)
Helpful personal information (first generation college student, unique attributes, large or unique family circumstances, major health problems, etc):
  • Apply to more than one university in case you do not get accepted to your top choice.
  • Apply to more than one program in case the program you applied to is already full, otherwise you will not be accepted. Only apply to more than one program if you are OK with studying that subject.
  • Buy one spare transcript in case you apply for more universities than you anticipated.