Inside Texas College Admissions: How to Stand Out
Ben GutierrezInside Texas College Admissions: How to Stand Out
One state, four completely different admissions processes — and most families apply to all of them with the same strategy. Ben, a former admissions officer at Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt breaks down exactly what UT Austin, Texas A&M, Rice, and SMU each reward and where families lose seats they could have won.
Speaker Info
Ben Gutierrez
Ben Gutierrez has over ten years of experience guiding students through college admissions, with expertise in selective universities. He has served on admissions and scholarship committees at Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins, where he gained insight into what top schools value. Ben helps students—especially those interested in STEM, pre-health, and research—develop standout academic and extracurricular profiles. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from Vanderbilt and an M.L.A. from Johns Hopkins.
About this Webinar
Getting into Texas' most competitive colleges takes more than good grades — it takes a strategic, well-rounded application that speaks directly to what each school values. In this webinar, a college admissions expert will break down what top Texas universities like UT Austin, Texas A&M, and Rice University are really looking for in their applicants. Learn how to position your academics, extracurriculars, and essays to align with each school's unique admissions criteria and stand out in a highly competitive applicant pool. Walk away with a clear, actionable plan to build a compelling application that maximizes your chances of getting into your top Texas college.
In this webinar, you'll learn:
- One State, Four Playbooks: UT Austin, Texas A&M, Rice, and SMU read applications nothing alike. Learn which rules actually apply to your student's target schools.
- Auto-Admit ≠ Auto-Major: Top 5% gets your student into UT Austin — it guarantees nothing about the major they named. Competitive programs run their own, much tighter review.
- Strategy Is Worth Real Money: SMU applicants who engage early and apply ED can unlock $20K–$40K a year in merit aid — most families never do the work to earn it.