It was Jan. 15, the day decisions were released for early action applicants to UT.
High school senior Avishi Singh had sent in her application to the University’s electrical engineering program back in September 2024, working hard to not only get accepted into her major but to also receive her decision as early as possible. It was the day — and the email — she had anticipated for months.
But when the moment came to open her decisions, Singh had been deferred.
“I was pretty disappointed, and I’d say maybe a little bit annoyed,” Singh said. “I’d been told a lot that I had a really good chance of getting into UT’s early action, and then I applied early. I’m an in-state student and I’m auto-admit, so I assumed (I’d get in), but that proves how the college decision process is. You can’t predict anything. It’s all really a gamble.”
Singh was not the only one who reported this frustration. Many applicants took to social media to express their disappointment, reporting they had received a notice from the Office of Admissions saying they needed more time to review applicants, with it later changing to say decisions had been deferred until Feb. 15, the day standard applicant decisions are released.
“I’m honestly a bit disgruntled with them because if we all make the effort to meet their deadline, why can’t they meet ours?” a user commented on a UT Reddit page.
The University said it could not disclose the number of applicants who were deferred but reported it has received over 90,000 freshman applications so far for the Fall 2025 term compared to around 73,000 for Fall 2024, marking a nearly 25% increase.
“This is the first year that UT offered an Early Action application window, and the review of early action applications is unfolding as planned,” said Miguel Wasielewski, interim senior vice president for strategic enrollment management, in an email statement. “The first wave of early action decisions was issued Jan. 15 with one of four possible outcomes — admitted, deferred, denied or an alternative pathway. All early action applicants that were not accepted or declined by Jan. 15 remain under review and will receive a decision on their application by Feb. 15.”
The University notified early action applicants whose decisions were deferred but did not use the word “deferred” in the initial notice, which caused the confusion, Wasielewski said.
Despite the University receiving a record number of applications and a high number of deferrals, there will be no changes in the housing process, a University Housing and Dining spokesperson said in an email statement. However, housing contracts will begin to be offered the week of Feb. 17, two weeks earlier than the typical March 1 opening.
“We constantly monitor our housing application process and evaluate if any changes need to be made for future academic years,” the University Housing and Dining spokesperson said.
Although the University has stated deferred decisions should be announced on the regular deadline of Feb. 15, applicants still feel disappointed about their results, wishing they had received a warning of the deferrals beforehand.
“I wish that they had some sort of communication before, and I think that’s how everyone else feels, too,” Singh said. “We all woke up on Jan. 15 looking forward to seeing some kind of decision, and then thousands of us got deferrals that day, so I just would have (liked the University to) let us know that.”