Admissions
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
I am currently in high school or attending another university/community college.
How do I apply to the University of Texas at Austin as a communication major?
Freshman and external transfer student admission decisions for the College of Communication are made solely by the Office of Admissions. Please visit Be a Longhorn for more information about the University and its admissions procedures.
I am a current student at the University of Texas at Austin and I would like to declare Communication Studies as my major or add it as a dual major. What do I need to do?
Students who wish to transfer into the Department of Communication Studies (or add a second major in Communication Studies) must fill out the College of Communication Internal Transfer Application
Students must have at least an overall GPA of 2.25 to apply to the Department of Communication Studies. It is highly recommended that students enroll in at least one CMS class before or during the semester they apply to the major. This will not only give students an insight into what the major is all about, but it also gives a good indication of whether or not a student can do well in such courses (final grades are definitely taken in account). Depending on which track you are applying to, there are courses that are recommended for this purpose:
Corporate Comm CMS 306M |
Human Relations CMS 306M |
Political Comm CMS 306M |
On occasion, CMS courses other than those listed above will be made available for non-majors. You should monitor the online course schedule closely during add/drop periods (normally directly before a semester begins) for classes that are no longer “restricted.”
How many Communication Studies courses can I take as a non-major?
All university students are restricted from taking more than 9 hours of communication studies coursework overall (this includes transfer work) unless they meet the following criteria:
• A major in Communication Studies, OR
• A DECLARED minor in Communication Studies via their home college. If you have not officially declared communication studies as your minor, you will not be allowed to enroll in any CMS coursework beyond 9 hours. In addition, all minors will be restricted to the EXACT number of hours required for their minor (i.e. Liberal Arts majors may take 12 hours of CMS, Education majors may enroll in 18 hours. Please check with your academic advisor to determine your minor requirement).
While it is a good idea to take a few CMS courses for students to get their “feet wet,” 9 hours is the official cut-off point before they are officially accepted into the major. Rest assured, that taking more than three CMS courses will not necessarily increase a student’s chances of acceptance and can, in fact, create a stressful situation if they are forced to apply more than once before being accepted as a CMS major. Instead, it is recommended that students continue to enroll in general requirements and other courses that may be needed for either their current major or the CMS major (other than CMS courses).
Students on the UT Debate/Forensics Teams and who must enroll in CMS 210 multiple times will not have those courses counted toward their 9 hours of allotted CMS coursework.
I’ve applied to Communication Studies for the upcoming semester, how should I handle registration for that semester since I don’t know if I’ve been accepted yet?
Students applying for entry into CMS for the upcoming semester will not know the status of their application until well after the first registration period. This means that students must register for the upcoming semester for any classes they may need other than restricted CMS classes. If students are accepted into CMS, they may make adjustments to their schedules during add/drops directly before the semester begins.
Remember: If you register for CMS courses during registration, but are NOT accepted into the major, any CMS courses you have in excess of 9 hours overall, will be dropped from your schedule (see previous question for explanation of this policy).
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