Texas Interdisciplinary Plan (TIP) Scholars

Membership to the TIP Scholars community is by invitation only. 

UT Admissions and the Provost’s Office review applications from first-time freshmen admitted to the College of Natural Sciences and nominate students who would be a good fit for our community of scholars. The nomination committee uses a holistic review considering high school evidence of academic achievement, commitment to learning and intellectual challenge, resilience and potential for leadership and effective collaboration, and an appreciation for engagement in a strong academic and social community.

All TIP Scholars Program participants have the opportunity to:

• Engage in community building with faculty and staff.
• Have regular contact with a peer mentor.
• Participate in supplemental course support.
• Enroll in reserved core courses.
• Benefit from proactive academic advising.

Once you are invited to TIP, you are officially a part of the community and no additional action is required! 

However, taking advantage of the exclusive invitation to make TIP Scholars your community is a personal decision. If you would like to decline the invitation and join a FIG (now called CNS Foundations), please email tipdesk@austin.utexas.edu.

Both TIP and FIGs (now called CNS Foundations) are small cornerstone communities focused on building student connections within the College of Natural Sciences. However, TIP offers additional academic and community support to students throughout their first two years. 

For more information on the different CNS Cornerstone Communities: https://cns.utexas.edu/student-experience/find-community/first-year-com…

There are two main requirements for all students who choose to be a part of the TIP Scholars Program: 

1. Enroll in a Fall TIP seminar course (NSC 108) (this is included in all TIP First Year Course Clusters)
2. Be an active member of your mentor team

The core of the TIP Scholar community is your mentor team. Cultivating the community starts with cultivating your team. Being an engaged and responsible member of this team will seed your network at UT and make for an amazing first year experience.

Academics should be your top priority especially your first year at UT. For that reason, we typically ask Scholars to avoid belonging to multiple academic communities if expectations and resources overlap and are redundant. This is in order to make the most effective use of their time. There are some communities, however, that complement the TIP Scholars program and we encourage Scholars to participate if interested.

Examples of communities that would complement the TIP Scholars program

• Freshman Research Initiative (FRI)*

Examples of communities that would be redundant with the TIP Scholars program in their first year

• Women in Natural Sciences (WINS)
• Biology Scholars Program (BSP)
• Freshman Interest Groups (FIGs)
• Honors Programs (like Dean’s Scholars, Health Science Honors, etc.)
   

*TIP partners with the Freshman Research Initiative to reserve seats in a research-based signature course supplemented by a faculty-led small seminar with your mentor team members to process the university experience in a safe space. See below for details.

TIP partners with the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) program to allow any TIP Scholar who wishes to participate in FRI to be automatically accepted into the program. To be admitted into FRI as a TIP Scholar, you will need to inform your academic advisor when you meet with them for the first time during New Student Orientation and they will add you to the program. No additional application or action is required!

If you have already applied to FRI before being invited to TIP, you will automatically be accepted once you register for the FRI seminar during Orientation. TIP does not have access to any applications submitted to FRI.

For any other questions about the FRI program, please email fri@austin.utexas.edu 

No. Participating in the FRI program is NOT a requirement to be in the TIP Scholars program.

There are plenty of other research opportunities offered through the College of Natural Sciences. Discover other research opportunities here: https://cns.utexas.edu/research/undergraduate-research