Supernovasky, if you don't get accepted this cycle, I would suggest maybe finding a professor at your undergraduate institution that you could possibly do some volunteer work on. A few hours a week on a project that would lead to a possible publication. That's a thought.
And not to sound mean, but if you didn't get into UT-Austin, I don't think you will be accepted into a U of Michigan or U of Washington. Your GRE scores are too low. You need scroes around 1400 for those top schools.