Anyone know how hard it is to keep a 3.5 GPA freshman year in engineering? My son gotten all a’s with lots of ap classes but I know college will be more challenging. He will need to keep a 3.5 to keep his scholarships and was wondering if that is pretty doable with hard work. We are out of state so it would be expensive to stay without the scholarships.
Wondering the same thing on our end. Out of state as well, and waiting for departmental scholarships to know if he will be able to attend. We’re so very close to the waiver amount and holding our breath. Thanks for posting!
Any idea when the department scholarships come out?
Depends on how good their study and time management habits are. There are kids that got all A’s in HS that get into college and flunk out and their are kids with good but not stellar stats that pull a 4.0. Some come into college thinking it is going to be like HS especially if HS was “easy” for them…those kids are not very successful.
@rosegeo, There is a thread on this topic from last year which you might be able to glean from: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/texas-m-university/1751034-3-5-scholarship-gpa.html. It’s just so highly individualized depending on the student and how well they adapt to the college environment and coursework. My son also found that grades vary a great deal from professor to professor for a particular course, so he does a great deal of research talking with upperclassmen, reading reviews, etc. prior to selecting his classes. You can also access TAMU’s grade distribution reports here: https://web-as.tamu.edu/gradereport/ Simply type in the term and search for basic first-year engineering courses (ENGR 111/112, MATH 151/152, PHYS 281/208, CHEM 107, etc.)
@rosegeo I heard that Engineering department scholarships start coming out mid to late February. I check the portal at least every couple of hours every day. I’m obsessed and can’t help it. $250 stands between us and the waiver, so it’s causing quite a bit of anxiety. We’ll be okay once we know. It’s the waiting that is torture, as many here can agree.
Every student that gets accepted to the engineering dept had/has great grades in HS, great ACT and SAT scores or they wouldn’t have been accepted into engineering. My son, class of 2020, just finished his first semester as a freshman and yes it is very hard to maintain a 3.5. I signed him up for tutoring classes at 4.0 right from the start for Chemistry and it helped immensely. This semester he is signed up for tutoring for Physics also. Its worth it to me and him.
MOST students that get accepted had great grades in HS. Haha. I’m class of 2020, and I finished HS with a 2.9 GPA, and was ranked the last person for top 10%, but I got into engineering last fall. Then again, I know they changed their process for selection now. I also had a 1450/2400 SAT score haha. My GPA is above a 3.0 after my first semester, so definitely depends on the individual, and how they adapt, like said above.
The 3.5 GPA is cumulative, so plan wisely - start strong & you’ll get some wiggle room later. GPA wise, there is also a semester of probation (aka redemption - if you don’t make the 3.5, they give you another semester to raise it up). Basically although everyone wants a scholarship, you do have to earn your money with extra effort to keep your GPA high. if you think about it, it is a MERIT scholarship - you should earn above average grades to warrant the honor.
Mine was very good at time management, and lack of procrastination -that seems to be the key commonality for those with GPA’s above 3.5 no matter the major. He had three roommates along the way that also had 4.0’s - all could be found studying at odd times - ie. 7am on a Sat or Sun, between classes, before and after fun events, etc. They managed to do a bit of everything, but all were high energy, focused kids who planned things well. Attending additional study sessions is good advice & FWIW, tutoring isn’t necessarily what it sounds like - it should be renamed “test prep & tips”. Many honors kids go to tutoring, it isn’t just for those struggling.
I should have said besides the automatic admits which depends on your HS and class size so your grades and scores are not considered in the admit process. Great for you that you do okay in HS and excelled at TAMU.
@rosegeo - My son is OOS in Aerospace Engineering. He got the NMF package. He is now a junior. He took his calculus and chemistry AP science credits and other APs for 48 credits total. So for engineering and math, freshman year he took honors Math 253 and 308, Physics 218 and 208, and honors Engineering 111 and 112. He got As in all those classes except for Engineering 112, where he got a B. Total credits taken were 31. He finished with about a 3.84 after freshman year and still carries around a 3.75 with two minors (history and German). He could have taken it easier without the minors.
So it can be done. I will say that my worked harder than he ever did in one of the top high schools in the US, even with 15 AP exams passed. Your son can do it, but he needs to be willing to focus and work hard.
@AGmomx2 gives very good advice.
One other thing, a 3.5 is not required for all scholarships. My son is required to maintain a 3.5 GPA for his President’s scholarship and his National Merit scholarship. For the OOS tuition waiver, he needs to keep a 2.75 GPA each semester.
Feel free to send me a message if you have any more specific questions.
Thank you all for your advice, it is very helpful. I feel more confident that he can manage it, maybe getting tutoring when needed. He is a very driven student and is very good with time management and goals.
My kiddo just graduated suma cum laude. He wasn’t on scholarship and entered hoping to graduate with a 3.0. As others have said, good study habits and focus are key. He used A+ tutoring in physics and felt it made those first 2 classes clear when the class instruction was confusing. I will say he wasn’t in honors and I have seen threads where parents said students in honors classes were held to what they thought was an unfair standard. I have no first hand experience with this. I know my son has no regrets about not doing honors and he has some great opportunities now after graduation. In short a 3.5 is never a sure thing but is very doable for a good student with good study habits. Along the way there was still time for research, organizational involvement and many other things. Time management is key.
@spectrum2 - Good advice concerning GPA and honors. Graduating summa cum laude (3.9+ GPA!) is a much bigger deal to an employer or to grad school than graduating with a University or Engineering Honors designation. And my son got screwed twice in honors sections when he would have had As in the regular sections. So avoiding honors sections is another way to help keep the 3.5 GPA.