My son and I went to the Engineering Preview day. I think it was well organized except for a long line just to view the room at the Pacific Hall. I asked Anna (Engineering counselor at TAMUG) on why some kids got offered at Blinn and some at Galveston, etc. She said she does not have an answer and advised me to contact CStat admission. I called CStat the following day and asked another counselor. Well I think he was honest enough to tell me that rank wise, it will be Blinn Engineering Academy > GV > PSA.
My view on GV campus is that most of the students have cars so they can go out of the island during weekends. It will be quite difficult for any student not to have a one. Iâve spoken to five different families at they all live in Metro Houston.
On our way back to Austin, I asked my son about his decision. He told me that he will still stick to his earlier choice which will be UT Dallas. Best of luck to all of you going to GV.
@FourR Thanks for sharing that info about the ranking of admissions. That is one thing I wanted to figure out, although I donât know why it really matters at this point. The Galveston option definitely has its advantages, being a full A&M student, but Blinn Engineering Academy wins on location! But those Blinn students have to make their grades and the Galveston students are treated like the A&M freshmen engineering students. Itâs probably a draw.
We went to Engineering Preview Day, and my son enjoyed it. We are from Houston and I do think that there will be many students at TAMUG from the greater Houston area this coming fall. My biggest concern is the support for the transition to CStat once they have gone through the Entry to a Major process. If you donât find out what major you will have until summer, then you canât get set up for housing, etc. And I know my son will want to be leasing an apartment with friends, and I think that process starts in late fall/early spring in CStat. We wonât let him sign a lease until he knows he is going to be at the CStat campus, so it looks like it will be on-campus housing for his second year. Thatâs not a bad thing, but I didnât get a warm fuzzy feeling about how much they help you secure that. The Q&A session touched on that, but their main focus was selling/supporting TAMUG, which they did a very good job.
All in all, I think TAMUG will be a positive experience and my concerns about the transition to the main campus arenât shared by my son! Heâs not worried in the least. He tells me that he will only apply for majors in CStat and he is confident that it will all work out. And, he tells me, he will be hitting the road every weekend for CStat. I hope he doesnât wear out his welcome with his friends there.
@GLYToo Really appreciate your lengthy upbeat account of Preview Day. It sounds from the four accounts total as though the TAMUG folks did a good job that day in spite of lack of marketing otherwise. Your sonâs attitude is also very inspiring!
Galveston admits: TAMUG âSALT Campâ (Galveston analog of CStat Fish Camp) registration will open on Apr. 1. Session 1 is Aug 17-19, and Session 2 is Aug 24-26. (Mandatory O-Week for all Corps members is the full week of Aug 19-25.)
After much considerations, my son has decided to attend UT Dallas. We visited TAMU in CS last week, but that wasnât enough to persuade him to attend the Engineering program in Galveston. He said the main reasons are that he is already accepted into Mechanical engineering at UTD and the program is growing. If he later changes his mind for whatever reasons, he still have other options with other engineering programs. With TAMUG, there is a good chance that he might not be able to ETAM into CS with his 1st major. And changing major for engineering there seemed difficult. Lastly, he likes the fact that he starting out and staying put the whole 4 years and doesnât want to miss out on that experience. He seemed very happy with his choice âŠ
I understand his apprehension about the ETAM process though because there is a real chance that he wonât go to CS after the 1st year. First, he has to take the MPE and depending how that goes, he might be place into MATH 150 - which might push him back a semester for ETAM.
More importantly, based on the Cumulative GPA Report for TAMUG Spring 2017, 28% of the students (41/147) are NOT eligible (less than 2.0 GPA). And only 22% has a GPA of 3.0 or above. Last year, a typical student who has been been admitted to Mechanical has a minimum of 3.0 and mean of 3.3 GPA. So unless you are in that top 22%, your chance of getting your 1st choice is somewhat slim.
Just remember that when the advisors said 76% of TAMUG students transition to CS, they meant eligible students - and it doesnât necessary meant to their 1st choice. If you work out the math, approx. about 62% of total students from TAMUG will attend CS with their 1st choice.
It became a little risky for him to take the TAMUG route - which give him little options if he canât get into Mechanical engr - which is his dream anyway. UTD give him a better route in our opinions.
It will be a lot of long drives for us to visit him - but we are happy that he picked his choice and is happy with it.
Good luck everybody âŠ
BTW, here is the link to the Grade, Distribution, and Cumulative reports if you are interested âŠ
http://web-as.tamu.edu/gradereport/
Your kids can use these report to help them pick which professors is best (GPA wise) for each of their class âŠ
Hello All,
Just wanted to give all an update.
My son and I visited TAMUG on their college tour on 3/26. The day started with a presentation by the President Col Fossum followed by the Counselors. They did make it very clear that Galveston is a branch campus of CS. They are still under governance of Texas A&M CS. TAMUG students are Aggies! Tour guides took us for a walking tour of the campus. Lots of construction going on which shows growth. I am expecting lots of growth in TAMUG. The campus is small but in my opinion students can get lot more interaction with teachers. We did not get to see the dorm (Pacific hall). After the tour, we got to sit down with a counselor. All the counselors are genuinely helpful and ready to answer any questions. Impressed by their timely responses even via email.
Getting a 3.5 GPA should not be that hard but students need to put in good effort. Finally we have committed to TAMUG and signed up for NSC! My son is very excited about TAMUG and he is looking forward to his transition to CS next year. Good luck to all the future Aggies!
Once again, to allay anyoneâs concerns, Galveston is a branch of CS, although much smaller than CS. Degrees are offered under the name of Texas A&M College Station.
Cheers!