I just heard from my son. He was accepted into Aerospace Engineering. We weren’t surprised, but he’s still pretty happy to have cleared that hurdle.
Congratulations to your son! Our son was invited to apply, but was not accepted in Mechanical (he didn’t put down a 2d choice). He’s disappointed, and a bit discouraged. Personally, I’m not a big fan of this “apply to get accepted to A&M, then apply to be accepted into Engineering, and now we’ve added a third application hurdle to get into a school within Engineering.” Wonder what others are thinking and how their sons/daughters did.
I am not a fan of the apply later process either. The student is sort of a captive audience after being admitted to the university. The process is a little risky as your son just found out. With that being said my son was accepted to both majors he picked. Petroleum and Mechanical.
Our son was also accepted into Mechanical Engineering today. I agree with @tshusker that this process does seem a little crazy. From what my son’s advisor said this week they had lots of kids that didn’t make the first cut. She even told my son that several 4.0 GPA students were not getting in this round.
My daughter also got accepted into Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering
While she has always leaned toward Civil Engineering, she has a decision to make this week. While they encouraged the students to apply to two disciplines, will they give her unused spot, presumably Mechanical, to someone else?
@NETarrantMom That’s a good question. Have they built a waiting list and will offer more students the vacated spots or have they built in numbers assuming some percentage of students declining?
My son was also accepted to both his choices, chemical and petroleum. He made a 4.0 last semester a perfect score of the math placement test. And he was very worried he wouldn’t get in to his choices. He heard, for what it’s worth, they are not doing a wait list for. All rumor of course. Bummer for the kids who didn’t get in to their choice.
Texas A&M is a top choice for my son for Fall 2015. Reading this thread does not make me comfortable as it implies strong competition all over again.
General engineering seems like a good idea where kids can get a feel before they decide, but it’s crazy that kids with high GPA’s (4.0) did not get their choice.
At a National Scholar’s event A&M did mention that for PetE, ChemE and MechE one needed a 3.5+ to even be considered.
If it helps at all, I was told the greatest weight was given to GPA, by far, but essays and other activities, experiences were also taken into consideration. Also, my daughter knows of kids who got in with lower GPAs than a 3.5 (not to MechE, ChemE but others) so I am not sure how kids with a 4.0 didn’t get accepted. She does know two students with a 2.9 and a 3.1 who didn’t get into ChemE but most her friends were accepted. Maybe there were other circumstances if there were 4.0 kids who didn’t get accepted. So EventHorizon32, don’t worry too much about it.
Based on what I’ve read, general engineering students (everyone not in a specific major) have until the end of their sophomore years to be admitted to a major. https://engineering.tamu.edu/academics/advisors-procedures/entry-to-a-major
I think this means that anyone rejected has more opportunities to apply. My impression is that department acceptances during freshman year (this round of applications) are relatively rare, but most students will be admitted to a specific major by the end of their sophomore years. Unfortunately, most of the department websites have not been updated to reflect the new process that just started with this class. I agree that TAMU should have made the process much more transparent.
Again, I think that TAMU has designed this new process based on how Purdue and Michigan admit students to general engineering and later into a specific major. Here’s how Purdue does it: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ENE/Academics/FirstYear/T2M Michigan: http://www.engin.umich.edu/college/academics/undergrad/degrees TAMU needs to describe the new process as clearly as Purdue does it.
For all who were accepted into their major (or not accepted into their major), what was your student’s GPA? Were they involved in student organizations, engineering research, etc.? It appears they can apply each semester through sophomore year, if I’m reading this correctly. Also, @Beaudeau, TAMU’s entry to a major program seems more competitive than UM’s, where one can declare a major provided they have a 2.0 GPA.
My son had a 4.0 first semester and should be close again this semester. With the AP credits he’s accepted, he’s a junior. He accepted his calculus AP credits, so he took multivariable calculus last semester and is currently taking differential equations. He also accepted his AP chemistry credits. He is President of the Political Discussion and Debate Club and a member of the Model UN and German clubs. He was accepted to be a Resident Advisor next year. He is on track for double minors in history and German. No research yet.
My daughter is in the engineering school at Michigan and there was no application process to get your major. You just needed to declare your major. First year engineering courses consisted of Calc, Chemistry, physics and some other introductory classes. Biomedical engineering did have a min GPA requirement though.
My son was also a 4.0 GPA his first semester and is hoping to keep it this semester, but that may be difficult. He too accepted most, but not all, of his AP credits which included calculus and his second physics course. He is in the University Honors Program, was chosen to participate in the engineering Aggie Invent weekend and has joined two outside design teams to help enhance his Mechanical Engineering major.
My freshman daughter also had the same high first semester grades as above and, I believe, 28 college credits when she entered A&M. She is also pretty involved in student social activities and philanthropic activities and is a chairperson in an engineering student organization. My older Aggie daughter was accepted under the old system whereby she applied in high school to a specific engineering discipline and was able to stay as long as she had, I believe, a 3.25. However, to transfer into Mechanical Engineering, which she ultimately did, took a lot higher GPA and the GPA required varied each semester based upon spots available. It also took different pre-requisites so you could lose a semester if you transferred. So it was stressful too.
My son had a 4.0 last semester (on track for another 4.0 this semester)and a perfect score on his math placement exam, two things that are supposedly highly considered for acceptance to your choice of major. He was accepted into both his choices, Chemical and Petroleum. He is not in any clubs or activities. He used some but not all of his AP credits.
I am a current High School senior planning on attending Texas A&M for Mechanical Engineering next fall. From reading the above I see that A&M has started a engineering program process in which students are admitted into general engineering and then must apply for their specific engineering major. I realize that there isn’t much known about this since apparently A&M started this process this year, but can someone tell me as much as is known for the application process? I can see that GPA’s and the MPE are highly weighted, but what about clubs and research? Are there essays and a whole new application comparable to the ApplyTexas application? I don’t see much information on their website other than “Admissions into a major is competitive” I am sincerely committed to a degree in Mechanical Engineering and am just learning about this new process today. I would like to know everything I can to prepare myself for the process next year.
My son reported that he spoke with an academic advisor who told him that of the approx 1,000 engineering freshman this year, about 520 had Mechanical as their first choice (a very high number the dept. was very surprised at) and they only had about 100 openings. And Petro only had a little over 200 who put it down as their first choice (another surprising number as they thought it would be higher).
I believe that almost everyone with decent grades will be admitted to their major of choice by the end of their sophomore year, with the exception of highly competitive majors like petroleum engineering. TAMU has said that this was both the largest and most qualified entering engineering class in TAMU history. Also, TAMU Engineering is committed to the 25 by 25 initiative, where they want to have 25,000 engineering student enrolled by 2025. This will not be possible unless they admit as many of the department applicants as possible.
However, the reality is that many freshmen engineering students decide that engineering is not for them after their freshman years. It makes no sense to admit freshmen into specific majors and then see them drop out of engineering altogether. So freshmen admissions seem to be limited and sophomore admissions will likely be liberal for anyone who is still an engineering major and has good grades.
Keep in mind that I am only speculating and have no inside information.