Does Texas A&M require four years of science in high school. I can’t find anything in their website. Also, would anyone know if AP Psychology would count as a science? Thanks so much for your help!
https://admissions.tamu.edu/apply/freshman says that to qualify for top 10% admission, one of the criteria is the foundation plan with distinguished level of achievement. https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/SidebySideGraduationPrograms_030114.pdf describes this course pattern (see the second page for the additional requirements for distinguished level of achievement, which includes four credits in math including algebra 2 and four credits in science).
However, since top 10% admission does not guarantee admission to major, higher level achievement than the minimum in some of the listed course areas may be needed to be competitive for admission to popular majors.
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Thanks! It seems hard to figure out if you need four years of science and definitely can’t find if AP psychology would count as a science.
@Branfan i have a current Aggie Senior, who took AP Psychology in high school (made a 5). That AP credit didn’t count for anything. She’s a business major, took 2 Poultry Science classes and Physics For Future Presidents at TAMU, to fulfill her required science classes.
AP Psych won’t count for a science at A&M.
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Thank you so much for the info on AP Psych!! So did she end up taking 3 or 4 years of science in high school? I was confused if you need 4 years of science or not. Seems every college I’ve looked at only requires 3 years of science.
Gosh, I’m not sure. I know she took Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Next to positive AP Pysch didn’t count as a ‘science’?? But she handled it all, so I’m speculating. Now that I think about it, one or both of my kids took Aquatic Science.
She had double early release Senior year, was AutoAdmit.
AP psych should probably count as psych 107 which is a social behavioral science and not towards the 9 hours required for life science.
As for 4 years vs 3 years of high school science… check the requirements to the link above. Never heard of anyone going into college asking this question. Most take 4 years in high school. Bio/chem/physics and then an off like aquatics or something higher for college credit. If you graduate from an accredited high school, then you should fulfill all college entry requirements.
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Texas A&M University’s recommended coursework includes:
- 4 years of English
- 4 years of Mathematics - Three of the courses should be Algebra I, II and Geometry
- 4 years of Science - Two courses should come from Biology I, Chemistry I or Physics I
- 2 years of the same foreign language
Find a complete description of coursework:
admissions.tamu.edu/apply/freshman.
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My son took Honors Biology in 8th grade. I know TAMU wants to see 4 science credits. He was going to take another science his senior year, next year, but he wants to be a business major so he’d rather take something business oriented instead of Physics 2.
It makes more sense to move the Biology to high school (showing 4 sciences) and then he can take Stats his senior year to look better to Mays, I think.
So should I have his HS move Biology to his freshman year with his Chemistry so he has 4 sciences in HS? And then just make sure SRAR matches? I talked to AO about it and she acted like if it didn’t match it would all be fine, but I keep reading on here about people getting flagged for discrepancies between SRAR/ transcript when reporting GPAs and I don’t want any kind of hindrance!
HS biology taken in junior high should be no different than algebra 1 and geometry or even a foreign language taken in jr high. It all counts towards high school degree.
Srar started after my kiddos, but surely there’s a place for pre HS courses taken so that it will match up to HS transcript (which it should be on the HS transcript already). He doesn’t need another science if he has 4 done.
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@AETX if he takes Stats, make sure it’s AP Stats. Hands down, AP Stats helps Mays students greatly, when taking Stats again at A&M. Those that took AP Stats in high school find it much easier vs those that didn’t take it.
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It’s DE, so that should be great too, right?
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Is that the same thing as Dual Credit? Are you in Texas or OOS?
Dual Credit definitely doesn’t have across-the-board rigor that AP has…not all community colleges are created equal.
Mays prefers AP over DC, just because of the rigor, and all DC applies automatically vs AP which is accepted/used as needed. If you have the option, I’d take AP.
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In TX. Yes, DE = dual enrollment. Thanks for the input!! 
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Since I know you are a great TAMU resource, have you heard anything about when TAMU is changing their auto admit percentage? I keep hearing it will going to a lower percentage and I have my second child who will be applying this summer (TAMU class of 2028)
I was there yesterday at an admissions session in Mays and they said they weren’t aware of any changes in the auto-admitting percentages. But I don’t know if they would say it if it hasn’t been officially announced?
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If a student is coming from a non ranking high school, do dual enrollment classes taken at their high school through a university show more rigor than a normal class? An admissions counselor just told me no, but I’m suspicious. When you have to come in holistically you want to really prove yourself!
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Need to know the name of the university. Normally AP and IB are tougher than DC from community colleges.
All Texas public high schools, although claimed to be non-ranking have to provide grade distribution report to colleges. That’s how TAMU rank students.
Sorry, I should have mentioned that my kids attend a private school. The name of the university is Cairn University and it is in Pennsylvania.
College hours automatically transferred once matched TAMU code. For admission, the lower the number of hours transferrable the better. Many students need those entry level courses or electives to boost their college GPA and balance out a tough semester.
AP/IB are better options because students have option to claim credit or not, at the same time AP/IB better prepare students for the competition at TAMU.
All private high schools have GDR even though they claim they don’t rank. Otherwise, there is nothing holistic review can rely on. If private high school is unwilling to provide the data, then your student’s public scores (SAT/ACT) carry more weight in decision.
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