<p>I sat through an info session last night with my son and listened to the spiel about A&M. Son has applied to A&M mostly through my encouragement, as he would be eligible for some national merit scholarship $$. </p>
<p>I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but even though I think A&M has a lot to offer academically and particularly in engineering, I find all of the emphasis on tradition pretty hokie. In particular, the screaming of "HOWDY!" every time someone got up to speak, the reference to the Aggie wave, fish camp, and just the way everytime someone spoke they brought the discussion back around to their traditions and core values, blah blah. Some of the prospects were obviously sitting there with stars in their eyes, but I just wan't feeling it and I don't think my son was either.</p>
<p>Here is my question: Once you get to A&M and get involved in your academics, does all of that become less in-your-face? Are there people who act.....normal? Or does it kind of permeate everything?</p>
<p>Givings…I know exactly what you are feeling, I was in your position last year. My DD now attends A&M. The hoopla does die down from what you are seeing right now. People still say Howdy instead of Hi, but it comes with much less emphasis than what you hear now. It is actually an amazing site to go to an A&M football game and see all the students cheer (unbelievable student support). </p>
<p>We just came back from parents weekend and it was certainly much less “in your face” that what we witnessed during new student conference, campus visits etc. The students are all very normal and we saw very little of the over the top hokie traditions. </p>
<p>On the upside - fish camp was a great experience. My D landed on campus with 100 people she had spent 4 days with. They continue to go to games, dinner etc. On move-in day the fish camp group texted other group members as they completed their unpacking then arrived to help others. By the end of the day all had help moviing in and a group to dine with after the parents left. </p>
<p>Some of my D’s friends from high school went to UT Austin and have had a terrible time meeting people, many are lonely and coming home every couple of weeks. This will not happen at A&M, they continue to create opportunities for freshman to get involved in a wide variety of activities. Given the choice, I’m glad she endured the “hokie” early on so I am not answering the phone to tears of lonliness. </p>
<p>You might want to return to campus and view some non-new student events, you will see it all settles down and becomes very normal. Good luck.</p>
<p>A lot of the freshman will be saying howdy during move in week. After that first week it is rarely said except for teachers trying to quiet a room down at the beginning of class or if you’re walking past somebody one on one on campus and even then it is only occasionally. </p>
<p>Fish camp is cool, I would regret not having gone to fishcamp. </p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by the aggie wave.</p>
<p>There are definitely kids that are 100% die hard and follow every tradition and everything exactly. But there are also many kids that won’t follow them.</p>
<p>Feeling better reading these posts. Thanks.</p>
<p>Re: Aggie Wave–Maybe I misunderstood, the alum who spoke referenced this and made a hand motion that looked like he was waving to himself…sort of as a way to identify other aggie alums or some such when he is out in the world. But if you’ve never heard of this, it’s obviously not something I should be worried about.</p>
<p>I just came away with this vision of my son have all these weird new silly habits. Like waving to himself.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve never personally heard of it, I don’t believe they mentioned anything about it at fishcamp. My older sister hasn’t mentioned anything about it either so maybe it’s something you learn about later.</p>
<p>There are other on campus traditions that are cool and just in good fun but you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to obviously. Some of these are not walking underneath the century tree alone, placing pennies on Sul Ross before a test or a few others. Pretty much nobody walks underneath the century tree alone and you can tell the people who didn’t go to fishcamp by this. None of my friends put pennies on Sully though so it’s not like if you aren’t following every tradition you are looked down upon. Just follow the ones that you want to.</p>
<p>I’m another mom who didn’t see all the “tradition talk” as a plus - just seemed bizarre to me. My son, also found it odd and kind of annoying initially. I did have to say that walking around the campus during his NSC I was amazed at the friendliness/helpfulness of the students.</p>
<p>I think you can be as into the “whooping” as you like and that doesn’t affect your overall college experience. My son still kind of shakes his head, but come game-day he’s up there hollering/screaming in high Aggie-style.</p>
<p>I also want to chime in on the FishCamp bandwagon. My son has a bunch of HS friends along, but many of them alternate b/t the old friends and their new FishCamp groups which I think truly gives them the best-of-both-worlds experience. It sounds silly, but it lets you arrive on campus ‘belonging to something’ and I think that is great!</p>
<p>I probably just grew up in a house listening to too many Aggie jokes.</p>
<p>And as far as student friendliness, I pointed out to my son that most of the kids from his high school who matriculated at A&M are friendly AND (appear to be) happy, which is a pretty nice combination.</p>
<p>He hit the “send” button on the application yesterday, so we shall see how this unfolds.</p>
<p>Yeah you don’t really have to do any of the traditions and nobody will care/notice. Just don’t get into Walton.
However, at the football stadium that’s a different story. Everyone at the games stand the whole time and participate in the yells.</p>
<p>The Traditions are what you make of them.
I will tell you, as an Aggie, the traditions become more revered as you look back on them as a former student.</p>
<p>@givings, I TOTALLY could have written your post, word for word! I felt exactly the same way during our campus visit and SHIP. I kept thinking to myself, “This isn’t good! Why do they keep highlighting this strange behavior? That CAN’T be appealing to people, can it?!” And I thought it was annoying that we had to keep shouting “Howdy!” every single time our tour guide stopped to tell us some other tidbit (often about some “tradition” as opposed to a campus highlight). “Howdy!” he’d say. And we’d all half-heartedly say, “Howdy…?” back. And he’d say, “Aw, come on now. HOWDY!!” And we’d be obliged to yell back, “Howdy!!!” Over and over again at every stop – for an hour and a half in the 100 degree plus weather! I’m laughing to myself now as I think about it! It was SO annoying to me! But, like you, I didn’t want to say anything … they’re so PROUD of that stuff! Anyway, my son liked the school (and I did too, minus the “traditions”). And like your son, my son also hit the “send” button on the 26th!</p>
<p>Givings & SimpleLife: AH…I remember those hot, sweaty, “HOWDY” days well. However, now I am a proud Aggie Mom of the class of 2014. Yes, DS is a freshman and absolutely LOVES A&M. He has embraced all the traditions, knows all the yells by heart (he is at yell practice as I write this), and participates in as many traditions as he can. If you haven’t been to a game, you have to experience it to appreciate it! He lives in the freshman honors dorm, and the Lechner kids tend to get involved with all the traditions.Trust me, it’s not a cult! If your child decides to attend TAMU, you couldn’t ask for a friendlier or more inviting campus. If he/she decides to live in the honors dorm, they will instantly have a dozen friends. In order to be lonely in Lechner, you have to want to be lonely! :)</p>
<p>As weird as it may sound…I actually really like the traditions at Texas A&M. I have to say that where I come from nobody cares about college as far as spirit. Hardly anyone has spirit and there are no traditions in the local area. And then I see places like Texas A&M where everyone seems to be together and excited (basically they’re going to college because they want to not because it’s the only way they’re getting out of the area). People just seem to be so happy there, like they’re really having a good time. And that’s what really made a huge impression on me.</p>
<p>Some of the traditions do appear really weird at times but for someone like me, it means the world to me to see people excited for something for once even if they look kinda strange in the process. It just seems like a breath of fresh air to see people excited about college for a change. It’s one of the things that I love the most about A&M :)</p>
<p>“And I thought it was annoying that we had to keep shouting “Howdy!” every single time our tour guide stopped to tell us some other tidbit (often about some “tradition” as opposed to a campus highlight). “Howdy!” he’d say. And we’d all half-heartedly say, “Howdy…?” back. And he’d say, “Aw, come on now. HOWDY!!” And we’d be obliged to yell back, “Howdy!!!”…”</p>
<p>^^That’s it, right there.</p>
<p>But it’s good to hear from everyone on this subject. It sounds like the benefits of A&M’s “traditions” really do outweigh the negatives.</p>
<p>If we can squeeze it in, I might sign son up for one of the Lechner overnight visits.</p>
<p>Nasagirl, that is great that you are happy. It really does sound like a good fit for you! Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>givings: I would highly recommend an overnight in Lechner. That’s my son’s dorm, and it has an amazing bunch of really good kids. They study hard and have tons of fun. It will give your child a glimpse of what students and the atmosphere at TAMU are really like. If your child is like mine was, he was concerned that everyone would be a “nerd”. It’s not like that at all; although there are a few, mostly they are all just bright and very focused. In addition, there is plenty of diveristy in Lechner; my son has made friends with kids from all backgrounds and from places as far away as New York and South Africa. From the beginning of check-in , the students are all assigned a “family” which is headed by one of the sophomore advisors who live in the hall; they do everything together during those first scary few weeks of school, and it’s a great way to make friends. :)</p>
But, like you, I didn’t want to say anything … they’re so PROUD of that stuff! Anyway, my son liked the school (and I did too, minus the “traditions”). And like your son, my son also hit the “send” button on the 26th!</p>