Applying for Engineering Major

@AggieMomhelp Every year seems to be different but it certainly seems in the past if you are auto admit then you have been admitted into the university already. If you do not receive engineering as a major they will require you to choose a major of those still available. I saw people coming to NSC’s and changing their majors; it really comes down to whether there are any openings in the department you want to switch to.

@pbleigh Thanks so much. I think you did answer my questions thoroughly.
@AggieMomhelp Thanks for following up for me! You’re awesome!

Oh My, where to start
Holistic review of ALL applications for engineering began with class TAMU class 2021.
Auto admits to A&M who apply to engineering and by the October 15 deadline have received admission decisions to the University in Mid September (around the 19th) and admission decision to General Engineering as below:
Nov 11 for Fall 2017,
Oct 5 for Fall 2018
Oct 12 for Fall 2019
However, take the early decision deadline with a grain of salt. Not all auto/academic admits will hear by Dec, despite having applied by the early decision deadline. Every year since the holistic review and early decision deadline, auto and academic admits have been deferred until January for an admission decision for engineering. Most (but not all) review admits who applied to engineering will receive

@TexasGuy2019 What are your test scores with sub scores.?
No longer do you have to list 1st and 2nd choice as an engineering major in order to apply for engineering. If you want to be considered for the major, you must put an engineering major as your first choice. While it isn’t common, not all auto top 10% applicants are accepted into engineering. Some perform poorly on the standardized tests or have limited maths and are rejected from the major. If the applicant had put an engineering major as their 1st and 2nd choice, they are still admitted to the university and will be asked to chose from any open major. That said, if not offered full admission to College Station general engineering, (again, you need to have low scores or limited maths) an auto admit/academic admit could be offered first year Engineering at Galveston or Blinn Engineering Academy or less likely, unless you live in the region, the Engineering Academy at McAllen.
The majority of all applicants, Auto Top 10%, Academic Admits and Review Applicants who apply with engineering as their 1st choice major will be offered an engineering admission decision and their second choice majors are not considered at all. If you have good SAT/ACT math scores, you most likely will be offered full admission to College Station.

The engineering major you put on the application is meaningless in regards to the major you will have in College Station. In April of your freshman year, you will have your first attempt to apply to ETAM (Entry To A Major). Getting into a major is competitive. Students below the auto 3.5 do get their first choice but it isn’t a lot below that. There are also many who only want one major and are disappointed when they end up not being qualified for entry to it. So sometimes, applying to a school that offers direct admit to the major is best for some.
The top 25 engineering programs in the country are direct admit to major or have first year engineering programs that have a second tier to get through to get into a major.

As an auto admit, You can apply all the way to the deadline of Dec 1 and still get full admissions (but highly do not recommend-so many had issues with their supporting documents arriving late or didn’t check their Applicant Portals that everything was received and were rejected). Engineering does not fill up like Mays or Visualization with X number of seats available.

All freshman applications are reviewed by Admissions not the engineering department. ETAM and Transfer applications are reviewed by engineering departments.

Thanks so much for all the details @Thelma2 My SAT subscores are 710 for EBRW and 720 for Math. Class rank barely meets the top 25%. I did only one AP class so far at school and that is AP Stats in junior year and I got a B only (AP test score pending). I will take 4 other APs in senior year which includes Calculus AB and Physics C. I have only one leadership role in a school club. No sports, no awards. No amazing ECs.

  1. Do you think I will gain full admission to College Station engineering, based on what you know about the past years' stats?
  2. Do you think I am one of those you consider as limited math?
  3. How do they decide who goes to Galveston and who goes to Blinn? I am in Austin.
  4. You said "The majority of all applicants, Auto Top 10%, Academic Admits and Review Applicants who apply with engineering as their 1st choice major will be offered an engineering admission decision and their second choice majors are not considered at all. " -- This sounded like it is pretty easy to get into TAMU Engineering. Majority of all applicants?

@TexasGuy2019 Yes, I think you will be offered full admissions to College Station engineering.
Part of what they are looking for in the maths in readiness for the rigors of academically challenging engineering calculus. There will be a math placement test for students when they attend their New Student Conference. They also take into account the maths that are offered at a school and what maths the applicant chooses to take. You will be fine for admission.

Galveston has historically (the past 4 cycles) been for high scoring review admits when the number of full admissions to college station seats run out. A&M always accepts more than will accept admission. Those who decline their offer of admission does not make more room for additional offers of admission to be made.

Blinn Engineering Academy (Not Blinn Team - Blinn Team is all other majors except engineering) is an admission decision given to review admits and auto admits with low SAT. Last year, we saw some review applicants offered more than one option, getting to chose Galveston, Blinn Engineering Academy or Engineering Academy at McAllen. The Engineering Academy spots are limited and are first come, first serve so if an applicant should not sit on the offer too long or they could lose that option.

Top 10% and Academic Admits applying to engineering have high math scores and are typically highly qualified and get into engineering in College Station. 1430 is a great score but isn’t uncommon among engineering applicants. My son was a 1470 (and thought he was smart, until he met a lot of the other students. He’s surrounded by thousands of really smart people rather being a % out of a below 1000 student body. Getting in and staying in are two separate things, not to mention, being competitive enough to get the major you want. Don’t make the mistake and think anything about Engineering at a nationally ranked top 15 University will be/is easy.

@Thelma2 Oh great! Good to hear that I have a pretty good chance of getting in! And thanks for the heads up. I know it’s never easy for engineering even in a mediocre school.

AggieMomhelp- our advisor from A&M told us that it would not be a problem to change major, if you don’t get in in Eng., and you are auto or academic admit.