The ink on my son’s college application to Texas A&M is not even dry yet and he thinks he is considering changing majors! Of course, he is a senior in high school, so he is not supposed to have his life figured out.
Since he was in 7th grade, he has wanted to be an engineer. Then last summer he changed to business. He now feels that he is better suited for engineering and would like that better.
He has applied to A&M and is Auto Admit. I see where he can change majors on his application, so we can get that done. However, I know that engineering applications are handled differently. Will he still get the Auto Admit next month and then be in a holding pattern until engineering is decided? Or, will they not decide on admission to the university until he is accepted into engineering.
I think he is a strong candidate:
Top 3.25% of his class
34 ACT- 36 Math, 35 English, 34 Reading and 32 Science. (He will take it again next month)
8 AP classes through his Junior Year- 5 more his senior year
Including AP Bio, AP Cal BC, AP Physics
Lots of EC and leadership
Has worked since he was 16.
Based on the information here, I would say your son has very little to worry about. He sounds very talented, and he will be fine. The average ACT Score for the 75th percentile of students accepted is a 31 which he is well above. However, I know very little about your son and how well a fit he would be at the university or how good of an essay he writes. But from the sounds of this for, Texas A&M University, your son is an extremely well qualified candidate that has an extremely high chance of being accepted. (I would highly doubt that he would get rejected.)
Your son does sound like a strong candidate. My kid is undecided about engineering or some other techie thing like CS or even just math or chem. A&M is a strong contender, but also looking at UTD and TCU. And senior year is going to be a strange one anyway.
@tmclanton With your son interested in both engineering and business and also at the top of his class, he should consider applying for the Brockman Scholarship. It is a full ride - four years undergraduate STEM degree and one year masters in business.
There are previous years discussions on here (Brockman Foundation Scholarship - HS Class of 2020, for example). Ya never know!!
@Eggscapgoats D is top 1% class and 1590 SAT and tons of rigor one needs with AP scores for engineering. But she does not have the community engagement at all nor leadership for Brockman. And we can’t afford TAMU without at least full tuition. She will not make NMF this year (terrible curve). So she is not planning on applying to TAMU even though I begged.
Note that Texas A&M engineering students must face a secondary admission process to declare specific majors (ETAM - entry to a major) after taking initial prerequisite courses. A 3.5 college GPA automatically admits to the desired major, but the ETAM process appears to be opaque about how difficult it is to get into each major for those below 3.5 college GPA (see the ETAM threads).
@TVBingeWatcher2 Wow, your daughter is obviously very smart! What does she want to do? I’ve heard of Texas Tech and LSU giving generously to high achieving students.
@TVBingeWatcher2 So many acceptances…that is impressive! Its great she wants EE - so many accredited engineering colleges offer that. My son was intent on Aerospace, which is not offered at TTU.
I hope you get her to apply, you never know what will happen this year due to the COVID crazy.
If she wants a college experience with football, this would not be for her. But if she is looking for near a full ride merit - UTD might be ideal.
UTD has a reputation for generous Academic Excellence Scholarships (AES). But they really only go to students like your daughter. NMF or close to it. In the past couple of cycles grades and scores well above the former “academic admits” to TAMU.
I’m also partial to TTU - It offers a big school/football feel. Lubbock is focused on TTU much like College Station is on TAMU.
@Eggscapgoats Also don’t forget Rice U. Since you can’t afford tuition at a public U, Rice waives full tuition for families making less than $130K per year.
@TVBingeWatcher2
Look into UT Arlington as well. They have a great engineering school as well as partner a great deal with Lockheed Martin. My son received a full ride to UTA as NM Commended and has had internships with LM every summer and was offered a great job there at graduation.