Chance me for Engineering

Colleges and Universities A-Z Texas A&M University
1

Hello,

I’m an OOS student from California and I really really want to get into TAMU. I submitted my application only a day or so before the deadline because I didn’t know that it was rolling admissions. Therefore, I am worried that I won’t be admitted to Engineering. However, I read somewhere on CC that about 15% of the engineering seats are filled by the applicants they review after December 1. If so, do I have a good chance of getting into Dwight Look or will I be pushed over to review admit?

Unweighted GPA: 3.61
Weighted GPA: 4.1
Rank: School doesn’t rank but pretty competitive public school

Schedule for four years (AP scores in parentheses):
9th - H. Geometry, H. English, H. Biology, French 3, Computer Operations/Health (semester each), PLTW Intro to Engineering: Design
10th - H. Alg 2/Trig, H. English, H. Chem, H. French 4, Computer Science and Engineering, AP Euro (4)
11th - AP Stats (5), H. Precalc, AP Physics 1 (4) , AP Chem (4), AP English Lang (5), US History
12th (currently taking) - AP English Lit, AP Comp Sci, AP Bio, AP Gov/AP Econ (semester each), AP Calc AB, Chemistry Technology

SAT Subject Tests - Chem (800), Math II (800), Bio M (750)
SAT - single sitting 2130
SAT Breakdown (Reading/Math/Writing) - 690, 700, 740
ACT - single sitting 34, superscore 35
ACT Breakdown (Write/Math/Read/Sci) - first time 33, 36, 36, 32 | second time 35, 30, 34, 34

ECs -

  1. Founder and President of school’s Health Occupations Students of America chapter (2 years) (first year 180 students enrolled)
  2. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (3 years); 2nd place in regional tournament
  3. Paid Intern in Neuroscience wing of local hospital (3 months; helped nurses, shadowed surgeons)
  4. Volunteer class teacher for local elementary school’s Math Club for Math Olympiad and AMC Math (3 years; 140+ hours)
  5. Self-employed, paid math and science tutor for elementary school kids (2 years; few kids have won competitions at local levels)
  6. Secretary of school’s Engineering Club (2 years); Fundraising Commissioner (1 year)
  7. US Soccer Certified Referee (100+ games) (4 years)
  8. JV Volleyball starting setter (1 year)

Essays -
I thought they were decent, if not above average. Nothing out of this world however. I submitted A, B, and C.

First choice major: Biomedical Engineering
Second choice major: Chemical Engineering

Thank you so much and good luck to everyone else who applied!

2

Yes, lucky for you they do now keep the last 15% for competitive review admission to the engineering major. You have to be admitted to the university to compete by a certain deadline, usually Jan 15th, both declared majors have to be in engineering. It is called engineering review ( very confusing title IMO), the pool is created by all students who meet the criteria after the major is full to 85% and then holistic review is used to select the last 15% of slots from that group. Anyone admitted to the university after that cutoff will not be considered (they will have to pick an alternate major). You will be evaluated and then notified for full admission to engineering, admission to Blinn engineering ( the CC program), or asked to pick an open major other than engineering. I’d say you would have a decent chance with your overall resume, provided they rank you in the top 25% also scores are single sitting not superstores and must have the writing component to count.Keep an eye on your progress to make sure they have all documentation - sometimes they ask for more from OOS. Good luck!

3

@AGmomx2 You’re right, some of the terms they use can be quite confusing. Also, do you know if recommendation letters have a significant effect on admissions decisions? Thank you so much!

4

Everything you submit is considered for holistic review, if you don’t submit or ‘have’ something it doesn’t count against you, but it can enhance your chances.