Son got admitted yesterday - College of Liberal Arts - Econ. This is a bit of a game changer for us. We had basically written off admittance to A&M because he was not an auto admit (and his sister who was a much better student got rejected - BLINN team…she is now overseas studying at one of the top universities in the UK - so everything worked out perfectly). I think what got him admitted was his degree choice, two varsity athlete, award winning art student, he’s had a summer job for three years, and he got a 30 on the ACT. I went to A&M (Class of 83). Waiting on UGA, then it will be time to decide. He’s holding six acceptances (3 big school and 3 very small school). Going to be a tough decision when we get down to the final two or three.
@jarededberg I’m surprised that with your passion you applied to tu. Did I get that wrong? Seems like that isn’t a great fit either.
@hoping4admit No t.u. is definitely not a good fit. I am a diehard Aggie. I have a couple of family members that went to t.u. so they made me apply. I have a lot of respect for the school and it’s programs but it is no doubt I was an Aggie from the start. I committed to A&M about a week ago so I can start talking trash about that damn school in Austin now 
@maroon79 congrats on admission! My sister is Aggie BS - ECON She has a great job out of school. ( know that matters to parents sometimes)
I know someone that received an acceptance letter in the mail this week. This is how the she found out that she was accepted. I thought it was suppose to show up on AIS and/or Howdy first before receiving a letter by mail. Does anyone else know of anyone that received a letter in the mail first, or how soon they received their letter in the mail after being accepted on AIS or Howdy?
Also if anyone is wondering, I received a $1000 scholarship and an OOS tuition waiver today on my Howdy Portal!
@jarededberg Thank you for your answer.
Its not that I had no idea about Corps of Cadets. I had come across it while going through the A&M website, but I had not really read up anything about it.
No, I haven’t done any of what you’ve mentioned (although I did do a bit of research before applying), but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to know more about A&M. And that is exactly why I asked you what Corps was.
“You on the other hand appear to show no interest or pride in the school or the traditions and culture that it feeds on.”
That’s not true. What have you based this assumption on?
You probably have known about A&M and have been wanting to go there since you were a kid and what you’ve written reflects that. But it is not fair of you to expect everyone to have the same level of enthusiasm as you do, or even assume that I have no interest in A&M and that it is not the right place for me. I may have never visited the campus (for obvious reasons), or never watched a game, heck, the first time I came across A&M was about six months ago, but I really want to be a part of all of this. I want to be a part of the campus spirit you’re talking about.
The reason I applied to A&M was not just because of its strong engineering program, but also because a lot of people told me about its strong campus spirit and student involvement. As an international travelling to a totally different country and staying there for the next four years, that was one of the main things I was looking for.
In the country where I come from, we do not have anything like what A&M and most other universities have (football games, etc). Everything is very different here. This is something that is very new to me, and I’m really looking forward to being a part of this culture. A home away from home.
I’m extremely sorry if I hurt your or any other person on this forum’s feelings, or if I offended anyone. Your answer proves that what I had read about A&M students is true and you have really made me look forward to being an Aggie next year.
@osmdad Thank you for the link
@hoping4admit I got all 4 tabs today
I didn’t know what Corps was either… and my dad is an Aggie. I didn’t grow up living and breathing TAMU either, but I applied because I was interested in a particular program.
@elysium305 I got 4 tabs overnight too.
I think you will love A&M. I think you will find a home away from home. A common quote about Aggieland: “From the outside looking in, you can’t understand it. And from the inside looking out, you can’t explain it.” Curiosity is never offensive. I think feelings run strong because there are so many that want to be an Aggie, many from Aggie families, that don’t get in. From my Aggie family, I say welcome.
@jarededberg could you share your stats again? I’m OOS hoping for scholarship and acceptance
@ccook definitely! I totally understand the stress… Here you go:
When did you apply? November 17
When did you receive your admission decision? November 23
Auto-admit? Academic Admit? Review? Academic Admit
Major/College of Choice? Did you get in? College of Engineering (Chemical)
Honors Program? No
Stats:
Act: 33 (34 Math, 34 English, 32 Reading, 32 Science)
Took 2 AP Tests: AP Calc BC: 5, AP US History: 5
Took 2 IB Tests: Geography SL: 6, Business and Management SL: 6
Class Rank: 10/398 (3%)
GPA: 3.91 UW 4.21 W
Full IB Diploma
Extra-Curriculars:
Nationally Ranked in Racquetball
Part of 2014 Racquetball National Championship Team (My high school won the national championship)
Varsity Lacrosse (Captain)
Senior Leadership Team at High School
State Speech and Debate
Multiple Leadership Positions in Clubs
Oregon Boys State (Mayor and Media Editor-in-Chief)
National Honor Society
We all have good EC’s so I’m not going to go into any more detail on this
Work Experience
Head Lifeguard: Supervise a staff of 38 employees
Community Service: 300+ hours
Do you guys think if accepted people choose not to attend A&M then review admits have a better chance of being accepted? When do admitted students have to make their decision?
@jarededberg : can you guide me how to check the scholarships?
@elysium305 I apologize as my post before was a bit flagrant. I interpreted your lack of research about Texas A&M as a lack of interest in the school. I would think that as an international student you may look what the campus life is like and what there is to do there as far as organizations and activities. Most of my friends went through this process when looking for schools across the US and internationally and deciding where to go. I understand that not everyone does this though, so I apologize for wrongly assuming that. As far as wanting to go to A&M since I was a little kid, no that is not the case for me. My parents both went to Oregon State University in Oregon (The state above California). I do have a few family members that went there and after going there for one of their weddings a number of years ago, I fell in love with it. For a long time though I wanted to go to USC or Stanford. Even though you are international, and I assume not from Canada, I would recommend visiting A&M. Texas in general is a culture shock I can say firsthand and A&M is even more so. It is an extremely friendly place but the culture is a bit close-minded not very diverse. It is not for everyone and I think that you can really get a feel for what it is by visiting. I can almost guarantee it will be different than you expect it to be. Probably for the better, but maybe for the worse. I do not want someone calling you a 2%er if you do decide to go to A&M so I would recommend becoming familiar with some of the traditions at A&M (There are a lot and some of them are rather unique): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditions_of_Texas_A%26M_University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMp2D239fPo. Also I would highly recommend attending Fish Camp this summer. You will meet a lot of new Aggies and learn more about what A&M is. I know a lot of information about A&M and I have people I can ask if you have any question that I am not sure about. Please feel free to message me. I would be happy to help out a fellow Ag if it is A&M that you really want to go to!
The whole A&M vs “t.u.” (as in, “Texas University” vs. University of Texas) thing is very idiosyncratic to A&M, as if somehow “t.u.” demeans the University of Texas and implies that, actually A&M is the true “University of Texas.” It is one of those A&M “can’t explain it” thingies because, to the rest of the world, it truly is such an inside joke that no-one gets it except Aggies but, being so dear to them and a subject of utter indifference to the University of Texas and to the rest of Texas and the college world, represents yet another bizarro aspect of the school (like a Corps of Cadets who constantly think that they’re better than West Point cadets, even though the vaunted Corps is just another extracurricular activity, no more prestigious in that sense than women’s club badminton, much less the fact that no one can actually name any Corps of Cadets grad who commanded anything more adventurous than a dog pound . . .; or the “yell leaders,” wearing farmer dungarees looking like total dorks . . .). A&M is actually quite a good school; its just these “traditions” that undermine the whole enterprise.
@pk2608 Yes for sure. First google “Howdy Texas A&M”. Click on the link and log into your A&M account using your NetID and password. Then click on “Finances”. After that, click on “Financial Aid Portal”. Click on “Academic Period 2016-2017”. Offered awards should be listed if they are available. They will be continuing to update for the next month with initial scholarships and additional ones will be awarded well throughout the spring and summer. So if you do not have anything now, that does not mean you will not get scholarships!
@jarededberg Nice to see the intensity of your feelings for TAMU… I will be glad to see my S go there since it inculcates such strong pride and emotions for the alma mater ! And congrats on your getting the schol and OOS waiver. Where exactly on HOWDY do you check that, please?
EDITED: Sorry… hadn’t seen your post above. Thanks
@jarededberg Thank you. Visiting the campus will not be possible, as I will need to get a visa to come to USA first!
@elysium305 Ah that’s a bit of a problem. Well I will be down there in a little under two weeks for some procedural stuff so I can send you pictures or videos or anything else you would like to see down there. I can go talk to financial aid or the engineering department if you need as well. I could even do some corps stuff if you are interested in that.I can email or text you or Facebook or whatsapp or whatever you would like to use!