I have heard conflicting reports about Engineering Honors… some say there is a lot of work involved and classes are very tough compared to regular engineering classes. So confused as to whether this would put pressure on an incoming freshman. Any thoughts or experiences out there, pros or cons?
@Lola6828 if you start a new thread with this question^ you will get more answers vs. buried in the admissions results. There are several people that answer questions here in honors - all different honors programs- you’re likely to get some great info!
@Lola6828 My son just got accepted and he was accepted into the computer science program. (it was his first choice while his second was chemistry) Our counselor told us that the computer science and engineering colleges are very difficult to get into so we did not expect for him to get in. You may want to talk to an advisor from A&M.
@woodlandsmom - If your son was in the top 10% or academic admit, he would have automatically been put into his major of choice (general engineering if engineering) if space was available. Was the counselor referring to the difficulty of getting into computer science or engineering after being admitted and then applying to “entry to major”?
@Lola6828 there is a lot of work involved if they decide to stick it out all the way. Many just do it for a while and enjoy the Honors classes and the required Honors seminars, but drop out of it eventually. As for the classes, sometimes they are tougher, sometimes not. But they have options as to which course they take as honors and which they do not. They don’t take everything honors. My kids took History, Government, some Engineering as honors and enjoyed the smaller class sizes. They can take most of their classes not as honors, for example take Calc 1 and Honors, but not Calc 2 and 3 as Honors. Take Chem honors but not physics, etc.
Not sure. My son is in the top 25% but had good scores. The counselor just said UT and A&M have so many students applying to the engineering school that many kids are accepted into a general degree then have to “apply” to the actual engineering school. It is interesting that the tab said general engineering on her son’s tab. My son’s tab said computer science. I was also worried that he would not hear back until March as many kids are notified in March and he is not top 10%. The best part about it being early is that we were able to put a deposit down on a dorm.
Oh, this is your counselor at your son’s high school? I see. I would assume he was academic admit if he heard back with the first wave of admits (with at least 1300 SAT, can’t remember the ACT). Being admitted so early, he got the major he wanted, that’s great. If he was in general engineering, then, yes, he would still have to apply to a specific discipline in engineering after prerequisites have been met. For UT, as far as I know, once you are admitted to your preferred engineering discipline, there are no other requirements to apply. A&M and UT have different rules for majors.
@woodlandsmom - I thought computer science required an entry to major application. You might want to double check AIS?
So on Friday I paid the $100 NSC fee and then applied for housing and paid those fees. But in the AIS it still reflects that I need to apply for housing. Anyone else have this experience? Does it just take the system a while to update? I do have a confirmation email from Housing that confirms my application.
I did the same thing. It probably is not updated yet. If you go to the Res Life website and click on online services it should show your housing info. It asks for the UIN number, fyi.
For all engineering at A&M they are just accepted in general engineering with a preference for a specific type. For example, General Engineering with Preference for Electrical Engineering. Then they have to apply later for acceptance into the specific major. As long as an auto-admit applies on time, he/she is accepted into General Engineering. Once it’s full though, it’s full. As far as I know, engineering is the only major at A&M like that. I thought Computer Science (as opposed to computer engineering) accepted kids outright.Computer Science is in the Dwight Look College of Engineering, but it’s not an engineering degree. Same with Industrial Distribution. It’s part of Industrial and Systems Engineering, but it is not an engineering degree and applicants are accepted outright. It is a different process at UT- they accept the applicants then later decides on whether they get their choice of major. At least this is how I understand the process.
Computer Science falls under engineering. There is “entry into major” data on the engineering website with the results of the most recent applicants for computer science, if interested.
Engineering only admitted to 85% capacity last year and then had Engineering review for all who were accepted to the university after that point for the last 15% of slots. Those decisions were made in January, with either a yes, or offer to switch to another open major or Blinn Team Engineering (which was new). then you take some classes and apply to your major. The other school that also you have to apply to your major after taking classes is Business (maybe there is others?). Everyone comes in as Gen business, then takes classes and applies to majors. The only exception in the Business School is Business Honors, which you may only enter as an incoming freshman or after your first semester (it is a major as well as an honors program) but it is not available to anyone after that point. Business fills to 100% and then closes, just like the other majors/colleges on campus with the exception of Engineering which closes to rolling admissions at 85% (or at least it did last year).
@AGmomx2 - Isn’t it true, though, that with the business school that, yes, you apply to your specific discipline, but it is not a competitive process with other students (i.e. you just need a passing GPA 2.0). That’s what my daughter was advised. Am I missing something?. Unlike engineering where each department only lets set number in, therefore making each department an impacted major and competitive.
Yes, that is the way it has been that you applied and were admitted if you met the benchmarks. They just changed the procedure though, now you take far fewer units before applying - it use to be 30 specific units that included at least one basic course from each major. Every major has a point of capacity, Mays just did a good job of spreading out the interest so everyone didn’t come in looking for the same major ( accounting, marketing, management, etc) so my guess is that trend will continue. Mays has been admitting this way for many years, engineering is new at it so my guess is eventually they’ll figure out a system that works for everyone too.
Did they just change the benchmarks for this school year? Or are there any results of past admittance (like engineering)?
No there is no mention of change of the benchmarks, just the change in what courses are required to apply to upper division/declare your major http://mays.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2015-2016-Handbook.pdf (page 13) which starts this year. Like I said, Mays seems to do a really good job managing the majors, I think the transfer students are more in a competitive admission situation than those who are enrolled since Freshman year, which in kind of nice 
Most students have their problems early (completing the lower level requirements) than gaining admission to their desired major.
Thanks! I checked it when I got home since I do not have the login t work and it did say general engineering Computer science and it said BAC (I guess that I bachelors?) We put a deposit down and a confirmation email. I think it still says that we can apply for housing. (even though we already did)
I got my packet in the mail yesterday!! It’s officially official 
@matchboxlife, @txp0319 , how many days did it take them to process your application ? (i.e. from the day you press “submit” to the day you saw “admitted to Mays” on the web site?). Thanks!