With thise 4 classes, I would recommend just taking one more class and the easiest gpa booster would be THAR 281
@strezz My ~opinion~ is that the earlier, the better. However - a very big ‘however’ - I would want to know from A&M staff what will happen internally when your newer (better) scores are received.
With that score, it’s likely your application will go into holistic review. If you application has been considered but not accepted with the old scores, will they automatically do another holistic review of your application when the new ones are received? (Seems like a lot of work, for every candidate with new information.) Do you have to request a second evaluation, and if so, how?
For me, personally, I would not make the decision without this information.
Really, College Board should offer a few test dates over the summer. With application dates creeping further and further back, a whole lot of students need to get their testing out of the way before their senior year.
When selecting Core Curriculum classes, make sure you look at the catalog for your class. For example if I’m not mistaken THAR 281 (a class my son liked and was easy) is in a different category now and my daughter can’t use it because she needs Creative Arts credit as well as I&CD credit. THAR 101 may be an alternative with the same prof for some people. I like core.tamu.edu as a resource also.
@engiguy We just got home from NSC. Have you looked at your recommended schedule?
Go to Howdy. My Records. and in your engineering portal (bottom of page on computer and elsewhere on mobile site). click the “New student packet” the click “Recommended class schedule” You should have A, B or C recommended schedule.
Breakdown was if you scored 26+, you could take Physics 218. If you scored 25-24, it was recommended you take Chemistry 107/117 first semester until you have completed Math 151. In fact, an incoming freshman friend who was with us, if he looked up classes in physics 218, it that 151 was a prereq for him and he could not take Phys. 218. He scored 22 on the mpe.
So, depending on what you scored on the MPE may determine what you take. In the Advising session they had before lunch today, they had a break down of the grade students made in Phys 218 based on your MPE score. statistically, people who made a 24-25 made a D and below 23 made an F. Food for thought.
If you scored 26+ you can take phys 218. 26-27 made C’s, 28’s B’s and 29+ A’s.
If anyone can shed some light on my son’s schedule, we would appreciate it. We just got back from NSC. None of the schedules my son planned worked. He left the session in tears (do not tell him I said that). His schedule looks horrible plus we do not know what all the extra Physics and Math classes are. He will be going through the add/drop process to pick up Math152 instead of 151 but can someone help explain what we are looking at? His advisor was less than helpful which is kind of sad to say. Thank you so much for any assistance.
I guess you cannot add images here, darn it.
We figured it out. His lectures are at 7:30pm and the labs to those classes are during the day. I guess he will be dropping/adding on 8/24. I wish they would allow parents in there for assistance the first time because his schedule is a mess. For some of the seniors here, how difficult or easy is the drop/add process? Is he likely to be able to switch course sessions?
@Quirky813 Upload a picture of the schedule to Imgur and post the URL here. And the add/drop process is easy. Only difficulties would be time conflictions with classes, or classes that are full. He’ll also only be able to add/drop up to the 5th day of school.
@Quirky813, The add/drop process itself is easy, but he will need to be diligent checking for openings as they can pop up any time that week. There is a lot of movement, and openings will occur. If seats do not open up in a class he needs, he might also email the prof and request to be “forced” into a class (better yet, go see the prof in person). If there are any required classes that were not open at NSC, I would talk with an advisor now. When my son’s PHYS 218 class was cancelled a week or two before school started last fall, they emailed him and instructed him to wait for add/drop week. I wasn’t comfortable with that and together we talked with an advisor who was able to get him in another 218 class. Second semester, his Econ 202 class was cancelled on the first day of class which triggered several schedule changes throughout that first add/drop week. In the end, it all worked out. 
The add drop process is easy but like others said, you basically have to be checking every hour of the day. Also if I’m not mistaken your advisor has to be the one to force you into a class.
@lee6666 @ilovemath987 @izelkay
Things may have changed, or there’s a pathway into Add Drop that we can’t find.
If you go into Howdy / My Record / Registration - Add or Drop Classes / Select a Term (Fall 2016), it shows a very specific date range in which you can do this.
If there’s a different way in, please let us know! Fall’s schedule is far from convenient and we’d love to make some changes.
Thanks everyone for the assistance. Once I got a chance to look at his schedule, it makes sense. It’s ugly but it makes sense :). He didn’t realize there were labs associated with math and physics so it surprised him to see all of the Physics and Math on his schedule. Since he didn’t factor in the labs, he didn’t factor in lab times so his schedule is a little ugly right now but he’s hoping to be able to do better during the the drop/add window. @lee6666, that’s how we found the drop/add window for Nick as well. It appears to be 8/24 - 9/2 (going from memory) so he’ll just have to be vigilant in checking several times a day, everyday in hopes of getting a better class.
This forum is great, thanks for all of the responses! NSC was great but busy, we are exhausted, lol.
Heads up for those going later.
I bought the parking pass for $20 and the bar codes did not work in the west parking garage. Entering the pass digits on the keypad didn’t work either. We were there for the pre conference Wednesday afternoon (Highly recommend doing this if you schedule allows). Makes your 1st day so much easier, especially if you are picking up a sports pass. (check in at Kyle field, then get ID at Rudder tower, then back to Kyle field for sports pass). My son stayed in the dorm accommodations and had a great time meeting his roommate from Houston and a bunch of other kids. We stayed in the hotel.
Your second day is bright and early (be there at 745) so I picked up breakfast biscuits at Mickey D’s on my way to pick him up (you have to turn in your keys to McFadden back at Hullabaloo), then park in lot 30 and walk to Rudder.
Lot 30 is around Hullabaloo and it also crosses a street behind the dorm so you are a bit closer to Rudder. So from there, it is about the same distance to Rudder (where a lot of stuff takes place) as it is from West garage. For Pre conference, west garage is the way to go, as you are at the MSC, Kyle field and Rudder. The former student building that evening reception is cool. Interactive trivia games (Wednesday Munster’s middle name is Friday), try on your Aggie ring, take a gazillion photos with all of the props and the giant Aggie ring. And Refreshments! It’s an early evening. First day is much too long.
I agree @Thelma2, the first day is much too long. We bought the week parking pass and couldn’t scan either but punching in the code worked. Once we realized that we had to end the “0” in front of the number, worked like a charm. For those that haven’t attended yet, I say bring an umbrella to shade you from the sun because it was HOT!
@AuntieMame, Yes, Howdy will specify a drop/add time – the first week of clases for freshman, however, my son’s shows Aug. 8-11 but he is classified as sophomore honors (he will also have drop/add during the first week of classes). Again, last year when my son did not have a physics class, we called an advisor and did not give up until we reached someone who agreed to force him into a class (after all, the physics department cancelled the class he was scheduled for). I doubt they will accommodate changes simply due to a schedule you don’t like as NSC was your opportunity to create a schedule that fit your requirements and time/prof preferences. That is why the online schedule builders are so useful (ahead of your NSC) – they factor in all lecture/recitation/lab times and build a schedule you can see graphically. @ilovemath987, my son has had luck getting “forced” into classes by advisors as well as by two professors. He even emailed back and forth with Dr. Cahill, who heads up the ENGR 111 and 112 program, and he was very nice to force my son into his section.
http://freecollegeschedulemaker.com/ is offline today. Says domain expired. We just used it yesterday at noon.
Hopefully, it will be up again soon. It was valuable tool for us.
An honors student I know could not get any honors classes until new ones opened up at 430 (start time was 2). Even then, she said about half of the group had already left without any honors classes in Math 151 or Engr 111, hoping they can get some assistance to get in later.
So if anyone reading these posts still has NSC coming, do not leave the registration room. Stay the course. In fact, at just after 4pm, this students parents were asked to come into the registration room. This kid would loose their non resident waiver without the honors classes and no way were they going to leave. When more seats were added to honors classes, there were only 4 students left in the room.
Also, start learning to build a schedule. Click on the CNR numbers to see the details of the days and times of the class spelled out much simpler. Then make a few schedules. My son was going to take English 104 but none were open in the time slot he had on his schedule but he had a back up CNR for a US history class at the exact same time and day.
Put all of your CNR numbers down on paper or on a word doc on your computer, and at registration, in the little boxes, copy and paste each CNR number into a little box and hit submit. Do them all at once.
I’m just hoping we can get Physics changed as he has 4 Physics classes (2 lectures, 2 labs) scheduled on one day (Wednesday). Fingers crossed for us.
@Thelma2, If students are in the Engineering Honors program and they cannot get into Honors sections (for ENGR 111, for example), they can also work with Pauline Wade in the EASA office. She oversees the EH Program and moved my son into an Honors section for ENGR 111 when it showed closed. @Quirky813, I’ve never heard of a Physics class having two lectures on the same day. It is normally M/W or T/Th. The additional class times are for lab and recitation. Your student might want to call his advisor.
@lee6666, I know. It’s currently showing all of this on Wednesday: PHYS 218 10:20-11:10, PHYS 218 12:40-1:30PM, PHYS 218 1:40-3:30PM, and PHYS 218 7:30-9:30PM. The other 2 sessions are M&W 10:20-11:10. He will be calling first thing on Monday.
@lee6666, correction. There are 7!
1 on Monday
0 on Tuesday
4 on Wednesday
0 on Thursday
2 on Friday
Gosh, I need to load these images so you guys can see. They all say PHYS 218.