My son applied to the Agricultural and Life Sciences Dept for Nutrition (back up Ag Leadership). I keep reading that some majors are easier to get into then others but then I hear you have to get into the school first and major has no bearing on admission. What are his chances?
3.95 GPA
2nd Qtr
26 ACT
Work Experience - Life Guard, Camp Counselor
Varsity Sports - dual
Lots of Volunteer
Nutrition shadow experience
Strong Essay
@ChristiR93 and @FriscoDad are the go-to ppl for all things A&M admission. They can weigh inâŠ
I get it. Totally confusing the way itâs worded. First you are admitted to Tamu. Then they look at your major. If thereâs still room in your major, you get slid right in. If not they go to 2nd choice. Engineering is different but thatâs irrelevant here.
With the stats given, you will most likely have to wait til late jan or feb for a decision.
FYI, for transfer admissions, it is all based on major.
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TAMU is famous for AGLS (not just nationally but internationally). Many think AGLS is easier than engineering and business but it is not necessary the case.
Last few (5) cycles, about 500 total applied to Nutrition and AG leadership majors every year, about 120 each year are auto (top 10%). For review-admit, the rate drops to 33% (see below data). So your student actually picked a tougher major. If he gets in that is very likely due to essays and ECs.
Two important things based on the stat.
- 3.95 unweighted GPA is high but rank is low, this is a common indicator of weak course strength, essay needs to address that.
- Try take residual ACT in TAMU, if score improves to 29, the chance improved dramatically. Thatâs about 3-4 more correct answers in each section so it is very doable.
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Another explanation for the Ag stats is that these students may take lots of Ag classes in high school and minimum math. At our HS, none of the Ag classes are AP, which hurts a tamu review applicant both in class rigor and rank, compared to all the other applicants who have taken numerous AP and dual credit classes.
Sadly, at our HS, the AG kids werenât encouraged to take AP bio, AP chem, AP calc, etc.
In a way, my son was the âunusualâ Ag student taking AP calc, phys, chem, bio, english, and history.
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@Eggscapgoats interesting, never thought of it that way. My Aggie was in FFA 4 years, and yes, her Ag classes werenât weighted at all. A majority of her FFA friends did take AP classes tho.
My Aggie was Top 4% (large 6A school), but had to work extra hardâŠAP classes + raising an animal and year round CDE & LDE teams (which took her out of school a LOT).
Nothing but respect for Ag kids!
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Thatâs great the Ag students at your school were taking AP classes! At our school, since there were so many AG classes available, it was easy to forgo the AP classes.
I also have an engineer who took lots of AP science and math, which of course naturally helped his class rigor and rank.
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@Eggscapgoats I guess we didnât offer that many Ag classes? I have nothing to compare it to. Everyone took 1 Ag class a year, to remain active in FFA. I do think theyâve added some more classes since she graduated.
My girl was tapped to be on Farm Business Management team in 9th grade, when the teachers saw her 1st report card, what math she was taking. She was so bummed-all her friends were on âcoolâ teams (Ento, Wool Judging, Vet Tech, etc)-hers was considered the ânerdy calculator teamâ
FBM is farm & agribusiness statistics, risk analysis, economic principles and doing taxes & budgets for farms.
WellâŠ4 years of being on FBM (coming in 2nd at State her senior year), she eased into Mays Business Honors. Econ, Acct 229 and Business Stats were a BREEZE! We credit 4 years of FBM studying and prep to much of that success.
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Very impressive! Itâs good to be nerdy! Yes, the kids at our high school also had to take at least one Ag class to remain active but many took lots more than that.
Quite a few had their sights set on transferring into a&m after a year at blinn or another CC and did just that.
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Yes, sheâs embracing her nerdiness, for sure!
Thank you - this is great information! Ironically, he is not in Ag (which may hurt him) but has an interest in sports nutrition. He was in a lot of AP classes but seemed to always make Bâs so his rigor is there but grades were not (maybe we messed up there too). How did you find this chart? Is that something that we can see for University of Texas as well? Thanks so much!
TAMU accountability report https://accountability.tamu.edu/All-Metrics/Mixed-Metrics/Applied,-Admitted,-Enrolled
Do you have stats like this for the Public Health major?
I applied BIMS. after suffering through AP Physics and advanced pre calc I realized I didnât want to go pre med and changed my major to Psychology (mental health counseling) after I got admitted. But I was automatic admission, so I really donât know. But I think that for the AGLS college if you get admitted then you get put into your first choice if they have spots available.
BIMS is heavy on Chemistry and Biology, not Calculus or Physics.
If you are auto, AGLS is easy to get into. First year is very light.
Psychology (mental health counseling) is under new College of Arts and Science.
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Out of curiosity, do you think it is harder to get into Mays or Engineering?
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@Cnak Mays is substantially smaller than Engineering, only 1,125 admitted to Mays 2022-23. There are no pathways or alternative avenues to get into Mays (like Engineering- Galveston, TEAB, Blinn Brenham, academies around the state, etc).
Not sure if thereâs a correct answer for what you asked, hard to compare because of size & pathways.
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Ok, thank you! Makes sense! I know both are highly competitive, just wasnât sure on which has a higher chance of getting in. I know Mays fills up quickly with itâs small size. Do you know about how many engineering are accepted just to College stationânot including the different pathways and options?
I donât, but Iâm sure @FriscoDad has stats.
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