@angsmi The same holds true for academies as Galveston.
@AggieMomhelp that is so interesting! Then the academies sound like the way to go!
@angsmi Galveston is not an engineering academy. It is full admittance to Texas A&M University. They just ran out of space in CS. After the first year you just move to CS once you complete the ETAM process. Academies are c0-enrollment at a junior college and A&M. you can transition after your freshman year.
@angsmi Also, you need at least a 2.5 at the junior college to be eligible for ETAM. You need just a 2.0 for full admit A&M. In someways its a distinction without a difference as if you have a GPA lower than 2.5 you are not going to be very competitive during ETAM. A 3.5 guarantees you first choice major at Galveston, CS or Academies. The advantage to the Brenham academy is that it is more convenient to get to CS campus for sports and other activities. And it is much much cheaper.
Thank you for the information you have provided @trinley. My Daughter has been approved by Blinn Brenham and as of yesterday her app was waiting in review forTAMU"s decision on co-enrollment. My daughter has a 680 for Math and Ashley said she has a very good chance of getting acceptied.
Today my daughter received the offer of Galveston and TEAB (but full) for her regular application. I have 2 questions. One is does this offer impact her Blinn Brenham academy decision? The reason I am worried is her application for dual enrollment now says āproxy errorā. Before the Galveston offer both apps were in review on AIS.
2nd question is - should she accept the Galveston offer today as a plan B? Brenham is her 1st choice now. I am afraid it will fill by Monday.
@aggies85 I donāt know what the proxy error means or if you application to the Brenham Academy would interfere with your acceptance to TEAB or Galveston. My question back to you is why would you consider going forward with Brenham if you have a TEAB offer?
@trinley TEAB is full at this time. It is listed as one of the choices, but it is not actually available. My son got the same thing.
@genesmasher @Aggies85 My son carried both Blinn-Brenham and Galveston admissions all the way until Galveston NSC in June last year. We gave him his choice as promised after years of long commutes to the only district high school with good AP and engineering classesāin a rundown old school building.
I called admissions and was told early on that they do not interfere (until NSC). Obviously, it helps if schools know your intention as soon as you know.
@genesmasher @aggies85 well that makes a lot of sense. Give out an offer that is already fullā¦ @aggies85 as far as Brenham Academy or Galveston I canāt tell you which one is better for your situation. Galveston is full admit so the ETAM requirements are lower (2.0 gpa vs 2.5 gpa for you Blinn courses) however, if you have lower than a 2.5 you most likely will not get first or second choice major anyway. Blinn is much cheaper and closer to CS for football games, going to Zachary if needed etc. But it is not full admit like Galveston. Lots of kids go the Galveston route the first year but you are a little distanced from the main campus. At Galveston, all you classes will count toward your A&M GPA. At Blinn, just the engineering course. My son was not given the option last year so Brenham is all we had.
@Aggies85 I have my doubts about Engineering at Galveston filling up because of its potential for handling students on campus there (itās fairly sizeable, generally speaking). I would expect your daughter has almost assured admittance to Brenham, but I would go ahead and carry both. Declining Galveston later if indicated would not a hardship on that program.
Thanks everyone for your feedback. My son is currently at A&M in engineering so I think she wants to be close to him. He gets his ring this Aoril 
We visited Galveston a couple of weeks ago and plan to visit Brenham over Spring Break. Such hard decisions but thankful for the offers today and to have choices. We were freaking out about the proxy error, but it sounds like we just need to call Monday. @MomHopesNxtGenAg - when you say ācarriedā does this mean you accepted Galveston and then waited for the academy decision?
@Aggies85 Our son had an admission offer for Engineering at Galveston, which he accepted by scheduling his NSC. I believe what happened was that the admission to Blinn-Brenham was still extended in Howdy, and he hadnāt accepted or declined when he went to the TAMUG NSC. However, it was very tough for him to register for classes at TAMUG without having turned down Blinn-Brenham when he went into the actual registration activities. He had to formally decline Blinn-Brenham, then wait for that to filter through the system that day. This took time and I donāt recommend waiting that long :). He went to the first available NSC for TAMUG engineering students. His dad and I wanted him to see TAMUG and be really sure. We didnāt want to pull him out of school for even a single day, actually, not a single hour his senior year to do any preview activities at either TAMUG or Blinn-Brenham campus (8 AP classes plus swim team), so he hadnāt even seen TAMUG before he arrived for NSC.
@MomHopesNxtGenAg Thank you! This is very helpful info.
@trinley and whoever else with opinions: Iām curiousā¦can you apply to TAMU CS and Blinn-Brenham as two separate applications and then decide between the two if accepted to both? I think my son might ādo betterā at a smaller campus the first year or two. He is really wound tight about schoolwork and grades and I could see him getting overwhelmed with the size of TAMU CS. I have been looking at other schools in Texas only because of the sheer size of TAMU. We love everything else about it. I wonder if Blinn-Brenham would be a good bridge? (He is currently a sophomore in a high school class of 35 students)
Based on our familyā's experience, you can be admitted to both TAMU and a TAMU engineering academy until the first NSC (new student conference).
You would be very hard pressed to find anyone who would say a big campus freshman year is better from a grade and overall adjustment standpoint, for sure. You could take your son to visit the Brenham campus to see whether he feels at home there.
@TXRunningMom One of my sonās roommates is from a very small town in the panhandle. He had some adjustment issues even with such a small campus. Going to Kyle Field was almost intimidating as he had never been around 100k people before. If you are concerned about the size of the university then the Brenham academy may be a good stepping stone. Although a junior college, it has a small 4 year school feel. He will go on several trips to CS with his class and can go to football games etc. however, a lot can change in 2 years especially after getting that drivers license. You have some time to check out both options and other schools as well.
Hi. My daughter was accepted last week into the Blinn Brenham Engineering academy. She was also accepted last month into Galveston. She is still weighing all her options. I have a couple of questions. Have you heard how difficult it is to take CAL 3 during the first summer term (assuming she starts with CAL 1) after the first year? I know everyone has a different math ability - I was just wondering how successful kids are at transitioning after one year to A&M Engineering? Or do most take 3 semesters? We visited Brenham over Spring Break. We were not able to get much information academy related - just a tour of the campus. Are most of the classes held at Mill Creek Hall? Or just the engineering classes? We were not able to see a room at Mill Creek Hall, but my daughter and I were able to visit with a nice guy at the front desk that showed us a classroom and a video of his room It looks very nice! I also love the small class sizes of 25 or less. I also was wondering how class registration works. Do we only have to register for classes and A&M engineering through a Brenham conference? Will she take the Blinn MPE during registration or can she do it on-line before registration? Iām trying to get her to start studying now for the MPE! Thanks for any information or feedback.
- I donāt know how difficult Cal 3 is generally or for Summer. I can tell you that the Cal 1 teacher my son had was very demanding and his reputation for preparing the students for CS is very good. Just because it is Blinn does not mean it is a blow off. These kids must be prepared or TAMU and Blinn suffer as as well as the students once they transition to CS. If the junior college is shuffling kids through unprepared, TAMU will not keep them as a partner. no calculators allowed in class.
- I donāt remember the percentages that transition after 2 semesters, maybe check the Blinn web site or email Ashley Hermes at Blinn.
- Only the first semester engineering class is at Mill Creek
- Registration is very easy and you can do it at he Blinn conference. You will be offered a choice of schedule blocks that include all your required courses and you pick the block that you like. This includes the engineering class. You will be billed separately by TAMU for the class.
- I believe my son took the MPE on line. It is not the same as the TAMU test.
While Brenham does have some advantages (mainly cost and closer proximity to CS), your daughter will have to maintain at least a 2.5 in her Blinn classes to transition.
@trinley - thank you for the information. Yes - Iāve heard the Cal sequence is very difficult - especially Cal 2. Good to hear registration is an easy process. Thanks again for all the information you provide!
@Aggies85 Also, the the Mill Creek dorm is nice. Each student gets there own private room although they are small. They share a bathroom with one other roommate. 4 BR/2Baths. There is a small living space with a counter, TV, 2 from size refrigerators (I think) and a microwave. Also study rooms on each floor.