A has been accepted into Engineering at both Texas A&M and Auburn. A has plans to continue with an MBA post grad. Since we live in Texas, A&M is cheaper by $6500/year despite the merit scholarship that Auburn would award for a 4.0 GPA and a 1370 (Math and Reading). I would like opinions on going to a smaller, more nuturing school that might increase chances of the stellar grades necessary to get into a good graduate program vs. very large, very competitive program that is cheaper.
- Both Auburn and TAMU are large state universities, so any feeling of intimacy on the student's part is highly subjective.
- Admission to graduate programs is largely based on GPA, undergraduate research and fit with specific professors.
- For the traditional engineering disciplines, spending extra money for an out-of-state undergraduate education typically is not advantageous.
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Heritage Scholarship Requires a 31-32 ACT or 1360-1430 SAT score and a minimum 3.5 high school GPA for consideration. Awarded at $48,000 over four years ($12,000 per year).
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You’re right…only $12k per year merit, while OOS tuition is about $26k (and rising every year).
Unfortunately, it’s late to ask this question since MANY merit deadlines were in Dec.
For a smaller experience and merit still available, try UA Huntsville and Miss State.
Traditional engineering at Mississippi State University is underrated. I like the place overall.
Both are large public universities, and even though Auburn is a bit smaller, you’ll find it just as competitive as TAMU. In other words, the average GPA’s are about the same, and Auburn students admission profiles are similar to TAMU You’re better off saving the money for Grad School.
With that being said, each school does have some engineering programs that they don’t share with each other. For example, TAMU has Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Ocean Engineering and Petroleum Engineering to name a few. AU has a Architectural Engineering and Polymer/Plastics Engineering program.
Good Luck!
Thanks for advice! A has already applied for many scholarships and has received information regarding some. None so far equal in state tuition. So, what I am hearing is - go real small or save the money for grad school.
Would you consider Trinity U in San Antonio? They are small, have engineering, and generous merit aid available.
Not sure if you want to opening up the discussion, or confining to just A&M and AU, but it might warrant a review…
What did he decide? We are in the same boat this year…visited A&M…I am sorry, but there is a HUGE difference in the campuses! I went to Auburn, one daughter goes there…I know it well…when I went to A&M…the people were just as friendly, but there were SOOOO Many of them! There are almost 3x the students at A&M compared to Auburn…you need to take a bus to get to parts of campus…you can readily walk to classes and not be late at Auburn…we were at the student center at A&M and people sitting on the floor, no tables to eat at, but like I said, they were super nice…the buildings seemed a little dated (think 60s architecture) in some cases…Auburn just has a more aesthetically pleasing campus…but we’re talking education…so curious what your son decided.
@conscoll I don’t know much about Auburn’s Engineering department. I’ll share what I know from my Aggie’s experience. Entered in Fall 2014, the first semester that A&M implemented “admissions to engineering major” policy. Prior to 2014 engineering students were admitted directly into their first-choice engineering discipline. Now they have to apply for the engineering discipline they want to pursue. A&M keeps changing the process for “admissions to major.” It’s a moving target. I recommend that you & your high-school student understand the current policy & ask a lot of questions.
My Aggie applied for a less competitive engr major, but knows many students with high GPAs who weren’t admitted into their major the first time they applied. Some of my Aggie’s friends (who are excellent students) were never admitted to their major (and after two years) transferred to another university.
If your son or daughter is absolutely certain about majoring in Engineering, A&M might be ok. Please be aware that changing majors at Texas A&M is very difficult. Especially if you’re trying to get into Mays School of Business.
Calculus, Chemistry, and Physics courses at Texas A&M are huge (250+ students per section). My Aggie went to Chemistry prof for help, but there were many students needing help w/ easier concepts. My Aggie wasn’t able to get help at Texas A&M, but was successful in Chemistry because of off-campus tutoring we paid for.
In our experience, advising for Engineering students is AWFUL. Very large group morning advising session for students at New Student Conference the summer before they begin. Then groups of approx 20 students are sent to a computer lab to enroll online. There’s only one advisor in the room, time is very limited, & parents aren’t allowed to assist (as they were in the past). It’s absolute chaos. My Aggie enrolled in a course already had credit for because there wasn’t enough advising. Able to change schedule before courses began.
The next semester, my Aggie was “advised” to take a course that wasn’t needed & didn’t apply to major. This happened because the advisor worked in a different engr dept & wasn’t familiar with my Aggie’s major. We paid tuition & my Aggie endured a class that wasn’t difficult (but required a tremendous amount of work for a 2-hour course).
I have a friend whose Aggie was “advised” to take a course his first semester. Even though that course was on the current flowchart for his major, somehow A&M decided he actually needed a different course as a pre-requisite for another required course. To this day, the course he took first semester is on the flow chart. However, Texas A&M delayed his progression in courses because of some unwritten policy.
It has been my Aggie’s experience that advising in his engr discipline has been very poor during sophomore & junior years. Students are expected to plan their own 4-5 year degree plan for graduation with minimal help. They’re also expected to decide what courses they want to take. My Aggie’s advisor very recently graduated from A&M with a degree unrelated to math/science/engineering. Very nice, but doesn’t understand what my Aggie’s major actually requires. Faculty in my Aggie’s major aren’t willing to help with advising. My Aggie (a junior) received an email that all questions related to advising should be directed to the “advisors” and not to him. It is almost beyond my comprehension that we pay over $25,000/year and my Aggie can’t get advice about specific courses in their major from someone who actually teaches the courses & is familiar with them.
I’ll give you another example about Texas A&M advising. When my Aggie was in high school & we went for a campus visit, we had an appointment with an advisor in Chemical Engineering. I was shocked that we met with an undergraduate Chemical Engineering student who actually advised other undergrad students, even Seniors. When we walked in his feet were on his desk & he was wearing cargo shorts. He was obviously a high-achiever (and to put it as politely as I can, he was “overly confident).” We asked a lot of questions about the new admissions to engineering major policy. At the time, there was no written policy. He just told my child “all you have to do is make a 4.0 and you’ll get into your major.” There was absolutely no honesty or transparency about how extremely competitive the admissions process would be. No honesty about the huge class sizes & difficulty of Math & Science courses.
Regarding advising: if your student decides to attend Texas A&M, he or she will have to be VERY cautious and watch out for himself. I believe students have to advise themselves & then pray that there aren’t any unwritten requirements like my friend’s son encountered.
I don’t know what Auburn’s retention rate is for engineering students is. The engineering retention rate at Texas A&M is quite low. It is such a huge school & courses are very impersonal.
I have friends whose sons graduated from A&M engineering several years ago. A parent of Petroleum Engineering student told me: “unless a student is both highly motivated AND academically gifted/talented, they don’t belong in Engr at A&M.” My Aggie is a very hard worker, but not a genius. Every semester has been a struggle. Another mom whose son was very successful (high GPA) in Mechanical Engineering told me: “The professors don’t want to teach undergraduate students and aren’t helpful in office hours.” Definitely not an A&M fan, even though her son has a good job.
I’m sure you might meet other moms whose Aggies have done well and been happy with A&M Engineering. I know moms of 6 Aggies currently enrolled in Engineering. Every single one of them has struggled academically, but they have been persistent. In some cases, it takes 6 years to get an undergraduate Engineering degree. One of these Aggies was in his last semester, had a job offer, and failed a course his very last semester. Walked at graduation, but lost job offer & is re-taking course this semester. Same thing happened to my friend’s Aggie who was a Petroleum Engineer.
@conscoll I’m sure there are many amazing success stories for Engineering students at Texas A&M. I only know of one. My Aggie graduated from high school with a classmate who is a genius & does very little but study. He’s doing very well in his junior year at Texas A&M. He’ll probably graduate in 4 years and have multiple engineering job offers.
Texas A&M has a goal to increase engineering enrollment to 25,000 students by 2025. It seems that quantity is more important to A&M than quality. You’d need to read article linked in next paragraph to understand that. Katherine Banks (Dean of Engineering) has spoken & written about improvements which need to be made (increased engineering retention rate & smaller class sizes). Here are 2 quotes from the article: (1) “We have a retention rate of 55 percent – 55 percent of students who come into freshman engineering graduate with an engineering degree,” Banks said of the engineering college. “That’s very low. Our goal is 75 percent by 2025.” (2) “Right now, we have classes with 250 students and it’s an awful experience for the students generally and it’s an awful experience for the teachers — I’ve taught those classes, you can’t connect,” Banks said. “So blended learning is the right thing to do.”
Here’s a link to the article:
http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/texas-a-m-crafting-a-bigger-better-engineering-school/article_6bfdda0a-8da6-5172-80bf-77114ec7108e.html
I’m certain that neither of the 2 goals from the article has been achieved. I don’t believe any progress is being made towards those goals. In spite of goals written by Dr. Banks, the A&M engineering retention rate is still very low. Because of enrollment growth in the 3 years since article was written, there are even more classes with 250 students that Dr. Banks said is “an awful experience” for both students and teachers.
Prior to my Aggie’s enrollment, I spoke with an honest advisor (Civil Engr prof) who told me Biomedical Engineering was admitting & graduating so many students that there weren’t enough job openings & many couldn’t find jobs. This is an example of why A&M’s aggressive goal to double Engineering enrollment by 2025 may not be in the best interest of Aggies who have student loans & their parents who are paying a lot of the expenses.
My daughter is at University of Oklahoma (where class sizes are smaller) and her experience there has been amazing. When we made campus visit in 2015, it was very obvious that President Boren is very involved and focused on improving quality in all areas of campus. I frankly don’t see anything like that at Texas A&M. OU is a lot more like Auburn (much lower student enrollment & a smaller campus that’s easier to navigate). At a huge school like Texas A&M, many students “get lost in the system.”
What I’ve seen at OU is a focus on quality over quantity. My opinion is that A&M is moving towards goals of increasing quantity. This can’t be done well until they remedy some of the quality issues that exist with engineering retention rate, huge class sizes, and poor advising for undergraduate engineering students.
My daughter has two OU friends who are National Merit Finalists, engineering majors, live in Texas (much closer to Texas A&M), and decided to attend OU. Both universities have very generous scholarships for National Merit Finalists. One of my daughter’s National Merit Finalist friends told me “I decided against A&M because it’s too cutthroat.” That’s exactly the impression I have of Texas A&M Engineering, especially now that they have a highly competitive process for admissions to the engineering discipline students want to pursue. I recently spoke with another mom whose child is a high-school senior & wants to be an engineer. They visited A&M and out-of-state universities. Their impression of A&M is consistent with mine (including “cutthroat”), and her child will probably go out-of-state rather than attending A&M.
Both Auburn and Texas A&M engineering departments have great reputations with corporations. It’s very possible your child could be successful & happy at Texas A&M. A lot depends on the student’s personality, motivation, academic aptitude, & whether he/she is able to get in courses with good professors (a challenging feat at A&M). If your child attends a very large high school, the size of A&M campus and the chaos there might seem normal.
This is just my personal opinion (after visiting eight universities in Oklahoma and Texas) and based on the experiences my children are having at Texas A&M and OU:
I’d prefer for both of my children to be at a university with a medium-size student enrollment, lower student-to-professor ratio, a smaller campus that’s easy to navigate, and a campus that it clean, beautiful, and peaceful.
If classes sizes are smaller and professors are more interested in student success at Auburn, I think it might be an excellent choice.
I wish all the best to you and your child who’s deciding on which university to attend!