We have a class a child that is planning on applying to A and M this summer… class of 2017. I heard over the weekend that they might be changing admissions just for the engineering students… has anyone else heard of a plan change? Basically even if you are auto admit… you might not get engineering… they will be looking at other criteria to fill that major. I also heard they might add an early action deadline as well. I did call the main admissions office and they said nothing is changing but my source heard this from several other college admissions people. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Here’s the link https://engineering.tamu.edu/easa/areas/recruitment/fall-2017-admissions I think it says effective Fall not summer.
@AGmomx2
Yes, fall but July is when the application opens up. I called yesterday and found out apply Texas might be changing prompts and there is an additional question on the application for engineering applicants. Not sure how this works given the housing situation… if they do not give engineering decisions until spring like UT… all of the on campus dorms might fill up.
If decision for engineering are not out until spring, that may make housing more difficult. I have two friends who just found out their decisions Thursday of last week, and they are on the waitlist now for housing, even Calloway. That said, I wonder if they will reserve the engineering learning community housing for these students? I would bet they have thought this out ahead of time and have a plan for it.
@cheetahgirl121 The key will be applying for early admission (new to engineering), if you apply by October 15th, you will be notified by December 15 which is plenty of time to apply for housing.
From the website:
Deadlines to remember:
Early Action
All materials must be received by October 15, 2016. Decisions will be made by mid-Dececmber.
General Deadline
All materials must be received by December 1, 2016, which is consistent with the university deadline. Decisions will be made by mid-January.
I’m wondering if review admits will benefit from this Early Action option as most don’t usually start hearing till December. I can’t tell from this description.
@cheetahgirl121 I am not a Texan so my perspective is different but what do you think about A&M engineering going to 100% holistic review? In many ways I like the concept of guaranteed admissions for top 10% because it guarantees a population of students that is in line with the Texas taxpayers. 10% from a competitive, affluent, large Houston school and 10% from a small rural town. On the other hand, there are too many people that play the class rank game. I would hope that all the schools in Texas were notified early so they can warn their students that they have to take their ACT/SAT prep seriously. I would think than many do already as they apply to multiple schools besides those with guaranteed admissions but I would think some don’t as they know they are in the top 5% of the class or so.
@bluemoon3 Interesting point. It would be good news for those not automatically admitted into the university to hear by December 15th if that is the case. I imagine that all admits could be ‘deferred’ to the regular decision deadline.
@CollegeMom987 - I am very happy that Engineering moved to a separate holistic review. The legislature imposed the 10% admissions requirement on TAMU and we can debate the merits. But my impression is that too many early 10% admittees were taking up engineering slots that could have been filled with better qualified students. Now they will compete with everyone on a level playing field. This will raise the admission statistics (test scores, etc.) and should also mean mores slots for qualified out of state students.
@CollegeMama987 Unfortunately for A&M some of the best dorms… Hullabaloo… fill up within a couple of weeks once people are notified of admission. Our d has a friend who was auto, turned in her housing early September, and by the end of September most of the good housing was already gone. However, I do think holistic review will increase the amount of “qualified” engineering students… it is a hard major.
@cheetahgirl121 Good point about the housing. I think they need a better way to determine housing other than order of notification. Maybe a lottery to make it more impartial.
@Beaudreau I agree that it may help some review admits even if they are not considered till December as there should be more spots open.
I’m curious to see if other popular majors/colleges will end up following this program. Do you think Texas A&M admissions will look like UT’s in another ten years where almost every major is holistic? I am very curious to see what the admission breakdown is for auto, academic, full-review, Gateway, Blinn Team, and the two Engineering Academies (Blinn and GV).
This will change the demographics of the Engineering students at A&M. Almost 70% of A&M engineering students are white right now. Only 9% were Asian. Compare that with UT Austin where close to 30% of Engineering students are Asian and less than 45% are White. With Holistic admissions, A&M engineering will become more like UT Austin in terms of demographics within a few years. And if A&M decides not to include “race” as one of the criteria in holistic admissions, the results will be even more dramatic than UT Austin.
@darth1289. I agree that demographics will change, but race will always be a consideration at a public university. Caltech, a private university, is probably the only university in the Country with race-blind admissions. The results are 44% Asian, 28% White, 12% Hispanic, 1.5% Black, 6% mixed race, 9% International. 8.8% acceptance rate. 25%/75% Percentile Range - SAT, 1500/1600, ACT, 34/35.
@Beaudreau I think Prop 209 bans racial preferences on UC campuses. So Berkeley which is a public university also does not consider race. And based on this article
https://www.aei.org/publication/race-in-admissions-a-tale-of-two-flagship-universities/
A&M does not yet consider race as part of its admissions. although UT does in its holistic process. A&M can go holistic without considering race. Not sure if they will, but they could.
@darth1289 - Holistic review can are be a smokescreen to cover up racial preferences. The Ivies are widely considered to use holistic review to discriminate against Asian-Americans.
@Beaudreau True, but I think public universities are compelled to be more transparent. UT clearly states race is one of the criteria. Fisher vs UT is all about that. A&M on the other hand doesn’t yet. Remains to be seen how they go, but if they use race, they will have to divulge it.
It’s possible to have holistic admissions without racial preferences. 8 states ban consideration of race in public college admissions, including California, Michigan, Florida. These states can, and do, employ holistic evaluation.