I was wondering if I should apply to the early action for the engineering at Texas A&M. I qualify for automatic top 10% admission and was wondering if the engineering spots are full by the regular admission deadline. Should I push to turn in my application by the early action deadline or am I ok?
"Freshman applicants qualify for automatic top 10% admission (but not necessarily to the major of choice) if they:
attend a recognized public or private high school in Texas, and
rank in the top 10% of their graduating class on or before the application deadline, and
satisfy the State of Texas Uniform Admission Policy, and
successfully complete the recommended or distinguished graduation plan*, and
ensure all required documents are received by the application deadline."
http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/apply-engineering
Given that University of Texas has raised their auto-admit to top 7% for Fall 2018 admission, I’d say you will have quite a bit of competition this year, so I’d be sure to know all the deadlines and submit as soon as possible.
So yes, apply EA.
It does no good to listen to stories about last year’s applicant pool getting in (ie my stats were lower and I did fine, you will, too) because every year it is tougher and tougher and the landscape changes quickly.
I will also qualify for top 7% auto admission. And since all freshman are put into general engineering, shouldn’t I automatically get accepted into engineering?
No - actually that is the reason for the review now for acceptance into general engineering major. Top 10%ers were not all set up for success in the engineering major & ended up dropping out. You are entitled to university admission but not admission to the general engineering major. You will compete with all others using holistic review of your entire file & be offered a pathway which also includes other campuses. Your option will be to accept the pathway or pick another open major at College Station.
I have like a 1240 on my SAT and a 27 on my ACT. Everything thing else about my academic profile is excellent (top 1% of my class that is almost 500, dual credit and honor classes, different honor societies, a lot of volunteering, etc) except for the SAT score. I am signed up for the October date to test again and was wondering if I should just wait to apply by the December deadline instead of pushing for the EA deadline of Oct 15.
^So should I push for the EA deadline of Oct 15 or just apply for the December deadline?
All that is well and good @RosterO12, but nothing above says anything about your readiness for engineering calculus or physics. What is your background for the math and science readiness? What is your math sub score on the SAT?
Auto and academic admits were the reason all engineering applicants now undergo review. Too many did not have the math and science background to handle the first year classes and they dropped out or failed out. They are hoping to have better retention by accepting the most qualified and ready candidates for general engineering. Even then, there will be those who do not make it.
You can always apply for the EA deadline and update your file with the new SAT score if you are taking it in Oct.
You can send in new scores after applying & they will be considered in your decisions. The engineering decisions this year seem to be expected now in January - which is after the deadline to get additional documents submitted. To me that says they will review updated info before releasing their decisions in the engineering major.
To make it into the EA group you will have to submit your current scores to have a complete file to obtain admission to the university. They will only count your highest score and ignore the others - so it won’t hurt you to send in your lower scores.
Just apply now (you don’t have anything to lose).