I just got notified that I did not receive any offers for my majors that I chose on ETAM. The majors I chose were CVEN, AREN, EVEN, and ELEN. I was wondering if anyone could give some advice on what I should do now because I really am interested in doing something related to civil engineering but it doesn’t seem possible for me here.
I know that I will still be able to accept offers from other majors, but I feel like the only majors I will be getting an offer from will be MMET, Industrial, and like Nuclear or something. I don’t think any of these majors relate to civil engineering at all.
I am an incoming Blinn student in the engineering academy and I’ve finished all of my UCC courses so it’s not like I can wait another semester to apply.
So I guess what I’m asking is, does anyone think it would be possible to accept an offer from a major and then transfer into civil engineering later? Or would I be better off just trying to get into another college. My GPA is a 3.0 so I understand why they didn’t accept me, but I emailed my advisors and they did not help me on giving any advice.
I had an internship at a transportation engineering firm this past summer and I absolutely loved it. I was hoping to continue working as a transportation engineer in the future but I don’t know how I will be able to do it now.
I really don’t want a degree outside of engineering because I feel like construction science majors will always get beat by the engineering majors.
I don’t think you choose your actual major in Engineering until after your first year. So any engineering student would be a Gen Engineering the first year. Keep your head down and your grades up and I bet your options will open up by the time you need to choose.
EDIT: After re-reading… I though you were saying that you were going into Blinn. Are you instead saying that you are currently at Blinn? If so, then I don’t know.
I absolutely can’t wrap my head around why A&M is ruining the university with this whole ETAM Sham. Remive, you are a solid college student with a 3.0. IMO, why would you let the university tell you what you can and can’t major in? To do so, is letting tamu dictate what you will do for the rest of your life. Switch universities and don’t look back. There are so few students that like the process, even the ones who got their first choice. Why all the drama and stress and extra pressure? TAMU claims it is due to teaching resources. This is a simple distribution problem–are they saying that flag ship university can’t resolve the dilemma in a more equitable, less taxing/stressing, and more forthright manner? Again, IMO, students are being tricked to attend TAMU and then they are having the rug pulled from under them. Students like yourself are made to feel like you don’t measure up, you can’t succeed, etc. If you passed the classes–even if it is a flat 2.0, you made the grade. Tamu is basically saying you are failing to measure up, if you make anything below a 3.5 and therefore they are removing choices. This is wrong and needs corrected/ended.
I suspect it has to do with the faculty that they have on hand. If the faculty can only handle 80 students in their class, then they are not going to take more than 80. It doesn’t seem efficient to hire a new professor because there are now 81 students that want in.
This is one of the most rigorous programs in the country. Thus, there is competition to get into the program, and later the major. That’s the way the real world works. I’m sure you don’t believe that just because you made a 2.0 that you deserve a job at NASA… why should this be different?
@remive If you loved your transportation engineering internship and you’re convinced you want to work in that field, I think you should look seriously at finding another school. TAMU is great, but imo your ultimate career interest trumps staying put for a less desired major.
There are lots of schools in Texas that offer Civil Engineering degrees – good schools.
Texas Tech (for example) has a Civil Engineering program that has been ABET accredited since 1937 (TAMU’s was accredited one year earlier). Tech engineering grads have no trouble finding jobs. They also have a very interesting engineering study/intern abroad program which might be particularly exciting for someone who works in transportation. (Can you tell I was hoping my son would look at Tech more seriously? )
I’m including the ABET website’s URL list of accredited Civil Engineering programs in Texas. (Btw, Civil Engineers often pursue a Professional Engineer credential. I have read that ABET accreditation of your degree is important if you wish to go that route. Just fyi.)
@GenPatton Not sure if you know this but Engineering isn’t the only major at TAMU that requires you to apply for the next level. Mays… you have to apply for upper level. Sports Mgmt, you have to apply for the “professional” phase which is also basically upper level. It’s competitive and there are requirements. The fact that more than 80% get their top choice major in engineering is far from being a scam.
My thought… you don’t deserve what you’re not willing to work for. Getting into TAMU is just the beginning.
What I neither understand nor think is fair, is that the kids that are given opportunities to attend Galveston and/or the various academies because there is not enough space on the College Station campus for them all in engineering, but are then given the exact same ETAM entry criteria on to the College Station campus. If there was not enough room for them to begin with, there certainly is not going to be room in a year or two unless they take the place of kids already in College Station? If you read the comments from many people discussing the advantages of the academies, one frequently mentioned is that the math and science classes are much easier there. So it would stand to reason then that it is much easier for those kids to attain the 3.5 auto admit GPA. That would then imply that kids that for either late applications to tamu or not as high high school records are getting an easier route into engineering at tamu and taking the place in the most competitive majors for kids who struggled through the weed out classes at College Station and just missed that magic 3.5.
pbleigh- I believe that curriculum is the same. Maybe there are “easier” professors in Galveston? But this can happen anywhere. For example, my son is attending local college for Physics. His professor is just out of his place. All the kids complaining how hard he makes his classes and tests, most of the kids taking Physics as necessary class for their further non engineering or science education and don’t get why he is so hard. Their professor is more physicist, not a teacher. It can happen on any college. Some professors are more easy going than others.
@pbleigh, I don’t recall reading that classes at the academies are easier than they are at College Station. (I’m not doubting you, I just haven’t seen such info.) I don’t know how that could be quantified anyway.
I guess I don’t get the whole “It’s not fair.” thing. Students who are awarded full admission to TAMU Engineering could opt for one of the academies (if they are indeed easier) — at least the direct apply academies. They might even be able to swing Blinn-Bryan academy if they let it be known they were interested. One or two might choose an academy for whatever reason (mostly money, probably), but the majority want so badly to be on campus in CSTAT that they wouldn’t dream of going elsewhere. It’s a choice.
@trinley had this to say about Blinn Engineering at Brenham: “Also, the Engineering Academy classes taught by the junior college is TAMU engineering curriculum. TAMU is not going to let unprepared student get to CS. My son’s calculus and Chemistry class the first semester where the two hardest classes he took in his life. They pushed him hard. If an academy is pushing through students to CS, they won’t be a part of the program for long.”
@WTXMama My son queued me into this subject after being involved in a conversation with several MEEN professors who were saying they needed to come up with a solution to the problem of academy auto-admits into MEEN. They said that they were not prepared for the sophomore MEEN curriculum after getting 3.5+ at the academy schools and were either doing poorly or dropping out. There is a lot of group projects in MEEN and they were having trouble with these kids being able to contribute there as well. If you do a search on the aggie reddit which is mostly engineering students posting you can see posts like the following in the last couple of weeks:
For some reason I couldn’t post a direct link to the reddit thread but I found these two posts within the last week or two with the following titles: “texasamiscappingme” and “blinnteamevs_tamug”.
As for the fairness, I think tamu has a responsibility to the kids they admitted and shouldn’t be making kids with excellent GPAs compete again for their spot in the major they chose upon applying. Secondly, the kids are not given a level playing field for this competition. Tamu kids have to take all those classes at tamu; and tamu calculus, physics and chemistry classes are notoriously described as freshman engineering weedout for good reason. Academy kids take them at the community college they are enrolled in or another even. Where the curriculum is the same the content of the courses is not; you can search out posts on the aggie reddit to see the differences.
@pbleigh what I find unfortunate is the number of high quality students that TAMU can’t admit and the elitist attitude displayed by posts such as yours when TAMU offers a kid a chance. You obviously have no appreciation for the history and culture of TAMU and it’s history of giving kids a shot. My son busted his tail at the academy and earned his way to TAMU on his own. You may not think it’s fair because you read something on the internet stating it was easier. But until you have done it yourself, maybe you should think before you type and insult the accomplishments of people or their kids on this forum who come here as a service to help people make big life altering decisions. If you don’t like the way TAMU handles it’s business, then as we say in Aggieland, “Highway 6 runs both ways”.
@trinley OK obviously you are emotional and I do not know you, and you do not know me. However, you seem to feel free to pass judgements on me but I have said nothing personal about you. I simply passed along information from TAMU professors and students for the benefit of people trying to decide if ETAM is an acceptable risk. You are entitled to evaluate that information and make whatever judgement you like on it. I found that information very important as to whether TAMU is an option for my younger son. Whether you like it or not, what the MEEN professors said is a fact and not my opinion. Do you think the kid that got a 3.4 at TAMU but did not get into his major didn’t “bust his tail”? Do you think his parents think the process is a fair one for their son? To me if the MEEN department is seeing academy kids drop out of MEEN that’s a big problem and if it isn’t the coursework they took at the community college then what is it? This forum is not of much value if its being censored for information sharing that only you find acceptable.
@pbleigh - I read somewhere that TAMU’s Engineering was modeled after Purdue? a few years back, so it is not only TAMU that has this ETAM model.
Kids change their majors all the time, and it would be up to the kids if they really want the major, they will work hard. They can always transfer to a different school if they don’t get their major.
I don’t know much about Engineering, however, if TAMU is willing to provide an alternative to the students, then I would applaud them for trying and not try to argue if it is fair or not, even if it is through PSA or academies.
Your son got in full to TAMU, that is what a lot of students would love to have, but they were not offer full College Station. I would believe if the students were offered full C-Stat, they would take the full C-Stat route.
It is up to you and your son as to what school they want to go.
You might want to look up the programs from other schools and compare it to TAMU. There are different nuances on the program offers.
TAMU, UT and other OOS schools has the nuance in their Engineering program that my daughter wants to go to, even though she was offered direct major in a few other schools, the actual classes and route for the same major was very different than what TAMU, UT, OOS Schools offered.
Even with the risk that she may not get into her selected major after her freshman year, I would still encourage her to go to TAMU for that high percentage that she will get in. If not, then she can always apply to another school for a transfer.
A couple of errors in @pbleigh post That should be corrected or at least clarified. First, Galveston is full time admittance as is McAllen to TAMU. They are not system schools, thus you do not transfer so why shouldn’t those kids have the exact ETAM requirements as CS kids. Second, TAMU requires a 2.5 gpa for the engineering academy classes taken at the junior college to be eligible for ETAM. The full time CS students need a 2.0. So the academy kids must get better grades than the CS to prove their worth. A roommate of my son wanted MEEN, he knew after his third semester he wasn’t going to cut it for ETAM so he transferred to Tech where he could pursue his desired major. For those that think ETAM is unfair, that’s an option.
Going to Blinn Brenham or any of the other junior colleges have a different set of challenges that can test ones resolve. You are in an environment and surrounded by other students with very different goals. It is easy to feel isolated, very little to do and as my son once stated he felt like he was missing out on the “college experience” while all his other friends were at 4 year institutions. It is easy to give up and several kids did. So academic rigor is not the only obstacle.
I have met with Dr. Banks about this very program and some of her associate vice chancellors within the engineering department at the system level including the director for the entire program. I have also had discussions with the Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor of the system about this program. They see the program as a whole and do not render decisions based off a couple of reddit post and a one off conversation with a MEEN professor. Those individuals are not going to ruin the reputation of the engineering program by letting kids get by with an easier pathway and not be prepared once they get to CS. they are constantly taking feedback and making improvements as any good managers would. I have even offered some myself. Every program is going to have examples of kids not being prepared but still getting by, but using one off examples of this to render a judgement on the entire program without knowing all the facts or having gone through it does a disservice to those investigating its fit for them.
It is our actual experience with the program that informs our assessment of it. But when someone makes an assertion that kids coming out of the program are not as prepared as the CS kids because it was easier at the junior college level, I feel compelled to dispel that notion. It is not accurate and it degrades the accomplishments of those students that made it through.