Freshman Admission Profile- For Those Who Are Trying To Understand Chances

Most posters asking chances in this forum are review admits.

According to this chart - which is a year old- 2,800 review admits were offered full admission into the University. The rest of the review admits are offered Blinn Team, Gateway or PSA.

http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/profile

If you are outside the top quarter of your class or if your school does not rank and A&M places you outside the top 25 percent based on school profile, you are most likely going to be offered one of the alternative programs unless you have something that makes you stand out from other review candidates.

To be safe, your test scores should equal or surpass those required of academic admits. A&M does look favorably on National Merit, National Hispanic Scholar, and National Achievement Scholars.

Your ECs or work experience ought to show significant commitment and leadership. A&M looks favorably on Eagle Scouts and Girl Scout Gold Awards.

Other posters please chime in with other factors that you are aware of that help review admits stand out.

Thanks for info. My high school does not rank, because it is a smaller private school and is very competitive. How will A&M assign me a rank?
GPA(W): 3.8
ACT: 31 (Math:30, Science: 26, English:35, Reading:34)
I’ve taken AP Classes, done Community Service, EC’s are good. I think my essays are strong.

Not the best stats in the world but solid I think. Any chance they assign me to the top 25%? If so I’d be an auto admit. OOS as well.

It will depend on your school profile but from previous posters experience, you will be able to see what quarter they assign you to within a few weeks.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what makes up my “school profile” exactly? My school is one of the top prep schools in my state, so is that what my school profile is? Or is my profile my stats in comparison to the other students in my class? The reason my school does not rank is because we have around 100 students in each class, the ‘average’ student at my school would be a standout student at the majority of other schools. At the public school I used to go to, I was top 10%, at my current school, I may be top 25% (unoffically), but I’m not certain. Basically I’m wondering how A&M will assign my rank. Thanks!

I don’t think I have ever seen any detailed discussion of how they do it. I saw an article last month where they referred to an algorithm but no details. You may want to call the prospective student center for your area and ask. If they tell you, come back and let others here know.

There is also a forum on TexasAgs where an admission officer answered questions a few times a week last year. You might try asking there, but the fastest way to get an answer is to call.

I can tell you the other big school in Texas is open that they do not give weight to the competitiveness of the high school. I don’t know whether A&M does and there are some differences in how they handle this process.

More info to help:
http://dars.tamu.edu/Data-and-Reports/Student/files/F14-Norm-Book.aspx

Pages 13-18 give you an idea by college of enrolled students’ grades and test scores by college. Keep in mind that those in the second quarter and lower are going through holistic admission when many majors are “full” except for the slots held open specifically for holistic admits.

These are enrolled students- admitted will be higher-roughly double.

These are mean test scores so some are lower and some are higher.

Ask your school college counselor - they provide the letter to A&M and normally every school you apply to for admission. Our school includes items like school size, AP courses available, high/low/median GPA, etc., it is normally generic and not student specific. You can ask to see a copy of the standard letter and your counselor might also include information specific to you to add to the school profile letter.