<p>Hi! I am currently a freshman in high school in Texas, and I am unsure of whether to attend TAMS (Texas Academy of Math and Science) a year early. I received my acceptance letter not too long ago. I am confused on whether to attend TAMS a year early cause then I would almost skip a grade since everyone attending is considered a junior. BTW if you dont know what TAMS is here is the website: <a href="http://www.tams.unt.edu/%5B/url%5D">www.tams.unt.edu/</a>. TAMS is basically a residential program where a high school student earns two years of high school and college credit at the same time. It is pretty cool. I am pretty sure that I will attend the program, but I am not sure whether I want to attend it a year early. I need to develop my EC's, which is the main reason keeping me from attending a year early. Do you think that I should attend the program early? Will it help me become more competitive for colleges if I attend TAMS early? Any other opinions? THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!! Btw my dream college is prolly MIT. Will attending TAMS early make it easier for me to get into MIT? Once again thank you!</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post, but I have another completely different question. If I don't go to TAMS a year early and stay at my high school, should I drop band and take a higher level course. I am not sure on whether I should drop out of band. How much of an advantage is band in college admissions. If I drop out of band I would take either computer science AP or Statistics AP. Also, I have won a state award for band and would dropping out of band make the award worthless? THANKS</p>
<p>I think that you should stay back and wait. First, because it sounds like you're not completely sure if you want to do it or not. And second, because time is a precious thing to waste. You will only be a kid for so long and I don't think you should waste your high school years.</p>
<p>I got an acceptance letter too, but decided not to go. TAMS credit only works for Texas universities besides Rice. If you REALLY want to go, then fine. Otherwise, I'd stay.</p>
<p>Charmelody. I know for sure that some of TAMS credit also works for MIT and other universties. Also, Rice is a TExas university. Consequently, your comment is inaccurate, but thank you for taking the time to help me.</p>
<p>If you don't go this year, are you guaranteed a spot next year? If you are, I agree with swim2daend. An extra year will also allow you to find an interest, so that if(when) you do go to TAMS you'll be able to focus better. And about being more competitive for colleges, I think that colleges frown upon younger aged students (I think that fizix said something about having to assure colleges of her maturity or something).</p>
<p>I have a question about my next year schedule. Should I drop band and take a higher level course. I am not sure on whether I should drop out of band. How much of an advantage is band in college admissions? If I drop out of band I would take either computer science AP or Statistics AP. Also, I have won a state award for band, and would dropping out of band make the award worthless? THANKS</p>
<p>If I drop band in my sophomore year, I can still practice on my own and then take alto saxophone (the instrument that I play) classes at TAMS. COnsequently, I was thinking about taking either Statistics AP or Computer Science AP because I won't be able to take them at TAMS. Also, at our school AP classes get a higher GPA, so I will be able to increase my ranking. There is no ranking at TAMS, so colleges would probably look at my home high school's ranking. My current ranking is about 20/1000 students. I need to get it to about 4/1000 by end of sophomore year. Now what are your opinions?</p>
<p>You should double check your facts medicalmania. A lot of prestigious colleges like MIT won't accept college credit from other places.</p>
<p>Thank you for teh suggestion armando. I have a friend that went to TAMS and ended up at MIT. He told me that MIT accepts math credits and like organic chemistry and other classess. Another friend who knows TAMS students told me the same thing. Also, the MIT admissions blog says that </p>
<p>"If you are seeking MIT credit for college coursework done elsewhere, you should obtain a course description and syllabus for each class for which you are seeking credit. This information should include the names of the textbooks used and chapters covered, the hours of class and laboratory time assigned to the course, and the number of weeks in the term of study. Your request to transfer credit to MIT will not be considered without these materials.Credit and/or appropriate placement are offered if the subjects are substantially equivalent to those in the MIT curriculum and if the grade earned meets MIT standards. No credit will be issued without an official transcript sent directly to MIT by the issuing college or university. If you receive credit for a specific MIT subject and subsequently register for the same subject, the credit originally awarded is void.</p>
<p>Any course not documented by an official college/university transcript will not be accepted for MIT credit. This includes:</p>
<p>Courses listed on a high school transcript, even if they were taken in a college
Courses documented with a letter from an instructor or principal in lieu of an official college/university transcript
NOTE: If you have a sufficient amount of MIT credit units, the Associate Dean of Academic Resources and Programming may offer you sophomore status at the end of your first semester."</p>
<p>This means that I should be able to get a credit for a lot of math and science classes.</p>
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Charmelody. I know for sure that some of TAMS credit also works for MIT and other universties. Also, Rice is a TExas university. Consequently, your comment is inaccurate, but thank you for taking the time to help me.
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<p>When I went to the meeting, they specifically listed Rice as an exception. What I was meaning with the credit is that you'll get the two years of credits automatically at TX universities. As you said previously, MIT accepts science/math but does not give you your status as a junior as the TAMS program suggests.</p>
<p>
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When I went to the meeting, they specifically listed Rice as an exception. What I was meaning with the credit is that you'll get the two years of credits automatically at TX universities.
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<p>Thank you charmelody. What is Rice University an exception of? I heard that Rice loves TAMS students and accepts 100% of TAMS credits, but I am not sure since this is not from my friend. Is this true? Also, when you talked about other TX universities, did you mean that they accept 100% of TAMS credits and give you junior status?</p>
<p>Yes, the other TX universities gave full credit and status as a junior. When I asked a representative of the TAMS program, they said Rice didn't accept TAMS credit, but would give preference in admission. I can't attest to the reliability of the representative, but they seemed knowledgable when asked other questions.</p>
<p>thanks any more suggestions.... bumpity bump BUMP</p>