So… we need some TAMU and Engineering insights. Looking for info and your thoughts… would this be a good fit? We’re a long distance from TAMU so don’t know much about it…
High school class 2024
Homeschool
Mostly Dual enrollment for past 2 years. Highest DE classes expected are: Diff EQ, Chem 2, Physics 2 (w/ Calc), English 2 and a number of electives (Currently all As w/ exception of Calc 2 - C)
SAT 1490
Likely National Merit Finalist
Possibly interested in Materials Engineering or Mechanical engineering
Do OOS kids get in and go there?
Help me understand this ETAM thing… so he could be there for a year and then not get the major he wants? I know this isn’t the only school like this, but up until now we’ve said these types of school are off our list. How stressed do the kids get about this and are they they competitive rather than collborative?
What about the fact that he’s taken most of the typical freshman level classes… does this change anything or what then?
I see stuff about coenrollment, Blinn and more… feeling overwhelmed - what do these mean?
Engineering is just HARD. And a 3.5 is needed to keep the National Merit scholarship. I feel like this is super stressful… And anyone know anything about probationary periods for any of their scholarships?
ETAM has automatic admission to major with a 3.75 college GPA. Otherwise, it is competitive admission. Mechanical is generally one of the more competitive majors, although materials is less competitive.
Chasing grades to get the 3.75 for ETAM and 3.5 to keep the NMF scholarship may be a more stressful experience in the first year than at many other colleges.
I assume that you apply after your first year at TAMU? Do you know what happens with students that have taken all but one of the classes needed freshman year?
General Engineering Class of 2026 Requirements | Texas A&M University Engineering says that " One primary objective for required coursework is to observe student performance in at least two science courses and at least two math courses taken in residence at Texas A&M. For students who exhaust all science and math courses on the lists above (through credit by exam and/or credit earned by dual credit courses or other transferred coursework), please visit with your General Engineering academic advisor to identify alternative courses that may enable you to satisfy your desired major’s course requirements."
Just a side note…does your son have experience in and enjoy coding? This is a huge part of both the engineering classes he will be required to take freshman year before etam. Cant speak for materials but mechanical has lots of programming throughout the degree.
My son is attending TAMU as a northern OOS student on scholarship. He fits in fine, but it can be lonely on some weekends because sooooo many people will go home on the rare longish weekend that is too short for him to fly back here. And he is actually one of 2 from his northern HS that are attending TAMU from his graduating HS class so yes, northern people do get in and attend.
My son is not in an engineering major so we don’t have ETAM experience, but he is in a major that takes most of the same classes as the engineering majors the first year. He has had no problem maintaining his GPA and honestly isn’t even stressed about it although he talks frequently about the stress that the ETAM students are under. He also talks about how in some classes they made tests harder to differentiate the students more for ETAM purposes. His HS prepared him very well for the rigors of college.
He did go the AP route in HS instead of DE, which seems to be a better idea at TAMU. He selectively has accepted some but not all of his AP credits and will graduate a year early.
There are some people on this board with great experience with ETAM and DE who will likely chime in when they see this post.
Feel free to private message me if you want to chat.
@kbeducator I’m an Aggie mom (tho not Engineering). @FriscoDad is the Aggie Engineering guru!
I beg to differ about the comment ‘sooooo many go home on weekends’. Actually non sporting events are normally planned, and there’s a ton to do every weekend. My Aggie never came home-like not once, in 4 years, except at Christmas (and we live an hour away). Please don’t get the idea A&M is a ‘suitcase school’.
Because A&M is a flagship school, it’s huge & competitive, with the majority of in state students. But A&M does like NM S/F students! Your son is a senior? Hopefully he’s already applied, or submitting his application very shortly? It never pays to wait for anything at A&M. One major example is Housing. Freshman on campus housing is based on time stamp housing deposit is paid. Once a student gets official acceptance, they can apply for housing. The actual housing selection doesn’t take place until late spring, but it all goes back to that time stamp when housing was paid. Those that apply soonest, get first dibs on dorms. There isn’t enough dorm space for everyone, so sooner is always best.
We’d love to see you in Aggieland! I’d definitely schedule a tour, not just apply & arrive blindly.
If your student is NMF or NMSF he will likely get accepted. But note that NMF requires endorsement not just based on PSAT.
To satisfy ETAM, your student can take Calculus III and discrete Math, along with Chem I and Chem II. There are also two engineering coding classes.
You can call Admission Office to see if all your DE classes are transferable. You do not want to take too many DE, because the DE credits are required to transfer. Theoretically, if Calculus I is transferable, your student can skip that class and take other easier electives (core curriculum) to boost GPA, but that will not look good if your student requires holistic review in ETAM (GPA < 3.75).
ME likely needs 3.8 to 4.0 to get in after Freshmen year. Students start filling out ETAM application from March 1st of Freshmen year. If students have 3.75+ GPA after finals in May, the automatic major admission will be available at early June. Holistic results will be available in July.
Engineering is for sure hard, not just grades but a lot of labs and work. BMEN, AERO and ME are considered the toughest in TAMU (and in state of Texas). Getting 3.5 GPA in Freshmen is not that difficult, but in Junior or Senior it can be challenging.
For clarification, I didn’t say that “sooooo many go home on weekends”. I said they do on the rare longish weekend. Which is true based on my son’s experience. When less than 10% of the students are from a different state, there is a noticeable difference on weekends like in fall 2022 when they had that extra day or two off the weekend of the away Alabama game. Definitely not saying that it is a suitcase school at all. But those long weekends are noticeably emptier. Understand that we knew what we were getting into and my son loves TAMU and wouldn’t change his decision. But there is a difference being at an OOS school with 40% OOS students vs 10%.
