Hoping to hear from TAMU Engineering Students...parent needs advice

<p>Hi: Calling all Texas A&M engineering students! My son has been accepted to A&M (aero) and offered several scholarships that add up to pretty much a full-ride; however, the scholarships require him to maintain a 3.5 GPA in order to keep them. He must also have the 3.5 to be able to take the honors classes which are much smaller than the regular classes. On a recent TAMU visit, he was told by an engineering professor that a 3.25 GPA in engineering was a really good GPA. How difficult is it to maintain a 3.5 GPA in aero at A&M? Is the 3.5 unrealistic? I am having a difficult time getting an answer from the university and would appreciate any input.</p>

<p>I don’t go to Texas A&M but I go to Clemson, another public school about the same quality. It’s not hard to get a 3.5 GPA. The average GPA here in general engineering is 2.9 but if you put in the effort, you should get a 3.5, many people here cram for tests at the last minute and fall behind because of social life, laziness etc…, if your son keeps up with the material and studies it on a consistent basis and doesn’t fall behind or cram at the last minute, the 3.5 is achievable.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t compare Texas A&M to Clemson. Beyond the obvious ranking difference, you’ll find that grades are very different from school to school. At some schools, a 3.1 is cum laude. At some schools, it’s a 3.5. That’s not because it’s easier to earn a cum laude designation, but because the average GPA’s are lower and/or have a lower variance.</p>

<p>Hopefully I can be of some assistance, I am a Junior AERO at Texas A&M. A 3.5 here in AERO is not unrealistic, or unattainable – I have a friend in AERO with a near 4.0. It will be a LOT of hard work, but that doesn’t mean your son won’t have a social life. It really all depends on how much of a self-motivator he is, and how efficient his time management skills are.</p>

<p>The average GPA as an engineering major at TAMU is around a 2.91, and the top quartile is above ~3.34. As a junior, I have a 3.3. I would say I work very hard, but I also have other things going on such as a student research job with the Aerospace Department, as well as being involved in a serious relationship. Both of which I devote a lot of time to. If he is in the Honors program, that will greatly help his chance of maintaining a 3.5. Generally honors classes give curves, as the profs realize that the honors students need to maintain a 3.5 to stay in the program. They also won’t try to fail you, as can be typical in many freshman “weed-out” classes.</p>

<p>Outside of grades, Aerospace Engineering at TAMU is a great program. There are may opportunities to get involved. I’ve worked at my school’s Low Speed Wind Tunnel, co-oped for a top company in the Aerospace Industry, and am now participating on a UAV research team. All before taking many of my more involved Aerospace classes. There are many great opportunities outside of the classroom for students here.</p>

<p>So, in my opinion, I would recommend your son attending A&M, especially if being offered a full-ride. As long as he is a self-motivator and can manage his time well, he should do very well at A&M.</p>

<p>haha well grade differences aside I agree that as long as one is self-motivated and can manage their time well, it is never impossible to get a 3.5 or up.</p>

<p>So you worked at the LSWT, eh gstein? I take it you got out before they imposed the ridiculous TEES rules on them after they got a whole bunch of complaints? haha</p>

<p>Yes, I did for about a half year before I left this Fall (in August) for my Co-Op. My original plans were to return this upcoming Spring, however my class schedule did not really provide for sufficient working hours during their operation (7-4), and the research job I’ve recently been hired for had a more flexible schedule and IMO better quality of work.</p>

<p>What ridiculous TEES rules are you referring to? All of the slightly excessive machine shop rules? Do you do research for the HSWT under Bowersox?</p>

<p>I am under Saric, but yeah I am in the HSWT. I guess Little John and Tina and a few others complained about a bunch of stuff trying to get Jorge canned, but then after TEES looked into it, they said Jorge didn’t do anything wrong and instead they had to follow all TEES policies, so now all the machines have to be locked up and have to be unlocked by one of the 4 shop supervisors before anyone can work on them (so machinists need permission to use their machines) and they can’t do a lot of other minor things anymore like dip or swear (haha, not that those two will slow up work like the first thing will).</p>

<p>Watching from the sidelines, it is pretty humorous to be honest. It is especially funny to watch Little John’s complaining backfire on him.</p>

<p>Requiring an engineering student to maintain a 3.5 gpa is a lot of pressure in my opinion. Engineering is a hard enough major to begin with (maybe 1 out of 2 or 3 graduate) without having to worry about the GPA. </p>

<p>I’d urge caution on honors classes. Regular engineering classes will be a full plate and adding honors on may be so much that he has to retake a few classes and go an extra year. Worse, he could even drop engineering (like most students do) because he can’t handle the workload. And taking honors classes probably won’t open up new job opportunities or get more pay from an employer after he graduates.</p>

<p>I looked at the Texas A&M website and it says that if your GPA drops below a 3.5 GPA, you could be kicked out of the honors college so it shouldn’t be impossible or else they wouldn’t make such a ridiculous GPA requirement at a school with a big engineering program.</p>

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<p>WOW, that’s pretty excessive. I could imagine the cussing and dipping rule would be hard to follow for some! Doesn’t surprise me about John or Tina though, they have been working on that process for awhile. I’m surprised Tina hasn’t left, she always said that when I returned in the Spring, she wouldn’t be there (she wasn’t the only one to say that though).</p>

<p>If you don’t mind me asking, what specifically do you do under Saric? This upcoming summer, I’ll be returning to the company I just finished my co-op with, and will be working at their pretty-massive HSWT.</p>

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<p>What sort of logic is that? Perhaps they just want the honors college to have the “top” students, and a 3.5 is a GPA they feel should be obtainable by a “top” student. In that case, if the OP’s son is a “top” student, he’ll have no problem. But if he’s not, it could be a problem. And since most people, be definition aren’t “top” students, he probably has a problem. </p>

<p>For another perspective, a 3.5 is cum laude at TAMU. Typically, 20% or less of the student body receives any sort of latin honor, so a 3.5 GPA at TAMU is roughly the top 20% of the graduating class. Also, since engineering usually has a lower GPA than majors like political science, it’s probably closer to something like the top 15% of engineering students. Or, in other words, out of 10 randomly sampled students admitted to TAMU engineering, either 8 or 9 of them will not have a 3.5 GPA at graduation. Thems aint good odds. If his stats are well beyond typical TAMU admits (say a 2300+ SAT score with a 3.9+ UWGPA), he might be fine, but if he’s a “typical” admit, probably not.</p>

<p>well since 2 out of 10 students may have a GPA above 3.5, that is not impossible lol</p>

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<p>I am working on the NASA Langley Mach 6 Quiet Tunnel. If you have been out there lately you might notice how there are now two of those giant 24" pipes going from the ejector into the building where we reinstalled the tunnel so that it and the ACE can be running at the same time. Right now we are working on getting everything back up to speed and making sure the flow is quiet again, then we are going to be performing some foundational experiments on hypersonic stability and transition.</p>

<p>I don’t know if you ever met Jerrod, but he is sort of my partner in crime with this.</p>

<p>To those of you who are actually TAMU engineering students, thank you very much for your input. To G.P., my son does fall in that 2300/3.9+ UWGPA. He is National Merit; however, we are still concerned that the 3.5 GPA might be tough. Other schools seem to have a much lower requirement for maintaining scholarships…more like 3.0 or 3.25 GPA. A&M does not seem to have any figures on how many of their NM engineering majors manage to keep their scholarships. Do any of you know how NM scholars in engineering at TAMU tend to do? Also, would it be better to do ME as an undergrad and then do AERO for graduate instead of doing AERO for undergrad? Thanks!</p>

<p>Bringbackpluto, in this case, the only situation that I would recommend your son doing a ME as an undergrad as opposed to AERO is if he’s very undecided on AERO. The engineering program at TAMU, as well as at many other programs, is very similar between all engineering disciplines within the first year. So, this will allow him to make up his mind on his major after the first year of classes. </p>

<p>If your son wants to “play it safe”, sure maybe have him go for an ME. There are AERO classes that he won’t be able to pick up as a ME, but for the most part, their classes are similar and he won’t be devoting himself to a broader field.</p>

<p>gstein: Thanks so much. Son is very interested in AERO; however, we were wondering if that would limit him come employment time? Could he do more/be more employable with an ME undergrad and AERO for graduate?</p>

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<p>If he went for a graduate degree immediately after undergrad, his undergrad degree would really not matter to employers (in most cases). A graduate degree is a means of saying to employers: “I’m good at this specialization within this field, it’s best to hire me here.” IMHO, by the time he gets through school, the economy should have recovered (at least somewhat) anyways. Currently, there are plenty of aerospace jobs out there, students just need to learn how to find them and how to market themselves appropriately. Even in this recession, engineering companies are hurting to find good engineers. </p>

<p>With that being said, a ME degree would give him more potential job opportunities as it’s a broader field. However, in my experience, there are certain AERO jobs that only want AERO students and there are some employers that will hire an AERO as a ME. To sum it up, if AERO is where he wants to be, have him major in AERO. I can’t speak for the ME department at TAMU, but the AERO department has many opportunities during undergrad for networking, research jobs, involvement in AERO organizations, and internships/co-ops – I am living proof of those opportunities. If he can get seriously involved in any of these as an undergrad, he will be fine.</p>

<p>gstein: Thanks so much. He really wants to do AERO and is pretty firm about it; however, with two non-engineers as parents, we just want to make sure he is not limiting himself too much. A&M certainly seems like it would provide him with some great opportunities!</p>

<p>gstein: Do you happen to know or hear if the EE and ChemE departments at A&M provide the same kinds of opportunities as AERO?</p>