When my son applied for TAMU-College Station, we have given first choice as Chem Engg and Second choice as May’s business school. They gave him his second choice as we applied late at Nov End. He got admission at UT-Austin Chemical Engg as it was not rolling decision. But still we want to consider TAMU, but do not know how difficult is to switch between May School and College of Engineering. Please pour in your experiences and thoughts.
If you are not in engineering, it is difficult to transfer into an engineering major. There are high requirements, you only have access to general courses that may/may not count for each respective engineering discipline. Furthermore, the required math classes he will take for Mays will not count towards engineering. So he is looking at taking business calculus and if he wants to switch into engineering, he will have to go and take engineering calculus.
I love A&M, but if your son wants to be an engineer, he should go to UT if they accepted him and A&M did not. He probably would have an easier time transferring from UT engineering into A&M engineering than he would from Mays into engineering if he decides he wants to be at A&M. Best of Luck!
Hi @midclassdad your son has strong stats (on UT board) for an engineering major. You may want to contact admissions and see if they can make the switch over the next few weeks as kids accept/decline offers.
Texas A&M is a strong engineering school with more possibility of scholarships than UT for their strong students (even OOS). A&M is also strong in Petroleum and Chemical engineering. With your son’s stats you will most likely get Engineering Honors with benefits like early registration, scholarships, research and advising. UT offers very few Engineering Honors spots.
There is a difference in campus feel. As you may remember I have a son at UT Engineering. I find that campus to be high energy, efficient, busy. Everyone goes about their business. My older son likes it that way.
When we visited Texas A&M, we noticed that the campus had a very friendly and welcoming feel. The strong engineering programs combined with the core Aggie values to build character make A&M a strong contender. Besides we have heard of the strong Aggie Network that is a connection for life. It’s almost like being part of a family. I don’t have a kid at A&M, but the school is a top choice for my younger son.
@MechanicalFox and @EventHorizon32,
Thanks for your replies.
My sons stat is SAT 2140 M 800 CR 650 W 690
2180 M 770 CR 640 W 780
4.02GPA, Math2 800, 12 APS,
National merit commended,
and so many others.
Let us try to find out. As you mentioned, UT will not cough out any money and we are OOS.
It is very hard in general to transfer into the COE from any major.
If your son really wants to pursue engineering, I would suggest he goes to UT. Your son would probably have an easier time transferring from UT-engineering to TAMU-engineering rather than from MAYS. If worse goes to worst and your son was unable to transfer from UT then he would still graduate from a great school with his desired degree.
Surprised your son didn’t get into the COE, however there were a bunch of great applicants with even greater stats that were deferred to Engineering at Blinn.
We applied late november and did not realize it is rolling admissions in TAMU college station. We applied to UT also at same time. He got Chemical Engg into UT(one of the toughest one for OOS to get), but got into Mays in TAMU as Engineering were filled up already. That is what admissions told us.
UT Engineering in general is ranked higher than TAMU. But I have a hunch my son might like TAMU campus more and there may be possibility of some kind of scholarship for his score. Anyways, it appears to be UT only for him. Thanks for your suggestion.
TAMU and UT both have great engineering schools, I believe UT is ranked 10? and TAMU is 11? Which is right up there with Cornell and Princeton.
Yes. Both are great engineering schools and TAMU is not much behind.
http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldENG2014.html
Both UT and TAMU are well connected, so these rankings does not make much difference in my opinion. That is why I want to try it out for my son. But it appears transferring from May’s school to college of engineering is bit complicated.
@midclassdad you are right, there is more to choosing a school than just based on rankings. Getting into Engineering Honors, scholarships and research opportunities can make a difference.
Both schools are well known for their engineering programs in Texas. Good companies hire from both schools.
In fact, Payscale ranks A&M higher that UT for ROI.
http://today.tamu.edu/2014/04/01/texas-am-among-top-4-public-universities-nationally-for-affordability-and-high-return-on-investment/
It’s unfortunate your son did not get into A&M for engineering, but you can’t go wrong with UT.
You are very true. I feel the same way. Had he got admissions in COE in college station too, he will have choice between two institutions with similar academic standings.
Also, at undergraduate level, I feel the university being well connected is important than rankings. For that matter, I am asking my son to consider Alabama(which ranking wise far below), but seems to be well connected in Industry from what I hear(in terms of placement or internship). Needless to say, he has full fees waiver awarded there. Also student pool became competitive because of this scholarship. More than 50% of students are OOS having this scholarship(meaning having similar good academic competitiveness).
I saw in one thread that somebody appealed and got it switched in Texas A&M. But I do not remember that thread now. If you see that posting somewhere, let me know.
Thanks for all your inputs.