I was wondering what my chances of getting into TAMU are. I have a 3.3 unweighted and 3.7 weighted with a 1420 SAT score. The problem is that I’m in the 3rd quartile of my school. It is one of the most competitive high schools in the Houston area. This concerns me as I’m not sure how much admissions pays attention to class rank or the difficulty of the high school. I applied for biomedical engineering which I am not sure if I will get into. But I listed biology as my second choice so that is a lot more likely. I have submitted my AP Biology and AP Calc AB scores which were both 5s, and I’m not sure if that’s gonna help me. I have 2 years of color guard and 4 years of piano for extracurriculars, and have around 100 volunteer hours of random activities (so im not sure if those will help) with a well written essay. The prep scholar calculator gave me a 70% chance of getting in which I don’t trust a whole lot. My counselor also told me that they look at gpa and sat more than rank but I’m not sure if she’s correct. I’m just concerned about not getting admitted due to class rank and the fact that im Asian as well. Thanks to anyone who responds. I really appreciate it.
https://dars.tamu.edu/Student/files/2019-2020-Common-Dataset.aspx says that Texas A&M considers class rank, academic GPA, and standardized test scores to be “very important” (section C7). Race/ethnicity is not considered. Only 1.15% of the entering class was from the bottom half of high school class, and 70.14% was from the top tenth of high school class (section C10). HS GPA distribution is not listed (section C11). Your 1420 SAT score is in the top 22.97% of the entering class (section C9).
You should assume that Texas A&M is a reach.
Note that Texas A&M does not admit frosh to specific engineering majors. Students admitted to the engineering division have to apply to their majors based on college record and essays after taking their first year engineering courses.
You are in the top 25%. and TAMU guarantees admission to top 10% so I would say probably a reach https://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/admitted
Actually, the OP is in the third quartile, i.e. 25th-50th percentile (upper half of the bottom half), according to the first post:
Yep I need to pay more attention 3rd Quartile 50 to 75% ? top half of class makes it even more of a reach given Texas Top 10% guarantee. May have to look at UT Dallas or Houston
However SAT scores, rigor and AP scores may help.
Essay needs to be strong as well
Tamu highly values rank. It’s their best indicator to compare you amongst your peers. The SAT compares you against all students. And the AP exams shows you know how to test. Your gpa doesn’t really reflect your 5s and solid SAT score. Did you explain that in your essay?
I don’t think you’ll be accepted to main campus for engineering. Your best bet would be academy or Galveston. I just feel your ranking is too low. In that same regard , even just getting Into Tamu will be a stretch. This is just my opinion based on prior years and this year.