I'm not exactly sure how I didn't get in.. Confused/Rant

Colleges and Universities A-Z Texas A&M University
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<p>I applied to Texas A&M before the early action deadline and here is what my stats are (if you could call them that).
SAT:1740
ACT:28
Top 11% 7/64 (One person away from top 10% ;( )
GPA:4.0 (technically a 3.977 I think I can round it up though)
40 Dual-Credit College Hours
A few hundred hours of community service through NHS.
Also played baseball for three years our team advanced to state and got second my junior year.
Played a year and a half of tennis freshman-sophomore year.
Went on a few mission trips through my church.</p>

<p>Personally, I think the top 10% rule is total garbage because it is a disadvantage to small schools, especially small competitive high schools like mine. Probably half of the students walking around here have a 3.1-3.3 GPA but still managed to squeak into the bottom half of the top 10 percent of there 900 student graduating class. It just kills me to walk by a group of ditzy girls, or a group of fraternity guys that are talking about alcohol that are A&M students because of how the top 10 percent rule works for larger high schools..
But on a more serious note.. Why do you think I was blinn teamed? I've read of people on here with lesser stats and not top 10% or academic admit that got in...??</p>

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<p>Was this for fall 2014? When did you hear from TAMU?</p>

<p>From your stats, I would have thought you would get into TAMU with no problem. Are you retaking the SAT? That might help.</p>

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<p>First off let me clarify I’m just a parent - but if you’re looking for guidance- if you were my child I’d be signing you up for another test date & getting a tutor or taking a prep class. Your scores are good (ACT-wise, SAT they look at out of 1600 -no writing- so not sure where you stand on that one) but it is becoming a very popular school & the competition is stepping up their game. You can only compare yourself to this year’s applicants and I’m guessing they’re a top notch group. Your choices going forward are to keep trying to increase your scores - try to beat that one person out for top 10% by end of semester & keep updating TAMU on your progress. You have your application on file- so you’re in the system - now you need to work on your goal of full admission. Good luck!!</p>

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<p>If you read the title and his comments he is at Blinn. He was put on Blinn team this fall and is not in high school.</p>

<p>The 10% rule does pose problems for some. But A&M also offers the academic admit program also. If you did not get that it would one of two things. Your individual SAT/ACT scores weren’t high enough or you were not classified by A&M to be in the top 25%. A&M will classify everyone that is not in the top 10%. I know someone with a 31 ACT from a large top public school with a good GPA but was still put in the second quartile and therefore was not an academic admit. </p>

<p>Enjoy your Blinn team experience and you will be at TAMU before you know it.</p>

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<p>I called A&M today and they have not yet started to send out acceptance letters for Fall 14.</p>

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<p>What were your SAT individual scores for CR & M? Your test scores were your hang up. Sorry OP! I hope you’re able to transfer soon.</p>

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<p>thanks for the update on status - given the timing, I figured it was a new post for Fall 2014 admission. To the OP guessing you applied to a competitive major that may have been filled - good luck in your quest to transition. Also , on a side note - many frat guys are Blinn students (sororities don’t allow it) but those ditsy sorority girls probably are a whole lot brighter than you could ever imagine - their GPRs as a group are above university average.</p>

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<p>Viper999, I’m also sorry you didn’t get in. None of can be sure what it is that kept you out. Maybe your SAT scores weren’t good enough (just the CR and M)? Maybe the admissions folks were less than impressed by your essays? Maybe you didn’t complete the application in its entirety? I mean, none of us could possibly know. But something was clearly off for you this time around. I’m sorry.</p>

<p>I do want to set the record straight regarding the top 10% from huge public high schools. You are off-base in your assessment about how hard it is to make the top 10% in a large public school. In fact, it is likely harder to make the top 10% in a large public than in a smaller school.</p>

<p>In my kids’ high school (about 800 students per graduating class), nobody with less than a 4.0 would be graduating in the top 10%. Year after year, everybody who makes the top 10%, has a 4.0 unweighted GPA, and they also all have a whole host of AP classes that have boosted their weighted GPAs to significantly higher than 4.0. In my kids’ high school, a 3.977 GPA would not be rounded up to 4.0, and it would not put a student in the top 11%, much less the top 10%.</p>

<p>It seems to me that you don’t quite understand how class rank works in large public schools. In any large, good school around here (and there are many), I can’t imagine anybody “squeaking into the bottom half of the top 10%” with a 3.1 or 3.3 GPA, as you suggest. Unless the school you’re talking about is known to be incredibly competitive, like incredibly, stupendously competitive, nobody is coming anywhere close to the top 10% with a 3.1 or a 3.3. If the large school you’re talking about is that incredibly competitive, then I can assure you that TAMU (and others) know all about it and that they recognize that a 3.1 or 3.3 from that school is impressive. </p>

<p>Bottom line: If you can graduate in the top 10% of a good 900 member high school, you’re pretty darned accomplished, and you have taken several of the highest level courses that are available to students at that school.</p>

<p>In other words, there’s no reason for you to feel like you got the short end of the stick by attending a smaller school. Huge public high schools are actually quite competitive. They’re likely more competitive than small high schools, not the other way around.</p>

<p>I hope you enjoy Blinn Team and that you earn full admission to TAMU at the earliest possible opportunity! It sounds like you’re going to be a great Aggie someday very soon!</p>

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<p>“It just kills me to walk by a group of ditzy girls, or a group of fraternity guys that are talking about alcohol that are A&M students because of how the top 10 percent rule works for larger high schools…”</p>

<p>OP, I understand your frustration, but don’t make assumptions. Those “ditzy girls” and “fraternity guys” that are talking about alcohol (like most young people do from time to time) could have very well graduated in the top 10 actual STUDENTS at their large high school and may have a 1400 CR+M or better. Looks can be deceiving.</p>

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<p>SimpleLife, First of all thank you for your post. I realize that there are some very large and competitive high schools that have 4.0s or higher in the top 10 percent. Although, when I referred to large high schools I may have been a little vague on what I meant. Specifically, I was speaking about a large high school about 10 miles from my high school that had a graduating class of around 600. I attended their graduation (because I have some friends that went there) and the valedictorian had a 5.0 gpa (weighted AP) but the salutatorian only had a 4.2 gpa (weighted AP). The top 10 percent would being around 60 students, if the top student has a 5.0 followed by a 4.2. I am predicting a significant gpa gap because of the difference from just the first to the second student. If the gpa dropped 0.8 points from 1 to 2. Then I bet the bottom thirty of the sixty are around the 3.4-3.6 area. It is this type of situation I was referring to. But this may be an exception…I’m sure it is hard to get into the top 10 percent of most well known competitive 5A high schools. I am fairly sure that my high school was much more competitive than the high school 10 miles from me. I have also heard (only from personal opinions) that larger high schools generally have easier material and the majority of your grade in most classes comes from busy work or packet work. We had none of this except for in lower level or freshman/sophomore classes… Also, at my high school there was a large opportunity to take a lot of dual-credit college classes which are probably better able to prepare you for college than an AP class taught by your same math teacher. Does anyone know if AP is harder than dual-credit?</p>

<p>For the record: I was Blinn-Teamed for the Fall 2013 semester…
Thank you for setting that straight kldat1.</p>

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<p>I think the confusion here is GPA. Viper999 is your 4.0 unweighted or weighted? I find it odd to get BlinnTeam with a 4.0 unweighted GPA and your stats but I suspect you might have meant 4.0 weighted?</p>

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<p>I don’t think the GPAs at our high school could pass a 4.0 even if your weighted GPA would allow that to happen. We had pre-ap classes which were an extra 10 percent on top of your grade. We also had dual credit classes which were weighted the same way. Now that I think about it that’s a little strange that we couldn’t get higher than a 4.0.</p>

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<p>Your GC has the opportunity to include a high school profile with the transcript - explaining grading, etc. If you have other siblings/friends at that school they may want to check that those sheets are being included so you can fairly compete with other schools. Unfortunately it won’t help your situation, but it may help someone else.</p>

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<p>You are ranting about the top 10% rule but you actually had a fair shot at TAMU’s very generous top 25% auto academic admit. I can understand that you are disappointed but don’t blame the top 10% from schools you deem uncompetitive.</p>

<p>I’d be hesitant to call your high school very competitive if you were top 11% but didn’t get the test scores to qualify for auto academic admit. What would you say if you found out that top 25% kids from “uncompetitive” public schools managed to qualify for auto academic admit?</p>

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<p>Viper, you never responded to cromettes inquiry regarding your individual SAT scores, cr + m?
I graduated from a large school district in the Houston area, consisting of about 7 high schools in a 15 mile radius. One has a graduating class of 800 and a 4.3 is barely top 25%. Then just down the road is another hs in the same district where a 4.1 will land you in top 10%. There are thousands of very smart, deserving kids not getting in due to the competitiveness at their school. A&M puts a big emphasis on your test scores and rank. They want to see how you performed amongst your peers at your own hs. There’s nothing you can do at this point other than make good grades and transfer. Be glad you are Blinn team. I know many who would love to have your spot.
Also, what major did you apply for?</p>