<p>I might be going to A&M, depends on what God has for me x]
but i was wonderingg</p>
<pre><code> I went to a visit during college station and to me it was a MAJOR turn off. Not only did the campus seem plain and... ugly (sorry) but the town around it seemed about the same... and more boring. Also, the traditions just seemed too much for me. I'm fine with having them, just not to the point where the guides emphasized on them. Granted, i went during a time that classes were not in session, it still seemed like not much of a fun place to spend 4 years.
HOWEVER, the ppl i have talked to that went there said it was really fun. So what i'm really askingg is...
</code></pre>
<ol>
<li><p>Is a&m fun while school is in session, if so how?</p></li>
<li><p>Does tradition play a major part in where majority of the students follow them?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I'm not trying to offend any aggie lovers here, just would like serious answers to serious questions, thanks!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>its fun because it is college, i generally hang out with dormmates or my roomie and we’ll go out, hit up the movies or northgate, and so forth. while it probably won’t be loads of fun during the day, this is because most people go to class during the day and of course we won’t go clubbing after class at 2 p.m. organizations can be pretty fun as well, the aggieland urban gaming society plays humans vs zombies which is a game of tag with nerf guns for example</p></li>
<li><p>the traditions are biggest during sporting events (biggest during football season) but the guides will sometimes overplay them, don’t worry, we’re normal college kids from all over texas, the u.s, and some are even from different countries</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>It will be as fun or as boring as you make it. You can pretty much do anything in CS that you would do in a larger city.</p></li>
<li><p>It really depends many people follow all of the traditions, many people follow some, and others follow none. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>First week all of the freshman are all pumped and coming straight from fishcamp and there were a lot of howdys being said. That quickly died down though.</p>
<p>The MSC isn’t open so you can’t really stay off the non-existent grass.</p>
<p>I attended all midnight yells this year just because a lot of people went to them and at that time I had nothing else to be doing. </p>
<p>Everybody participates in the yells and stuff.</p>
<p>Some people uncover, some don’t.</p>
<p>I haven’t cut or participated in bonfire personally. </p>
<p>Everybody gets their aggie ring. </p>
<p>I haven’t gone to a silver taps yet but I really need to.</p>
<p>A lot of the students follow some of the traditions but you aren’t necessarily looked down upon if you don’t follow every one of them exactly. The only people that are kind of looked down upon are the ones that have absolutely no Aggie spirit tradition or not and just view A&M as a school and nothing more.</p>
<p>If you’re into competition there are intramurals for just about anything you can imagine from xbox to soccer.</p>
<p>You sound just like I was when I first came here. The guide emphasized the traditions so much that this place seemed like a cult. The campus is not as nice as others, I can definitely give you that. </p>
<p>But the replys above definitely sum up what I think. This place is by no means boring, and I would say 99% of people here are not as crazy about the traditions as those guides are.</p>
<p>My daughter grew up in College Station and couldn’t wait to move away for her freshman year in college. She is in her second year out of town and has applied to transfer to A&M because she has learned that what she took for granted while she lived here is really something special. She likes the fact that all types of people go to A&M - they all congregate at Northgate on the weekends and even though you may not be friends with a certain group you get to see them and catch up on what’s happening. Everyone accepts each other’s differences but have so much in common that it is always easy to feel like you fit in. I don’t think I’m expressing this correctly but I understand what she is saying.</p>
<p>The traditions are really just background information that everyone takes for granted - kind of like elevator music in a good way! They are not a big part of everyone’s day to day life but kind of fun when you participate in them.</p>
<p>We all miss the MSC being open and I’m sure the student’s can’t wait until it reopens.</p>
<p>I’m in the same position as you. 
I used to be really turned off by A&M (my whole family goes to UT Austin :x), but after looking into it, it doesn’t seem all that bad. Though if you get bored on campus, it’s fairly easy to take trips to Austin or Houston since they’re both only 2 hours away.</p>
<p>^darkspear, I’m wondering if maybe you visited during SHIP, as we did. I felt the same way you do about the aggie traditions. It was a total turn off for me. I’ve written about that on a few other threads. Regarding the tour guides, I kept thinking to myself, “Why are they DOING this?! They’re making themselves look like a bunch of idiots!” My son was not really turned on by his SHIP visit, but he liked it okay. If I were to rate his expression of the place after that visit, I’d probably guess he’d give it a 7 out of 10. I would have given it a 7 out of 10 UNTIL the visit! Then, maybe a 3 or 4? The worn-out dorms, the eager-beaver tour guides with their silly, overemphasized traditions. Totally not my thing. (Yet, my feelings really didn’t matter, and I knew that. I wouldn’t be the one attending. In your case, I realize that it matters much more.)</p>
<p>As it turns out, we visited again this spring, while school was in session. Met lots of students who were MUCH less aggie-tradition-oriented. Normalcy prevailed. The campus was still not one of the more attractive ones we’ve been on, but it seemed MUCH more attractive than it did that 112 degree day while that annoying tour guide was egging us on to yell “HOWDY” for the umpteenth time. My son and I both thought the campus was kind of cozy, and shady, and … well, actually kind of pretty the second time around, with all those big, overgrown trees. The academic buildings were nice. The faculty we met were awesome. There was a VERY comfortable, down-to-earth, smart-enough air about the place. We had a WONDERFUL second visit that turned us both on to A&M!</p>
<p>The town was just fine for us on both visits. I understand why some might call it boring. But it had just about everything my son would want … we’re not very cosmopolitan and are kind of low key, in general. It will do just fine.</p>
<p>May I suggest a second visit for you, while school’s in session? You might change your mind about a few things! Good luck!!</p>
<p>Those tour guides pretty much have to be hugely enthusiastic about all that traditions stuff, but when you get down to it this is definitely not the attitude among the majority of people. I would venture to say that not many people at all are as enthusiastic about the traditions as those tour guides are.</p>
<p>True, and in my opinion the worst part of campus is being repaved and has bricks on the street now with a star; it looks pretty cool compared to the norm. Lol you have to get kind of excited about something when campus does not look that amazing. I don’t really care that much how a campus looks so at least they are making an effort.</p>
<p>It’s not that bad, but my mindset here is that I’m preparing to go to graduate school, ergo too much fun can be harmful to grades. Of course, a social life is needed as always! There’s bowling, movies, parks, and lots of places to eat. If you like to party, there’s NorthGate (I can’t tell you much about the parties though because I don’t party haha). It has everything a college town should need. I come from Houston, and the only major difference in my life is the road traffic (there isn’t that much traffic in College Station compared to Houston and other major cities).</p>
<p>It really isn’t as bad as it seems. Sure, it isn’t as pretty as some other campuses in Texas. But it isn’t a major concern when you’re trying to run from one class to the next. As for the traditions, it’s not really rubbed into your face. There are fanatics, but most people are cool with it. Football games are a big deal here though.</p>
<p>There are a ton of events that go on during the year, which make it more fun! There is also quite a lot to do in the Bryan/College Station area. Personally, I didn’t have much time to go off campus for fun because I had a heavy course load…and I didn’t have a car :P.</p>