Option A: Select a new major and enroll full-time at Texas A&M - College Station
Option B: Enroll in Engineering at Galveston
Option C: Join the Texas A&M Engineering Academy at Blinn-Bryan, a dual enrollment program
Option D: Enroll in Engineering at McAllen
I’m wanting to major in Computer Science. I want to either go to UT or A&M, but seeing that A&M’s engineering has rejected me, my confidence in getting accepted into UT for my major has dropped significantly. I still want to go somewhere that has the same amount of rigor though, and hopefully transfer back into engineering.
I’m right now considering between option A and C. I’m leaning a bit more to A due to I’ve already applied for housing and I don’t know a lot about how the dual enrollment program works. However, I also want to continue doing computer science classes/activities, because I do a lot of that outside of school, so I’m not sure what to do. I don’t really want to go to McAllen or Galveston because it’s kind of far, but if it’s a better option, I’ll consider it.
I’m in the top 10% of of my class of about 800 students at a competitive high school. ACT score: 34. I participate in my school’s UIL Compsci Club and I regularly compete in competitions related to computer science. I really want to have a college experience that can provide me a challenging and engaging environment as well as opportunities (such as competitions or potential internships) outside of class related to computer science. With this in mind, which option would potentially be the best for me? I don’t know anyone who’ve been in this position and I don’t know a lot about transferring to a different university or maybe switching majors/schools at A&M, so any information would be nice.
I would seriously consider Option C. See the link below for details straight from the A&M Site. You are for all intents and purposes a student at A&M College Station, you just take some of your engineering entry level math and science courses at Blinn.
I believe that Texas A&M at Blinn is the best option there becuase you get community tuition rates for a year, get to experience the perks of being a student and smaller classes = better chance for a 3.5 for Entry to major
Also , correct me if I’m wrong but tamu students can buy housing , so I THINK you can still live on campus (after all you are still taking some classes at A&M
Blinn Engineering Academy is the best option, as you are an engineering student but taking your math and sciences at Blinn.
Make sure you check out all the details before accepting any AP or dual credit classes. It may not affect engineering. Sometimes students who come into Blinn with a lot of accepted credits, have a hard time finding classes they are allowed to take.
You are eligible for on campus housing. You will need to drive to Blinn or learn the bus route to get there and back. It’s doable. Lots do it.
Your second choice would be Engineering at Galveston, since you don’t want to go that far away. You are considered an A&M engineering student, you are just taking the first year classes at GV, instead of CSStat.
Either of those options, you will still apply to major at end of freshman year, same as full CStat admissions students.
@MadelineH Hey, the only reason you were rejected is because by the time TAMU engineering reviewed your application, College Station was already full. I got into College Station but a friend of mine with similar stats did nit. He contacted the engineering admissions office and they told him that the only reason he was not given College Station was because by the time they reviewed his application College Station was already full. So don’t lose hope as it is no fault of yours and you might get in at UT Austin.
My recommendation is Option B, Engineering at Galveston.
My daughter was given the exact same options as you.
After we did quite a bit of research and talked to multiple people in the College of Engineering at College Station, she decided to pick Engineering at Galveston. (she was actually offered attendance at College Station later in the application cycle but she decided to stick with Galveston.)
Here are our reasons:
She chose Galveston because of its small class sizes. She has only 35 students in her Calculus based Physics class, 75 students in her Engineering class and so on. She also likes the ability to just go in and talk to the professors, and that they are very accessible and personable. All professors are on the faculty of Texas A&M. All the students at Galveston are part of the Texas A&M community, they are not treated as a 2nd class citizens. She also has met lots of friends at the Galveston campus; they will all be moving to College Station in the Fall.
She just completed her 1st semester of Engineering at Galveston with a 4.0 GPA. She has said she was glad that she picked Galveston over College Station the first year. She will be starting her 2nd year in College Station starting the Fall. She will be majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
The College of Engineering at Texas A&M College Station has assured the students that there is no difference between Engineering in College Station and in Galveston for the freshmen year. All students take the same classes. All students in Engineering (both College Station and Galveston) are enrolled in General Engineering regardless of their major (ME, EE and etc.). When there have been differences or things that Galveston students didn't have access to, they have added the ability for Galveston students to participate. (this is a new program, so there have been some little things that have popped up.)
All General Engineering students (College Station & Galveston) apply in April 3 to enter their major. If you have a GPA of 3.5 and above, you will be automatic admitted into your first choice of major. At that point, if your major is in College Station you go to College Station for your second year and forward. If you choose a major in Galveston (like Ocean Engineering), you go there. In all cases you are required to take 2 semesters each of Math, Science, and Engineering classes before you can apply to your major.
If possible, you should go to Texas A&M's Open House on 2/11/17 and talk to the people in the Engineering deportment. and get all your questions answered. We did this last year and got lots of information from it. She picked Texas A&M over the other 10 colleges that she got admitted to after attended the open house. She loves Texas A&M!
This outcome isn’t really possible for a top 10%/34 ACT applicant. Op didn’t say whether he/she is a Texas resident or not but residency doesn’t matter for TAMU auto academic admit. Just a guess but I think this may be a made up profile to attack the top X% rule.
@JAMCAFE --Hmmm. They gave quite a bit of detail as far as options that were given. Will be interesting to see if they come back to respond. I think it’s possible they applied super late in the game and engineering was full.
This happens to be the first year engineering is not first come first serve. Everyone is subject to review. No one gets direct entry so it’s implausible to offer alternate pathways to an auto admit applicant with stellar test scores.
Another scenario to getting the other pathways vs full cstat admission, if the OP is an auto/academic admit to university (Galveston is A&M after all and not a system school) is that the math/physics rediness may not be present and taking those at Blinn or Galveston may be easier, espeically if a prep class to 151 needs to be taken. Also, a lot of last years GV admits were out of top 10 but had good SAT/ACT scores, I’d have to go back an see if they were academic admit or not, or maybe one of the minumum scores was low.
I agree with several others, I would go for the Blinn option. The first year is the real weed-out time at TAMU Engineering. You can get through some of your basics and also get the feel for College Station. My son is a senior in Mechanical Engineering and really like Texas A&M College Station.
Hey, thank you guys so much for your replies! It turns out that I got accepted to UT Austin, so that’s where I’ll be going. Had I not been accepted to UT, I think I would have taken the Blinn option but would also look into Galveston.
To think about it, I was a bit late in the application process (turned it in about a week before the Dec 1 deadline). But once again, thanks for taking the time to reply (Sorry haven’t been on for quite a while).
To answer JAMCAFE, yes, I am a Texas resident. I’m auto-admit but not to the Engineering department.
(Sorry haven’t been on for quite a while).