Soooo - when my kiddo chose polisci when his PSA first came out Econ was not offered as a 2019-2020 program. Econ was his second choice major when he first applied and since has decided he would rather go this route than PSci. So this morning he switched. Kept the Corpus campus the same. Went in their site and they do offer the Econ for PSA. So tomorrow when we meet with the PSA advisor at CC he is going to ask about the Econ thing and how hard it is to switch right now. I would assume bc he is in the same liberal arts college it should be ok. Asked him if he wanted to switch back to PSci and he said he really doesnât want that but wants Econ . If they wonât let him switch then I guess he will make his decisionâŠfinallyâŠI hope. Lol anyone have thoughts on this?
@libbyshims are you getting to meet with advisors even though they are on SB? I just assumed all of TAMU would be closed with spring break.
My daughter has submitted her PSA offer and submitted CC aa her school however she may have changed her mind after speaking to a hs alumni who is currently participating in PSA CC. If her AIS still is in the offer stage (after hitting submit) could she decide to go PTA instead now? Does anyone know what the protocol is to go the PTA route instead?
@Agmom1 When I spoke to admissions in College Station they said you MUST meet with them ahead of time to complete the paperwork for PTA and for them to make sure you take the appropriate classes. They will let you know what works and what doesnât with regard to DC/AP credit. I highly recommend you look at the PTA transfer sheet as well. They require 30 hours instead of the 24 under PSA. We did not get into the process far enough to determine if you could take a few courses this summer instead of all 30 in two semesters. My daughterâs path would require her to take 16 each semester including retaking a class she already has AP credit for.
We are going to tour Commerce tomorrow as after much review we feel for her that is the better option over PTA at Blinn. Praying she likes the campus enough to make it for one year.
@Agom1, by clicking the âsubmitâ button on PSA, your daughter has NOT COMMITTED to go the PSA route. She has just told TAMU-CC that she would entertain an offer from them to attend the PSA program there for one year. Basically, she applied to TAMU-CC. . . the long way. 
@alstro , definitely report back what you think of Commerce. We canât get there until 4/2 and arenât sure who to talk to about PSA while there. Iâd love to get a download of what you learn and what you think after your visit!
My son added Commerce to his campus choices last night and heâs already received the welcome letter from Commerce Admissions. Still nothing from TarletonâŠ
Iâm anxious to hear thoughts on the Commerce campus after your visit @alstro. It looks very clean and modern on their website! we may try to visit this week too.
Yes, please do share @alstro - I am upset that the only free weekday we (both he & I) can take is 3/22 and they are CLOSED for Spring Break! Aaaahhh! Going to Tarleton State that day instead, and then going to TAMUCC on the Campus Preview day 4/6!!
Question - are we supposed to meet with the PSA advisor for major at TAMU or at the schools we selected for PSA entry?
@JaceyK From what Iâve read on system schools websites - yes meeting up with PSA advisors is an integral breakout session during new student orientation at their selected system school - where they get to meet other PSA students whilst making sure they are scheduling classes for success/match their PSA plan .
@scotsfi ok so not until orientation. We still have yet to decide what heâs going to do. ?
@JaceyK ⊠but Iâm sure if you wished to meet up /conference prior to system school &/or major course selection these PSA advisors would be very happy to schedule time.
My daughter was trying to decide between PTA/Blinn/Park West Apt vs PSA/Commerce. We were pushing Commerce primarily for the fact that she could ease into college with dorm life and meal plans. She would get to go to Freshman camp and do all the things she would miss going to Blinn. She would be just over an hour away from home vs 3.5 hours. I tell you all that to put into perspective that she wasnât really looking forward to our tour today because she knows Commerce is TINY!
So I will start there. The campus is pretty much the only thing in town. At the edge of campus is CVS, Walmart and Brookshires. There are a handful of fast food places. No Whataburger or CFA, although there is a RUMOR there will be a CFA in the new nursing building scheduled to open in the Fall.
The campus is fairly small as well. Current enrollment is just under 12,500 with expected 13,000 in the Fall. Walking from one end of campus to the other is maybe 10 minutes. The buildings are all pretty similar red brick, lots of trees and wildlife. Overall, despite the cold overcast day you could tell it would be a pretty enough campus. We did not go into a lot of the educational buildings so I canât speak to them. We did go into the first floor of the library and it was very drab and utilitarian. Not sure if other floors were better, but it was the only building that we didnât like.
They have a new music building and the nursing building will open in the Fall. You can tell they are getting a lot of money as a new dorm or academic building seems to be going up regularly. It definitely felt like a growing campus - probably all the PSA kids. ?
The rec center was very impressive. The pictures online were accurate. There is a lot for them to do sports wise and the football stadium was very nice.
The student center was equally nice. The one thing I didnât love is that dorms do not have individual dining rooms. You have to eat at the cafeteria in the SC or choose from several fast food type places also in the SC. All locations are covered by the dining plan including concessions at games, vending machines and one sandwich shop and Starbucks in the library. Some of the dorms are a decent walk to get to the student center, so in bad weather it would be a pain to go eat.
All freshman are required to live on campus. Their options are Pride Rock, Phase III or Whitley Hall.
Pride Rock has apartment type rooms with a shared private bath. I thought these would be my daughterâs favorite, but they were really dark. They are also already full, so it worked out ok since itâs not an option for this Fall.
Whitley is the oldest building on campus and looked like it. It was SUPER dark with rickety old elevators. This was a hard no from my daughter and her roomate.
Phase III is the newest dorm, 2017, and has four floors of private and double rooms with CO-ED bathrooms. Yes, co-ed bathrooms. Think trucker bathrooms. You have your own âstallâ with a shower and a toilet. There are then a group of sinks you can use in the open area. You can see the layout online. It is nearly impossible to explain if you havenât seen anything like it and I most definitely had not. I thought that would be a hard no from the girls, but they said they didnât mind as much. The common areas are very nice, all wired for laptops and charging. The have very nice kitchens on the main floor if you bring your own pots and pans. The laundry room was very nice. Lots of units that you could have text your phone when it finished itâs cycle.
We didnât see a lot of people walking around even though it was a school day. Again it wasnât weather you would want to walk around in so I am sure that made a difference. I did ask a student about the wifi as I had heard it can be pretty bad. They said it definitely went out a lot and could be spotty, so they recommended a hotspot.
Overall, they both liked it better than they expected to and they decided they could do it for a year. They might have even left with a bit of excitement over getting to now have a dorm experience and the all you can eat meal plan.
Lastly they mentioned a lot of merit scholarship dollars go unclaimed because they donât have enough qualified applicants. Our high achieving PSA kids should have no problem picking up at least something for the year.
Yikes this is long. Let me know if you have any more questions.
wow! thank you so much @alstro! great review with excellent detail.
@Agmom1 We met with the advisor today even though they are on SB. The staff is there until Wednesday. We had an amazing visit. So much so, that if they would have had all of his paperwork -test scores, transcript missing (went to confirm with admissions and they didntâ receive yet, called TAMU at CS and they said probably next week) he would have committed. The advisor will meet with him at orientation to pick his classes. He did say to get the orientation scheduled asap, because you arenât guaranteed classes just because you are PSA, however, rarely do they not have a class for PSA kids.
Super excited for this next step for our son.
@2xAggieMom So my daughter and her friend just threw out wanting to visit Tarleton too. It looks like a nice campus, but the possible new housing thing worries me a bit (surely they wonât split up people who want to room together if they are different majors). The housing info online is very confusing and does list dorms by major, so not sure if that is just their LLC locations or something new coming. Iâll call tomorrow to see and we are going to visit Thursday to get a feel for the campus, but I would love to hear your thoughts on your sonâs experience. Thanks!
@libbyshims , that was CC, correct? Iâm having trouble keeping all the posters and their kids straight. I havenât âknownâ yâall long enough to keep everyone straight in my head. Did you see/discuss housing at CC at all?
@alstro I have to admit that if Tarleton is changing to a method in which the students do not have a say in their dorm assignment, it sounds crazy to me, too. Last year, my son chose not only his dorm but his specific room and bed in that room through self assignment. There are different rates and layouts of rooms and I donât know how they could take it completely out of the studentâs hands. If my son was a freshman and that was the policy, it might have been a deal breaker for him. He has taken potluck in his roommates and it has been fine. His roommate for the fall had a very hard time adjusting to college, did not make an effort to make friends, and left the university at Christmas. He and my son got along fine but the other boy was just unhappy. A couple of weeks into the spring semester another boy wanted to move from a traditional open concept room to one with a bit more privacy, so my son got a new roommate. They are doing well.
Honestly, neither of my boys absolutely loved their PSA school (CC and Tarleton) but both really just wanted to be at A&M. I think that the freshman year is a big transition regardless of which school they choose. Tarleton is small enough that each of my sonâs professors know him by name and he is able to joke around with them. He doesnât like the dining hall but he is a notariously picky eater. Close parking is hard to find but there is enough resident parking if you donât mind a short walk. Almost all the freshman dorms are right next to each other and the only dining hall is within 5 minutes so the students have the opportunity to spend a lot of time together building relationships. My sonâs RA in the dorm is fabulous and is always available to answer any questions. She also plans activities to help the students feel involved in the university. Every first year student has an Intro to University class that helps them with topics such as budgeting and time management. Not only do they touch on important concepts, it connects them with a faculty member in their school of study that they can turn to for help if needed. I feel like he is very supported there and I think it has been a wonderful experience for his 1st year.
@libbyshims thanks for the info. My daughters extremely rigorous major has 24 required credit hours so if she doesnât get the 12 she needs each semester then sheâd be stuck there past the year mark? I think this would help her make up her mind real quick. Sheâs still weighing out her options on whether to just go straight to Blinn.
@Agmom1 - I would reach out to Bill Coari-he is the PSA advisor at CC and is awesome. He will be their advisor the first year and will get them through the process.
@daleNchip yes-CC. We did a full on tour of the housing. I know you were hesitant about no res halls, but the ones that go fast are the apartment style on campus, not the resident style. We went through my sons first two choices -and she said both would be fine in a week or so when he makes his decision. They are running a special right now that you can sign up for zero deposit and zero application fee. So we filled that out. This way, at least he gets the room style he wants. May not get building or floor, but will be down for the room. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.
My son has been to UT, OU and stayed in their dorms for a week both times and he really liked these. The other thing, I canât remember if I pointed it out or not, PSA students at CC on campus only get Miramar bc it has the 9 month lease rather than 12 month. Momentum and the Mirimar apartment style housing goes faster.
Thank you for the info @2xAggieMom. She is anxious to get to A&M too, but she is also logical enough to see that there is value in having this transition year on a smaller campus. Now to figure out which one is the best fit.