Hello all! I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the questions below!
I’ve had some trouble deciding between Texas A&M and Arizona and am looking for some insight regarding the following areas:
I'm looking to study biomedical engineering as an undergraduate. Both schools are similarly ranked by many sources, but can anyone offer a candid comparison between the engineering departments at these schools? Is Texas A&M much better?
I would be a member of the National Merit Scholars program at either of these schools. Are any current/former students or parents familiar with how well Texas A&M would support me?
Lastly, can a moderate student from Ohio fit in at Texas A&M? I have little interest in expressing my political views, and was just wondering if Texas A&M is less, more, or equally as conservative as the state of Texas. I just know there is a stereotype that Texas is REALLY conservative. I apologize if this is worded weirdly, I ask it with the utmost respect!
Thank you in advance to any and all responses! This is a huge decision for me and every response helps me out tremendously!
Saw your posts on your other thread, thought I’d post here. Reading your other posts it is very focused on politics affecting your college choice but above you down play your personal preference. I would recommend you visit both schools to make your own choice. Schools change over the years, and political viewpoints are best analyzed with a more personal outlook - a campaigner/activist would have a different view than someone who doesn’t even make it to the polls to vote every year even IF they had the same overall belief ( right, left or middle). If politics aren’t your biggest sticking point, then make a list of your pros & cons for each school and self rank the importance of each.
You asked about the 3.5 GPA, a caveat to that is this is a cumulative number and not by individual semester. If you start out strong, this is not as hard as you would think. Also if you fall below 3.5 you are given a semester on probation to raise it. The point of these merit scholarships is you are suppose to be of a higher academic ability, so the school expects you to perform above average otherwise why should you get the merit scholarship? Logical if you think about it. There are some who lose scholarships, but not many. You should expect to continue your academic excellence in college not just for the scholarship, but also to land a job at the end of your journey. The bigger question for you would be - how confident are you in your academic abilities? How hard are you willing to work in college? If you are looking for a break, you should go elsewhere that does not require you to continue to excel academically. Be honest with yourself when you answer this question.
Regarding your choice between the two schools - seems like opinions thus far on U of Arizona are just that it’s not TAMU. I do know a recent grad from U of A engineering - he did just fine. @Beaudreau might have more input on both schools that is more helpful. Good luck with your choice - just remember to consider the choices and feedback as they pertain to you - there are some pretty adamant contributors on here. If you can afford a trip to both schools - do it. My own kids made different choices based on school visits, I highly recommend it since you will be committing yourself to 4 years in that atmosphere. A happy student is usually more successful, and a student who goes into the situation knowing the alternatives also is more likely to not regret their choice. Best of luck!
We have not visited Arizona yet. My second son has been admitted to both ASU/Barrett and UA/Honors for Mechanical Engineering. (He did not apply to TAMU because he wanted to go somewhere different than his brother. He is tired of being known as Beaudreau Junior’s brother!) ASU Engineering is rated slightly higher than UA, but UA overall is ranked higher. It’s really a toss-up between the two. As I discussed in the linked thread, if you work hard and get good grades, you should have no problems getting an engineering job or going to medical school with a biomedical engineering degree.
As far as politics go, you will find Marxists, Creationists, and radical libertarian/anarchists at all three schools. The difference would be in the average student. On average, UA is probably a bit more liberal and TAMU a bit more conservative. But UA is hardly Cal Berkeley and TAMU is nothing like Oral Roberts. Further, as AGmomx2 points out, politics should not drive your college choice. Go where you will be happiest.
@biomedicaltennis We are from Arizona. My freshman son also worried about the 3.5 GPA requirement. He did have to work very hard, but managed a 4.0 his first semester in Aerospace Engineering. He loves TAMU.
Also, we are College Confidential friends with another freshman NMF TAMU family from Arizona. Their daughter is a Visualization major/Computer Science minor. She also earned a 4.0 her first semester. And she also loves TAMU.
I agree, the other thread has been addressed largely in regards to politics. I really don’t consider politics too important to my decision, but I was curious to see what kind of response I would get. As you noted, I downplayed it for this thread because I was looking more for the insightful information you replied with.
I’m glad to hear that the GPA requirement is cumulative, for sure. I respect where the university is coming from given the nature of the scholarship, and am very confident are my academic abilities and ability to continue succeeding as I already have. It seems like those who replied on the other thread didn’t think I could maintain a 3.5, but I feel like I’m capable.
Thanks for your advice and inviting @Beaudreau !
In regards to the “adamant contributors”, are you referring to the fact that some people are looking out for their own beliefs or alma matter? I just don’t want to misunderstand you!
I plan to visit either of these schools if they seem like a good fit following all of the advice I’m so fortunate to be getting. That’s honestly why I started all of these threads.
@Beaudreau Thanks for your insight! I’ve come to the conclusion at this point that my decision between these two schools - if it comes to such - will be based on very personal connections with a select few groups on campus that I’m interested in. I’ll just have to visit both if I ever aim to have a legitimate understand of how they relate.
I’m so glad to hear that both of your oldest is having such success at A&M, as that certainly makes me less concerned about the GPA requirement (It’s one of the first times anyone has ever specifically given a personal testament to the fact that it is possible to achieve!). I wish your younger son all the best with his college decision.
@biomedicaltennis Thanks. I am impressed with the questions you ask and the orderly way you are proceeding. I’m sure you will be successful no matter where you go to college.
I’ve been on these boards for some time now - at first as just a reader, then as a poster as well. After a while, you see trends in certain posters, they advocate definite viewpoints that’s all that I meant by that. There are several on this board that have engineering students with over 3.5, and we know several as well. My kids are Business majors, but the younger one also has a 4.0 as a junior. We know another sophomore OOS NMF he too has a 4.0 in engineering - Industrial Distribution. I think you’ll do fine as well, good luck on your quest to find your best choice!
@AGmomx2, Industrial Distribution is not engineering, though. It’s in the Industrial Engineering department, but it is not an engineering degree.
But, in any event, I have a son who graduated with a 4.0 in engineering. It is definitely doable. But I do know others who did not keep their scholarships. But, @biomedicaltennis, just to be clear on the way the 3.5 works at TAMU, it is cumulative. If the student falls below the 3.5, then he is on “scholarship probation” for the next semester (but keeps the scholarships). If the student does not bring the GPA up to 3.5 at the end of that scholarship probation semester, then he can appeal. I only know 1 student who appealed and his appeal was granted, but he was only 1 grade off of the 3.5. That appeal gave him one more semester to bring his GPA up to 3.5. So you have plenty of warning. I also know students who took easier classes just to bring the grades up for that one semester.
So, if the scholarships are absolutely necessary in order for you to attend, by all means consider the possibility of losing them if your GPA drops below a 3.5. It is a risk. But if you end up deciding that TAMU is the place for you, go for it! Many many many students are able to keep above a 3.5. Just be one of them!
My D had to appeal but she didn’t know she could appeal the semester she came up short, so we missed one semester of honors scholarship. Thankfully she had other scholarships that had a lower requirement, so she retained her in-state tuition. She appealed after she had resumed a 3.5 and got her scholarship back. She said they were very happy to give it back to her. She found out that several students she knew appealed the semester they were low and were still granted their scholarships. Of course they still had to get their GPA’s back up too.
Getting and keeping the 4.0 is also helpful in getting more departmental scholarships in future years. If you hit the ground running, you can develop a nice cushion in your GPA for future tough upper level classes. Best of Luck in your decision. My D is a NMF Junior and hasn’t had many problems keeping her grades up. She is very, very organized with her study habits. Gig 'Em!
@biomedicaltennis My freshman engineering son in attending the Spring two-day engineering job fair at Reed (Basketball) Arena. It is at capacity; no more booths are available. The Student Engineering Council sponsors the engineering job fair and claims that the Fall job fair was “the largest engineering career fair in the nation,” hosting “430 companies, 8,500 students, and 1,500 recruiters.”
ASU’s Fall Engineering Job Fair “featured 117 companies with 414 recruiters/company representatives.” Arizona’s engineering school is quite a bit smaller than ASU’s (not necessarily a bad thing) and fewer recruiters visit Tucson. You might have to work a bit harder to get noticed.
Here’s a link to a fascinating read (for geeks like me) publication concerning engineering enrollments at U.S. universities, including breakdowns for women and minorities: http://www.asee.org/papers-and-publications/publications/14_11-47.pdf You will see for example that Texas A&M awarded the second most engineering degrees to women in 2013.
@biomedicaltennis,
I agree with the other posters here. Good wisdom from all of them. I did not read your other posts, fyi. Just this one.
I will second the motion that you will do best to think entirely for yourself here. Visit both schools if you can, and then decide which school feels like the best fit for YOU. That’s what really counts here. It’s easy to get caught up in what other people might think about “prestige” – or about how other organizations might rank the schools. But the fact is, both are very good schools with very good programs.
If one offers considerably more money than the other, and if both feel like a great fit, then I would advise taking the one with the lowest Cost of Attendance. Nothing like eradicating as much student debt as you can, or saving any available funds for other enriching opportunities that might come along. Always wise, imo.
If all things are equal, then maybe you might weight rankings or career potential or which has the strongest department of choice, let’s say. Maybe. Just maybe.
But yeah, try hard to think only for YOU when making your decision. How do YOU feel about what each has to offer? (rhetorical)
Other quick answers:
I'm sorry. I can't offer a candid comparison. I have an aggie son. I only know what I've read about Arizona. Can't help here.
Texas A&M tends to do quite well by their NMF's. There are some solid guaranteed awards that include in-state rates for OOS students. You can read about the guaranteed awards here.
https://scholarships.tamu.edu/Scholarship-Programs/National-Scholars#0-NationalMerit®Opportunities
TAMU awards more than the guaranteed amounts to some students. My son is an NMF, and he received very generous awards that were well over the guarantee.
I am one who always understands the intent and nature of your third question. I get it. My son is a very moderate student -- moderate politically, religiously, socially. He fits in really well. Nearly every student I've met through him is similar to him in this way. Of course, I'm meeting his friends -- so that does skew the data. But I would say that yes, a moderate student can easily fit in at TAMU. I would also take a stab at saying in my own son's micro-universe at A&M, the university is LESS conservative than the state of Texas' reputation. A&M has its conservative factions, for sure. I've seen them and my son has told me about some of the ultra-conservatism. But it's not in his sphere. It probably truly is a bit more conservative than a lot of college campuses around the country -- as a whole. And it's located in what is probably a bit more conservative part of the country. But it's not freaky-conservative or "intolerant," imo. I don't think you'll want to run for the hills upon visiting! It's a school of almost 60,000. In ANY school of that size, there's going to be a little bit of something for everybody! My moderate son is extremely happy there and is surrounded by many other like-minded people.
Best of luck to you with your choice! You’re lucky to have a couple of great choices!
