<p>I'm an african american who wants to be an electric engineer. When I went on a campus visit to TAMU, I noticed I was the only black kid there. Does this help my chaces of getting admitted into the engineering school?</p>
<p>It won’t. The school wants students who are equipped to successfully complete their programs with limited drain on their resources. There are plenty of African American students able to accomplish that goal and no incentives for TAMU to accept a student who isn’t prepared. Of fourse, assuming the student doesn’t play football.</p>
<p>“There are… no incentives for TAMU to accapet a student who isn’t prepared.” </p>
<p>How exactly is OP unprepared for the rigors of college education? You cannot infer that he will be relying on his “race” to get him admitted. OP asked “Does this help my chances”, not "will being african american compensate for poor GPA, subpar SAT/ACT, limited ECs. </p>
<p>“There are plenty of African American students able to accomplish that goal.”</p>
<p>No, actually there are not amble amounts of qualified black applicants. </p>
<p>To answer OP’s question: it will help you if and only if you are qualified, but a great GPA, high SAT/ACT, and good ECs will help you much more.</p>
<p>Well here are my stats…
FROM: Houston, TX
GPA: 3.5
SAT: 1900 (1300 CR+M)
CLASS RANK: 119/865
AFRICAN-AMERICAN
75 volunteer hours
AP CLASSES:
CALC BC, PHYSICS 2 AP, ENGLISH 3 AP, WORLD HISTORY AP, US HISTORY AP, COMPUTER SCIENCE, US GOVERNMET AP/DC
EXTRAS: basketball-7th-10th grade
cross country- 11th-12th grade
track- 11th grade
flag runner- 12th grade
science olympiad- 12th grade
key club- 11th-12th grade </p>
<p>I WILL BE APPLYING IN AUGUST THEN SEND IN MY SAT SCORES IN OCTOBER.</p>
<p>Solid stats. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>As an African American and former electrical engineer I would not dare infer that the OP is unprepared strictly on race. I was playing devil’s advocate. After stating that the student would not receive any benefit for his race, I posed the fact that there would be no advantage for a school to admit an unprepared student (no matter what their race). </p>
<p>Lastly, I understand that there is a perception that there aren’t adequately prepared AA students. In my interactions with the students I deal with, there are plenty of gifted AA students. Though many do not choose to pursue engineering.</p>
<p>By the way OP, those are good stats. You should have no problems getting in.</p>
<p>I’m sorry i don’t want this to turn into a chance tread but do I even have a chance at UT Austin?
Thanks for the responses!</p>
<p>Looks like you’re an auto admit to A & M based on rank and SAT scores. Who knows at UT. You’re outside the top 8% (or whatever it is this year), so apply and see.</p>