Son Interested in Aggie Engineering

Colleges and Universities A-Z Texas A&M University
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That sounds like a great plan for your son. I have a college sophomore daughter who attends an elite private school with a tremendous financial aid package. Definitely look at the financial aid calculators for those private reach schools. They work out to be quite affordable for families with tight budgets. One great thing about the private schools is that there is a general lack of hurry. You are not bombarded by a whole series of steps you have to accomplish by specific dates. As a family, we felt that the few hundreds that went into application fees for both kids were a good investment.

I think TAMU is awesome. I was an OU Sooner, and my kids spent summers with my family in Oklahoma. Texas won’t be the culture shock to him that it might be to some even though he is a progressive California liberal. While the NM recruiting events were COVID-canceled, I still sent him and my husband to College Station for a tour last fall because I wanted to be sure that it would be good for him. The public school process definitely requires more awareness of steps and deadlines. TAMU and other big state schools do not make it hard, but they don’t make it easy. My son applied for housing basically right at the deadline. I think he is OK because he was accepted to ECOS housing, but he has not been ready to look for a roommate because he’s still awaiting decisions from other schools until April 9 and he can’t accept an admission offer until he gets all his answers.

Definitely look through the College Board list of colleges that really target NM. It’s a great resource, and there are plenty of generous options. I made my son apply to Alabama as the ultimate full-ride safety. He has always wanted to be an engineer, so we felt that TAMU was the best option among these schools. We view TAMU a bit like the academic magnet program my son attends at a very large high school. It has the specialized opportunities for top students amidst the broader student experience of a colossal university.

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Well, the problem my wife and I have is that we know we will not qualify for any need-based financial aid, regardless of the cost of the institution (whether we agree with the financial calculator or not). Our kids, S22 and D24, are both in a local private high school. We are stretching as it is to pay that tuition. In fact, all my income goes to pay income tax, tuition, and retirement savings (I think after that, I bring home $8K
yay!). So, we have a set budget for the kids and have had “the talk” with them already. We have 529s for both which are healthy. We have explained that their goal should be to graduate from college debt-free. We can do that for them. Anything beyond that
well, we’ll see. S22 gets it. D24 is just starting to think about college, so we will see. Our budget is very workable. But, the schools being considered are the usual suspects by and large (Alabama, Auburn, Iowa State, Texas A&M, and Colorado Mines). Culturally, it isn’t so different from us, being from Memphis.

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Got it. It definitely sounds like you are doing your homework. I wanted to mention how the affordability issue has changed since my own college days because I talk to parents all the time who are not aware. In my daughter’s graduation year, there were families who chose the UCs over prestigious privates that accepted them because they did not get any aid. Every family’s finances are different. Among the schools you are listing, I think TAMU has the most prestigious engineering program. For us, it’s half the cost of a UC and, for engineering, arguably better in many areas. TAMU is definitely a great choice!