I’m applying to TAMS and am worried about my acceptance. Acceptance rate is not listed, does anyone know what it is?
My main concern is my high school grades. I have a bunch of B’s mixed with A’s. This is mostly due to organization & not staying on top of things. I’m also worried about teacher recommendations, I have a decent relationship with all my teachers and no big issues, but I’m not exactly close/BFF with any of them. They tell my parents that I get distracted.
All of my core subjects are AP, and I have a couple of credits by exam (in math and English), plus 12 college credits taken over a few summers, also one grade acceleration (from elementary school). I went to SMI (which is when I knew TAMS was the right place for me) and did well there but I’m not sure if they consider SMI during acceptance decision. No leadership positions, or fancy extracurricular clubs, I work on Saturdays and have some minor UIL awards. I’m also in varsity sport.
Because of my grades my class ranking is in the top 20% and everyone else who I’ve seen post about TAMS is in the single digits. My GPA is 5.72
One unknown is the SAT, I’m taking it next month. I did get state recognition when taking it in 7th grade and think I’ll do pretty well.
It’s just stressful not knowing where I stand. Personally I think I’d me a good fit but reading “chance me for TAMS” makes me doubt my own chances.
The acceptance rate is approximately 40%, and something that they stress is that “We are more than numbers.” As long as you brought up your grades this semester and you’re SAT is decent, I think that you still have a good chance of getting in. TAMS cares a lot about how you are as a person, so the essay as well as the interview are definitely important factors of the admission process. There’s also the social interview where they see how you work well with others and the interview where you’re asked questions by staff/alumni. The fact that you seem to like being challenged with your classes is great, and I knew some people that left the leadership positions blank as well. Good luck! Even if you’re wait listed, you can still update your application and write a letter of continued interest. I was wait listed myself, but I think you should still try to get accepted if that’s the case because TAMS has been the best time of my life. @ilikenumbers
@ryaanwong, what is the reason you think you were waitlisted last year? Did you apply early admission?
It’s a little stressful that the admission process is so long but it’s reassuring to hear how much everyone actually loves the program.
My other question is what people do on weekends. I live almost 5 hours away so going home won’t be very easy.
I applied regular decision, and I think I was wait listed for several reasons lol like my SAT was terrible compared to everyone else’s, my interview went extremely bad, and I didn’t really challenge myself with classes last year. I didn’t get accepted until two weeks later, and some people were accepted as late as mid-summer even after summer orientation. Yeah, the admissions process is really long, and I even counted the days down until acceptance emails went out. There’s closed weekend which is one weekend where everyone is forced to go home and if you live in Houston, there’s a bus that takes you home. For weekends, I personally hang with my friends all day, I study a fair amount, and sometimes I even used public transportation to go to Dallas to explore with my friends (I went to the State Fair, art museums, & the H-Mart area in Carrolton where there’s lots of Korean places). I don’t like going home but try to make the most out of the weekends because they can be really fun!
Thanks, man. You’ve given me a much clearer picture of what life is like than all the stuff I read online. Sounds like TAMS is a great fit for you, I hope to join you next year.
Feel free to ask me more questions and good luck again! I’m really excited to see the people that are applying to TAMS during interview day 
Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions! I thought of another one: how much time do we have to take the math test on interview day? The review questions are pretty easy, unless they are looking for speed.
@ilikenumbers I think we had an hour and a half for both sections. I worked at a decent past, and I had a lot of time left over since they were so similar to the review questions. They give you the two sections at once, so you can choose to work on whichever you want first. Try to keep yourself from looking around the room because TAMS admin cancels people’s applications if they have any reason to believe your cheating.
@ryaanwong the interview day was really fun. I liked all the people in my group interview. Like you said, the math test is very easy. It was also cool to meet some TAMS students who came out early on a Saturday to give us notes etc. Now comes the hard part again, just waiting. Website says decisions come out on March 10, does anyone get notified earlier? In previous years some people posted about their acceptance in early March. Waiting is the worst part.
That’s great to hear :)! I was notified a day early, but I’m still not really sure why. I’m pretty sure that everyone gets notified at the same time so be prepared to wait until then. Try to be confident in yourself because it just makes waiting worse if you’re not.
So on my test, I feel as though I missed quite a few questions (maybe like 4-6?). Will this heavily effect my acceptance rate? Also, after interviews day, I was thinking over my responses and they didn’t seem to involve “quality” responses as others in my group. For example, other people in my group answered about things that would appear very interesting to TAMS (helping people, robotics, chemistry etc.) whereas I replied completely honest with some of those traits, but I feel as though my responses would be unpopular. The days until we get notified are quite long periods of time filled with anxiety for me. I also did pretty bad on SATs compared to the scores of others I met on interview day. How bad are my chances to get accepted?
@suicidalist They’ll still admit you if you miss a couple, so it shouldn’t affect your acceptance rate too much. For interview day, my formal interview was terrible like I kept stuttering, shaking, and my responses weren’t very good, but I somehow got in. My SAT score was LOW compared to everyone else at TAMS. I’m not sure about your chances, but I still think you have a good chance of getting in. Even if you’re wait listed, don’t be discouraged because a lot of people accepted reject the offer and you can add things to your app or even write a letter of continued interest.
wait can I ask how you would add on to the application and add onto my interest? I wanted to express how much I enjoyed math but I was so anxious I couldn’t stutter anything because others in my group seemed so amazing.
@ryaanwong how would you rate my app? Throughout seventh grade, I have gotten all A’s in my classes besides occasional B’s in ONLY social studies and english classes. I’m a freshman in IB and am taking HGAP right now. Next year im taking whap and apcsp. i have a 1500+ sat score with good and great teacher recs. I swim in and out of school and am in band, but am planning to drop due to conflicting schedules. I am also doing science fair next year with a partner who also wants to go to tams. Do you think I will get in?
@suicidalist I’m really sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I think it would be best to add things to your application after decisions go out. The way people can add to their application is adding achievements or you could write an email further detailing your interest in TAMS and in STEM. @weirdshark They don’t seem to care much about grades made in middle school, but you should definitely aim to be a straight A student in high school even though a couple of B’s won’t hurt. The fact that you’re taking challenging classes and you have a really high SAT score will look good on your application. Your extracurriculars look great as well, so I think you have a good shot in getting in. 
@ryaanwong I have a few of questions. 1) About how many people get accepted to the interview? 2) Assuming I were to go to regionals and state for science fair, do you think it would make a big impact on my app? 3) How is interview day? what type of questions do they ask? .
@wierdshark 1) A majority of applicants advance to the interview round like I think there were 400 people at the regular decision interview. 2) It shows that you’re really interested in STEM, and it would be really good for college apps too. 3) For interview day, you take the algebra test firsts then you either have the formal or social interview first. The formal one is how they get to know you as a person and what you have to offer TAMS. For the social, TAMS students see how you collaborate with other prospective TAMS student through a series of activities that involve teamwork.
@ryaanwong Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions as I am really nervous. I have another question. What were the other applicants like?
@wierdshark People that apply to TAMS come off as really professional and intimidating because of that. At my interview day, I didn’t think I had any chance of getting it, and it was a humbling experience like even if you think you’re average, you’ll be surprised at how smart and accomplished everyone is.
@ryaanwong i told you my qualifications already, but one thing I want to add is that I also do volunteer work. As a whole, what do you think my interview chances are, considering I had 2 mid Bs in hgap and english? I did bring those grades up this semester though, and I have all As