@Txkellygirl
You say: “It looks like it’s not a guarantee to engineering and the GPA requirement is higher for Blinn…and they those classes don’t count as CS classes.”
Every freshman engineering student is accepted into general engineering. NO freshman is directly accepted into a specific major. General Engineering IS a guarantee into engineering if a student is capable of satisfying the requirements of Entry to A Major, which is Calculus I & II, Chemistry and Physics, in addition to the engineering class each semester (A LOT of work for only 2 hours of credit).
Most competitive engineering schools either admit to a general engineering pool or if direct admit to major, have criteria to be met in order to advance to upper level classes, after the first year or two. I certainly don’t know about every single engineering school but many high ranked ones are this way. Not every college has Computer Science under the Engineering umbrella. A&M does.
At A&M, the general engineering classes are required by all engineering students, regardless of major that they want or get into. No freshman begins taking courses towards a major until they are in one.
There is no guarantee that he will get into his major of choice. He will have to earn his way there. Is it easy? No, it is not. About 30% of kids will be out of engineering at the end of their first year. They either decide that the major is not for them or the major decides it for them because they are weeded out.
A 2.5 at Blinn vs a 2.0 from Galveston or in College Station. None of which will get one into their top choices of major. A student CAN get into their top 3 choices of major with less than a 3.5 overall GPA. A 2.59 has gotten into computer science. Here is the deal though: The guarantee is only for the first time they apply to a major. There are caveats, and it depends on which math they start in, but if they have to repeat a class, they will still go through the Apply to A major process but won’t be put into a major. So after that, their chances of their first choice major decrease. While a 2.59 got into Comp Sci during his first ETAM cycle, a 2.6 did not during their third and were denied all three choices and then had to wait to be offered a major that would accept them. This is true for every engineering student, be it in College Station, Galveston or an Academy.
TxKellyGirl: “Plus housing may already be full in the engineering dorm which was one of the main reasons we wanted CS”
Housing is not full and neither is the LLC. That is just malarkey wherever you heard that. What matters is you applying for housing as soon as possible within 30 days of admission decision.
YXKellyGIrl: “He’s walking away from a ton of scholarship money which now seems risky. Any feedback on how easy the transfer process is?”
Scholarship money that pays for his tuition and/or Room and board or scholarship money that allows you to pay instate tuition? There is HUGE difference.
TxKellyGirl: " Does he had to stay TEAB the entire 2 years?"
No, it is just an option. He can apply to a major in the Spring (April) of his Freshman year if he satisfies the general engineering course requirements and be in his major the following fall in College Station full time.
In an appeal, they usually don’t consider Sr year stuff unless it is REALLY compelling. Here is a link to the process: https://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/Appeals
