TAMU Class of 2024 - Admission Decisions/Discussion

Colleges and Universities A-Z Texas A&M University
2061

Hello, all!

I’m a parent of HS senior who has applied to multiple schools, including TAMU. This is my very first post. Thank you to all of you who answer questions and provide support, and those who provide data about acceptances, applications, etc. Many of us are information seekers and NEED this info!

I found this forum for the first time about a month ago, and just started looking at the TAMU decisions thread a couple weeks ago. I figured I owe it the forum to post my son’s data since I’ve learned so much.

I find the TAMU admissions process to be the most complicated of any we’ve encountered. More on that later.

My son:

OOS (California)
Type: Review applicant

Major: 1) Mays 2) History

Applied: Nov. 30 - down to the wire

Status: Full admit - date unknown. After reading this thread and last year’s 2023 thread, I wanted to get a visual of these 3/6 tabs, etc. So I asked him last night to log on and show me, and lo and behold, 6 tabs and an acceptance for College Station, major = history. If he got an email alert, he never saw it.

Grades: Rank = 10/138, weighted GPA 4.15ish, unweighted 4.0.

SAT: 1300, math=660, english 640 (This is his weakest point, I think - he’s dyslexic and SAT was pure torture.

APs: Upward trend of class rigor - no honors freshman year, one AP soph year, two APs junior year, 4 APs senior year. AP scores 5,5,2.

ECs, etc.: Excellent. He’s been the head drum major of his school’s well-known marching band for two years, 3 years jazz band, 4 years drumline, 1st place in Northern CA for mace competition. Plays tuba, bass trombone, tenor drums. Student government, 2 yrs news editor of school paper, very active in campus ministry, the list goes on. The kid is “all in” when he does something.

LORs: Excellent, although I know they aren’t a big deal at TAMU.

He applied only to big football/band schools and TAMU was high on his list for band (for obvious reasons!) and he and my husband visited last spring and loved it. So far he’s been accepted to Notre Dame (his number one), TCU (not much mention of TCU here - I suppose because in state tuition is just so much better? Although they are pretty generous with merit $), LSU. He has to wait until mid March for the UCs and Cal States. Also waiting for UW and UT, but when checking last night it said his transcript was missing so that one might be out.

After wading through the enless stream of acronyms that are used at TAMU and reading about Mays being full, I looked on TAMU admissions and Mays websites and I don’t see anything warning us to apply early or Mays will be full. It seems like there should be an obvious explanation/warning somewhere. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Don’t they want the most qualified students in their major? I asked my son and husband if they knew that it fills up and you need to apply early, and they knew it was hard to get but didn’t know the mechanism. Anyway, it’s unlikely he’d attend if he can’t major in what he wants. Hard to imagine shelling out that kind of money. I completely realize that he may change his mind on major and want something else, in which case TAMU would be great.

I also don’t see anything about all of the potential other pathways that one might be offered. Can you be in the band if you’re anything other than a full admit? You have to be in the Corp, I know. So I’m guessing no.

I’m surprised that few have mentioned band here - the school is such a draw for band kids, but as large as the band is, the student population is so ginormous that it’s still a small fraction.

We have friend whose son will apply in 2 years because of band - at least I can pass on the info about applying early to get his major.

I agree that they should give the PSAs as early as possible. No need for unnecessary torture. But although it does suck, it’s not unreasonable to have to wait until March for any decision - many schools have not given decisions by March 1. And for many, financial aid is even later. My son applied Early Action to ND and TCU, which is why he knows already (although he could easily have been deferred and still waiting). I feel like it’s a bonus that he applied so late and has already heard.

Anyway, thanks for listening and best of luck to everyone out there who is still waiting. TAMU seems like such a fantastic school and we’ll root for them in football (as long as they’re not playing what ever school he attends)!

2062

So I was offered PSA a few days back but in the manage application section, it says “Under Review” still. Is there a reason for this?

2063

I’m currently visiting the University of Alabama as I’m typing this and I agree, they are really pushing putting in deposits. I just want to know my decision so I can give the other schools I applied to the time of day. If I went to TAMU, I’d be a fifth gen Aggie and it’s gotten to the point in the waiting process where I’ve already checked Howdy 2 times while I’m touring Alabama. I just want to know :((

2064

@soccerbandmom Yes, they can be in the band/corps if they are full admit or Blinn Team.

2065

@Colhopeful728 My DD second choice is Baylor and they want a $500 non-refundable deposit!! Needless to say, we are waiting until we hear from TAMU. A few months ago, when DD wanted to go to OU, we went ahead and signed up because it was first come first served. Depends on where you go, what the policy is. It varies greatly from school to school and also from year to year. Hard to keep it all straight!!

2066

@soccerbandmom applying early for major is irrelevant unless you are academic or auto admit. A Holistic review rarely gets into Mays because it’s first come basis so it’s primarily the non review peeps. Y’all did not miss the boat on this. And while I could see that it would be helpful to know that it fills up, I don’t get the reason on waiting to apply at the last minute. We see that a lot on here, not just your kiddo. So please don’t take it as a direct jab

My son applied July 1st his year and wanted mays. Admitted in December and got 2nd choice. It is what it is and hopefully they will go to a holistic review for business like they do engineering. With academic admit going away next cycle, more kids will get a shot at it though.

Best of luck!!! Sounds like he has great options!!! And yes he can be in band if they are on blinn team.

2067

I feel your pain, except my daughter applied on July 1st and has been waiting all this time!

2068

I’m curious as I have a junior in high school who will be applying on July 1 this year: How important is the essay? I see lots of posts on stats of test scores and class ranks and ECs and LORs and even the coveted majors that run out of spots. Does the essay really come into play at TAMU?

2069

According to the Common Data Set (C7)- LORs are “Considered” and Essays are “important.”

http://dars.tamu.edu/Student/files/CDS_2018-2019.aspx

Very Important
Rigor of secondary school record
Class Rank
Academic GPA (that would be for non-ranking schools)
Standardized Test Scores
Extracurricular Activities
Talent/Ability

Important
Application Essay
First Generation
Geographical Residency
State Residency
Volunteer work
Work Experience

Considered
LORs
Character/personal qualities
Level of interest

Not Considered
Interview
Religious affiliation
Racial/ethnic status

2070

@soccerbandmom
Couple things you should be aware of…

  1. Unlike cal schools, tx schools give its residents a big advantage (as they should) for admissions. They are required to accept texans to make up +/-90% of the class meaning about +/-10% is available for non residents and internationals.
  2. While your son’s gpa and class rank is high enough for (texan) auto admit, sat is not that great, just slightly above last year’s mean and below academic admit (1360). So he is placed in review group, aka the rest. Once in this group, students will be reviewed based on: “application and essay, class rank and SAT and/or ACT scores, extracurricular activities, community service, leadership, employment and summer activities, talents, awards and honors.” So those are quite a bit to compete.
  3. Mays as I have seen here is pretty competitive and prob about the same or more than engineering because it gets filled up fast.
    Most of the above information can be found on tamu website. My son’s counselors told us during a jr general meeting that one should apply as soon as their application is ready or a school is open. They were talking about jr Summer. He (and we) procrastinated. We barely missed the Oct 15 priority because some stuff took longer to get to the school. In any case, I feel it was our fault since we didn’t listen to the counselors and/or spend more time researching the school. Best of luck to you.
2071

Have a question for those in the know. Applied Sept 28, early decision MEEN, 1st qtr, 3.68/4.45 GPA, 29 ACT , Master Sgt Civil Air Patrol and multiple gold medals at district and regional championship Taekwondo. Homeschooled with 50+ dual and college credit.
Have not heard anything yet. I understand we are all waiting. My AIS hasn’t changed from “Under Review” to even “Engineering Review”. Am I out of the running? Also could my age be an issue?
I am 15 right now to turn 16 in the fall. The corps commandant did not think it would be an issue when I interviewed with him but I am starting to wonder.

2072

@TXRunningMom i also have a junior right now who will be applying to TAMU as soon as applications open this summer. It’s going to be very interesting to see how admissions unfold since this will be the first class to apply after they are doing way with Academic Admit.

I talked with our TAMU regional admissions rep at a college fair at our high school this week and the impression I got was that TAMU really wants that well rounded student, not just a “stats machine”. By doing away with Academic Admit she said they hope to make it a more level playing field.

It did make me feel a little better since my son is not top 10% and has major test anxiety, so even though his grades, EC’s, marching band commitment, part time job etc are all in line, his SAT/ACT is a source of stress. He’s taking an essay writing workshop in June with a local college admissions consultant…we’re hoping a strong essay will help him seal the deal. He’ll be applying for Mays as his first choice And Econ as his second.

2073

@soccerbandmom my son is band kid as well. He’s planning on marching band if he ends up at OSU or Tech… As much as he loves band he isn’t interested in the non-DCI style of marching that the Aggie band does. He loves it as a spectator and loves the tradition of it. But as a marcher he just wants to do the fun, loose shows that most college marching bands do. It is funny because he is interested in the corps. Most people assume he doesn’t want to do band because he doesn’t want to join the corps.

However, he will happily give up college band to be at TAMU. I cannot clearly say why, but we took him a few games as a kid and he decided that was it for him. He is an Aggie all the way.

2074

I think it’s the 29 that is holding you back. I feel that they already looked at your file and decided not to make a decision yet. Our son’s file completed about a month after yours but received decision awhile back with many others. Good luck!

2075

@hmporter64 ditto for my kid…he is not interested in marching with the Corp at TAMU…he’s willing to give that up to go to his #1 school…if he ends up at Tech or UTSA he’ll most likely go for marching band.

2076

@AggieMomhelp Thanks for your reply. I did not interpret anything as a jab. It’s definitely just not the ideal setup for him without being academic admit. I also completely understand that TX residents are favored - as they should be - so I’m impressed that he even got full admit. The other thing is that it’s not like he waited until the last minute because he was goofing around - he applied to two schools early action so those were due early, and the UC application (does not take CommonApp, has its own four essays) was due Nov. 30. He took the SAT Nov. 2 while taking a class to prepare during the fall, which is also cross country season and marching band season. Applying to TAMU required him to do the Coaltion app, so it was alot, all while taking 4 AP classes.

@icedmachiato Thanks for your reply. Yes, totally fair to skew toward rewarding your in-state students. We understand that. SAT - yes, SAT is not great but he busted his butt to get it - dyslexics are not usually great at these tests. It is what it is. Mays filling up fast - do you know where on the website this is explained? I looked and couldn’t find it. I’d like to be able to show it to him so he can see that he didnt’ have much chance at that major. I’d also like to show his friend who will apply in a couple years so they can keep tabs on it. Thanks for the good wishes!

2077

In general you are told to apply early:
http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/track

Here it says decisions are rolling (That means first come first served.)
http://admissions.tamu.edu/transfer/admitted

And the Mays website makes it clear it is “highly selective.”

2078

@soccerbandmom it is definitely hard keeping up with all the intel and applications. My son applied to California schools and was shocked you couldn’t apply til oct. Texas schools are more workable since you can do it in summer before you have a heavy load!

And our band is amazing, so I hope he does come this way. I’m sure he would love it. And my son just changed majors into Mays so it’s definitely doable after freshman year!!! They give a clear path as to what needs to happen.

2079

@bluebayouAZ I don’t think that having “apply early” being in there is the same as “your major is first-come first serve so the sooner you apply, the better the chance of getting your major.” The second link was for transfer students so we’d never have looked at that anyway, but if you click the types of decisions under the “freshman” tab, it certainly outlines the direct/auto/review, and I’d seen that before, but it doesn’t mention anything about majors filling up. Also, certainly we knew Mays is competitive, but he could have have a 1600 SAT, applied before the application deadline, and still not gotten in if they do it first-come, first serve. There are multiple elements of competition in there, and one is to get your application done first.

2080

Apply Texas opens in July. I know all kids procrastinate but lots of public schools are doing some kind of rolling admissions, that is a huge bonus, not a negative. Having admissions in Sept is a big help. I am not sure OOS is a big disadvantage in TAMU, it is just that not many apply and even less attend because there is no merit money for most non NMFs. I actually think OOS full pay is a bit of a hook. Mays is just very desirable.