Just as a point of reference-- The vast majority of URMs are in the working class. Some percentage, disproportionately large, are classified as “working poor”, and disadvantaged. The numbers (both historical & contemporary) don’t lie.
But, out of an abundance of curiosity, and to steer this conversation away from race/racism (before this whole thread gets shut down), I’m wondering why you think that spots are reserved at TAMU based on any form of de facto privilege?
I think a more appropriate base perspective would be that no one is owed a spot at a University (unless the university or the law prescribes it to be so, such as House Bill 588). Person B can’t have stolen something from Person A, if person A never owned it, and Person B had a right to compete for and win it. And, person B did.
If “fairness” is the issue, Person A also didn’t have a right to self-select (in their own favor, no less) the rules of competition. The University (with some constraints from the State) set the standards & criteria. Just because Person A valued some criteria less than ones that were more complimentary to them, that doesn’t make Person A “robbed”. It makes Person A naturally “biased”. I can pretty much guarantee you that Person B is biased towards their own more complimentary met criteria too.
In other words, just because someone else met (evidenced by a favorable admission decision) the criteria for admission, but YOU don’t like some or all of the merits that earned that decision, it doesn’t mean something was taken from you or someone else. It was never yours. You have an opportunity to earn it too.
Unfortunately there’s no single great way to evaluate students for admissions. For instance, our daughter went into this college application process thinking she’d be just fine with gaining admission into TAMU CS due to just missing Top 10% by a fraction. We honestly thought she’d earn full engineering admission. Boy were we wrong! (I should have been reading up on CC a year ago!)
We knew her SAT scores weren’t all that great, but with an EC that took 20 hours a week and 11 months a year, she really didn’t’ have the time for SAT prep classes which we could afford by the way. She’s now being judged against other “white”, 2nd gen students that may have spent thousands on prep classes (and I know plenty who have). She has 2 working parents where one wasn’t home until late at night, often after she went to bed. And I’m not totally convinced she was afforded any additional opportunities that lesser socioeconomic students weren’t provided. She would go straight from school to training or work. There were no extra meetings with counselors at school or people paid to proof her essay, or assist her in the additional short answer questions. But we have to make the best of it and be thankful that at least TAMU is offering a holistic review.
After diligently waiting for 7 1/2 months for an admissions answer from TAMU, we’ve finally come to realize that she will succeed no matter what school she attends, and we are damn proud of everything she’s accomplish thus far in life. I refuse to let any university take that away from her. I truly pray all of our students carry their heads high after their Senior HS year! You’ve all worked your butts off and it shows that you really care, or you wouldn’t be on this forum. Good luck to everyone!
So my original comment was that you were attacking a person because you felt that their test scores didn’t merit getting the offer that they did. You argued vehemently that you were not attacking anyone. Now, it seems that you’ve double-downed to include race into the equation.
If it always seems like “they” are causing you woes, maybe it’s not “them.”
I think we should all be positive and help each other during this time of college admissions. All the parents/students are stressed already.
Let’s not turn this thread into a whole platform on the topics of affirmative action or race.
I am trying to get my kid into a college right now, and trying to understand the different college admissions and how best to go about discussing with admissions officer with the help provided on this thread.
This thread has been the most helpful to me during this process, and all the parents here have been very helpful.
Peace and love everyone. This forum isn’t or shouldn’t be about others. It’s about finding answers to questions you have or providing help. This Segway into hot topics isn’t productive for anyone. That’s what Facebook is for. Just kidding. But seriously feel we need to stick to the intentions of this forum and thread.
When should we expect the envelope with the TAMU banner for those that has accepted the academic pathways offered by TAMU? As well as any financial aid package?
There has been chatter about upcoming engineering scholarships. If my daughter were to receive an engineering scholarship, would it supersede her McFadden (assuming it is more)? I know that TAMU doesn’t stack, but if they are from two different places (i.e. A&M is one and Engineering department is the other), does that count?
Has anyone gotten Blinn Team acceptance notices yet? Are there any experienced Blinn Team students/parents that know about when they got a decision on Blinn Team? It’s so hard to be patient…LOL
Four years ago my daughter (now a senior at A&M) received her Blinn Team acceptance during this week, second week of February, which seems to me the norm for when Blinn Team has been announced in the last few years.
Now waiting for daughter #3 to find out…(she’s waitlisted non-Engineering). The wait is torture, I know! But it’s not surprising to me that many of us haven’t heard a thing back from A&M at this point.
Applied: November 2019
School doesn’t rank class
SAT 1290 highest single date. 1310 superscore. 640 RW. 670 Math.
ACT 28 Composite. 31 English. 26 Math
GPA 4.0
Major/College: Biology or Biomedical Science
(She’s hoping to apply to nursing program)
Offered Waitlist & TEAM consideration. Accepted both. Impatiently waiting and hoping for either. Honestly at this point, this mama is hoping for Blinn Team. Easier on pocketbook and no significant downsides that I can see. If neither pans out, daughter hasn’t decided if she’ll do PSA or just opt for a school with less stressful admission process.
Did your son receive his offer in the mail? It would have been in there - its a either paper or card stock fold out - says Congratulations “I’m the newest, loudest and proudest member of the fightin’ texas aggies!”
@mikeinsugarland - Did you register for the NSC first before receiving your financial aid package? Or did the financial aid package come out before you registered for NSC? It looks like Fin Aid package came out for you around 2 weeks after you accepted?
We still have not registered for NSC yet, as we are waiting on a couple of other schools decision letters.
Department scholarships should be coming out soon. Different departments have different dates. For engineering you should expect around March April timeframe. If any, it will be listed in the portal. So I would assume it would have to follow the stacking rule. One thing to note is that it’s not about the individual but about the donors/sponsors/criteria. So one may get a scholarship with less stellar numbers/records.
Does anyone know about housing? I know A&M does not have enough dorms for all incoming freshman. I’m non-engineering and waiting to hear back from Blinn TEAM and waitlist. My only concern is that if I get an offer I won’t be able to live on in a dorm. Does anyone know if it’s full or how many spots are left?
No one has selected housing yet. I don’t think they ever reach full capacity. You may not get the best dorm but you’ll more than likely get housing on campus. If not, there are several basically on campus off campus housing. Trust me… this is not stress worthy!!!