Some of my son’s AP teachers used a bell curve but only occasionally (for individual assignments or tests), not the entire course.
Also, fluctuation in coarse difficulty can be found from teacher to teacher in the same school. For example, my son and his girlfriend are both taking the same AP Macroeconomics coarse with different instructors and according to them the difficulty is night and day. Many students in my son’s school try to game the system by requesting schedule changes to instructors that are known to be “easier”.
I’ve always told my son… “you work with the hand your dealt”.
These high preforming schools/districts, probably pay better and attract and/or demand high preforming teachers, which gives their students another advantages.
I think the admissions departments are familiar with many of the high schools and probably have stats on success rates of students coming out of them.
You also can’t forget that buzz word “diversity”. I know this probably weighs heavier at some universities than others, but it’s the age we live in and probably factors in. So might depend where you fit into that puzzle.
The recruiter for engineering said most engineering majors hear the first week of December. Our son found out he was accepted into engineering last Thursday, Oct. 3rd. I think he found out early because he was an academic admit and was accepted into A&M the first day acceptances were sent out.
SAT score 1510
ACT score 35
top 11% (.227% away from top 10%) but goes to a rigorous college prep where all the kids are crazy smart
I got my acceptance yesterday in the AIS.
When did you apply: 09/26/19
Class Rank: 57/643
SAT (with Sub Scores): 1500 (EBRW:760, Math:740)
ACT (with Sub Scores): N/A
When did you receive your admission decision: Yesterday
Are you an Auto-admit or Academic Admit or Review Admit: Auto-Admit
Major/College of Choice: Aerospace Engineering
Can someone please tell me how A&M is for minorities/ people who are left-leaning. I keep hearing that I will be an outcast but my heart is really set on A&M. Ive fallen in love with the school but I want to know that I won’t be isolated there, especially with 66,000 people on campus
@collegegal22 were you accepted into the engineering program or does it say that you are under engineering review?
@collegegal22 trust me, you’re not the only one who’s a left-leaning minority looking to go to A&M. I applied for the 2020 school year as well (haven’t received an acceptance yet) and thought the same thing when researching A&M. I’ve now taken two tours of the university and can say the college is certainly starting to become more open minded about a lot of things. They now have an organization for trans people, were recently looking to hire a specifically liberal English professor, and I saw several people on campus wearing shirts with left-leaning phrases. Now A&M isn’t going to be perfect, especially legacy students whose parents believe A&M is still uber conservative, but it is a lot better than it used to be. There may be some struggles, but from my research it seems well worth the fight.
It still says engineering review
Thank you! I’m so excited to tour A&M
There are 66000 students. It is more conservative than liberal but if you can’t find your peeps among 66k then you aren’t looking hard enough. I say that tongue in cheek but I am serious. There is a place for everyone at tamu. And this generation is more accepting of any differences than other gens. And… profs are liberal in majority. I hope you find your place At tamu and thrive!
@AggieMomhelp Profs are majority liberal??? That is disturbing on so many levels.
Also, should I submit my housing application before I have already decided to go to A&M or do I wait until I’m sure that’s the school I’m attending? Is it binding?
New here - please forgive me for all the questions:
I see people posting about 3 vs 6 tabs in My Howdy. We don’t see any tabs for my daughter, unless we’re looking in the wrong place.
If you’re able to answer this question, please be as detailed as possible. I am technically challenged, so step by step instructions would be best - and very much appreciated!
Also, she is not an auto or academic admit, and has applied to Public Health. Any guesses on when she can expect to hear something? She submitted her application at least a month ago.
Thank you so much for the help!
AggieMom20and22- I would not worry that much about liberal professors 
Not at TAMU. Majority of professors are liberal people,it is what it is. I don’t think that professors at TAMU are left wing hard core liberals who would try to swing your kiddos to the leftish left:-))
And I don’t think it’s disturbing, if my son will end up with liberal professors. Sure, my son didn’t even bother with CA or NE colleges, one of the reasons being, some profs there can be hard core ultra leftists, and some students too, but nothing’s wrong with college balanced on both sides. Which TAMU profs probably are. I’m a libertarian, strongly believing in privacy and minimal gov. My husband is heavy republican and our oldest son is more independent person, somewhere between central conservative democrat, modern republican type of person. You should hear our debates :-)) It’s quite entertaining sometimes .Lol
Collegegal22- I believe you’ll find kids with similar or same believes. And Congratulations !!!
Thank you to all for your positive responses. Honestly, I was a bit worried I might receive some backlash on my comments about the academic admit policy. I wholeheartedly agree with @AggieMomhelp , @AggieMomAgain , and @nomatter 's comments. I hate that Texas has fallen so hard on so many standardized tests that it’s crippling our educational system.
But I guess there is a long wait in front of us, and if TAMU is not in the cards, then there are plenty of other excellent schools out there. I did check into the ACT test up in College Station and was told that they won’t have another one until November, but they don’t have a date yet. I was instructed to call back for a date for the test the first week of November. When I asked if the test would be graded in time for the December 1st deadline, there was a long pause and then an answer of “I think so.” I can’t imagine them offering the test if they can’t get it scored in time for their own deadline since the test is only for them.
I forgot who commented on the high stakes tests, but like it was stated, some kids just don’t test well on those standardized tests. My daughter is much like my husband who is a West Point graduate (Mechanical Engineer) who is a bit of an over thinker some times. She tends to like to process information and break it down, and it all takes time, which she doesn’t have in those standardized tests. Doesn’t make her any less smart than the kid who scores a 1500. But I agree with the comment that there are more qualified students for A&M than there are openings.
Best of luck to everyone!
@YankeeTexan33 The residual ACT is scored and uploaded into their AIS in about 24 hours.
YankeeTexan33- I agree, my son ACT was 31, not bad, but not his greatest, now he took MATH2 and PHYSICS sub tests, and he said that even he knew everything in math2, there was no way he can solve more difficult question in a minute. He left some Q unanswered. Sure, he never practiced on any tests, but I think it’s not logical to give kids 60 minutes on difficult testing, or even regular SAT/ACT. Like your husband, or your daughter- my son needs little more than a minute on precal answers lol. But he said that Physics was pretty easy, but he knows he didn’t do good in math2, because the timing. ( doesn’t really matter)And I can say that my son is smarty pants in math, just not good on very limited timing. I believe that your daughter is smart cookie, and it’s sad that kids like her don’t get chance because of the testing, but nothing’s lost yet.
Good luck
@MomOfTeens77 - 31 is a great score, and your son should be proud!
Does anyone have any idea about the academic scholarships? The requirements are the same/similar to the ones for the academic admit (at least from the SAT score). I am just wondering if there is any reason to be hopeful that we will actually get one?
Thank you, beanonymous. Yes, we are proud of him and he’s ok with his scores, but he knows he is not that good in SAT/ACT testing like he’s strong in his ability of academic learning. He is one of the kids, who doesn’t score high enough on SAT/ACT to equal with his academic capability. And it just frustrates him, because he knows he’s more than just a score. A lot of kids get anxious, because they know they have to do very well on these tests, bc it’s one of the main components. I just think that these tests are not designed the right way and timing is off.
nomatter- I’m sorry, but it’s not just TAMU who goes by SAT/ACT testing. All the colleges who proclaim that testing is not everything to them, are simply lying. They trying to calm you down. Just check some statistics of MIT, CalTech, and other great colleges. MIT would tell you that SAT test is not everything- except hardly ever they’ll admit anyone under certain number. Most of the colleges doing that, except every college has their number somewhere else.