Is Pass/Fail an option to avoid the course credit?
credit is credit BUT the question is can they retake it. So that could be a way around it. But in HS you may not be able to take it p/f
Yes, the Calc and 2nd semester of Chemisty classes are part of the common course system that would match MATH 151 and CHEM 120 at TAMU. I don’t believe pass/fail is an option for us. I will call the engineering advising office to see if they can clarify, and then see if I can get that in writing. : )
I just spoke to the Engineering Advising department. She told me that dual credit classes DO NOT have to be transferred and/or accepted for credit. She said the decision to not transfer some credits is covered at the NSC. I asked if I could get it in writing or if should point me to the correct webpage that discusses it, and she said she didn’t know of anywhere that it was posted, that it was just standard university procedure.
I’ll keep looking to see if I find that info somewhere or try to send another email with just that solo question.
@kwhdman that is incorrect. Dual Credit automatically applies, but AP is applied at the discretion of student. You don’t get a choice with DC. Doesn’t matter what major, DC applies, only AP can be chosen.
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Jan 5 from @ChillyCow
“Regarding not using Dual Credit at TAMU: I have emailed with Jon Buchannon (probably spelled his name wrong) about this concerning my son. Mr. B said he could retake his Austin Community College Dual Credit classes that are needed for ETAM such as Calculus and Physics. The ACC class grade would remain visible on the transcript but the TAMU grade would be the one computed for GPA. Reason being is TAMU wants to make sure students are all on an equal footing with knowledge acquired from these classes (ie, make sure the students learned the material TAMU wants them to know is my takeaway). Of course, students should double check but this was my conversation from last year (summer 2020ish?) with him concerning my Class of 2025 son.”
JB is available on Parents of A&M engineers facebook group and is director of recruiting, engineering.
jon.buchanan@tamu.edu
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I agree with @52ag82 she is absolutely 100% wrong on this. Dual Credit has to be taken on transcript. There are zero exceptions and this goes for any university that I’ve ever been a part of. AP is different as we’ve said, but DC is a no go. You take it, and it goes on every transcript.
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Per admissions website:
OFFICIAL COLLEGE TRANSCRIPT(s) from ALL schools previously attended. Emailed copies are not acceptable.
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Coursework from one college posted on the transcript of another is not acceptable.
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College transcript(s) for dual/college credit earned in high school must be submitted.
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All college transcripts will be evaluated, assigned credit and posted to the student record (viewable in Howdy) upon admission.
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That’s what I was afraid of. Unfortunately, the young lady who has answered that line the couple of times I have called doesn’t seem very confident or knowledgable in her answers.
I called the Houston regional office and spoke with an advisor. She explained the dual credit courses will absolutely transfer, but you can choose to just transfer the hours. That might be splitting hairs, but basically she said any course can be retaken, so my son could just still take the math and chemistry courses at TAMU. I asked about getting it writing. She referenced the part of the ETAM webpage that says “If you Q-Drop a math or science course and choose to accept credit in its place…” She said the “choose to accept” part would apply to dual credit classes. That is not a clear enough distinction for me, so I asked her where the policy was noted regarding the option to retake classes, or the policy as whether the student can choose whether their DC classes are to applied towards a course.
She said she couldn’t find anything in writing about being able to retake a course because that is standard.
No one seems to give me their answer in writing…
She suggested I email the engineering advising group. I told her I did earlier this month and had not received a response. She suggested that I just pick one of the undergraduate advisors and send the email directly to that person.
So I will try to blindly pick an advisor (or two!) and send an email to Mr. Buchanan. Will keep you posted!
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That’s great. Thank you. It’ll be good for many up and coming students to have this info as well!!!
Maybe contact EASA as well. I’ve had decent luck with them over the years. Many times they forward your email to the correct individual. Jon Buchanan is amazing, super nice, incredibly helpful, and insert any other great characteristic here, keep in mind he’s really busy, but his responses are often worth the wait.
Engineering Academic and Student Affairs
easa@tamu.edu
@MackAg The EASA is where I sent my email earlier this month with no response. I suppose they may still answer at some point… I just sent the same email to Jon and to a couple of the engineering advisors. Fingers crossed!
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Has anyone explored whether or not there is a correlation between ACT/SAT scores and success in obtaining your 1st choice major in the ETAM process? Perhaps some other high school stat/factor that translates in that regard? I see both sides of the debate. But I do think the ETAM process is a huge factor.
I don’t think they look at anything from high school except courses that go towards degree plan.
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Yeah, what I am wondering is if there are any studies or reports that show any relationship between a students test scores and how they do at TAMU engineering. Specifically, with the ETAM process.
Oh sorry. I see what you’re getting at. Not sure if there is a correlation they’ve looked at.
Here’s what I’ve noticed… students in high school are not the same student in college. Sometimes they get stronger and sometimes they get weaker. It’s truly a growing experience. Some rise and some realize engineering isn’t for them.
I think a better correlation is course rigor. But that’s an uneducated guess.
@silverdad1 Haven’t seen that discussed specifically for Tamu etam, but since getting ones first choice major is very dependant on freshman gpa, there are studies available correlating SAT/ACT scores to freshman gpa. Not a good answer to your question, though.
What my son noticed was that grades for freshman engineering students are very dependent on test scores, and that, in his opinion, over 3/4 of the tests had significant time limits. So to do well, he had to work fast. I think this also applies to SAT/ACT tests.
It would be interesting to know what other freshman thought. btw, one place to find students is on reddit aggies
That is a great call @AggieMomhelp . My daughter has been more focused and is doing much better at TAMU than she did in high school. I laugh when I look back and she was given 2Q (25.85%)with a 1260 SAT and eventually got PSA. She transitioned from TAMU-CC through PSA and will graduate in December, a semester early , and based on an email last night was offered Phi Kappa Phi membership, which according to the TAMU chapter page is only offered to the top 7.5% of second semester Juniors and top 10% of seniors. (I don’t believe this is one of the many “scam” honor societies since there is an actual local chapter on campus.
So what I am saying is that correlating standardized test scores to success at A&M will be sketchy at best.
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Fantastic for your daughter! I looked at one of those studies and the correlation between scores and freshman grades was 10-20%, whatever that means.
Motivation plays a huge role, maybe the most important role of all!
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I received some clarification - in writing! - regarding dual credit classes.
Per Mr. Buchanan, students ARE allowed to retake courses previously taken outside of TAMU.
My discussion specifically addressed Calculus (for MATH 151) and Chemistry for (CHEM 119 & 120). If someone else is considering this, please note if the courses are retaken, the state of Texas won’t allow the retakes to be considered for financial aid purposes because the student will have alrady earned graded college credit.
I received different information from an advisor, so I looped back to Mr. Buchanan. He again assured me that my son could retake those dual credit classes at TAMU. He said it wasn’t very common because a grade has already been earned.
I spoke with my son, and at this point, that is what he is planning to do instead of just moving to the next courses in sequence at TAMU. He will take dual credit Calculus and Chemistry his senior year of high school. The classes wil transfer to TAMU, but he will then retake them because he wants to make sure he has a solid foundation before pursuing higher level math courses at TAMU. He can then acclimate to college life and the additional rigor/speed of TAMU’s math & science courses with hopefully less stress his freshman year on earning the 3.75 GPA for automatic ETAM.
I think we now have a plan. : )
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