The waiting is getting so tough! !! My daughter applied July 16th. Her siblings attend A&M, but transferred from going straight to Blinn. Not an option she wants to take.
She has been accepted to Baylor, but her #1 choice is to be an Aggie. Praying everyday for an acceptance that puts her on the A&M campus!
Here are her stats:
School does not rank, but A&M put her in the top quartile (attends a rigourous private school) GPA 4.17/4.3
Applied to School of Education and Human Development (Allied Health) Second choice major- Public health
SAT- 1170
High Honor Roll all through high school-(4.0 or above)
NHS
National Art Honor Society
Academic All-State
Athletic Character Award for Performance and Dedication
All District Team
All State Team
All Area Team
Varsity Soccer,- 4 years (team captain junior and senior year)
Varsity Cross Country- 4 years
Varsity Track- 3 years
200 volunteer hours (40 in a hospital over the summer)
2 summer jobs
Did all 3 essays (I think they are awesome)
2 Very strong letters of recommendation that speak of her character, leadership and dedication to school work
10 classes that were either honors, Pre-Ap, AP/Dual Credit. Will have 9 college hours.
Attended several A&M campus tours, dorm tours, visited prospective student center, visited the A&M nursing school, football games, several events for her Aggie siblings. Been to CS so many times she knows her way around!
Thoughts on some kind of acceptance?? She will take any acceptance that puts her in College Station!
I’m confused about the Oct 15th date for having stuff submitted and hearing back this month? Is that for engineering or other review applicants? My daughter had everything submitted by Oct 15th , but uploaded an updated additional resume with volunteer hours and other A&M campus involvement she did this fall.
Thanks! Good Luck to all and congratulations to those accepted!
Her score is pretty low for her exams - is there a reason? You might want to consider a tutor & retake the exams before the deadline. There is one at TAMU for the ACT that only counts for TAMU admission. Look online (forum won’t let me post link) to see her % for her score vs 1360 academic admit status. Search for SAT score percentage - that will show where she falls vs. the nation. I would say with that score, chances are very slim for full admit, but the rest of her stats are great.
I am clueless on what A&M is looking for in holistic review, non-engineering/business, candidates. I would have sworn/bet money that my DD would have been denied full admission. We, in fact, refused to entertain the idea that she would be admitted and were prepared to not hear a decision until February. She didn’t tell any of her friends that she was applying because she didn’t want to talk about it, good or bad. She has no hook, good solid, but not stellar, stats. Her ECs showed a dedication to one particular thing, cheerleading. Her essays were probably good but nothing better than what I am sure any other other average high school student could have written, with the exception of Essay C. That essay took her forever to write; she thought it was unlikely to be read, as we were told they only look at it for scholarships, so she wrote from her heart. It was funny, sentimental, honest and entirely original and unique to her; she wrote what she wanted and not what she thought they wanted to hear. Honestly, there was nothing in her application that would make her stand out from the herd. We were SHOCKED when she received her admissions offer last month.
I’ve given up thinking I could give anyone, any meaningful assessment of their chances. I know it doesn’t help, but I am still checking this thred everyday waiting to see how y’all fair.
@AGmomx2 Took the SAT many times. She has never been a good standardizes test taker. Wish I knew why because she is such a good student. Does great on tests she takes at school. I’m thinking she gets anxiety. She even did an SAT prep class. Score went up 100 points from the first time she took it. Took ACT twice and got the same score both times after a year apart. SAT was much better especially when you use the comparison charts to compare SAT to ACT scores. I wanted her to retake the SAT Dec 1, but she just couldn’t do it again. That was the last chance to get scores by Jan 10. I may look into the residual ACT at A&M. Not sure if there’s time for that either or if score will go up. I do know kids who have gotten full acceptance with similar stats (even lower GPA’s) and then kids who were offered PSA that you think would have gotten in. Would be happy with Gateway or Blinn Team! Thanks for the idea of checking into the ACT at A&M. I wish they still offered the SAT, but do not anymore.
@prayingforAggie3 the residual Act is scored within a day and updated immediately. It’s a small setting with less than 10 kids in the room. Taking the act at Tamu shows great intent and they encourage students to try it. It is more expensive but worth it. Keep in mind she cannot write on the actual test. That threw my son off a bit on the reading section. But knowing it going in might help! Check it out.
I am not sure my two cents is worth much given I am very inexperienced at this whole college admissions thing BUT I in my opinion, when kids do very well in school but get lower test scores it shows that are willing to work hard and put in the time it takes to understand a subject so that they do well in their courses over time. High scores on standardized tests do not necessarily demonstrate the same work ethic. There are also many factors to consider when discussing standardized tests, including anxiety, time management, and whether the high school they are coming from has really helped them prepare for the level of questions being asked. I think that is why both class rank and scores are looked at. If your kiddo doesn’t test well then putting them through the same process over and over is not likely to yield better results and may even cause more anxiety and a feeling of letting you down. They have all tried hard and put their best foot forward, let the chips fall where they may and be happy for them wherever they go! Remember, from a completely objective perspective, not all successful people are Aggies (no matter what we all may think)!
Be sure to tell her that the exam will only count if she does better - it is a no-risk situation - maybe that will help? Also many students who are in higher math courses struggle with the exams because the material is sometimes from 8th grade courses, and has been forgotten. I’m a former HS math teacher, there are some students who retain all concepts & can easily apply them, then there are others who just memorize how to get through a course & forget it afterwards. I raised one of each type of students (lol, she did not get the ‘math gene’). Sounds like test taking tactics are more what will help ( like pre-reading answers before reading question, move on once you find the answer, time management type of tips). IMO more ‘creative’ students have a tougher time, but they also write awesome essays.
Texas law requires TAMU to admit all top 10% & applications are still open. TAMU also allows students to update their files until the application date, so they wait for that window to close for vast majority of review applicants. After close of applications they’ll have more numbers - and the answers will start to roll out faster. They try to avoid appeals & don’t wait list.
@prayingforAggie3 my daughter too have a 21 on her ACT as well. She’s not a great standardized test taker…that anxiety kicks he. She in the top 8% of her graduating class with a GPA of 3.91 and has a ton of volunteers and school activities and sports. Played water polo and swam on her HS swim team. Currently the FFA president of her chapter and an ASB officer. Has participated in a wide variety of leadership organizations and currently is sitting a the JR board for blue diamond almonds. We are from California…she is hoping to be an AGGIE more than anything. Been accepted to Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Colorado State, & Iowa State. The waiting is killing us!