TAMU Holistic review candidates Class of 2022

Colleges and Universities A-Z Texas A&M University
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@MomHopesNxtGenAg Here’s the deal with Galveston, if you don’t know. Galveston is not a feeder school to TAMU… meaning, your son wouldn’t have to apply to TAMU if he goes to Galveston. He would request a change of major from Ocean Eng. to ME or whatever he chooses (even basket weaving could work). Look at the curriculum for both OE and ME for the first 2 semesters or first 2 years. Galveston is not like any of the other TAMU system schools, like Kingsville, Tarleton, Corpus, etc. If he were to go to those schools, he would have to apply to TAMU and into Eng. Does this make sense? Go speak with an advisor there and or here in CS. It’s a fantastic option. They have full access to all amenities at TAMU College Station. Including sports pass, rec etc. Keep in mind, many students that start in Galveston, stay there ONLY because they fall in love with it and all it has to offer! It’s a pretty cool campus and the engineering there is cool.

As for BLINN E… also an amazing option. He can work with his advisor on accepting AP credits or not for college credits. Has to accept dual, but AP is an option. I don’t see how this would be any different of an issue regardless of where he attends right out of HS. So I may be missing the concern you have. Whether Blinn or Galveston, credits are credits. I have a friend whose son is doing this program and he was top 2% in HS, but didn’t get into Eng. as freshman. He takes his eng. class and a creative art class on main campus and some core classes at Blinn. He loves it and thinks it has helped with the transition into such a hard major!

I will also say, aside from lower than TAMU admission GPA, his stats are great. If his essays reflect why he didn’t excel in the beginning of HS, then they could quite possibly overlook that and focus on his course rigor and test scores.

Best of luck on whatever y’all decide. And be proud mom… it appears he is on the right path!

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@YourCollegeMom Thank you for the encouragement. I really need it! We have looked at A&M Galveston, and, for Ocean Engineering as of right now on their website, the application has to go through A&M’s general engineering admissions process. Otherwise, since my son is a swimmer, diver, and lifeguard, he would probably be really happy there and would apply directly. I understand better now about credits and Blinn. You can see from his GPA and rank why I am concerned for him, and this wait is very difficult for all of us still waiting. I really enjoy this forum and wish everyone well. @PleaseGod2022: I never heard a more heartfelt sentiment as your tag.

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@MomHopesNxtGenAg
I can just tell you a little bit about my son’s time at Tarleton State…

Just some background info though, my husband and I are both Aggie engineers, so my son initially thought that’s the direction he wanted to go as well. He was just outside the top 10% 34/321 if I remember correctly. But his SAT and ACT scores were terribly low. So knowing this, and maybe a moms intuition (meaning not sure he was set on engineering) we looked to a satellite campus as a stepping stone to hopefully transfer to TAMU.

We looked at both Tarleton and Corpus and he liked Tarleton better. He did really well GPA-wise his first semester, but he didn’t actually love it there. This may be because he’s a bit shy, but he was just beginning to form friendships/study groups toward the end of the semester. The town is super small and not much to do or even that many restaurants. He did join the shotgun team so that helped, but he still never quite felt comfortable. The 5 hour distance from home may have had something to do with it also. So those are some of the negatives my son personally experienced.

The positives though are that Tarleton has many similar traditions as TAMU, such as bonfire, they’ve just recently brought back the Corp of Cadets, and has a strong agricultural background, and a bit of military background as well.

As for the Engineering Department, the head of the Department is Dr. Denise Martinez, who is also an Aggie, that has been instrumental in getting more disciplines ABET accredited. Their Engineering Physics curriculum has been accredited for several years now and that degree plan is so similar to Mechanical Engineering that getting the ME Program accredited was inevitable, IMO. The professors that my son had in the engineering department were extremely personable and willing to help in any way they could, and very accessible. Tutoring was available and usually by done by upper class men. I believe there is a brochure about the TSU Engineering program that gives stats on how many have transferred to TAMU, kind of as a selling point for their program. So I would think, if accurate, transfer would be doable.

After one semester at Tarleton, though, my son decided to change majors to Construction Science, and after talking with the advisors at TAMU, they recommended he just take more basics and no Construction science courses as they would not transfer, so in the interest of saving money and knowing he wasn’t all that happy there, we brought him home to take courses recommended by the advisor at our local junior college, and now he is at TAMU loving it! And his major!

Anyway, not trying to persuade your son to change majors, just explaining the details of our journey. Have Faith! Sometimes things work out in ways we could never predict! (I need to take my own advice, because now I’m a nervous wreck about my daughter’s chances…lol)

Best of luck!

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Thank you, @FingersCrossedAgMom, for writing this detail. I will contact Tarleton and ask them about their transfer info! TAMU-CS/Galveston doesn’t seem to accept anyone else’s freshman year ENGR classes, but at least I am less concerned about math and physics transfers.

Hang in there, parents and prospective students.

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We have the exact same profile.Except I didn’t do all 3 essays and am an international student.

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I have posted on this forum before and took into account all the great responses I got. I am an oos student with a 43% class rank. I wrote about my ability to overcome obstacles, and included how my grades suffered b/c of Aspergers, ADHD, Developmental coordination disorder. I have a strong SAT score (1430 w/o studying, retook Nov 4 SAT with studying) and 5 APs including Calculus AB, physics C E&M and Mechanics. Anyone have a ballpark percent chance of admissions (including Galveston, Gateway, and TEAM). Curious about your thoughts. I did all 3 essays and have mediocre ECs

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@Trommald Given your challenges, you may get offered gateway - that is a summer program that you take some courses at TAMU, if you pass, you gain full admission that Fall. I’d actually give you a fairly good chance at being offered that option given your higher SAT score & lower class rank (which given your essay make perfect sense).

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Thanks.

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So I spoke with my daughters high school counselor about when the new rankings come out, and unfortunately they won’t be available until the end of January.

However, they’ve updated their GPAs, and my daughter’s increased from 3.945 to 4.021. So question is, should she send in an updated HS transcript?

I’ve read GPAs don’t matter that much due to the varied scales but on the other hand she is a review candidate, so any little thing that might help may be worth it?
Thoughts?

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Ask for a transcript to see if the new rank is on there, can’t imagine why they would release new GPA but not new rank. Why the change of GPA now? summer school?

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@FingersCrossedAgMom I’m all about updating any increase. It can’t hurt so why not?!

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I looked at the thread from last year and it seems that there were some review admits sent in November. I hope the same holds true this year. Even though it won’t change the waiting, I enjoy all the posts on this site. Somehow it makes me feel better!!

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Oooh I hope it’s the same this year. I’m assuming all bubbles should hear this month. Then first round of solids in December but who knows with this wacky semester and Harvey. Just kind of its own animal. Hopefully our kids will all be in the same zoo soon!! (That was funny, right?)

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While we are enjoying this wait :-SS, I have checked into Tarleton and Texas A&M Corpus Christi as possible feeder locations for Mechanical Engineering. I reached an ME professor by phone at Tarleton. There are currently about 90 students in their department. He indicated that there had been some transfers from their campus to TAMU-CS in the past and expected that their Fundamentals of Engineering I and II would transfer for the A&M equivalents. TAMU-CC has these same freshman ENGR courses, if memory serves. Tarleton has a few more engineering departments than does TAMU-CC, but both have far fewer than TAMU main campus. The Tarleton professor was pushing their school as more of a teaching school because they don’t offer graduate degrees. He stressed accessibility of the professors. The parent who responded to my question here about Tarleton has also commented on this accessibility. TAMU-CC is on its own island, has its own beach, and has an engineering research specialty of unmanned aircraft (among other research specialties). I haven’t yet spoken with anyone in the ME department there. Both schools’ websites indicate that have about 12,000 students. I cannot tell from the Transfers section of CC, for example, exactly how difficult it is to transfer in. Perhaps someone else knows where to find transfer statistics. I expect we will ask our son to apply to both of these schools as safety schools. Good to hang out with you all.

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@YourCollegeMom that was funny!! I am anxious! Is anyone attending the Aggieland Information Day on Nov 20?

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We are attending :slight_smile: I hope we hear something in December, I’m more nervous than my son. :-SS

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Application Date: Completed 8/09

AIS: A few days later.

GPA and Class Rank: 3.5ish and School Does Not Rank (2nd Quartile On AIS)

AP Classes: 10

ACT Composite: 27

SAT: 1360

College applied for: Dwight Look College Of Engineering

Major in that College: Petroleum Engineering

ECs: Academic Decathlon, Solar Racing Team, STEM programme, Volunteer work

Did you do all 3 essays: Yep!

What is your highlight that you feel will make you stand out in the review process? I have certifications in SolidWorks as well as at least what I feel are well-written essays.

In state/Out of State: In State

Current Status on AIS: Admitted!

Admissions Decision: November 7th

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Egon1254 – Congratulations! Didn’t your stats make you an academic admit?

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@Evon1254 did you end up being named a national hispanic scholar? Congrats on your admission! @labegg - stats listed say 2nd quarter, 1st quarter required for academic admit.