Hey,
So I recently got notified by TAMU that I was offered a Blinn TEAM program that allows me to take classes at TAMU and Blinn Community College. It was quite a surprise because by scores and GPA fell fairly above their average and mid 50% score range. I was planning on entering as a full-time freshman enrolled at Mays Business School. Now,I am planning to send an appeal letter about this issue but am confused if they will consider it. I would truly appreciate any advise and help from anyone knowledgeable about this situation, thanks in advance!
(My GPA & SAT Scores)
Weighted - 3.97
SAT Math - 640
SAT Reading - 600
SAT Writing - 730
TAMU Mid 50% SAT - 1920
Mays Business School Avg SAT (Math + Verbal) - 1230
The vast majority of Mays admits are academic & top 10% students. The average would be much higher if top 10% had to be evaluated on their scores - but they don’t - we have known many top 10%ers who just basically colored their way thru the exam to fill the requirement. Those student’s scores are not reflective of their best abilities. GPA is not evaluated, just rank for admission. I agree with Blake, appeals are for circumstances that arose - a mistake on your transcript, a physical or emotional issue that affected your performance in the past, something that occurred after submission that would be worthy of consideration - like winning a national competition. Saying you met advertised numbers from previous years is not a reason for appeal, those are not guaranteed admission numbers.
Keep in mind the scores & ranks do not mean the same person had both stats (a top 1% might have a 1100 score, top 25% the 1400 score… both gain automatic admission…however the avg of these: 13% with 1250 score may not be admitted since that is a review student). I don’t think I would bother if your only complaint is mathematical interpretation because you are not following the number trail accurately as the two stats are independent calculations.
I dont understand why people are so against Blinn TEAM? If I had been offered Blinn TEAM going in as a freshman I would have jumped at it. You get the best of both worlds. You get the benefits of being an aggie, and get the benefit of smaller sized classes for the first two years. If you keep your GPA up throughout the process you should be fine to transfer in to being full time at A&M. I was offered PSA and ended up not taking it, I decided I wanted to stay at my current college for a second year to get some more physics and math classes out of the way. I am waiting on a transfer admission decision now. I understand the freshman admission process is frustrating and it’s really difficult for review applicants due to the automatic admits as well as other competitive applicants. I understand how heartbreaking it is not to get offered full admission, but it will be ok. If you really want to be an aggie, then take the Blinn TEAM offer and work as hard as you can. I hope I didn’t come across as rude, but I thought I’d offer a viewpoint from a college student who’s already been through this.
I was given my decision on the last day of them going out. I was very much ready to accept a Blinn TEAM offer IF I was even going to get one. I had a very large range of extracurriculars and some extenuating circumstances(both of my parents have cancer) and to my surprise I was given full admission.
The top 10% (7% at UT) policy has got to be, in my opinion, one of the most flawed systems in the U.S., and I can see why UT and A&M have attempted to fight it. It’s the state’s way of employing AA without actually saying so. There are students who go to elite private schools with 80-100 kids and students who go to top publics (ex: Highland Park) who by virtue of the size of their class and academic strength of the school are not automatic admits. You must understand their frustration when they have 9+ AP credits with strong scores, 2100+ SAT scores, incredible ECs, etc. and they’re offered Blinn while others across the state who go to large publics with little/no academic rigor and inferior scores are offered full acceptance. This admission policy is why UT and A&M cannot compete in the USNWR rankings game with other publics like Berkeley, UVA, UMich, etc. who review EVERY candidate holistically. The reason why PSA, Blinn, the CAP program (UT), and PACE (UT) even exist is because A&M and UT are forced to admit students from under-performing schools who are not prepared and will invariably fail out after their first year. This opens up spots for students who were shut out – many of whom would have been initially admitted if the process were holistic. When you look at the list of schools many of these kids have been accepted to and the scholarships they’ve accrued, it does leave you scratching your head because many auto admits would never be competitive for these offerings. I suppose it’s a matter of perspective as to how you feel about the policy. I know people who feel the top 10% rule is just because students who cannot afford pricier privates are guaranteed admission at the cheaper flagship. OTOH, there are those who bleed orange or maroon who have attended schools where 25% of their hs class is NM, the average number of APs is 8, and the average SAT is 2100 who are left bewildered as to how they were not accepted and their peers in the cross-town publics were.
^^ I do appreciate the “academic admit” piece at A&M – it seems specifically designed to capture the students who have strong grades, scores, etc. but are not top 10% because of the competitive level of their HS.
I don’t understand why these elite schools even rank their students. It seems counterproductive.
My freshman Aggie son attended one of the top high schools in Arizona. They do not rank, so based on the school’s rigor, my son’s grades, and his test scores, TAMU imputed that he was in the top-25% of his class and made him an academic admit. I am pretty sure that he was actually in the top 25%, but there is no way to know for sure.
My understanding is that most of the more competitive schools, especially private ones in our area, don’t rank…the result, for better or worse, is that most of the applicants end up in the holistic review pile. I’m pleasantly surprised, @Beaudreau , that TAMU put your son in the academic admit category without a HS rank – that’s great!
@Loganator. Maybe because he was a NMF, I don’t know. They just said they would assume top 25%. He was admitted within a week of applying.
The Texas legislature has really messed things up for HS students who want to be challenged, take a bunch of AP credits, and then get penalized by not qualifying for auto or Academic Admission, even with high test scores. Well that’s your elected representatives at work, not that they are any better here in Arizona. The Arizona Constitution dedicated large chunks of land in trust to fund higher education. Further, university education “shall be as nearly free as possible.” Yet, in-state tuition for ASU and U of A is now higher than for either Texas and Texas A&M, which are much better schools.
With any public policy decision, obviously there are winners and losers, especially when trying to level the playing field. Texas must think there is a net gain to society with the law, as it has been in effect since 1997. At least A&M tries to capture some kids with their academic admit policy if they have high SAT/ACT scores. When I apply the law to my own kids, well, 3 years ago when my son was at 10.4% I hated it, but this year my daughter will end up at 9% and guess what? I love it. In any case, I believe I pushed them (and they pushed themselves) a little bit more just BECAUSE of the law, so maybe that has intrinsic value all by itself no matter the outcome.
@Beaudreau Many, if not most, of the better performing Texas high schools do not rank. They provide the top 10% by law for the auto-admit rule but nothing after that. TAMU will assign a a class rank to the applicants from a non-ranking school who do not fall in the top 10%. Many will get put in the top 25% so they have a chance to get academic admit if they make they grade on standardized tests. The academic admit process allows many students to get into A&M that otherwise may not. I wish more schools employed it. Is it too generous? Maybe. There would be more room for review admits if they upped the test score minimum. Say 32/2150 test scores to get academic admit. This is an easier thing to do than to change the arbitrary class rank to say 20% instead of 25%. They have options if they want to tweak.
Love it or hate it, the 10% rule isn’t going anywhere soon. For A&M it may get adjusted like UT and be floating year to year but it will not go away. It is intended to help kids from lower performing schools have a shot at an education and not be blocked by all of the kids from the higher performing schools. It probably does that at the expense of some qualified kids that didn’t get in. As we all know the world isn’t fair or perfect.
Most schools do NOT want all high performing kids. They want the mixture that creates a better more rounded class with kids from all regions and cultures from within the state. Harvard for example could fill every slot with kids that have perfect ACT/SAT scores but they choose not to. They want the mix also.
My boyfriend had a 35 ACT (36 science, 35 math, 34, reading and 33 english) and a 2110 SAT (740 M, 670 R and 700 W) and he was offered BlinnTEAM as well (granted his rank was in the mid-range of the 3rd quarter despite his A/B average). I would say that sending an appeal letter would not be in your favor. There are so many high caliber applicants and they can’t/won’t grant everyone who is more than capable full admission.