Physics Major
3.2 High school GPA
1270 Sat score
680 Math and 590 Verbal
About 100 hours of volunteering at a summer camp
An Academic excellence award in Spanish
Plays Soccer and Table tennis for fun
Started Physics Club at High school, member at Artificial intelligence club and prospective computer science club member at High school
For TAMU review admits it very difficult to guess chances. The last few admission cycles have been brutal. Auto Admits (top 10%) and Academic Admits (top 25% + 1360+ SAT (620+ math/670+ verbal minimums) will take up most of the admission spots. However, if you provide some additional information, you may get a lot of anecdotal assessments. What year are you in-- Are you a rising senior now? What’s your class rank (vitally important), as of the end of Junior year (assuming you’re a rising senior)? Is the gpa you mentioned weighted or unweighted, and what’s the scale (e.g. 3.2/4.0 or 3.2/5.0)? Have you taken AP/IB/Dual enrollment classes? How did you do in them? What level of math have you completed, and will you complete before the end of high school?
The gpa is weighted and is out of 4, I will be a Senior this fall, I have taken 2 AP classes till now and did quite well in them, I am taking 3 more in senior year… My school doesn’t give u ur rank unless u r in top 10%. I have completed Alg 2, I am will finish Pre Calc next year. I moved here in the middle of 9th grade which heavily affected my academics, I am writing a lot about that in my college essay… I have 3 recommendation letters, one from my Spanish teacher who awarded me, 2 from my AP physics 1 and honors physics teachers
What about University of Texas at Dallas??
@Sai9999 What are your test scores? TAMU will assign you a rank, so once you apply, let us know where they put you. We can give you a better idea of chances at that time. You have given us very little to go on. Also provide extra curriculars, work and volunteer hours.
Oh ok thanks!
My Sat is 1270, Math is 680 and Verbal is 590
I have 100 hours of volunteering
OMG I’m an idiot… I didn’t realize you were the OP on this thread, lol… I thought you just hopped in. Read it on my phone. I’m sorry for asking you to repeat.
As @nomatter said, review admits are tough to chance, especially based on last year. It really depends on how you stack up with this class. Last year we had some really high caliber students… unlike we’ve seen in a while. Students with your stats, primarily got PSA, but this year is a whole different game, so until we know ranking, it’ll be hard to give you a good idea.
Oh alright tq
Sorry, I would not count on TAMU. Do you know your rank? You need to have other options you are pleased with. My daughter 3.29UW/3.79W (3.3/3.8 by graduation) ACT28 (M29,E27) and SAT (weaker than ACT) 1270 (670M 600E) - 8AP classes, got PSA last year. My daughter’s school has a very high achieving population- as an honors graduate - she was only ranked 38%.
As for UTD - I understand the Physics program is pretty impressive. One of my friend’s sons (in the top 6% of his graduating class). Is going to UTD instead of UT in Austin. He just liked it better. He got into RICE too - but selected UTD because of $$$. This is the family that encourage us to look at UTD after they toured it.
As long as you are in the top 1/2 of your class - you should not have any problem getting into UTD. There is no academic admission - so everything below the top 10% is reviewed holistically. Your test score in English is below the middle 50 percent spread of common data set by 10 points - E600-700, M620-740, but that shouldn’t be an issue. If you are not in the top half - they are going to take a more serious look at you holistically. (1% of TAMU comes from bottom half 9.5% of UTD does). But I still think you would be admitted to UTD.
Oh I see… That was very helpful thanks! I really like UTD since my tour. My gpa is affected by the fact that I moved here in the middle of ninth grade so couldn’t focus during Freshman year. And my counselor and peers didn’t tell me much about taking harder classes to make my gpa higher. But yea tq!
My school doesn’t give your rank unless you are in top 10%
For some reason there is no Early action or Early decision for UTD and Texas A&M on commonapp and ApplyTexas… Is this gonna effect my chances in a negative way if I apply before Oct 15?? It’s just rolling… I am super worried
@Sai9999, applying early will not negatively impact you at all. TAMU & UTD don’t offer EA or ED.
Another thought-- I’d suggest retaking the SAT or try the ACT to get your standardized test scores higher. Did you get a 4 or a 5 on the AP Physics exam? I think that your starting a Physics club, and having recommendations from your Physics teachers are wonderful, and will help to make your application stronger if your Physics grades, and AP scores are high. While there’s nothing you can do to improve your overall grades (in time for your app), a strong essay that ties in your experiences with moving in the middle of 9th grade and finding your niche in Physics may help to bolster your apps. I’d caution you to not write an essay that expounds upon any weaknesses, though. Don’t make excuses. Make it about evolution, triumph, and finding your strength(s). Your writing be strong. If you can, have a trusted English teacher to check it, and advise you.
Yea i know they don’t have ED or EA, I was asking if having to do Regular decision is gonna make my chances lower. My final Ap physics grade was 94. And mostly 95+ through out the year. I didn’t pass the AP exam for some reason 
I wanna take the subject test and AP exam for physics 2 when I finish physics 2 this year. Also my school doesn’t send rec letters to colleges unless they are required ;( I had some really good rec letters. About my overall grades, I only had B in only couple of classes thought Junior and sophomore year, all other grades are A’s. Never got any C’s
- Thank you
You said:
“ there is no Early action or Early decision for UTD and Texas A&M on commonapp and ApplyTexas… Is this gonna effect my chances in a negative way if I apply before Oct 15??“
Applying before Oct. 15 will not affect your chances in any way. Applying after Oct 15 will not affect your chances negatively in any way.
Admissions is “rolling”, meaning that as the application is submitted and complete, it is processed and an admission decision extended. This is once decisions begin coming out Mid Sept. and is for Auto and Academic admits only.
Review applications are held and don’t receive decisions until after Dec 1, as the auto and academic admits must be placed first into majors to know how many spots are left for review admits. A very small percentage of review admits receive admission decisions before Dec 1.
Am I considered a review admit or academic admit?
Extrapolating from what you’ve shared here in this thread, you’d be a review admit. I’m basing this on your indication that you don’t know your rank, because your school only provides rank for the Top 10%, and your SAT score. You can’t be an academic admit, because you have to reach the SAT or ACT composite and sub-score minimums (along with being ranked in the first quarter). Even more reason to consider retaking the SAT or ACT before the application deadline if TAMU would rank you in the first quarter (top 25%).
Here’s TAMUs freshman admit categories: https://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/admitted
- Top 10% Admits You qualify for automatic admission if you: *attend a public or private high school in Texas, and *rank in the top 10% of your graduating class on or before the application deadline, and *satisfy the State of Texas Uniform Admission Policy, and *complete the new foundation plan with the Distinguished Level of Achievement *make sure all required documents are received by the application deadline.
- Academic Admits*
You qualify for academic admission, if you:
*rank in the top quarter of your graduating class on or before the application deadline, and
*meet test score minimums
--SAT: Total score of 1360 with at least 620 Math and 660 Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) --ACT: Composite score of 30 with at least 27 English and 27 Math *satisfy the State of Texas Uniform Admission Policy, and *make sure all required documents are received by the application deadline. - Review Admits If you do not qualify for top 10% or academic admission, but meet the State of Texas Uniform Admission Policy, you will be reviewed based on: *your application and essay *class rank and SAT and/or ACT scores *extracurricular activities, community service, leadership, employment and summer *activities *talents, awards and honors
As @BlueBayouAZ already mentioned, please make sure that you have safeties that you love.
(posting for son)
When did you apply: 7/22 (colorado resident)
Class Rank: 23% weighted; 26% non
GPA: 3.65
SAT (with Sub Scores) 1230 - 610 english, 620 math
ACT (with Sub Scores) 29 composite, 30 english, 27 math, 31 science, 32 reading
retaking ACT next week
When did you receive your admission decision: waiting
Are you an Auto-admit or Academic Admit or Review Admit: ?
Major/College of Choice: Engineering
*took honors Calc, honors Chem as a Junior. taking A/P Calc AB, AP Chem, Physics, and engineering as a senior.
*Ex Curr: Varsity hockey 3 yrs, team captain, lots of community service including Jr. Coaching 8u hockey. Summer jobs in construction, hockey ref. National honor society. Long legacy of TAMU engineers/architect in my family (grandparents, aunts, Dad is Chem E '94, cousins.
***Two recommendation letters
Hoping to get accepted to TAMU as well as engineering program. Odds??
@fishfamx4 That stinks they show both rankings on transcript. Most show just the weighted ranking. So hopefully they will pick the one that works in the students favor. Once he gets his ACT up one point and keeps his subscores for Eng/Math at 27 or higher, he’ll obviously be admitted as academic admit. As for Engineering… his course load looks good for readiness. Will really depend on the competition of this class. Odds are good for either full admit though or Galveston (for the first year). Please keep us posted.
@AggieMomhelp Thank you so much! You have given us a bit of hope. I will definitely keep you posted. Feeling a bit discouraged seeing that others are getting the “6 bars” in Howdy already. We are still sitting in “review”. And we are out of state… But we are Texans who had to move to Colorado for my husbands job a couple years ago so we feel obligated to pay the OOS tuition for our kids since we did this to them. lol. They are Texans through and through and bleed maroon.