This has nothing to do with Class of 2025, but I know some of you will be more excited than most people I share my excitement with! I have been wanting to go to TAMU to work on another masters or a doctorate. Since I don’t think moving to CS would be a good thing for my marriage, I have been looking for an online program that I am interested in. There is a masters of Higher Education Administration that is offered on campus, but They have always said that it is not available online. I emailed today to see if there any plans to have an online program. They are starting an online Higher Ed Admin program Fall of 2022!! Hopefully, I will get my ring soon after my son gets his!!! Yay!!!
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Just got back from NSC - wowza what an action packed 2 days. My daughter survived registration. She got 4/5 of her classes she initially wanted but met w/Advisor in the morning and gave her a whole list of additional course options. The availability on the worksheet might not be updated because my D21 thought those times were available and at 2:30 they were not but she was prepared. She came home w/4 new aggie “free t-shirts” and a book bag full of free stuff. Nugget - if you want ENGL 103, her advisor told her to not take as a freshman because no classes are available - hold off. Happy to answer any questions.
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Good times!!! And depending on major, but lost don’t need eng 103. So that’s a blessing. Eng 104 is pretty much required for all and then one more comm class (most typically take public speaking)
@tmclanton the Mays Exchange is run by BSC (Business Student Council). They did offer pre-sale items in the spring, my student was bummed because the shirt they ordered didn’t have enough ppl order, so the $ was refunded.
They do sell some cool stuff! I grabbed a free Mays shirt for my husband, at a Mays event we were invited to attend spring of Sr year in Houston, but he is a graduate of A&M Business School (wasn’t called Mays then). He wears it around the house. Other than that, I’ve never seen a parent wear Mays stuff. My student would CROAK if I bought/wore a Mays shirt.
But yes, tell your son to order/buy anytime BSC is open or does Mays Exchange pre-sale.
I laughed when you said your son is directionally challenged…so is my student. At 18, they need to figure it out. Download the A&M, have him walk his schedule multiple times during Howdy Week. My student used the app the week of finals, walking directions, to submit study abroad scholarship stipend form. It had to be had delivered to some obscure building. The app is great. Your son will quickly figure things out.
@TamuDad15 they do pack a lot in! It sounds like a lot has been streamlined since 2019. We literally collapsed when we got home-it was information overload.
Good job on the free shirts! She’ll get lots more during Howdy Week. Tell her to be on the lookout for free towels (I’m a Baylor gal, we call them ‘Growl Towels’, so I always forget what A&M calls them). The kids take them to all the games, Aggieland Outfitters monograms them, groups pass them out before games, etc. My Aggie has quite a collection already!
NSC experience/advice
My son had his NSC this week so I wanted to share what was helpful. 1. There is some construction so arrive early. Check in is very smooth and easy to follow. There are probably 100 kids or more to guide you. 2. Once checked in the schedule is clear for day one but less so for day two. My sons schedule for day 2 said 8:30 am school of science. Once there we realized it was parent friendly I went with him. It yielded tons of information including how to us the schedule planner. There was a very long break between 10:00 and 2:30 when registration was open to us. Good time to walk or ride around campus. 3. When using the planner keep in mind that some classes (for example) all “intro to bio” or “chem one” may not be available for your major. Always check the info tab for the class to see if that class is available for your major. There were several sections that science majors couldn’t select (likely to keep open for other majors or to help with scheduling) not sure how they ever Tetris these kids in but don’t skip this step. 4. Bring your laptop, use a personal hot spot and have your schedule ready to submit. Have a list of back ups in case something is full. My son did this, hit submit and got all of his classes while others on the TAMU WiFi got bogged down and delayed. He and the kids with laptops walked out within 2 minutes while others where furiously tapping away. Not the ideal schedule but still workable. 5. Last thing, some classes are really far away from each other. Check the Aggie map as 20 minutes between classes may be tough if there is a long walk especially if eating between or popping into the restroom is important. And speaking of walking, paying to park at the Northside garage is worth it as it’s a one minute walk to the main science building! Good luck to anyone still headed to NSC, you’ll learn a lot and it is quite fun for both parent and student.
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At NSC, we learned there is an Aggieland Credit Union, part of Greater Texas Credit Union. We are wondering how the ACU compares with Wells Fargo, as far as security/fraud prevention/service goes? Both have ATMs/locations on/close to campus so thats a plus. Thanks for the insight!
I would stick to Wells Fargo or Chase but to be honest, most students don’t carry cash. They don’t need ATMs. They Venmo everything. I would stick to a bank that you both share (Chase/WF/Bof A etc) so you can transfer money easily if and when needed.
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Our son at TAMU had a well fargo ATM card for cash but as stated, students use venmo which is linked to a credit card. it is handy to be able to get cash for occasional purposes but it’s not often they need it. no reason to switch to aggieland credit union in my opinion if you already are with wells fargo, whatever is easiest.
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Online can be very convenient but they add huge fees for online distance education, much more expensive than being in town so check that out. Our son is taking one 3 credit senior level course this summer and it costs $5132. If you are in-state then you just have to pay one distance education fee but if you are not in-state you pay out-of-state plus distance education fee. We have found that in-state texas students on campus get affordable tuition but out-of-state or distance education thru Texas A&M is very expensive and it’s more affordable to go elsewhere. If they offer distance combined with on campus, there is an advantage to students that are on campus our son found out in one of his courses. I think I have a post on that from a year or so ago. It might still be the right solution for you but it might also make sense to see what other colleges offeer a higher ed admin program online.
Well, considering that my husband would divorce me if I up and moved to CS, online will have to do…. I want the ring! I already have a master’s degree, so Ideally I would start on a PhD or EdD, but they are not offered online.
I do get a tuition waiver for being deaf that “pays” for all tuition and related fees, so I don’t think the online fees will be applicable. At least they weren’t when I worked on my Principal Certification through Lamar. One of my teachers is Deaf and doing an online Master’s program through A&M. I will ask her if she had any problems. It was actually really sweet. She is from a long line of Aggies. She wanted to go to A&M, but they do not have Deaf Ed. So, she went to another school, came back to teach with us (she was one of my preschool students), and applied for the Master’s at A&M the first chance she got. She gets her ring in the Fall!
However… thank you for pointing that out! I did not realize that!
Best of luck with your EdD or PhD. There may be a distance fee education waiver that you might get that others don’t. Just wanted to point it out because we were so surprised by the costs versus instate tuition costs.
Thank you so much for mentioning Chase. Since he has a car, this is a good option too. Credit unions typically have better cd/interest rates and thats why we considered it an option but Wells Fargo or Chase make more sense in the long run
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@Eggscapgoats I’ve been a member at Brazos Valley Schools Credit Union for 30+ years. They have a branch in College Station. When my student opened an acct, we went with BVSCU. They offer a student MasterCard, have a good app, and when i need to add/transfer $ to either kid, I can do it from the app.
My student hasn’t used or needed an ATM since being at A&M. I wouldn’t switch banks, just to find one local.
Okay… so we did NSC last week and then I realized something that was not considered! My son received a scholarship from A&M with half the money in the fall and half in the Spring. Not a huge scholarship, but every bit counts.
Based on the recommendations of his advisor, and it sounds like a blanket recommendation for Mays, he only signed up for 12 hours. The scholarship has a requirement of 30 hours per year.
So…
- Does accepting AP credit count towards these hours? (I doubt it, but is an easy fix to the situation.)
- It is for the year, so I assume he can take classes in Winter, May or Summer. Do they have to be A&M classes? I have heard that summer classes are expensive and paying that fee would easily wipe out the scholarship.
- If we need to add to the Fall semester, what are some good, easy classes that he may be able to register for? He is currently taking Texas Gov, Busn 101, Math 140 and Econ 202. He has most of his core classes through AP.
It is really important to him to have a good shot at Business Honors, so a 4.0 is crucial. (I really wish they would change the application process for BH. There were a couple of parents on FB that said there child did not even want to apply for BH, but since they checked the Honors box, with Mays being first choice major, they were accepted. Meanwhile, kids that were highly qualified, and really wanted it, did not get in… rant over.
Pretty sure AP credit is not going to count towards those 30. And his schedule is considered light right now. Not just the hours but the courses themselves. Econ is a lot of busy work but easy A. Pols. Easy. Busn I’m not sure about. My son did an Econ one but it was only 1 credit not 3 so it was a breeze. There may be more to busn. Oh and math 140 pretty solid A. 142 is a tad harder and will depend on prof.
What does BH look for once they are at Tamu? Do they want to see hours/rigor/ECs? Like what’s on the app?
@52AG82 mentioned a poultry science class that business majors like and an easy A if attending
I had thought about that, but his advisor says he should only take a 1 hour science credit since he has 8 hours through AP. I didn’t even know they had 1 hour science classes.
Occasionally, and probably more than most, my boys sometimes need to go to a physical bank. They are probably the outliers. Do love credit unions (non-profit) vs banks
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Is there an easy ARt Class? He does not have that through AP.