I agree, the school told us to submit all scores and they just throw it out if it doesn’t help his application overall, but we figured they could also just be saying that to the masses bc it’s easier for them to have the extra data point. The more personalized advice from counselors actually looking at his specific application file when compared to last year’s results ended up telling us, for sure, not to submit bc it was below their accepted range. I thought it was crazy! Only in this ultra-competitive, high-stress world we live in is a 1250 a bad score at a state school. Gimme a break!
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She took several advanced classes-AP, preAP and Honors. But no dual credit. Friends with similar grades to her got Blinn Team offers in previous years. What is PSA?
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@Lake-Mom PSA=Program for System Admission.
It can be viewed as a soft decline OR an opportunity to attend a smaller A&M system school for a year, with guaranteed TAMU admission (IF student takes the required classes and meets the required gpa).
Every year, admission gets tougher and tougher, can’t really compare to prior years.
https://admissions.tamu.edu/apply/freshman/program-for-system-admission#:~:text=Program%20for%20System%20Admission%20(PSA,successful%20completion%20of%20the%20program.
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So true 
in other schools my daughter qualifies auto admit due to good grades and SAT. She even has gotten scholarship offers. I did look up data from A&M and it says that students with her score range do make up some of the Freshman . I think the report is called Common Data set or something like thst…But were those students maybe top 10% so they were forced to let them in…not sure…?
Ok, yea i think she had a friend that may have gotten this type of offer last year (psa). He appealed and A&M let him in. But with all these conditions like he has to make perfect grades etc. Sounds stressful . If she gets a psa offer she’ll probably just go to another school that already accepted her. All other schools she applied to accepted her.
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Agree, 1110 and not in top quarter will probably put her in PSA category, but they could also take a chance and offer her Gateway program.
FYI… PSA doesn’t require perfect grades. It’s a 3.0 so a solid mix of As and Bs and even allows for a C or two as long as you get mainly As. There are certain requirements on courses depending on major.
IF she doesn’t get the decisions she wants, I’m happy to walk y’all through how to get her in through PSA/PTA/or straight transfer. Freshman decisions are not the end all.
Hang in there.
Edited to say… I reread your perfect grades thing and realize you meant he got in on appeal. That’s very unusual to get in with an appeal and even crazier for them to then give stipulations on the acceptance. Once you’re in, you’re in. Just have to maintain 2.0.
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No clue why you heard back early, but there are always some true holistic reviews that hear back in the Fall. Maybe it’s the major or maybe they saw something unique in the application that stood out.
Tamu is extremely competitive in all things. Please do not think it’s not hard to get into just because you heard back early. Instead, count your blessings as many on here with higher stats have not heard back yet. I’m sure you didn’t mean it the way I read it, but just want to let anyone else still waiting to know that your student is not the norm. Congrats on the acceptance and that is really a cool sounding major. I hadn’t heard of it but I’m intrigued!
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Oh no disrespect intended to anyone at all. Hoping it helps put others at ease, as you really can hear back at anytime and don’t always have to submit scores, which is counter to what is generally shared. He really wasn’t a superior applicant to the others I see here, but his diving experience was perhaps more unique than what they typically see. As mentioned, I also really think it helped to engage with the admissions counselor as much as possible. I was surprised she was so responsive, considering the amount of territory she must be responsible for.
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@HGB1975 is GIS(T) still under University Studies, or did it get morphed into a new college? I think UnivStudies is going away, for c/o ‘27 forward?
Historically UnivStudies hasn’t been near as popular or competitive as other degrees. Could be there just aren’t many that applied for GIS(T)? Many may still view it as University Studies.
I definitely think his scuba experience made him stand out.
Like @ChristiR93 said, A&M is highly competitive. Your son is very fortunate to have gotten a holistic acceptance before Christmas!
If he wants to live on campus, make sure you’ve submitted non-refundable $75 housing fee!
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Ok I asked my daughter and it sounds like this friend is in the Gateway program? Little fuzzy on exact details. But he had to go to A&M in July. Anyway, we will see.
Yes , that’s gateway and is my favorite way to go to Tamu!! There are stipulations for that summer session but I would guess that 90% plus meet those.
I highly suggest for anyone who hasn’t heard, to go and familiarize all the different pathways to get to full time status at Tamu. For engineering and other majors. So many ways to fulfill the Tamu graduation goal!
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@Lake-Mom Gateway is easily the best pathway offered! Definitely look at the requirements; perfect scores aren’t required, and it’s considered full admission (if requirements are met). Gateway is only 1 summer session.
https://tap.tamu.edu/Programs/Gateway
Blinn TEAM, PSA and PTA are other A&M pathways (additional for Engineering). Not all majors offered, various stipulations and requirements-some better than others.
No pathway can be applied for, must be offered by TAMU
Any student not auto admit- IMO -especially ones w/o high test scores and/or not given 1st quarter ranking-needs to be familiar with the various pathways for admission.
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@52AG82 GIS(T) was in the School of Geosciences, until recently when it is now in the School of Arts & Sciences with the other Geosciences degrees. People confuse it with Geology or with the social science of Geography, so it’s been under the radar, but since it involves a lot of programming/coding/spatial analysis/data analytics, it’s starting to become more well-known as an alternative to Engineering/CS to those in the know. You can become a Developer, Spatial Data Engineer, etc. through this route if that is your goal. Especially if paired with Data Science/CS minor. Some also pair with cybersecurity minors. I think it’s a great fit for those who want to learn about solving some big picture issues through the combination of labs, field work, visualization, data, and computers. It’s a growing field and becoming more competitive. Saint Louis University, for example, has a program in Geoinformatics & Geospatial Analytics that is actually within their Engineering school. And, hey, you get to fly drones and do remote sensing! So, may be a good fit for someone out there who hadn’t known about it previously!
Can you help me understand approximately how many get in holistically? Of course, you see the 58%/63% overall acceptance rates online and in common data set and think, “well, that’s not too impossible” but that number is probably made up of mostly the top 10% of the state. So what’s the more accurate acceptance rate for the holistic applicants that truly makes it so competitive? And, I’m a little confused about it possibly being his major getting him in, when I thought you had to be admissible to the University first and THEN they put you into your choice of major if available. Either way, we do feel grateful, and yes, we put down the housing deposit! Thanks!
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Anyone know the cut off date for admission announcements? My D23 is done with finals on Wednesday and graduation is Saturday. I’m wondering if TAMU will stop sending out admissions starting Friday until the students go back mid January. My D23 checks her Howdy every day before school.
My daughter applied for engineering school right before the priority deadline(october 15) and have not heard anything back. Anyone on the same boat? Thanks!
I get that what admissions preaches is that major doesn’t matter, that you get into the university first. I do believe that it is how it’s done, BUT I also believe, especially with a unique major (whether it’s the field of study or super small size) does play a role during first review. For instance arch, Viz and performance have to have a tad more under their belt in regards to experience and special courses to be considered. Engineering has to demonstrate heavy and solid math rigor.
So while admissions will admit based on the fact you completed the required courses to graduate, have a solid gpa, solid test scores they’ll then say… hmmm what major… oh architecture… what else do they have on that resume… yeah, let’s slate him/her for that. Next candidate… same stuff but business… hmmm so they meet all the requirements but let’s not admit just yet. Let’s do another review next month.
This is how I see it playing out to an extent. I have no background info or knowledge about the process. This is just how I see it playing out every cycle.
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@ChristiR93, definitely makes sense, thanks for sharing! Do you happen to have an idea of what the acceptance rate really is for holistic applicants?
Not exactly an answer to your question but this article contains some interesting data.
2/3 of the spots are taken up by top 10%. Those kids skew the data and the average test scores. Lots of those kids have lower SAT/ACTs, attend lower quality/less competitive high schools, and don’t have as strong of applications - in terms of course rigor, extracurricular activities, etc. - as many of the well-qualified holistic review kids.
The remaining 1/3 are gobbled up by top 25%, high test/high GPA or some other characteristics that set them apart. Over 90% of the kids who attend A&M are ranked in the top 25% - either assigned by AIS/SRAR or actual class rank.
Anecdotally, it seems like the first waves of holistic acceptances this year have been 1400+ SAT/32+ ACT with strong academics into “big” majors - business, engineering, biomedical science, public health. The most recent waves have included kids into smaller majors with less stellar scores/grades.
It also seems that taking a difficult course load and attending a top high school helps. So in Dallas, for example, St. Mark’s boys and Hockaday girls are getting accepted earlier and with lower class ranks than kids from mid or low tier high schools.
The majority of candidates will probably hear after some of the top kids take offers from other schools and free up some spots. Over half the kids who are accepted to A&M go elsewhere. So there is still a lot of movement. I’m clinging to hope for my daughter.
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Any holistic applicants got accepted to biomedical science yet? My son has SAT 1400+,top 19% in a competitive high school but we are still waiting and very anxious
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@HGB1975 Here is an interactive spreadsheet to see admission rates based on major and not top10 or auto. Look closely at the choices to the right.
Also below is an example but might not be indicative of your students major. it shows for 2021, 94 applied (not top 10%), 43 admitted , 21 enrolled. Again, might be for the wrong major.
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