I am wondering what are my chances for getting into Dwight’s College of Engineering for Texas A&M based on numbers alone.(I am a Texas resident) My starts are not spectacular, but I think I have a decent shot.
I am a junior and is currently both an automatic admit and a top 10 % admit.
Class Rank 52/666 (top 8 %) school ranked nationally (# 57) in the nation (Westwood)
1st SAT 1370 (660 Math, 710 Critical reading)
2nd SAT 1330 (710 Math, 620 Critical Reading)
As long as I apply early enough (early August) is that good enough?
Yes, provided you apply early enough you would be an automatic admit to the university and then also get any major that is available at the time of your admission. The key is to apply early - if you wait, engineering fills to 85% capacity & then you end up in the review pool competing for your major. The ‘magic date’ as to the definition ‘early enough’ changes every year - apps open Aug 1st. Congrats on your achievements!
@patstar5 to Engineering? Do they really just accept anyone that’s auto accept?
I know UT Cockrell is a huge exception since I know kids at my school who had 2200 + on SAT’s and were still capped since their ranks weren’t in top 7%.
Yes, rolling admissions to majors include engineering. However, they have been capping them at 85% capacity and then competitive basis for the last 15%. The vast majority of engineering majors are auto admits. The two schools operate differently, TAMU has rolling admissions to majors and UT has competitive admissions to majors. However, you must still earn your degree and standards are high. It is just a matter of who controls your destiny - you or admissions. Totally different approaches yet similar outcomes.
if you apply early, you’ll be guaranteed admission into Texas A&M’s college of engineering. Please be aware that (beginning Fall 2014), all freshmen are admitted into the College of Engineering, but NOT into a specific major within engineering. To apply for your top 2 preferred disciplines within engineering, you must have completed one semester each of Calculus, science (either Chemistry or Physics), and Intro to Engineering. Because A&M’s policy is new, the standards aren’t well-defined. And probably never will be. I was told before my son started in Fall 2014 that being a first-generation college student is something that can help with admissions. I assume they also give additional consideration to “under-represented minorities” (but of course will probably never admit it, for fear of reverse discrimination lawsuits). I wouldn’t recommend either A&M or UT to anyone unless they’re certain what they want to major in (little to no flexibility to change to another College within those 2 universities. You must also be certain that you’re both academically gifted & highly motivated. My son is motivated, but not gifted, and will almost certainly have to change to another university unless he wants to major in something like history that isn’t very useful except for teaching. I know a number of Aggie moms (including one who is an A&M engineering grad) who aren’t happy with A&M engineering. To be honest with you, many professors are more interested in research & consider teaching (especially undergraduates) to be a burden.
Texasmom is correct. Going to Texas A&M in Engineering has now become a very risky proposition for students. There is certainly a great deal of uncertainty about getting into a specific engineering major. Also, there are too many adjunct professors and a lack of focus on undergraduate education. Most professors would much rather do research and publish reports than step into a classroom. Hopefully, some clarity will come soon to this new admission standard required of freshmen students.
@Warrior64 I disagree with @texasmom316 and @aggiemax. My son is an engineering freshman and loves it at TAMU. Generally, he has liked his professors, and considers a few to be outstanding. Yes, the transition to the new system has caused some short-term consternation, but the kinks will be worked out. By design, most students will not get into their major programs in the first round of applications, but there are at least three more opportunities, and everyone who meets the minimum requirements will get into engineering. Students will still be able to sign up for and take classes in their prospective majors for sophomore years. Those that do well in these classes should get in their majors. TAMU engineering has capacity to accept every current freshman into a major by the end of their sophomore years. The only issue is that certain majors may fill up, which is why students apply to more than one major.
Now compare and contrast to the old system. Based solely on high school accomplishments, students were directly admitted into an Engineering major. If you did not get in, tough luck. Doesn’t it make more sense to admit students based on their actual college work and extracurriculars? Isn’t that a better representation of your ability to do college work than your high school grades, test scores, and extracurriculars? If you work hard, shouldn’t you be on a equal footing with a student who may have peaked in high school? And doesn’t it make sense to get your feet wet and get exposed to a few classes before deciding which major is the right one for you? Finally, under the old system Petroleum Engineering would have filled up in the fall of 2013 (early in high school senior year) for the class of 2018. Now in the spring of 2015, students can see that the oil & gas industry has slowed down and the major may not be as attractive.
Dean Banks has come from Purdue, one of the top engineering programs in the world. Purdue Engineering currently has a freshman retention rate (percent of students who return for their sophomore years) of nearly 90%, far above that of most engineering colleges. A&M Engineering will thrive under her leadership.
I disagree, texasmom316-- And, as an Aggie Mom of not one but two Aggie Engineering students, I am thrilled my kids have been in the College of Engineering and at Texas A&M! Has it been easy? Absolutely not! It has been hard and stressful but my kids have also grown more mature as people. Did it help to have quite a bit of exposure to AP Calculus and AP Physics classes in high school? Absolutely-- I don’t think my kids would recommend freshman year without it. But they had to work hard in high school too and were ready for this next step. My students (one senior and one freshman) have not experienced too many adjunct professors or a lack of focus on undergraduate education at all. Have they had professors that were not great? Yes, but they have also had professors who went above and beyond and were so inspiring! But I think that’s life in any engineering program at any major university – you’ll get good teachers and bad just like you’ll get good bosses and bad bosses. And looking at a little bigger picture --The Career Center and/or the famous Aggie Network have also been amazing! My senior felt she was well prepared, skill-wise, and she felt really proud to be an Aggie when she interviewed. Being an Aggie Engineering student isn’t easy but that’s also what makes it valuable.
@Beaudrrau, I agree that Purdue has an exemplary engineering program! It’s fine to bring some great ideas from Purdue to A&M. Keep in mind, though, that Purdue doesn’t have automatic admissions to their engineering college based on top 10% or SAT scores. Like Colorado Schook of Mines, Putdue admits students that are most likely to succeed. In my opinion, A&M should have focused on retention rate before implementing the new “admssions to a major” policy. Retention could definitely be improved by raising admissions standards for the College of Engineering. My son sas admitted because of top 10%, but his SAT scores weren’t great. I’d be much happier if he hadn’t been admitted to engineering at all due to SAT scores. Then he could have selected another major at A&M or another university for engineering. CSMines did him a favor by not admitting him. Something else this new policy has the potential to do is reduce collaboration between students because now admissions to a major is “highly selective.” Unless they’re forced to work together on a group project, why would students help each other get through the freshman weed-out classes (calculus & physics)?
@NETarrantMom, logging off internet now. Will respond later.
texasmom316 – Interestingly, I got my freshman daughter’s perspective when I read her some of these posts and she said, “sorry, mom, but I think your perspective is off.” She said, do you know how easy it would have been first semester for a student to go from a 3.8 to a 3.4 or a 3.4 to a 3.0? It could have come down to a bad Physics test or a professor who graded harder than another. She said she knows of a lot of hard working, great students who didn’t get admitted and it is stressful. She has a friend who didn’t get into ChemE with a 3.4 and she considering changing her major. I, then said, but don’t you think she and a ton of other kids will probably get admitted this next semester if they persevere and have another semester of grades to add to it? I told her I thought it would all work out in the end and there seem to be many ChemEs with those kinds of grades who get a great amount of interviews and jobs at the end. She said, yes there is the hope and the general feeling around campus that more will get admitted but it is the uncertainty of not knowing. She said I was looking from the point of view of the finish line when she is still in the trenches of freshman year and, from the trenches, its hard to see that everything will probably be ok in the end and there is the fear of not yet knowing.
@NETarrantMom, I agree you can’t beat the Aggie network! Thanks for sharing what your daughter said. Engineering is stressful enough without the uncertainly caused by the new admissions policy., which I hope gets better soon. Many excellent Texas students have already chosen to go out-of-state. Last week I visited University of Oklahoma with my daughter. We met several students who are National Merit Finalists from Texas & are currently studying engineering at OU. Texas A&M has one of the best engineering programs in the nation!! But during my 15 years as a petroleum engineer, I worked with engineers who graduated from Texas Tech, LSU, Louisiana Tech, OU, etc. Those schools & other out-of-state schools are admitting many excellent stuents who can’t get into Texas A&M and UT. I’m sure they would love to have a lot of the students who can’t get into their desired major at A&M. All that said, I absolutely LOVE A&M, The students there are so friendly & polite! My son has benefitted tremendously from that environment, and I hope he will be able to stay.
@Beaudreau, students cannot rely on getting into their major of choice sophomore year. I received a response from a MechE advisor yesterday, who stated, they prioritize acceptances by 1) first-year general engineering students, 2) second-year engineering students, 3) change of curriculum students, and 4) external transfer students.
She went as far as to say that “You have good reason to be concerned”. For Fall 2015 students, 3,000 were admitted to general engineering. Of those, 1,517 were eligible to apply to a major in Round 1. Of those, 590 applied to mechanical (1/3), and 152 were accepted (26%).
Keep in mind that mechanical has only 288 total spots for this class. For Round 2, the remaining 975 students who were ineligible to apply in Round 1 get to apply. Assume 1/3 of these want mechanical (as in Round 1). That would be 333 students. That’s in addition to the 438 that were denied in Round 1 who will likely reapply. That makes 771 applicants to fill the remaining 136 spots, or a 17.6% acceptance.
Looking at this, it appears there will be very little opportunity in a student’s sophomore year.
lee6666 – Some of those numbers may be a little deceptive as Mechanical Engineering was a second choice for some of those admitted and I know some kids who chose another discipline and turned down the admittance into ME- leaving more spaces for these next rounds. Because it was recommended to the students to apply to two disciplines, many students interested in, for example, ChemE also applied to ME as a second choice (although 1/3 does seem high). I would wager that ME, such a broad discipline, was a popular second choice as well as a popular first choice. What would be interesting is to know how many of the 152 who were admitted actually accepted ME? I wonder if there is any way to find out how many admitted students chose each discipline.