Texas A&M Engineering Chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z Texas A&M University
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Hello, I was just wondering what my chances are to get into Texas A&M Engineering. I am currently a junior and I’m planning to get into the Computer Engineering program. I am also out-of-state.

ACT: 31, Math:35, Reading:32, English: 30, Science:25

SAT: Not Provided

AP’s done by end of Senior year: World History, Computer Science, Calculus AB, Physics 1, Language and Composition, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Statistics, Physics C Mechanics, Government and Politics, Psychology

UW GPA: 3.80

Rank: I don’t know but for sure top 25 % and will be automatic admit.

I am also planning to apply for early action because the seats do fill up fast and I don’t want to miss out. Thanks for your help!

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Oh, Forgot EC’s if that’s needed.

2 years of FBLA

5 years of YMCA Washington State Youth and Government

3 years of National Honor Society

2 years of Debate

I also have 100 volunteer hours from the local library and 50 hours for a local organization called StreamTeam which helps restore the environment.

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@slingam00 Calulus BC will help you more than AB, take that instead Senior year, if you can. Math and physics readiness is one thing they are looking for in engineering.

Know this up front, that being out of state, that you, in all likelihood, will not get any competitive scholarship money from A&M to qualify for the tuition waiver. a 31 ACT score and your rank are way too low to be competitive. A&M is stingy in offering money to OOS students, as well as instate, the way a lot of other schools do. They don’t have to to attract top students.

which then leads to; Can you afford A&M all 4 years as a self pay? For the 2017-2018 school year, cost of out of state tuition is 57K. For one year. Granted, included in that figure is estimated $6300 personal and travel expenses, which are still costs, but not university expenses, like dorm/books/tuition/parking pass/sports pass. You can have some control over those.

4

Thanks for your input. Like I said earlier, I’m taking physics C next year and I don’t want to overload like this year. I know my rank is a little low and so I am working on it and my ACT is low for OOS. However, I’m going to keep it because the process of studying is so strenuous and there are other things I should study for like SAT subject tests. I am planning to study and take the physics and math level 2. I’m also planning to take chem as well. I know that credit can be gained for physics and chemistry if the min scores are achieved. Like you said, cost is going to be an issue, however I live in Washington State and it’s nearly impossible to get into the UW comp sci program and so OOS is most likely since I want to make sure that I get the major that I want automatically.

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Apparently, for engineering, it doesn’t work like that, applying early for engineering apparently has no effect now (but I guess applying early would help guarantee admission into the university).

For your ACT, a 31 is great, but when its 32 on reading and 30 in English with only a 25 on Science (especially considering comp sci is STEM), that might hurt a bit. 35 on Math is fantastic though.

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@RMNiMiTz Yeah, I was thinking the same thing as well. My science score just completely tanked my cumulative score. The Science section wasn’t actually like things you would do in science class. It’s more reading comprehension of Science and that tripped me up. It definitely hurts but I’m hoping that I can counter it with Science SAT subject tests to make sure that I’m at least qualified in the Science aspect.

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Also @RMNiMiTz , Doesn’t 85% of the engineering seats fill up with rolling admissions and the last 15 % are competitive?

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Take the ACT again. All you need to do is get that science score up a bit. Take lots of practice tests and you’ll figure out the tricks. That’ll get you a better score you’ll be in a great position. Have you looked at Purdue, Georgia Tech, or Illinois? All great engineering programs.

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@84stag I haven’t looked at those schools, but thanks, I’ll look into each one! As far as retaking the ACT goes, I don’t think I could repeat because even if my science score goes up, I risk losing solid scores in English, Reading, and Math. And the other issue is that TAMU only takes your best sitting so they don’t superscore. However, you do make a good point. A lot of other schools do superscore, and it would be beneficial. I asked my dad about it and he was fine with the cumulative score of 31. He knows that there are other things to worry about like AP’s, Subject Tests, etc.

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@slingam00

Apparently not.

According to several folks here on CC,

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@slingam00 Your dad is right that your score is very strong, but there’s a non-trivial difference in a 31, 32, or 33. Most schools superscore. And even though A & M doesn’t, taking it again won’t hurt you there if you do more poorly. My guess is that your bound to get the science score up significantly, and may get a point or two on the others. It’s worth the try. The science test is known as the least challenging once you figure out the tricks. If you do enough practice tests, you’ll get to the point where you shouldn’t miss more than 3-4 (or better). That’ll get you over a 30.

However, if you stay pat, with your grades and EC’s, you’ll be a strong candidate. Just work you tail off on those essays. Lastly, you might want to check out the service acadamies (West Point, USNA, USAFA) – great schools and totally free and guaranteed employment. A big commitment no doubt, but tremendous experience.

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@84stag ok, I never thought about joining military academies. I know a person from my school that is joining the Naval Academy and she talked about the etiquette when eating. It sounds terrible. You can’t look at your food when you eat and have to look at everybody. Also, when you get something on your spoon, you have to eat that. If you don’t follow rules, you apparently are limited in the amount of bites you take as well. It just seems like a pain in the ass that I would probably would not enjoy at all. I agree that the ROTC program sounds amazing with everything being paid for, but it’s just not my cup of tea. Thanks for the suggestion though!

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@RMNiMiTz Thanks for the info! What is the system like now then?

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@84stag

Isn’t corps of cadets + full rotc scholarship at tamu essentially the same thing? Since A&M is a senior military college, it has a lot of things that are similar to the academies.

@slingam00

You should ask @AGmomx2 for more clarification. Although using that @ tag should notify the person of the thread.

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@slingam00
Without Calculus BC, you will not be as competitive for admissions to engineering. I really encourage you to take it. Unless you have other engineering qualifications that would strengthen your application to make up for this lack in math, like internships in an engineering field, years of Project Lead the Way (PLTW) classes, etc, having AB and not BC will put you below other applicants for consideration. Your essays will not make up for what you lack in math readiness. An essay can distinguish you apart from other candidates of equal standing for engineering consideration but it will not compensate over qualifications.

You Said: “I live in Washington State and it’s nearly impossible to get into the UW comp sci program and so OOS is most likely since I want to make sure that I get the major that I want automatically.”

If UW engineering is hard to get into, know that it will not be easier to get into A&M engineering. There are many other engineering schools in Washington state for Computer Science, are there not, and you would be under in state tuition. Alabama is very generous and offers a lot of scholarship money you may qualify for. Definitely apply there. UT Arlington and UT Dallas also directly admit to major and could be considerations. You may get some financial aid for OOS from them.

You said: " the process of studying is so strenuous and there are other things I should study for like SAT subject tests."
A&M Does NOT consider SAT subject tests at all.
If you think studying Physics C and Calculus BC at the same time you are studying for SAT subject tests is strenuous, wait until you are studying engineering. Holy Moly! talk about strenuous and stress and a time suck.

@RMNiMiTz touched on the engineering process above. Going a bit further, beginning with the incoming freshman class for fall 2017, A&M no longer has rolling admissions for Engineering. ALL engineering applicants undergo holistic review for readiness for the major. An applicant may have automatic admission to the university but they do not have automatic admission to engineering.

A&M does not accept a student directly into any major. starting a few years ago, all incoming freshman students for engineering are placed in General Engineering. During April of the second semester of freshman year, a student will apply to their desired major through a process. They will list their top 5 preferences. Then, that application goes under review by each major. If the first choice major declines you, then your application moves to your second choice listed. If they decline you, it moves to your third choice and so on. If a student does not have all of the required engineering courses completed by end of freshman year (second semester) they can complete them in the fall (third college semester) and apply to major. This will be their last chance to apply. If they are not successful in completing the requirements by fall, they will leave the engineering program. More about eligibility is found here. https://engineering.tamu.edu/academics/advisors-procedures/entry-to-a-major/general-engineering-program and more here https://engineering.tamu.edu/academics/advisors-procedures/entry-to-a-major/application-preview
read up on all of the links to the right.

Your GPA from your first two semesters plays a huge roll in where you get in. A 3.5 guarantees your first choice major. 90% of students got their first choice of major the last cycle. That is to say, those who were eligible. Those on academic probation after their first semester, those who did not maintain a C or above in a required engineering class, or those that dropped a required engineering class, were not considered in that figure. Many students dropped out of engineering altogether. At the end of the first semester last year, there were roughly half of the students left in Calculus 151 than began the semester in my son’s class. ENGR 111 was the same. Assigned groups sometimes had only 2 people left in them by the end of semester.

If you are not admitted fully to A&M, you could be admitted to the Blinn engineering academy https://www.blinn.edu/teab/ https://engineering.tamu.edu/academies/blinn-bryan or Engineering at Galveston https://engineering.tamu.edu/academics/engineering-at-galvestonThis is not something you apply to but an admissions you are offered by A&M

A&M is a Sr. military college. The schools’ Corps of Cadets (or the Corps) is one of the largest uniformed student bodies outside the service academies. However, a Corps of Cadet is not required to serve in the military. Applicants to the Corps are considered for scholarships but they do not all reveive full rides. On the other hand, a service academy student does attend free and is required to serve in the military for a minimum of five years.
One does not merely join a service academy ( U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy,U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy) The service academies require a congressional nomination in order to attend. Receiving a congressional appointment does not guarantee admission to that academy. A&M and the US Coast Guard Academy are the only ones that do not require congressional appointment. Here is more on appointments. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33213.pdf

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Your admissions information is old, they no longer do direct to major admits in the engineering college. The current process is: apply to the university ( apps now open July 1- new this year) that is rolling admissions, those who mark college of engineering as their majors - go to holistic review for engineering college, reply for type of admission offered for engineering, accept admission & attend. Take specific courses in engineering then submit for your major, major review & admit/deny to major. That is the basics - there are more details of course.

Since you have old information, the benchmark for instate tuition is now $4000 competitive merit scholarship (it was increased from $1000 by the legislature this year). Merit dollar amounts are relatively low compared to other schools that also still give merit (it is a dying breed!) . Admissions for OOS is the same criteria as in-state here, it isn’t any harder/easier however vast majority of OOS are either NMF or Academic Admits, it is a high achieving crowd. The school easily fills with instate students though, it is very popular and has a huge following.

Don’t believe what you see in print regarding admission stats here - they include all types of admits NOT just College Station full admissions, so are rather skewed. Over 85% of admissions for the College Station campus are automatic admissions ( top 10% TX or Academic Admits) so many have ACT scores (SAT equivalent) in the college of Engineering of 30 or higher isn’t unusual. There are several pathways to engineering http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/apply-engineering check out the options.

It is tough to keep up on all the changes & if you have been slowly gathering information for a couple of years, it has changed dramatically for COE.

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@AGmomx2 , are you saying that what @Thelma2 is old?

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@Thelma2 You do have a point. I also signed up for 2nd year Comp Sci and there’s a good chance there won’t be enough kids that sign up and so I could switch to calc bc.

Also, TAMU gives credit if you receive a min score in any of these SAT subject tests.

https://dars.tamu.edu/Testing/AP,-SAT,-ACT,-and-Other-Information-for-Incoming-F/files/14-15-UG-Catalog-pg-84.aspx

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No, I was referring to your OP information (NOT Thelma2 information - we were typing at the same time no doubt). Getting credit and qualifying for your college/major are two independent activities. You need to get into the engineering college based on your application.

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Howdy!
@RMNiMiTz

Me and some friends got admitted to engineering despite having low stats at the point of admission. I know someone with a 1210 on the SAT and was barely top 25% and he got admitted to engineering. He wasn’t full AP, he didn’t have any PLTWs, and he had a few college hours form dual credit. Granted though, he is instate and I don’t know if that had any influence. The only thing I think he had going for him was that he applied August 2nd with a completed application (and he got notified before me!) I think applying early helps significantly.

@slingam00
In my opinion, taking Calculus BC won’t be very helpful in being admitted to engineering. partly since A&M expects you to retake Calculus there, but mainly because most of the people I’ve met who’ve gotten into engineering were either in Pre Calc or Calculus AB. They are aware that not every school in America has Calculus BC or AB, so they shouldn’t penalize you for it. However it is the standards for your to be at Pre Calc. IF you are in some kind of calculus based course, odds are you will be a cut above the rest as it stands.

And as far as the Corp goes, I recommend looking a bit more into it before dismissing it. Because a lot of people are afraid of the concept of having every facet of your life controlled, but they also have a lot of amazing opportunities like their studying time and their leadership certificates. I think its worth considering AT LEAST for the first year so you can get that OOS waiver.

EDIT: Also, I highly recommend Comp Sci 2 because computer science makes you focus on a lot of core ideas that involve being an engineer. (Like planning, designing, applied problem solving) but that just my opinion.