Texas A&M NSI day was awful

College Search & Selection
1

<p>This was supposed to be a two day thing. I left early. We spent the first several hours being told how overcrowded the dorms were, that we might not be able to pick our major, even how to fill out the ApplyTexas app. They literally showed a copy of the application and went through, item by item, to tell us how to fill it out. They actually told us where to put our names. </p>

<p>I really thought I was going to like this school. Instead, I asked for my things back and politely told them I needed to leave. One woman who was working there was not happy with me. But by this point, I was 100% certain I would not apply, so it would have been a waste for me to stay.</p>

2

<p>Sorry, I don’t know how to edit. I am just shell shocked over this. I expected good things out of TAMU, but instead, I spent hours listening to everything bad about it. They could not say one good thing about the school. Everyone sitting at the same table as me said they could not see themselves attending there. When we broke off in to groups for an ice breaker activity, a guy in my group openly told all of us that he is putting Texas A&M to the bottom of the list. Was this just a major off day for them? Or is it this bad always?</p>

<p>I could not believe when they put up a copy of the ApplyTexas app on the screen and walked us through, point by point, telling us how to fill out the application. They even covered where to put our names and how. Why would they think that an entire room full of high scorers for the PSAT could not figure out to put their last name where it same “last name?” </p>

<p>I wanted to learn about the housing. I thought they would tell us there would be social activities or things we could get involved in. Instead, they told us how huge their dorms were and their housing system and how they are one of the biggest in the nation. And that many who try to get in won’t have a space. They said we have to put down a deposit by Feb, and even then, no guarantee. When they run out, they run out. This last year, they ran out by Feb and expect to run out earlier the next year. That was it for information on the dorms. They have learning communities, and they put up a list. But they never said what they were for or what they did or anything else. It seems if you sign up for a learning community, that guarantees a specific dorm, if you get in to the learning community. There is an honors one, but that deadline is Dec 1. So you are putting down deposits on all these things, before you even know if you got in to any other schools or what kind of financial aid or anything else. And they seem to have no social life or residence activities. There is something they kept referring to as “the 12th man” but that seemed to refer to their football games.</p>

<p>On the majors, they inform you of what you get to major in, after you put down a deposit. Sometimes, you get your first choice major. But sometimes, you have to wait a few semesters to get in to your major. It seems to be a first come, first serve thing, not the best applicant gets the space. </p>

<p>And I thought I had read here that there would be some sort of special advisor situation for honors program students/National Merit. Instead, when the question was asked about the honors program, the people there seemed to not know much about it. They said you just apply and see if you get in. If you get in, you might be able to be in honors housing. But, other than living around other honors students, there seems to be nothing special about honors housing.</p>

3

<p>(The 12th man is the crowd at the football games. A&M prides itself on having really loud home audiences and they refer to the advantage they get from having such a crowd as “The 12th man”)</p>

<p>Ouch, I’m sorry it went that way for you. As a rising Tx hs senior this really makes me not want to apply to A&M. Why enroll 50,000 people when you’re gonna have problems housing them? That ApplyTexas deal seems like it might’ve been pretty awkward, too.</p>

4

<p>ybrown, my older brother is in college already so I had seen a few colleges with him. I also have seen some talks of my own. Usually, you get told about how great the residence program is, and activities they have going on. Instead, TAMU spent their time telling us how overcrowded they were and how hard it is to get housing. That talk lasted an hour. </p>

<p>When other schools gave hints on the applications, it was stuff like remember to spell their name correct (said by Carnegie Mellon rep) and make sure you write an actual essay, not just a list (by Princeton). At TAMU, they spent, again, an hour time slot, showing us a copy of the ApplyTexas app and showing us where to put our name, and so on. “Here, it says last name, you enter your last name here.” It was that bad. </p>

<p>The part about the major was awful. When I tried to ask, because I was concerned, how often a person could not get their major, I was told it is not a problem because you get a different major you might like just as much, or you can go on a waiting list and maybe in 2-3 semesters, you can switch from your assigned major to the one you want. I brought up the fact that this would add to how long before you could graduate. They said we could just work on core courses and such, we just would not be allowed in to any major courses until we got in to that major. Remember also that you have to put down your deposit before you can find out what major you were assigned. I told them that I have a fair number of AP credits. Honestly, I didn’t mention this part, but I would guess that most Nation Scholar potential students would have AP credits. They just looked puzzled and said then they don’t know, they guess it would add years to the time it takes to graduate.</p>

<p>I am actually quite sad over this. I was not set on TAMU, but I am in so much shock that it was so bad, I feel like I entered the Twilight Zone and that tomorrow, I will return and see the real presentation.</p>

5

<p>The parts I missed of the visit included…after dinner, they said they were going to drop us off at a rec center at 8pm to spend the evening there. I do not even know anyone! I have no interest in just hanging out at a rec center I have never been to before. Then, we would be back at the dorm by midnight. Then, the schedule said up at 7am, but that was changed. We were told we had to get up an extra hour early so that we could go to the football field and run around “practicing yelling.” That was also on the schedule for the afternoon. </p>

<p>I just keep thinking that the whole day didn’t happen. But it did. I am shocked they manage to get the students there that do go there. Perhaps those are all students that never attended NSI?</p>

6

<p>I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy your visit. A&M probably wasn’t a good fit for you if you don’t buy into the whole 12th man, yell practice, Maroon out thing.
Picking majors is generally first serve. Auto admits get first pick of the majors so if you’re a top 10 or an academic admit, you will likely get your major if you apply early. Keep in mind, Texas A&M is a rolling admissions school. I don’t know of any academic or top 10% admits who had trouble getting into a major of their choice unless they applied super late. I don’t know about the deposit issue-They tell you your major in the acceptance letter itself BEFORE you put down a deposit.
TAMU’s residence halls ARE overcrowded. This is not a mystery or a secret. For lots of big state Us, people tend to apply for housing before they even hear about acceptance-this is true at both A&M and UT. Overcrowded dorms are a pervasive issue at almost every big state flagship. See A&M, UT, Penn State, etc. This year A&M overenrolled freshmen, so this is to be expected.
The AP credit situation varies from student to student. Lots of my AP credits-english lit, stat, bio, econ-were not useful to me at all and did not give me credit for any required courses on my curriculum. This varies by major as well.
Honors Programs used to be automatic for students with a 1250 M+CR SAT and top 10%. Now its a competitive application. Honors students also get early registration, and they are in the better dorms on campus. Other than that though, its not that useful. The only exception is business honors, which is a specialized program/major for select Mays students.
TAMU is not for everyone. Heck any school wont make everyone happy. If you didn’t like it, then save yourself the $60. A&M got over 27,000 apps last year for the freshman class (an increase from 20,000 in 2009) so this is an individual case, and not widespread.
Good luck wherever you decide to apply.</p>

7

<p>My son was intending to go to A&M but decided during an Aggieland Saturday that it was just too big. We felt A&M did a much better job of helping and welcoming applicants compared to UT but neither was very good. My son ultimately decided on Trinity University and after a year he feels he made a great decision. A small school provides many more opportunities, and the chance to really interact with your professors. It is also frequently easier to graduate on time at a smaller school and this can help to reduce the overall cost.</p>

8

<p>We are looking at Trinity University soon! I have heard from many to see that one.</p>

<p>They never explained 12th man, Maroon out, Gig 'em, or the yelling, nothing. They did, however, put up a copy of the app and tells us exactly where to put our names and everything else that was obvious. But while we were not expected to know to put our name where it asks for our names, we were expected to know the rest of it.</p>

9

<p>Just remember that unless you become a tour guide, you only deal with admissions before you get to a school. You might also want to complain to the school about their admissions presentation. I’d imagine that if they have special housing/enrollment privileges for honors students the school considers it a priority to enroll the very top students. </p>

<p>If you are a NMF, you should look into OU. I know two NMFs and they love the honors program along with the associated perks.</p>

10

<p>You hate the whole University because they showed you how to type your name in the application ? This has nothing to do with academics nor the environment at Texas A&M.</p>

<p>Being overcrowded does not mean they they will put 4 people in a standard double room. It just means you won’t get the room if you submit the deposit late. </p>

<p>What were the other legit factors ?</p>

11

<p>They probably didn’t tailor their presentation to the specific audience they had. Remember that some students apply to a school based on non-academic factors such as presence of a football team, frats, parties, etc. However a group of honors scholars probably weren’t as concerned with these as “regular” applicants and the school should have realized this and focused more on academics. Keep in mind though TAMU is the opposite of a National Liberal Arts College :stuck_out_tongue: so the presentation reflected what matters to students there. In addition, it wasn’t a waste of time since you now know you won’t apply :), you now know what you’re NOT looking for, and can thus look for it :).</p>

12

<p>Well, as much as I love and hope my son attends A&M , I was pretty disappointed in the presentations. The exceptions were the presentations by the university honors program, and the intro by the president. They were well thought out and I thought quite good.
Why was admissions even there? Was there a big question if those invited to this recruiting event(due to their high test scores) would be admitted?
Did the “housing dude” his reference to himself - need to show how us how to get online, and find out the info that we already know?<br>
Unfortunately, it seemed like the presentations didn’t tell us much or what we wanted or needed to know. I would have been helpful to have all of the scholarship information avialable. Not what we could already access online.<br>
This is what we need to know: can we afford it and why should we send our students? What happens in the living learing communitites: what are the differences bewteen them? What do the different residence hall look like inside? We have seen the 2 on tour, what do the rest look like? Give us an idea of what it is like to attend A&M, or be in an honors programfrom a few student perspectives. AND please , please A&M make sure your slides are correct because the whole, “Please ignore the information on this first slide because it is incorrect”( I was too lazy to update) is a little sad. Hopefully the student portion got better. I love this school, but yikes.</p>

13

<p>My husband and I visited during Spring Break with my son. I was so so disappointed. We left our tour early, as well. The guide was ill-prepared, made off-color remarks and focused on dating techniques. TAMU failed miserably at impressing my son and the comparison to the Rice event the day before made it even worse. They lost an excellent candidate.</p>

<p>By the way, I spent 4 years at A&M - class of '85 - and if you are interested in having your child attend, skip the tours and any other prospective student events! It is still a great great school but the PR is not just poor - it is a real turn-off to students who might have many choices.</p>

14

<p>Wow, maybe someone who otherwise likes this school, could forward these critiques to the admissions department? They need feedback to help them improve their programs! It’s a shame when a really good school loses potential applicants because of a poor presentation or other easily fixable problem.</p>

15

<p>It sounds to me like you don’t need to go to a big state school.</p>

16

<p>A&M managed to turn me off as well with their attitude.</p>

17

<p>93plan, Please tell me how the rest of the visit went when you pick your child up today. I felt hasty in leaving early. I actually felt very bad about it. But, if we stayed, my parents would have incurred a cost for the overnight (they were going to drive home and my mom return the next day to pick me up, almost 4 hr drive each way). Once I realized the school was not for me, I felt we needed to move on.</p>

18

<p>Andy09…this was National Scholars day and we were told we could not major in what we wanted. We could give them 1st and 2nd possibilities, and that they will try to give one of those, but not always. I had signed up saying French was my first choice major and was told upon arriving that I would not be doing French. And this was just for a tour! I was re-assigned to Environmental Studies, which was not even my second choice. However, this was not official for after applying, this was for the tours. But when applying, they will not tell you what major they picked for you until after you put down your deposit. They also then told me there was no French major so I could not major in it. They said if I tried and got on waiting lists, maybe I could major in International Studies. But, for the tour, I was looking at Environmental Studies, despite having no interest. What if I get admitted, and then pay the deposits, sign up for housing, get all invested in it, and they come back and inform me I am majoring in environmental studies? Yuck! No other school does that, that is not a fact of life. I spoke to UT Austin today and they do not do that. At UT Austin, you apply and list your top choice majors. They admit you to the major and you know what you are allowed to major in before you put down enrollment deposit money. </p>

<p>I can go to a big state school. Even UT Austin doesn’t have these problems and they are bigger. I am visiting UT Austin tomorrow. I already spoke to them and asked them these questions and went over these exact issues.</p>

19

<p>For French you want the big-name schools, especially on the East Coast because they’re powerhouses for that language (for a long time it was the “aspirational” language and the language of the elite. Anyone who wanted to work in international relations or have an important job was “expected” to know some French. While this has changed, to a certain extent the top East Coast schools still have a disproportionate number of French faculty and majors, combined with other majors like Economics or International relations).
UT-Austin is great and their French program is great too, but TAMU definitively isn’t where you’d go for French. Also, look if the schools you’re interested in have the following:

  • FLAC (Foreign LAnguage accross the curriculum: you’d take part of your required History or Art classes in French);
  • study abroad is a given, but where, during what term (January in Martinique is cool, in Montreal a little less :p), how costly it is to spend terms abroad, especially if you can go and do research Junior year to write a Senior Thesis;
  • if they’re rather Literature-oriented, Civilization-oriented (History, culture, etc), Francophone-oriented (and in that case if they have Arabic or Sosso classes too), Linguistics-oriented, Education/pedagogy/Applied Linguistics-oriented, or Theory-oriented. That’s for big universities with lots of professors, but even small schools have “trends” (for example Dickinson is Civ-oriented, Rice is theory-oriented…)
  • Final question that you MUST ask: how many 300 and 400 (or upper-level, meaning advanced topic literature/civ/etc) are offered each semester and typically at what level students with AP French 5 place. If few students have APFrench this wouldn’t be a very good school for you since they’d have lots of intermediate-level classes and few advanced classes.</p>
20

<p>Ok, checking back in. My son is home and has decided to definitely GO to A&M. He loved it!!! The student portion didn’t run completely smoothly, including a long wait for dinner, and a bus breakdown, but all was handled with a smile, and everyone got where they were supposed to go. He enjoyed the honors class his group attended, and thought all of the academic staff seemed to know their stuff. He particularly enjoyed meeting with the academic departments, and learning the Cornerstone learning living person speak as well as getting to know all of the students. Undecided2014 if you do go back for a visit, I would recommend meeting with the departments you might be interested in, perhaps you would get a different impression? My impression( and it is just mine) was that the admissions/ housing was so focused on presenting all possible informationof things that can go wrong, that they just forgot they were supposed to be selling A&M. Yes, they do run out of housing , and yes not everyone gets their first major, ect, but I suspect that since you were invited ,you are a good student who is used to deadlines and getting it done. Since all the problems seemed to hinge on people not getting their applications in early , they do seem like an easy fix. I couldn’t be more pleased by our outcome, and hope the best for the rest of you…</p>