Hi @FriscoDad - I have two questions and you seen knowledgable. My son applied to first choice BIOLOGY with a GPA of 3.75 and then second choice major in HEALTH- Education and Human Development. My questions:
Do you know which that is – is that Community, Allied or School? (It does not say ‘Allied’ or ‘Community’ or ‘School’ on AIS or Howdy for him so I was confused). Also, how difficult or competitive is it to get accepted to HEALTH - Education and Human Development?
Is he doesn’t get offered a spot in BIOLOGY but gets offered a Pathway/ Blynn option, would they also offer him his backup major of Health- Education and Human Development? In other words, would they give him choices like ’ Hi student your GPA isn’t high enough for Biology so Either you can do Blynn Pathway for Biology OR you can switch your major to Health- Education and Human Development’
I’ll chime in and say your gpa to major is irrelevant unless you’re engineering. He’ll either get in or he won’t. If bio is still available when he gets accepted then he gets bio. If not, he’ll get 2nd choice.
Blinn Team Is offered based on the whole application as well. Has nothing to do with a major being full.
Thank you @ChristiR93 - this is helpful. Earlier, Friscodad said that BIOLOGY was the largest major at A&M but that with my son’s GPA being 3.75, he might get offered the Blynn Pathway option for Bio. That made me wonder if they would offer the Blynn Pathway for Bio, OR say ‘or you can be fully part of TAMU if you do your second major option’ and not have to do Blynn. Like do they give you a choice? ‘Blynn pathway for first choice, or you can come here and be fully at TAMU if you do your second major choice.’
It sounds like you are saying the GPA makes no difference to the major, but that TAMU Admissions decides if they want you in A&M or not. This is also confusing to me because I had been led to believe that if, say, my son wanted to major in Poultry Science or FOrestry his GPA did not need to be that high. But that with something like Biology, Microbiology, Business or Engineering – really competitive majors - they were more selective with GPA.
Basically this is my first kid ever to go to college and I am confused about a LOT of things (obviously) and all the admissions processes at A&M are vague and unclear to me. Couple that with all the friends and family members who have told me contradictory things over the years about how to get into A&M.
Unfortunately there is no such thing as a major that is easier to get into than others, as a freshman. The reason for this may be because freshman who feel like they’re not going to get in, would apply to the easy major with plans to transfer out. So that’s why all holistic freshmen are compared to one another, and a&m has a hard job picking what they believe are the most likely to succeed in college, regardless of major, and unfortunately spots are limited. I think the only time desired major matters is when admissions is looking at the passion an applicant might have toward their desired major IMHO.
However if someone wants to transfer into a&m then yes some majors are much easier to get into than others. Engineering and business are super hard to transfer into, but since you mentioned poultry science, yes that one is fairly easy to get into but never should someone transfer into a&m with a plan to change major once there.
@misterhemmings i wouldn’t rely on what others are telling you about prior years. Now that it’s Top Ten% auto admit or holistic, changes everything.
A lot will depend on what ranking TAMU gave your son, since he comes from a non-ranking high school. Gpa does matter, also.
A&M won’t give your son ‘options’, they will offer him: Biology, Health, Gateway, Blinn TEAM or PSA. One of those, that’s it.
If a student is holistic, they honestly DO review every application…which takes time. January-February is the timeline given for holistic decisions.
A&M acceptance is very competitive. Period.
@Eggscapgoats my former FFA girl, now Mays, took Honors Poultry Science and Animal Science her freshman year. She LOVED both classes! She got her ‘FFA fix’ and knocked out her science classes.
Many pre-vet, pre-dent and pre-med majors go into Ag School…so I agree with you, not easy at all…and she loved the Poultry dept!
Hopefully we have answered your questions and not confused you more lol. It is a very confusing process and you are not alone. Hang in there and ask away.
Does anyone else still have the red banner at the top of their AIS page about the engineering deferrals. If so does anyone know when they are going to take that down?
Thank you @ChristiR93@Eggscapgoats@52AG82 . First, I meant no disrespect to any major. I was only repeating what others have told me and I now understand they weren’t right. Over the years I’ve heard all kinds of things. Maybe after this experience with my first kid, I’ll be the one helping others in the future. My wife’s family are all Aggies and my two kids have grown up with TAMU as their dream school. My older son (who is applying) has all A’s and B’s in high school and did a heck of a lot better than me academically, but we’re just puzzled that he has heard back from all five other universities he’s applied to – with scholarship offers – but TAMU he hasn’t. And TAMU was always his first choice. So it’s been pretty emotional. On top of that many of his friends at the private school he attends, in other majors, have already gotten accepted. Our counselor says it’s because each major is different. So - to be honest- this thread is confusing me even more because I am hearing you all say it is ALL admissions who decides everything and the major doesn’t matter. Which means, that Admissions is looking at applications and decided to admit his friends at his private school who have worse grades, based on,… ? Who knows. It made more sense when we thought it was because BIOLOGY was harder to get into.
I will say that his friends at the private school who already got in, are Kinesiology and Health related majors. Not Biology. Their grades are lower. But they all had parents who went to A&M and did talk about that in the essays. Also, my son is Eagle Scout, tons of extra curriculars. His essay was GREAT. And I am pretty certain at least two of the kids who are his friends let his parents write their essay. So it doesn’t seem fair right now and my son is in a funk. My second born son (3 years away from applying to A&M) still has a shot at figuring this out, I am trying to narrow this down about why we haven’t heard and might even not get in. What is the secret sauce?
Allied is the largest among all Health and mostly natural science oriented, the major prepares students for RN, PA and PT and TAMU is highly regarded in the qualities of RN, PT and PA yielded as compared to those following community colleges paths. So among all three Allied is the largest with about 500 freshmen. Community and School are smaller Health majors.
For your first question, “Health” by default refers to Allied Health. In AIS, community will spell out as “Community Health” It is much smaller with about 30-40 freshmen. School Health is very similar to Allied Health.
The second question. If not offered Biology, the process should look at the second major, then Gateway, then Blinn. Or most of the time, offering multiple options.
Biology in general is harder to get into compared to Health.
If an applicant is test optional, a demonstration of strength in Biology and Chemistry (AP classes with College Board scores) will help. So sometimes a student takes both on or before 11th grade will be preferred over a student taking them in 12th grade. That is what most TAMU regional counselors refer to as the “difference” in each department. But all decisions will be made and processed in Admission Office. Since for “non-auto” Biology application the chance is around 30%. It will be quite competitive.
Im confused… entrance into majors are first come not based on course rigor or sat scores. Except for engineering. This has always been the case and every admissions officer will say the same thing. They do not look at your biology or science courses taken in high school
Now for transfer students… absolutely this is the case based on college level work.
@misterhemmings i hear ya…the college admissions process IS confusing! As the mom of an Eagle Scout, I say CONGRATS! That’s a huge accomplishment, and A&M definitely thinks highly of Eagles.
The others that have already gotten acceptance could’ve applied with high ACT/SAT, or perhaps they’re National Merit Commended/Semi/Finalist? That would definitely work in their favor.
Having parents or relatives be Aggie grads will NOT make a difference, legacy is no longer considered.
It was reported last year (and I bet @FriscoDad can find the exact stats) that there were 50-55k applicants. That may be on the high side, but there we’re definitely A LOT. That helps put things into perspective, I think. The sheer volume of applicants can’t be compared to any other school your son has applied to. He’s applying with soooo many other smart, over achieving students.
My husband is an Aggie. He shakes his head every time we’re on campus, saying, “I doubt I could even get in now”. A&M is not what it was in our day, few schools are really. Everything is competitive, and A&M has become a ginormous, competitive university.
I feel certain you will be well prepared for kid #2.
Keep the faith, hang in there!
