What we were told is that if scores were submitted, they would be evaluated with the scores and without the scores and the best evaluation would be the one that was used. So if that is true, then not submitting scores could be a detriment if the ranking and overall GPA were not equivalent or better than the SAT/ACT score. However, my son submitted scores and he hasn’t heard back either. Unfortunately there are not as many spots as there are qualified candidates so there will be kids that could succeed that won’t get spots directly into A&M. I am hoping that my son will be able to do Blinn Academy at Brenham as his back up and be able to get into A&M in 2 or 3 semesters. That is if he doesn’t get a miracle and get accepted.
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Lots of discussion here today!
Same status for me…meaning, “application complete and in review” -absolutely no movement since August. I even called to verify they didn’t lose my application and all was complete.
**Applied August 2nd **
Stats: 1330 SAT, 3.68GPA, 9 AP, some ECs, lots of volunteer hours. Thought my essay was good -but didn’t have a pro write it- just had my parents check it. I am 2nd Qtr (30%) - that’s probably an issue as TAMU seems to place high value on rank.
Last night I got an email from Baylor-admitted! Can’t afford it- but nice to get an offer!
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@AnnKiVe Congratulation !! I hope you hear from TAMU soon 
@ALN - Thank you! Same for your son!!!
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Wait and see what sort of financial assistance that Baylor gives you. You may be surprised.
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Our daughter is still in review. No change at all. We thought there might be a big drop this week??? Two of my other daughter’s friends that are sophomores at A & M this year, didn’t hear anything until March and both got into Blinn Team ( when they were seniors). They were never waitlisted for anything. So… maybe a month or so to go.
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what was her 1st/2nd major choice? Those are great stats to not hear anything (unless your Mays or one of the schools with super limited spots that fill up with top 10%)
Food for thought.
Texas ranks #35 for K-12 education nationally.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education
The state mandated auto admit mechanism based on class rank is counterproductive, to put it mildly, and especially with the availability of submitting sans standardized test scores, an ongoing travesty.
It’s a numbers game.
Trixie Lou from Smalltown, TX was ranked #2 in her class, and yet still doesn’t know the difference between NATO and NAFTA, between Classical Liberalism and being a liberal, between macro and micro economics, between Thomas Wolfe and Tom Wolfe. Trixie Lou is now an Aggie and loves to wear maroon and attend large football games.
The auto admit quotient is an unfortunate aspect of political pandering.
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While I hear you on this loud and clear and have shared this sentiment… Trixie Lou still has to pay, attend and earn the grades to stay at TAMU. Entrance is guaranteed, success is not. Tamu has 70k plus students, there is a way for everyone to earn a degree and ring from Tamu if they want it.
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@ChristiR93 , while I agree that success is not guaranteed, it is still unfair she got into TAMU through auto admit taking a spot away from one deserving student. I am sure she is not the only one.
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One main item that seems to have been overlooked with the top 10% rule is that this was enacted to assist with Affirmative Action. By having a blanket top 10% rule, or UT basis is top 6%, it allows those students who may not have access to a quality education to get accepted to top rank schools. As @ChristiR93 reminded, students who are accepted and attend as top 10% still must keep their grades up and be able to pay. Unfortunately, many are not prepared for the rigorous coursework of A&M and drop out. This allows for the BlinnTEAM and PSA students to take their place sophomore year.
I understand the frustration, as living in a rural environment I know I could’ve easily had my daughter attend our local public school (a Trixie Lou school) and get automatic acceptance. Instead, I’ve been paying for my daughter to attend a private college-prep school (with an AMAZING Ag/FFA/4H program) to get a quality education. Even though she was placed on Waitlist with Blinn TEAM consideration, I have no regrets.
(I pray this just provides a different perspective.)
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Here is a more recent article regarding the concern of Top 10% rule to assist with Affirmative Action as it relates to the pros and cons. How The Texas Top 10% Plan Failed To Attract More Students To The State’s Flagship Colleges - Texas A&M Today
https://dars.tamu.edu/Student/files/CDS_2020-2021.aspx
24% of A&M’s 2014 entering class were Pell Grant recipients. 66% of A&M’s 2020 entering class was ranked in the top 10%. Therefore, 34% were review admits.
As a recruiter at Trixie Lou’s school, you want to dangle the guaranteed admission. My niece has a single mom who drives a bus and works customer service at Walmart. She is top 5% at Trixie’s school. TCU came to campus and tried to convince her that she’d get a big scholarship. She laughed. I said I’d pay for her to apply to UT or A&M or help her fill out the free application. She said thanks but I’ve already been admitted to the local junior college. Fortunately there is a CC within commuting distance.
Fortunately, UT and A&M work hard to help these students succeed but those that give up leave with significant debt. Whether it’s rural and urban kids, those schools have far fewer opportunities and the parents often have far fewer resources. Many that complain about the top X% rules live in large suburbs with significant resources. A&M has a review process for engineering and few of the Trixie Lou types are going to be admitted directly.
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Expanding on your thoughts. If 34% are review admits, that can likely be further broken down into 10% are OOS/international review admits, and 24% are in-state review admits. It would be interesting to know how many of those 24% are from the high-performing suburban schools and I would anticipate that category of student makes up the vast majority of those 24% review admits.
I doubt that the review admit from Trixie Lou’s school is likely getting one of those 24% review admit acceptances except in extraordinary circumstances. If they didn’t make the top 10% with their grades, and they likely don’t have access to many EC’s, test preparation, etc. it seems unlikely that their review admit application has an opportunity to shine.
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Trixie Lou from Smalltown, TX was ranked #2 in her class. Trixie Lou grows tired of people thinking that because she goes to a small rural school without the resources of a rich suburban school she must be dumb and lazy. Trixie Lou doesn’t have AP credit because her school doesn’t offer AP classes. Trixie Lou is smart, motivated and worked hard to be ranked #2 and aced the SAT through self-study. Trixie Lou is now an Aggie and loves to wear maroon and attend large football games. She deserves to be there and through her grit and intelligence she will go far.
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Her major is Biology. She got the options and chose Waitlist/TEAM.
I totally understand the frustration as my kids attend a large competitive 6A school, were not too 10% (top 25% instead) and everyone is basically an overachiever and could be top 5% at Trixie Lou’s school.
But it isn’t Trixie Lou’s fault that she lives in a small town and had to attend a poorly rated school and doesn’t have the money to attend a private or a parent that wants to homeschool her. Trixie’s parents jobs and choices landed her where she is. The state wants diversity and any kid that worked hard enough and rises to the top has an opportunity to attend UT or TAMU if they perform great amongst their peers with the same resources.
Now staying and earning the degree is a different story. In the end, it all shakes out. But I doubt this rule goes away. If anything, A&M will likely move to top 6% for auto like UT, just guessing. I have felt the very same way, and still sometimes do, but I’ve come to understand the rule. The state won’t let it’s top universities only be accessible to kids from large top rated schools, they give all students a chance.
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In the class of 2020, 0.5% of entering freshmen were international and 5% were OOS.
Also, the 66% in the top 10% includes the 5.5% outside Texas if they provided class ranks.
Yes, I’ve talked with an A&M recruiter who said that the top 10% rule isn’t much of a concern in east Texas. Many of the ones below top 10% aren’t interested in a four year away from home experience, or at least not as rigorous as a large flagship. That may not be the case for a kid from a school with 28 in the graduating class and a rather well off kid finishes third or fourth. I know one such kid who went to Arkansas in that case.
“A&M will likely move to top 6% for auto like UT, just guessing.” UT caps its auto admits to 75% of its class. It moves the percentage to keep it at that figure. A&M admitted 66% in the top 10%. Once A&M gets in the 75% range, it will very likely lower the percentage that are auto-admitted.
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They offer 35k plus students admissions plus pathways. We shouldn’t be focused on rural or disadvantaged communities where theses students are just doing what is required of and provided to them.
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IMHO, the 10% rule should also include a minimum SAT/ACT or something to that effect. It’s really not doing a student any favors to bring them into a school like A&M if they don’t have the academic foundation to be successful. If their school didn’t provide the rigor needed to properly prepare them, they are better off starting off somewhere with smaller classes or perhaps a junior college to have time to catch up, then transfer in later if they want to finish at A&M. That’s really not fair to them to put them in a position where they can’t compete with their peers due to the rigor of their high school, no fault of their own. Ideally, we want all students from all backgrounds to be offered the path where they are prepared to be most successful.
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