I am trying to help my daughter, who is a senior in high school, prepare to transfer to Texas A&M for her sophomore year.
After this semester (and upon high school graduation) she will have earned 21 hours of dual credit through our local community college. She is registered to six hours for the summer session, and so will have more than the 24 hours required for transfer admission before the fall of her freshman year. (She will not apply for this coming fall, though. She will apply for Fall 2018.)
She is unsure about her future major, though she must designate one for her application. When I have spoken (several times!) to pre-admissions counselors, they have indicated that the colleges want all required coursework for admission complete before she applies for a transfer. It seems that they expect her to complete all of the coursework listed on the major-specific worksheets before she transfers. She will only be a freshman next year! And she would have to complete this work by December, I would think, so she can have her transcripts sent.
Is this correct? Does anyone in the real world know whether a high school student must know what she wants to study and must complete many of the core requirements by the end (middle) of her first year in college?
This would be easier to handle if Marketing and Economics, for example – she has no idea right now, didn’t have completely different math requirements.
Hello,
1-A transfer applicant must submit all of the required coursework transcripts from their previous school/college. In your case ask A&M about the required core curriculum that needs to be completed and get the transcripts sent to them.
2-Usually a freshman confirms his major choice by the second semester and rarely do they change it again.
3-Mathematics is a fluid subject and important in most of the majors. Marketing and economics doesn’t have a difficult mathematics course, she can easily handle it.
I used Marketing and Economics as examples because their math requirements are different enough that she would have to double up and take two maths in one semester if she wants to keep her options open until she applies. This, along with the accounting requirements (for the marketing degree) and other “core” classes, would comprise a ridiculously heavy load for one semester. This would be the case if she has to complete everything before she applies mid-freshman year.
@WTXMama Hi there! I’m a senior in HS going to Texas A&M this fall, but I’ve had meetings with admissions directors, recruiters, advisors, and just about everyone you can at A&M, so I know a lot about their admissions process & when/how to apply (if applying as a transfer or late freshman–the timing on these is important, especially for different majors). I initially didn’t get into A&M and had to appeal, which took a lot of questions, meetings, and advice incase it didn’t work out (luckily the appeal was granted). Anyways, if you private message me on here I can try and give some advice or explain another option that you might be more open to (I will have 44 dual credit hours when I graduate, so I’ve basically done what your daughters doing).
Out of curiosity, why did she wait to apply as a transfer? Would she have been an auto admit? If so, you might consider not taking the summer courses( or any courses post graduation) & apply as a freshman. It is MUCH easier to gain admission that way. Look at the transfer threads, you often have to build a resume with more than just classes to be admitted to the various majors.
The undeclared major option went away years ago. Yes, you do have declare a major as a transfer and complete the requirements for that major and then compete with all other incoming transfers for the slots they have available. Transfers can happen for sophomores & juniors - but there are maximum & minimums of units. You can apply before finishing the requirements which will result in deferment until you complete the courses & they have the grade report in hand. FYI the business school is not open to transfers who come into the university in a different major and ask for another transfer later. However, an incoming freshman CAN change from their declared major to Mays.
At one point, the CC route was a way to go with very few obstacles - now, it isn’t the easiest pathway to negotiate. You will need to apply to more than one school, there are no guaranteed transfers for normal CC students (there are for those who applied to TAMU and got PSA or Blinn)
What happens when someone is deferred? If she were to choose Econ as a major (for instance), she would still need one more math to complete their “required for admission” credits. Would she have to wait until May to be officially admitted? Could she sign up for housing and such while she is deferred?