Whoop! My son got an email late yesterday confirming his acceptance to the University Honors Program. Didn’t see a thread on this yet. Hope there are many more getting this good news this week.
Congrats! My son got the same e-mail last night…we’re talking about it a little on the TAMU Honors Money thread.
My son got the University Honors email too.
Is Engineering Honors more of an automatic acceptance? Guess he will have to choose between the two.
@EventHorizon32 Engineering Honors requires class ranking in the top 10% and high test scores (1350 SAT/31 ACT) My son’s school did not rank, so he just applied to Engineering Honors after his first semester. It doesn’t mean anything freshman year compared to University Honors. http://engineering.tamu.edu/academics/certificates/eh Generally, you can be in University Honors and not be in Engineering Honors, or vice versa, or you can be in both. If you are in both, then the 18 honors credits required for Engineering Honors will also count toward the 30-credit University Honors requirements. http://engineering.tamu.edu/media/2074467/Engineering20Honors20FAQ20V2.pdf
Confused yet? There are also Latin Honors, which are based on graduation GPA. http://registrar.tamu.edu/current/gradhonors.aspx
To further add to the confusion, many departments have departmental honors. My son has now applied for admission into the Aerospace Engineering Department. He will also apply for Aerospace Engineering Honors. I just visited the department website and it looks like the specialized honors programs may be changing. It now says “Engineering Honors in Aerospace - Coming Soon.”
@Beaudreau, thanks for the helpful info. Guess if one meets the criteria then you are in Engineering Honors. University Honors seems to be more competitive.
They may have changed requirements this year for Engineering Honors as they list different combinations:
I am an incoming freshman in the Dwight Look College of Engineering and I have a 1350 or above on the SAT (31 or above on ACT) AND I am ranked in the top 10% of my high school graduating class
OR
I am an incoming freshman in the Dwight Look College of Engineering and I have a 1350 or above on the SAT (31 or above on ACT) BUT I attend a high school that does not provide class ranking. I am requesting that the Director for the Engineering Honors program review my high school academic record to for consideration into the program.
OR
I am an incoming freshman in the Dwight Look College of Engineering AND I earned designation as a National Merit, Hispanic, and / or an Achievement finalist
OR
I am a Texas A&M continuing student, I have completed a minimum of one semester and I have a minimum cumulative GPA (CGPA) of 3.50 or above.
One of my sons started out in university honors and then added engineering honors, then eventually dropped the university honors program because he just couldn’t fit it into his engineering degree plan. I’m sure there are plenty of students who can handle both, but he just couldn’t fit it in, and he liked the engineering honors requirements better - they just fit better into his degree plan.
@Barfly, Thanks. Guess both allow early registration and have special advising, research etc.
Still deciding between Mosher and the Honors dorms. Would Mosher have an advantage over the Honors dorms for engineering majors?
I think that students in University Honors must live in Honors Housing. My understanding is that there are very few exceptions, such as being in the Corps which requires Corps housing.
So if a student wants to do both Engineering Honors and University Honors, they would have to live in Honors Housing. If the student wants to live in Mosher, and therefor chooses to only do Engineering Honors, then the early registration, etc., would still be available. Both are good programs for kids who like that sort of thing, but it’s also not a big deal if the students later decides to not do any Honors program. It just suits some and not others.
Not familiar with Mosher except we know one young man who lived there and did not find any academic advantage to it, but he was also a very quiet kid and may not have made much effort to take advantage of study groups, etc. My sons lived in Honors Housing and liked it a lot. There are usually many engineering majors in Honors Housing so that would help with study groups, etc.
If I remember correctly, my son said that about 30% of freshman in Honors Housing are Engineering majors. BIMS (Biomedical Sciences) is the next most popular major. TAMU’s Honors is the number one honors programs among schools that focus on Engineering. http://publicuniversityhonors.com/2012/03/23/top-programs-schools-with-engineering-focus/
Thank you @Barfly and @Beaudreau.
Guess he will pick University Honors. Maybe Engineering Honors later. We have not had time to research the programs. So your input was helpful. Texas A&M is a top choice for my younger son.
Guess we will be a house divided if he does (as my older son is at UT engineering).
which one is harder to get into engineering honors or University honors? For business it is business honors that is more selective (avg SAT 1415 top 4-5% & 16-18% acceptance rate of qualified candidates).
Engineering Honors is not difficult to get in to. If you meet the requirements and apply, you are in. University Honors is very selective and only accepts a certain number per year. I seem to remember the number was fewer than 400 freshmen will be accepted. Both require that you maintain a 3.5 GPA, regardless of major. That is challenging for engineering majors.
My D was thrilled to get into University Honors! It seems that she should go ahead and fill out the form for the Liberal Arts Honors program? We can’t see any drawbacks or additional work to be in both. Are we missing something?