I am a Senior in high school and I’ve just applied to 3 different colleges. Two are back up colleges, but the one I want to get into the most in Texas A&M University. I have a 3.38 GPA out of a 4.0 and I scored 1150 on my SAT (610 in reading & writing and 540 in math). I am in 3 honor societies and 6 activities in total. I’ve only taken Pre-AP and AP classes throughout my entire high school career and I’m taking all AP classes my Senior year (only core classes). The thing that I am worried about the most is that I had no community service to put on my resume. I put that I volunteered to help out my high school band, but that is all the volunteering I have. I am very worried that this will have a huge affect on me getting admitted.
@soccerisbae : Your lack of volunteering is a lot less important than your HS class rank and your SAT score. I think that colleges want to know about an applicants’ involvement in Extra Curricular activities and volunteering to make sure that someone doesn’t spend all of their time outside of school just sitting in their room and playing on their phone/computer. They want to know that you can manage your time wisely.
You don’t mention your class rank. Your SAT score is about 100 points lower than the average admitted TAMU student. If you are in Top 10% of your HS, your SAT score doesn’t matter. If you are in the Top 25% of your HS, you don’t meet the SAT score for Academic Admissions. That would leave you as a Holistic Review applicant.
No one but the reviewer sees your entire application, but based on the info posted on this forum from the last few years, a lot of people with your SAT score did not receive an offer of Full Admissions to TAMU. This is probably not the response you want, but it is the reality. There are many, many thousands of applicants for TAMU. There is just not enough space for everyone who wants to be an Aggie.
For the past few years, Review Applicants for TAMU have about a 10-15% chance of admissions. You didn’t mention your target major. If you are applying for Mays Business School or the College of Engineering, and are outside of the Top 10%, there is a lot lower chance. Mays only accepts 1000 Freshman and all seats are usually filled by high scoring Top 10% and Academic Admits. The College of Engineering expects a high score in Math so that students are ready for the rigor of TAMU classes.
Can you retake the SAT and improve your score? Or take the ACT, as you might score higher on the ACT? TAMU gives an ACT on campus that is only scored for TAMU, there is info online about how to register. Instead of worrying about your lack of volunteer hours, spend that time and effort to take one of the online practice tests, identify your weak areas and then take the SAT again or take the ACT. Even a few points more would show that you are serious about wanting to be an Aggie.
Read through the posts on this forum for info from past years an about the various offers that TAMU gives: Full Admissions, Gateway, Blinn-TEAM, PSA, PTA. Check for info on the TAMU website for current info on these programs so that you are ready to make an informed choice if you are not offered full admissions. It is better to find this info now than to wait until possibly Feb. or March of 2019.
Good luck, keep us posted. And if you don’t receive the offer you want, you can transfer in later. A lot of people transfer in. If being an Aggie is your goal, don’t let a little detour get you down. Focus on your goal and make your own path.
@AggieMomAgain Thank you for your response. I am in the top 14% of my class and the major I wanted was Animal Science.
@soccerisbae : Top 14% is great!
Since you are in the Top 25% your very best bet is to increase your SAT score to the Academic Admit threshold for this year (I think it is 1360 but can’t remember the sub scores needed). Identify your weak areas from your previous test and then take test prep. Treat this like a job, raising your score is your best bet to receive a full admissions offer from TAMU. I have heard that Khan Academy is good. You might have to cut back on other activities to have the time to study and retest, but it would be worth it if you can improve your score so that you are an Academic Admit. Those ECs aren’t as important as raising your test score.
Also, REALLY think about taking the ACT at TAMU. We didn’t know about that option for either of my daughters (HS Class of 2012 and HS Class of 2017). You might have a higher score on the ACT as it suits some people better than the SAT.
Again, take a practice test online, identify your weak areas and study, study, study!!
Remember, if you can raise your score to the Academic Admit score, you WILL BE ADMITTED!! And you would hear from them earlier than you would as just a review applicant. Even if you can raise your score somewhat, that will show TAMU that you are serious about attending. And you will be better prepared for the tough college classes. A LOT of people are shocked at how hard college really is, they may have coasted through HS. Both of my daughters have friends who were ranked much higher at other High Schools and as TAMY Freshman, were having a lot of difficulty with the rigor and pace of college classes. TAMU is TOUGH!!
As a review applicant, you might not hear back from TAMU until at least Feb. of 2019. The Top 10% Automatic and the Academic Admits get their offer first. Then the Review applicants. Do you want to spend the time between now and Feb just worrying about IF you will receive your admissions OR do you want to spend the next couple of months between now and the application deadline to work on improving your score?
Check on this forum for a post from @Thelma2 which lists info from people who posted on this forum in past years. It is a sample of the big picture of TAMU admissions. She has tabulated the info from people which includes the info of their test scores, major, various dates and final offers. It is eye opening info.
There are many thousands of applications for TAMU each year. There is just simply not enough room for everyone who wants to be an Aggie. The average SAT for an admitted student at TAMU is around 1250. That is an average, the College of Engineering requires a much higher score. But TAMU wants students to be prepared for the rigor of college classes. College is not like HS. All of the classes are tough, you have to put in effort even in what are considered “easy” classes outside of your major. Animal Science is tough, obviously it requires a lot of Science!
I have 2 Aggie daughters. Here is our experience in a nutshell. I have more info posted on this forum that you can find by looking for my screen name.
The oldest daughter, HS Class of 2012, TAMU Class of 2016, was at 27% of her HS class but her SAT and ACT scores were at or above the Academic Admit threshold for 2012. She had a 4 year EC with Leadership position and volunteering in the Summer with a church group. She had great essays and LORs, several AP and Dual Credit classes… She sent in her application in mid Oct. of 2011 and received her full admissions offer in Feb. of 2012. She majored in Elementary Education (that isn’t what the degree is called but that is what she does!). She had a wonderful time in CStat. She graduated Cum Laude on time in 2016. She received a job offer at her first interview and is now teaching.
The youngest daughter, HS Class of 2017, future TAMU Class of 2021, was at 53% of her HS class, with an unweighted gpa of 3.5 and weighted gpa of 4.7, SAT of 1250 (Math 580, Eng 670) and ACT 27 (only remember that her Eng component was 30+). She had a 4 year EC (no leadership position) as well as being a member of a competitive team off campus, NO volunteering as her Summers were very busy. One Dual Credit English class. She had great essays and LORs from 2 teachers who really liked her, one of which was a Longhorn (English) and one was an Aggie (Chemistry). She had excelled in their classes. She sent in her application on the Sunday of Thanksgiving break and received her offer of Blinn-TEAM on Feb. 14, 2017.
She started out thinking that she wanted to be an English Major, but she knows that she doesn’t want to teach. Staying on Blinn-TEAM for 2 years is allowing her to explore her options and find a suitable Major. Since her class rank was below 50%, I didn’t think that she would receive Full admissions and was afraid that she would be denied and end up at a different school… But her test scores, essays, LORs, ECs etc. were good enough that she was offered Blinn-TEAM and for that, we are very grateful! She had a wonderful Freshman year, she earned great grades (3.4) and made wonderful friends. Her Sophomore year has started out wonderfully!
There were team mates of both daughters who did not get into TAMU. I know of one team mate (with a Leadership position) of my younger daughter who submitted her application on Aug. 1, 2016. She had 2 parents and at least one grandparent who were Aggies and she was denied admissions in mid Feb. 2017. I don’t know what her test scores were or her class rank. So applying early doesn’t mean that you will hear back sooner. That girl is now at regular Blinn College working on a PTA in her major. They set up an apartment for her before she was denied as this family always planned for her to be an Aggie. She will graduate with the Aggie degree and ring and that is all that matters in the end. It isn’t where you start out but where you finish.
Good luck. I hope you can improve your score and turn yourself into aTAMU Academic Admit! 
@AggieMomAgain Thank you for the info and support! I plan on retaking the SAT soon and hopefully, I’ll be able to raise my score!
@soccerisbae When you take the SAT, select to have your scores auto sent to the universities you are considering. It seems to be a faster task than waiting for them to post and requesting them sent (took 3 weeks for ours to show up after request).