<p>I'm a Junior in HS and I just took my ACT on Apr 13. I will be taking the SAT on June 1. </p>
<p>I want to go to TAMU for Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering.</p>
<p>I'm ranked in the top quarter of my class, at 12.5%-13%
I got a 22 on my ACT
English: 24
Math: 25
Reading: 19
Writing: 8
English w/ Writing: 23
Science: 20
I will be retaking it in September, but I'm not sure how much better I can do.</p>
<p>I was a high school scholar for NASA, but I id not fully completely the program. I'm also part of BPA (Business Professionals of America) and a national winner for Web Applications Team. I am also part of my high school solar car race team.</p>
<p>What are my chances?</p>
<p>Thanks in advanced!</p>
<p>Much depends on your courses taken in the senior year, particularly for the rank you describe. If you’re not in top 10% but still well within the top quarter, your chances are much better if the Admissions staff sees a strong, college-oriented course selection for senior year. As a former AP teacher, I have seen many students with rank around yours who were accepted to A&M Engineering because they had taken classes like AP Calculus (or at least Calculus of some sort), AP Physics C and/or AP Chemistry or AP Biology, with Calculus being probably the most crucial for applicants to Engineering. If you’re sure about Aerospace or Mechanical, you will probably want the Physics too.
Admissions staff prefers Physics -C over Physics-B because it is calculus-based. (From what the AP Physics teachers say, you need C for Engineering and B is ok if you’re doing a science geared toward Pre-med).
They like to see that you can handle and are willing to handle rigorous coursework in the senior year instead of the easy senior year that many high school students dream of.
Any other AP classes (as in Government, American history, English, Statistics, foreign language) or dual credit classes (offered at community colleges) also help present you as a real potential college student.
When you submit your senior schedule and transcript, you want to be sure that you look like you are able to handle college classes AND that you are willing to take on rigorous coursework.
But you’re also on the right track about SAT prep–do some online prep or purchase a book to help you prepare before you take it. A&M used to require a combined 1300 on Math and Reading for students who were not automatically accepted because of top ten percent rank, so check their current requirements. I’ve seen students who had 1250-1260 get accepted because they had A’s on their 1st-semester senior transcript in the AP courses described above. Make use of this summer for SAT and first semester of senior year. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Senior year I’m set up to take:
AP English 4
AP Physics
AP Calculus AB or BC (depending on the grade I make in Precal this year)
Dual Credit US Gov/Econ (AP weights)
Dual Credit Intro into Engineering/Robotics (AP weights)</p>
<p>My current GPA is 4.4ish…</p>
<p>I’ve consistently taken a healthy combination of honors and regular classes.</p>
<p>I took honors English during Freshman, Sophomore and AP Junior year. I took Honors Chem and Physics Sophomore and Junior year. I took Honors Alg. 2 last year and Precal this year. All my history classes have been regular.</p>
<p>Courses sound good, so try to have a strong GPA in those classes selected. Check out the physics to find out if it’s B or C. Besides grades earned in the classes, the other thing will be to practice for SAT. If you don’t like your June scores, you can take it again in early fall.</p>
<p>Your rank is great, but the ACT score is way too low. If you can bring it up to a 27, which is the average score at A&M, your chance will be increased dramatically. Try the SAT as well.</p>
<p>Note about courses: Sometimes, you have to make choices. My own son (who is almost finished with second-year engineering at A&M) had to take English at the community college instead of AP English as we had planned, because it was a conflict with AP Physics-C. The counselor at the high school told him just to take AP Physics-B, but he knew better than that if he wanted in Engineering, so he chose Physics -C over AP English because he knew it would be more important to be accepted into Engineering. Additional benefit: those first 2 semesters of physics are so much easier at A&M if you’ve done AP Physics in high school. In the event that your school doesn’t offer C, still take Physics B, but C is preferable.</p>
<p>I don’t know if my school offers Physics-C :’( It doesn’t list in the course registration. I’ll talk to my counselor about it.</p>
<p>Julian is right about trying SAT if you find ACT difficult. Some people click better with one over the other. My daughter ( graduated two years ago from UT with Mechanical Engineering) said ACT worked better with her test-taking style, but my son said the opposite and did better on SAT. Luckily, you have time on your side, but you have to make the most of the time left.
PS:Can’t say how many students whom I’ve seen going to their 2nd, 3rd choice colleges because they wanted to have an “easy / fun Senior year,” so don’t let buddies distract you too much. You can plan your time to study, prepare for SAT, and still have fun.</p>
<p>My HS counselor also said that Engineering at A&M fills in November/December of Senior year so I have to rush to get my application in if I want to get in.</p>
<p>Is this true? If not, when is the latest I can apply? </p>
<p>I’m really worried =/</p>
<p>The application closing date is December 1st. But if you want to major in engineering, you better apply as early as possible since A&M has the rolling admission.
Assuming that you have only taken the ACT once, I recommend that you take both SAT and ACT again in June to get farmiliar with them and spend the whole summer studying for the ACT, then take the ACT on September 8th, so that way you can get your score back early.( if you take the SAT in October, You will get your score back in late October or November, which may be too late.)
By the way, is your rank from sophomore year? If you have good grades this year, you may be in the top 10% when the school year ends. Good luck!</p>
<p>This rank was from Junior year as of the end of first semester (December).</p>
<p>You just apply as soon as applications for Fall 2014 are accepted; it will say on their website. Send all your most recent SAT scores, transcripts from h.s. and community college, etc. at the time with a note that you will update those things as soon as first semester of senior year is over. They will have a deadline for how long you can continue to submit materials. And, there is a form you print out from the A&M website to accompany additional materials as you update & submit materials.
Work on your essays during the summer, so that by date they start accepting applications, you are ready to put on the finishing touches. You can get so much done this summer for the application process if you review the criteria on their Admissions website (probably under Application Procedures or some similar title).
If you remain outside of top ten percent of your class, you probably won’t hear back about acceptance until mid-year. The students who are auto-admits b/c of the top 10% rank will hear back probably in the fall, but even then, they may be guaranteed acceptance to the university but are not guaranteed acceptance to a given major unless they meet other requirements.
Also, check with your counselor or someone in A&M Admissions as to whether the auto cut-off stays at 10%. There was talk of them changing it to 8% or such because of the increased volume of applications they have been receiving the last 2-3 years.<br>
Still, you should have a good chance in top 12% if you take rigorous courses in senior year, make combined 1300 on SAT Reading and Math, and do a 1st class job on the other application criteria. (Also, your high school GPA could still go up even at the end of junior year IF you take semester exams and do really well on them. If you had a 25 in Math on SAT, with some practice or tutoring, you can probably get it to a 27 or maybe just will do better with the SAT format–Math will be the most important one of those scores, but the Reading and Overall are indicators too).
About the worry, just be sure to have a back-up plan that you can live with, and that removes some stress. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Also, set up an appointment at one of A&M’s Prospective Student Centers (usually one within 100 miles of any part of Texas) for early in the summer, so that they can assist you with application information and deadlines for applying in the fall of senior year.</p>