What should I do? UT vs. TAMU

<p>Well I'm a student, not a parent, but here's my problem. I'm going into engineering and I'm applying this year. I'm instate texas. </p>

<p>I'm auto admit to TAMU, and there's an amazing engineering school there, so I'm really happy.
I'm also applying to UT, but I'm no auto admit, so I might not get in. </p>

<p>Problem is, my mom thinks TAMU is a real dump, and a bad public school. I know it's not true for engineering, but she's convinced I can do way better. She wants me to go to UT. I want to go to UT more than anything, but I'm afraid I might not get in. And telling her this, she looked at me and said "Why wouldn't you get in?" To her I've already been accepted to UT, but I know there's a fair chance I'll be denied. What should I do and how should I talk to her about this? She really doesn't like A&M at all and doesn't want to discuss going there</p>

<p>Why create drama where there is none.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>You have been admitted to TAMU … share with your mom that this first admission is a HUGE relief as you now know you will go to college, but that you understand that she expects you to have better choices. And in this case, UT is a better choice for engineering.</p></li>
<li><p>Apply to UT early … as an auto-admit at TAMU, you ought to be at the cusp for admission at UT. There are no auto-admits for engineering, and that means that you have just as good a chance as the sea of auto-admits. </p></li>
<li><p>Talk to your mother about a number of other reasonable opportunities, starting with a couple of safeties (she might like other schools in Texas better than Aggieland) and, above everything, make sure to discuss the financial impact of said choices.</p></li>
<li><p>Get your mom an autographed coffee mug. I heard that it is pretty easy to get a Manziel one those days. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>PS Number 4 is entirely sarcastic, but I happen to love to hit those Aggie carpetbaggers below the belt at every chance I get. And a LOT of my family members hate me for it! :)</p>

<p>Ok the last one completely cracked me up! Hahaha</p>

<p>Show your mom TAMU’s endowment figures, recent publications by professors, and lists of companies that recruit TAMU students. You might also want to highlight A&M’s membership in the most prestigious association of research universities in America (AAU), or some of the accomplishments of its many successful alumni. </p>

<p>You could also just wait to see if you get into Cockrell. If you do, fantastic. Have a great time. If not, have fun at A&M.</p>

<p>I know you say you are in-state, but have you visited both campuses? If not, you really need to do that – and take your mom too. A&M is certainly not a dump, but College Station is verrrryyy different from Austin, not to mention the two schools. </p>

<p>And yes, as someone mentioned, just because you got into A&M doesn’t necessarily mean you will get into UT. It has become very competitive. </p>

<p>Good luck either way; they are both great schools.</p>

<p>It is not clear what the problem is. Do you mean to say that if you are not admitted to UT Austin engineering, your mother will refuse to contribute to your attendance at Texas A&M and push you to do something else?</p>

<p>What would her reaction be to the following scenarios?</p>

<p>a. Admit to UT Austin engineering.
b. Admit to UT Austin, but not in engineering.
c. CAP for UT Austin.
d. Not admitted or CAP for UT Austin.</p>

<p>If you’ve applied and been admitted to Tamu Engineering. CONGRATS you now have a safety school! If you haven’t applied yet don’t wait.
Now you can apply to as many schools as you like without risk. Tamuis very different in atmosphere and spirit from UT and that may be what your mom objects to. Tell her you are going to apply to a few better universities but you want to know if she’ll force you to attend community college rather than Tamu if due to bad luck you’re not admitted there. Or would she rather pay for you attending UT Dallas than Tamu? because. you need to know that.:slight_smile: also ask if she’d be okay with your applying out of state.
Make sure she understands you’re keeping all your options open and heard her.</p>

<p>Basically, she would look down on me if I wanted to go to TAMU. I doubt shed force me to go to CC, or rather pay for OOS unless its an amazing school like HYPSM</p>

<p>If you got into UT Austin non-engineering or got CAPped at UT Austin, would she try to force you to go there (despite the risk of not being able to transfer into UT Austin engineering) over Texas A&M?</p>

<p>That’s kinda iffy. If I got in natural sciences like CS, (second choice), I’d go there. If I got capped, it would depend on the scholarships or aid I got from TAMU. And if I got completely rejected, she would probably look down on me pretty harshly and maybe not contribute as much.</p>

<p>Apply to other schools then. Would she look down on UT Dallas ? Rice ? Olin? Tulsa? Colorado Mines ?
There are lots of ABETschools out there. Make sure you know which are of interest to you, which have free apps, etc.
Also many parents don’t look down on their kid for not getting in but rather on the school for being so short sighted as to let in of such a tremendous applicant as their child. :)</p>

<p>I don’t really get the TAMU bashing. Their ranking and UTs are right in there with each other. They’re just very different atmospheres.</p>

<p>It’s a shame your mom feels that way, because in Texas, they are far and away the best engineering schools available.</p>

<p>Good question about whether or not you have been accepted to the school of engineering at TAMU. Hopefully you have applied. Engineering fills up quickly. Just because you’re an auto-admit to TAMU, does not mean you’re automatically in the school of engineering. The first portion of the applicants are rolling admit, until they get to about 85%-90% capacity, and then the rest are competitive admit. All applicants this year are in general engineering until they complete an initial course of study with a prescribed gpa.</p>

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<p>LOL! That’s funny!</p>

<p>How soon does it fill up?? My counselor won’t send all her stuff until next week</p>

<p>You’re probably okay. ;)</p>

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For many people from Texas, you are either for UT or TAMU, there is no middle ground .</p>

<p>It’s similar to Mich and Mich State, I believe.</p>

<p>It is like that, but since my parents aren’t football fans, it’s not really like that for me. They think it would be boring there and I might agree. I’m more of a big city kind of person</p>

<p>As an engineering student you’ll be too busy to be bored, regardless of which school you attend.</p>

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<p>Totally agree! It’s almost ingrained in you as a child growing up.</p>

<p>So good news, finally got my mom to talk about it-she agreed to pay everything except tuition. Hopefully I can get some scholarships. Reason for this is she wants me to be motivated and apply for tons of scholarships, and wants me to have some financial responsibility for college. She agreed to cosign if we need to</p>