I’m an Asian who’s aspiring to go to Texas A&M. However I feel like since they have a relatively low Asian population in what seems to be a predominantly whitewashed school I’ll be considered like almost an outsider? This is especially so because I want to pursue construction science and most of the Asians at A&M are in engineering. I want to know more about the diversity here and how life is like at A&M for those that are not white.
@langerfyre - That’s pretty pejorative calling Texas A&M “whitewashed” This implies that its racial profile was deliberately determined by excluding minorities. I will be charitable and assume that you didn’t set out to be insulting. Anyway, minorities make up 1/3 of the student body. About 21% are Hispanic, 6% Asian, and 3% Black. Texas’s demographics are not like California; only about 3% of Texans identify themselves as Asian.
I am a parent, so I have no first-hand experience. My son is one of the 3% OOS TAMU students but not Asian. He has fit in well. On our campus visit before college, I did notice that there were not very many Asian students until we got up to the Engineering part of campus.
Have you visited? You might also try contacting some of the organizations listed on this page: https://stuactonline.tamu.edu/app/search/index?search=category&q=Cultural/International
@Beaudreau Sorry I didn’t mean to disparage I was just trying to express how predominant the white population is at TAMU. And no I haven’t visited yet but I’m planning to attend an educational camp there over the summer. I’ve heard that the people there are very nice but I’m just hoping that I will be able to fit in well there.
@Langerfyre - I hope your visit goes well. But to get a real flavor of campus life, you need to visit during the school year. It will be pretty dead during the summer. And remember that many of the Aggie traditions at first seem strange to all new students, regardless of race or gender. Then by the time they leave most become very enthusiastic members of the Aggie network. My oldest son has gone from being pretty cynical to being very excited about being able to buy his Aggie class ring this fall (although he still could not care less about college sports).
My three sons graduated from a high school that was about one-half Asian-Americans, so they sort of saw things from the other side.
I’m an Asian Junior at A&M. Compared to UT, there are significantly less Asians here but there definitely is an Asian community. There are many Asian organizations available as well. There are a lot of Asian profs and people of all different races here but I’d say it is most definitely white dominated.
We are Asian and my son who went to a predominantly white (he loved it there, no issues) Jesuit high school from out of state is going there. He had doubts and once he visited, he and my husband fell in love with the school. They (I did not visit yet) felt the campus was very welcoming and open. He is going to engineering.
I am asian and also at TAMU. I study biomedical sciences and public health. I mean, race of any color, predominant or not, never bothered me. You don’t get odd looks or anything here. I will agree yes, there is a noticeably smaller number of asian students here compared to say, UT or UH, but its not like you never see them, or even rarely see them. Don’t let it bother you. A similar analogy would be girls in studying engineering. I am sure they feel like outsiders all the time but I’m certain they don’t let that stop them from studying what they want.