About eight years ago - since my boys were in the FTAB I was on campus a lot, and once when I was bored, I sat in class with one of them. I was also on campus just last week, but not in class.

Your analysis is flawed - you don't judge how the AEI rates high-quality institutions by comparing them to places they rates a low - you judge it by their peers who they also highly rate. So, you think sip doesn't provide a high-quality education? Or Michigan? Florida? UCLA?

The AEI study also includes an entire section describing how students are also choosing higher paying majors - so don't panic if somebody chooses Dance. Capitalism still works.

Get Off My Lawn said:

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Ag_of_08 said:

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You realize A&Ms anthropology department houses several of the best preservation labs for archeology in the world...right? Thats an interesting desire to knock out of our university

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The disdain for this (and tromboning) is the mission. Just because something may be a noble pursuit doesn't mean it's a good fit. A&M at its chartered heart is about practical advancement. STEM that makes young Texans more capable of physically reshaping the landscape for betterment of us all.

Music is a massively important part of life. Archeology is very beneficial in shaping our understanding which can lead to improved decision making. But an organization cannot focus on everything all at once, so A&M would be wise to maintain strong focus on technical strong ROI disciplines.

---

I found the gender studies grad!

A&M was a land grant university. It wasn't made nor should it be for exclusivity. Texas has grown tremendously and A&M should match it. The state and A&M has the resources to do so.

1939 said:

---

I wish we would quit growing so quickly. We need some exclusivity. The state population has not grown 50% since 2010.

---

When I started at A&M in 1989 there were 16.9 million people in Texas, now it's 30 million. I agree A&M needs to pause growth because they need to evaluate what is working and what isn't but the reality is we have tremendous demand. Texas has only 3 AAU schools, A&M, Texas, and Rice. Rice is small and private. Texas has invested heavily in their satellite schools (esp UTD, UT Arlington, and UTSA) and those schools may eventually be AAU level similar to the UC System. The A&M System schools are very good but don't serve that same purpose (Galveston is part of CS so they don't count but they are small anyway). Tech has improved but they are a long way from that level still.

Realize that both A&M and Texas have over 90% In State students. That's a crazy number compared to other public schools of similar level. Very few Top 25ish Public schools have 80% and most are closer to 50-60%. Texas also produces about 450k graduates of public HS's per year. So if you just took the Top 10% that would be 45k students. We are also blessed to have some outstanding large public high schools that not only crank out grads but crank out very high quality grads.

There are a lot of conflicting issues going on.

Rapier108 said:

---

A&M provides a huge number of good degrees that lead to well paying jobs.

Its a diploma mill for worthless degrees that should not even be offered. All they do is churn out the next generation of social justice warriors who are saddled with massive debt and no chance to get a good paying job with their degree. Instead they turn into antifa and wait for the next Democrat to pay off their loans.

Just from one look through the list of current degrees. No problem with some of these topics have a few classes on the subject as college is about learning new things, but A&M shouldn't be having them as majors. None of the "Studies" should be taught at all.

Anthropology
Classics
Dance Science
General Studies
Journalism (so as long as it is basically MSDNC level)
Modern Languages (French, German, or Russian) (a minor, sure, but not a major)
Music Performance
Performance & Visual Studies
Philosophy
Spanish (Again, minor sure, but not a major)
Theatre
University Studies - Global Arts, Planning, Design & Construction (Plenty of similar degrees offered.)
University Studies - Oceans & One Health
University Studies - Race, Gender, & Ethnicity
University Studies - Society, Ethics, & Law
University Studies - Tourism & Coastal Community Development
Women's & Gender Studies

---

FWIW Dance Science is actually used as a Pre Health major for many students, it's especially good for Occupational Therapy.

Most of those majors are very small and University Studies is more of a placeholder for the overwhelming majority of students in it as is General Studies. Not every student knows what they want to study. A&M can improve but we are WAY better than most schools in terms of this.

Rapier108 said:

---

A&M provides a huge number of good degrees that lead to well paying jobs.

Its a diploma mill for worthless degrees that should not even be offered. All they do is churn out the next generation of social justice warriors who are saddled with massive debt and no chance to get a good paying job with their degree. Instead they turn into antifa and wait for the next Democrat to pay off their loans.

Just from one look through the list of current degrees. No problem with some of these topics have a few classes on the subject as college is about learning new things, but A&M shouldn't be having them as majors. None of the "Studies" should be taught at all.

Anthropology
Classics
Dance Science
General Studies
Journalism (so as long as it is basically MSDNC level)
Modern Languages (French, German, or Russian) (a minor, sure, but not a major)
Music Performance
Performance & Visual Studies
Philosophy
Spanish (Again, minor sure, but not a major)
Theatre
University Studies - Global Arts, Planning, Design & Construction (Plenty of similar degrees offered.)
University Studies - Oceans & One Health
University Studies - Race, Gender, & Ethnicity
University Studies - Society, Ethics, & Law
University Studies - Tourism & Coastal Community Development
Women's & Gender Studies

---

Anthropology is still a valid course of study and should remain as a major. The study of human societal advancement and disparate cultures is a necessary undertaking.

Classics and Philosophy traditionally should be fine as majors too. They need reform because they're too focused (esp. PHIL) on post-modernism but traditionally such courses of study were well-represented in business because they taught critical thinking and problem solving along with logic. Perhaps it's not as valid today with all the math and computer science folks involved in algorithmic trading as quants but historically there have been lots and lots of folks with these degrees be very successful and sought after in the trading world. Besides, Classics is the in-depth study of the Canon of Western Civilization which needs to be protected and advanced as a bulwark against the denigration of Western Civilization so prevalent in education today.

Journalism also should be there but reformed. We need Aggie journalists out in the world and I'm not counting the Roland Martins.

Languages as majors are also good ones to have.

The university studies paths I left merit a deeper dive IMHO. Perhaps they could be folded into other degree plans but just on names they seem to have some merit.

I do think that the College of Education needs to be reformed. If one wishes to be a teacher they need to major in the subject they wish to teach (ie- history, math, English, etc) and get a minor in education so they understand pedagogy and instruction but too often the College of Education does little more than turn out bureaucrats and administrators with little ability to understand actual education.

Agree to disagree then

Flower Child said:

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Teslag said:

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Nah it's backed up by salaries and job demand. Most arts majors are trash.

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Just because its much harder to become a successful musician than a successful engineer doesn't make the major trash.

---

That's precisely what makes it trash

Ryan the Temp said:

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Teslag said:

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Nah it's backed up by salaries and job demand. Most arts majors are trash.

---

I'll think of you when I'm cashing my royalty checks.

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Are large royalties checks the standard for music majors? Because large paychecks are the standard for engineers.

infinity ag said:

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Flower Child said:

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There are over 200 colleges/universities in Texas, with everyone fighting to get into maybe 5 of them.

Texas needs more of its universities to become great. We don't need to keep expanding A&M until College Station can accommodate hundreds of thousands of students.

---

The name "TAMU - College Station" has cache. Respect. Impact.
It is not the same if you say you are from TAMU - Galveston.

Just a couple of days ago, I dissuaded my friend from picking TAMU Galveston and Kingsville for his daughter on the CommonApp. I said go to A&M CS or go elsewhere. That is how it is.

---

Galveston is literally part of College Station. It is the College of Maritime Science and you can take classes at either campus. You get an Aggie ring and better tickets than kids at CS. My son just graduated from there with Maritime Transportation as a degree and is making heavy 6 figures before his 22nd birthday and MART, MARE, and OCEN are 3 of the highest paying majors in Texas. Maritime Administration also has at least equal job placement and outcomes as Mays. All in a school where you likely have less than 30 in most of your classes. If you don't like it there you can change majors to a CS major and move without applying to CS.

You gave your friend some terrible advice.

aggie93 said:

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1939 said:

---

I wish we would quit growing so quickly. We need some exclusivity. The state population has not grown 50% since 2010.

---

When I started at A&M in 1989 there were 16.9 million people in Texas, now it's 30 million. I agree A&M needs to pause growth because they need to evaluate what is working and what isn't but the reality is we have tremendous demand. Texas has only 3 AAU schools, A&M, Texas, and Rice. Rice is small and private. Texas has invested heavily in their satellite schools (esp UTD, UT Arlington, and UTSA) and those schools may eventually be AAU level similar to the UC System. The A&M System schools are very good but don't serve that same purpose (Galveston is part of CS so they don't count but they are small anyway). Tech has improved but they are a long way from that level still.

---

Why do you think they can't evaluate while they're growing? It seems that's what they've been doing, and despite massive growth, A&M is still a very reputable school. Educating the masses, not the exclusives.

Yesterday said:

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A&M was a land grant university. It wasn't made nor should it be for exclusivity. Texas has grown tremendously and A&M should match it. The state and A&M has the resources to do so.

---

A&M's per capita enrollment is smaller today than in 1980.

Ryan the Temp said:

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Quote:

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Music Performance

---

This is literally the first semester this major has existed at A&M. It's about damn time, too. A&M has the resources to have one of the top music programs in the State, so it's a wonder it took this long. If A&M offered music performance before now, I would have gone back to A&M instead of going to a different school. The trombone prof at A&M is world class.

ETA: Being a music performance major is a vastly more difficult and demanding program than you probably think it is.

---

We 100% don't care.

Which part of Agriculture or Mechanical is Music Performance?

Want to perform music, great. Go do it somewhere else.

I managed to march in the FTAB for 4 years and even recorded an Album without it.

And there's already a short list of successful Aggie musicians who didn't major in Music Performance.

Quote:

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University Studies is more of a placeholder for the overwhelming majority of students in it as is General Studies.

---

I'm fine with it as a placeholder, but a respected institution should never have something like that as a degree, and before you post it, yes, I include the Ivy League in that statement.

All it says is that someone doesn't know how to make a decision, or isn't intelligent enough to get into one of the other colleges on campus.*



*Exceptions apply, of course.

texagbeliever said:

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What defines a diploma mill?
Id say: Easy passable classes that dont actually create a skill or improve the intellectual abilities of the students.

A&M has plenty of that. The writing standards are low. The reading standards are low. I remember my diffeq class anyone who got a 50 got a C on the test.

Can great students still get great things out of the opportunity. Absolutely yes. But that is largely individual driven.

---

Ah... sounds like you missed MATH 161 with the Math Gnome Doug Hensley.

I got a C with a 41% average.
I think the highest grade in the class was in the 70% range.

Back in Old Army when kids still took weed out classes at A&M instead of transferring in with 30 hours from High School AP courses.

bqce said:

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aggie93 said:

---

1939 said:

---

I wish we would quit growing so quickly. We need some exclusivity. The state population has not grown 50% since 2010.

---

When I started at A&M in 1989 there were 16.9 million people in Texas, now it's 30 million. I agree A&M needs to pause growth because they need to evaluate what is working and what isn't but the reality is we have tremendous demand. Texas has only 3 AAU schools, A&M, Texas, and Rice. Rice is small and private. Texas has invested heavily in their satellite schools (esp UTD, UT Arlington, and UTSA) and those schools may eventually be AAU level similar to the UC System. The A&M System schools are very good but don't serve that same purpose (Galveston is part of CS so they don't count but they are small anyway). Tech has improved but they are a long way from that level still.

---

Why do you think they can't evaluate while they're growing? It seems that's what they've been doing, and despite massive growth, A&M is still a very reputable school. Educating the masses, not the exclusives.

---

Of course they are but there are a lot of things that aren't working well and are being lost. Our admissions is a mess, Top 10% makes no sense for us anymore and we are the highest rated school in the US that still does rolling admissions and we pressure students to apply in August when no other comparable schools do before October. Our merit scholarships and financial aid system is a mess. ETAM needs serious reform. We need to have a separate admission system for Mays just as we do for Engineering. Our level of customer service for applicants and financial aid is horrifically bad. That's just for starters. We are doing less with more than any other school of our size and we are horrifically inefficient and often seem to operate in a vacuum with no real plan and we need to really evaluate what our priorities and and how we want to achieve them.

When you have a $20 Billion endowment and a very loyal alumni base while sitting in the middle of one of the fastest growing areas of the country filled with top quality students it's kind of hard to screw it up. That said we seem to work hard to find a way on many fronts and far too many Ags get very defensive when you bring up objective reasons of how we need to improve and why. For me I didn't realize it until I had 2 kids go through the process just how many things A&M does that are just so dumb and easily fixable but because of the growth most of it gets swept under the rug, there is very little pressure to be more efficient and smart with our resources compared to other schools.

In the mid-90s I did not get into TAMU or UT because I was not good enough.

I did not work hard in high school and had questionable grades - if not terrible.

Despite scoring in the upper 20% on SAT at that time - had I actually applied myself - I would have been able to get in. I deliberately avoided Calculus and harder coursework in high school cause I was lazy and wanted to sail through easy electives for credits. Simply put - I did NOT DESERVE to get in.

This is how life works. It did not ruin me. I have done ok for myself. Had I decided to do the whole 'get straight A's in a semester or two of Blinn.... I could have.

Seeing standards decrease at our flagship institutions does NO ONE in Texas any favors.

Eliminatus said:

---

infinity ag said:

---

Flower Child said:

---

There are over 200 colleges/universities in Texas, with everyone fighting to get into maybe 5 of them.

Texas needs more of its universities to become great. We don't need to keep expanding A&M until College Station can accommodate hundreds of thousands of students.

---

The name "TAMU - College Station" has cache. Respect. Impact.
It is not the same if you say you are from TAMU - Galveston.

Just a couple of days ago, I dissuaded my friend from picking TAMU Galveston and Kingsville for his daughter on the CommonApp. I said go to A&M CS or go elsewhere. That is how it is.

---

And yet the degree will say, Texas A&M. Period. The only ones who give grief over the satellite schools are CS attendees. It's one of the dumber dick measuring contests out there.

Looking back in hindsight, I actually think I would have liked starting in Galveston over CS then transfer over.

---

So nowhere in the degree does it say Galveston or Kingsville?

What about the UT system? I am sure Austin people don't want to be clubbed with UTD or UTArl

HollywoodBQ said:

---

Ryan the Temp said:

---

Quote:

---

Music Performance

---

This is literally the first semester this major has existed at A&M. It's about damn time, too. A&M has the resources to have one of the top music programs in the State, so it's a wonder it took this long. If A&M offered music performance before now, I would have gone back to A&M instead of going to a different school. The trombone prof at A&M is world class.

ETA: Being a music performance major is a vastly more difficult and demanding program than you probably think it is.

---

We 100% don't care.

Which part of Agriculture or Mechanical is Music Performance?

Want to perform music, great. Go do it somewhere else.

I managed to march in the FTAB for 4 years and even recorded an Album without it.

And there's already a short list of successful Aggie musicians who didn't major in Music Performance.

---

The A&M hasn't officially been the focus since Rudder was president and is only retained these days for nostalgic and branding purposes. There's a reason the vast majority of schools founded as A&M in other states long since traded the A&M for the "State" moniker.

Oklahoma State, Michigan State, North Carolina State, and Mississippi State were all founded as A&Ms and later changed their official names to what they are today. Texas A&M is one of the few who retained the A&M and it's long-since been just symbolic.

infinity ag said:

---

Eliminatus said:

---

infinity ag said:

---

Flower Child said:

---

There are over 200 colleges/universities in Texas, with everyone fighting to get into maybe 5 of them.

Texas needs more of its universities to become great. We don't need to keep expanding A&M until College Station can accommodate hundreds of thousands of students.

---

The name "TAMU - College Station" has cache. Respect. Impact.
It is not the same if you say you are from TAMU - Galveston.

Just a couple of days ago, I dissuaded my friend from picking TAMU Galveston and Kingsville for his daughter on the CommonApp. I said go to A&M CS or go elsewhere. That is how it is.

---

And yet the degree will say, Texas A&M. Period. The only ones who give grief over the satellite schools are CS attendees. It's one of the dumber dick measuring contests out there.

Looking back in hindsight, I actually think I would have liked starting in Galveston over CS then transfer over.

---

So nowhere in the degree does it say Galveston or Kingsville?

What about the UT system? I am sure Austin people don't want to be clubbed with UTD or UTArl

---

Galveston, no it's just Texas A&M. It's not a separate university just a satellite campus housing specific academic/degree programs.

Kingsville, yes. It's a separate university under the A&M system IIRC.

CDUB98 said:

---

Quote:

---

University Studies is more of a placeholder for the overwhelming majority of students in it as is General Studies.

---

I'm fine with it as a placeholder, but a respected institution should never have something like that as a degree, and before you post it, yes, I include the Ivy League in that statement.

All it says is that someone doesn't know how to make a decision, or isn't intelligent enough to get into one of the other colleges on campus.*



*Exceptions apply, of course.

---

Looking on the website I can't find anyone that was actually awarded a degree in General Studies at A&M and the number who got Degrees in Philosophy/Humanities/Hispanic Studies and Anthropology are less than 100 combined compared to over 3500 in Engineering. Most of those programs listed are just for taking classes not for majors.

BTW, virtually every school in the Top 50 have a General Studies Degree or similar as most are fundamentally Liberal Arts oriented. I'm not a fan of those degrees but if it's a very small number that means it is likely for exceptional and unusual cases.

Rapier108 said:

---

A&M provides a huge number of good degrees that lead to well paying jobs.

Its a diploma mill for worthless degrees that should not even be offered. All they do is churn out the next generation of social justice warriors who are saddled with massive debt and no chance to get a good paying job with their degree. Instead they turn into antifa and wait for the next Democrat to pay off their loans.

Just from one look through the list of current degrees. No problem with some of these topics have a few classes on the subject as college is about learning new things, but A&M shouldn't be having them as majors. None of the "Studies" should be taught at all.

Anthropology
Classics
Dance Science
General Studies
Journalism (so as long as it is basically MSDNC level)
Modern Languages (French, German, or Russian) (a minor, sure, but not a major)
Music Performance
Performance & Visual Studies
Philosophy
Spanish (Again, minor sure, but not a major)
Theatre
University Studies - Global Arts, Planning, Design & Construction (Plenty of similar degrees offered.)
University Studies - Oceans & One Health
University Studies - Race, Gender, & Ethnicity
University Studies - Society, Ethics, & Law
University Studies - Tourism & Coastal Community Development
Women's & Gender Studies

---

Clueless , you know how many well paying jobs in corporate America dont require a stem degree

infinity ag said:

---

Eliminatus said:

---

infinity ag said:

---

Flower Child said:

---

There are over 200 colleges/universities in Texas, with everyone fighting to get into maybe 5 of them.

Texas needs more of its universities to become great. We don't need to keep expanding A&M until College Station can accommodate hundreds of thousands of students.

---

The name "TAMU - College Station" has cache. Respect. Impact.
It is not the same if you say you are from TAMU - Galveston.

Just a couple of days ago, I dissuaded my friend from picking TAMU Galveston and Kingsville for his daughter on the CommonApp. I said go to A&M CS or go elsewhere. That is how it is.

---

And yet the degree will say, Texas A&M. Period. The only ones who give grief over the satellite schools are CS attendees. It's one of the dumber dick measuring contests out there.

Looking back in hindsight, I actually think I would have liked starting in Galveston over CS then transfer over.

---

So nowhere in the degree does it say Galveston or Kingsville?

What about the UT system? I am sure Austin people don't want to be clubbed with UTD or UTArl

---

Galveston is completely different than Kingsville, Corpus Christi, etc. It is very much part of College Station in every way. In fact it essentially gives you access to a second alumni network. BTW, if you go on US News you can't even find Galveston because it is part of the school and if you watch the latest commercial we have for football they have multiple images of the Galveston campus, it's not like there are ships in College Station. All of the colors and branding are Maroon and White and they are an adjunct and even have their own Yell Leaders.

The other System schools are separate for the most part and very few qualify for PUF money. Still good schools but not the same at all and have their own nicknames and mascots and colors.

The other UT System schools are not part of UT Austin like Galveston is with CS and are more like the other System schools within A&M's system. For instance UTSA is the Roadrunners. In order to transfer to UT Austin you have to apply.

Apollo79 said:

---

Rapier108 said:

---

A&M provides a huge number of good degrees that lead to well paying jobs.

Its a diploma mill for worthless degrees that should not even be offered. All they do is churn out the next generation of social justice warriors who are saddled with massive debt and no chance to get a good paying job with their degree. Instead they turn into antifa and wait for the next Democrat to pay off their loans.

Just from one look through the list of current degrees. No problem with some of these topics have a few classes on the subject as college is about learning new things, but A&M shouldn't be having them as majors. None of the "Studies" should be taught at all.

Anthropology
Classics
Dance Science
General Studies
Journalism (so as long as it is basically MSDNC level)
Modern Languages (French, German, or Russian) (a minor, sure, but not a major)
Music Performance
Performance & Visual Studies
Philosophy
Spanish (Again, minor sure, but not a major)
Theatre
University Studies - Global Arts, Planning, Design & Construction (Plenty of similar degrees offered.)
University Studies - Oceans & One Health
University Studies - Race, Gender, & Ethnicity
University Studies - Society, Ethics, & Law
University Studies - Tourism & Coastal Community Development
Women's & Gender Studies

---

Clueless , you know how many well paying jobs in corporate America dont require a stem degree

---

27 year old just bought his first home 3 doors down from me here in rural Alabma.

He works 3-4 days a week and pressure washes houses, trucks, trailers, sidewalks, driveways.....

He is making a nice $150K a year. And fishing 3-4 days a week.

Only in America.

infinity ag said:

---

Eliminatus said:

---

infinity ag said:

---

Flower Child said:

---

There are over 200 colleges/universities in Texas, with everyone fighting to get into maybe 5 of them.

Texas needs more of its universities to become great. We don't need to keep expanding A&M until College Station can accommodate hundreds of thousands of students.

---

The name "TAMU - College Station" has cache. Respect. Impact.
It is not the same if you say you are from TAMU - Galveston.

Just a couple of days ago, I dissuaded my friend from picking TAMU Galveston and Kingsville for his daughter on the CommonApp. I said go to A&M CS or go elsewhere. That is how it is.

---

And yet the degree will say, Texas A&M. Period. The only ones who give grief over the satellite schools are CS attendees. It's one of the dumber dick measuring contests out there.

Looking back in hindsight, I actually think I would have liked starting in Galveston over CS then transfer over.

---

So nowhere in the degree does it say Galveston or Kingsville?

What about the UT system? I am sure Austin people don't want to be clubbed with UTD or UTArl

---

To Eliminatus: it depends on the A&M system school and system school degrees do not say Texas A&M (unless something has changed) and are not remotely the same. My nephew is a freshman at East Texas A&M and it's a total ****hole. It's arguably worse than it was before we took it over. He's transferring to Arkansas at the end of the semester to escape it.

To infinitiag: Objectively, I think most people would agree that the UT systems schools are far superior (on average) than the A&M system schools. Our system schools are mostly a joke. I'm not including Galveston in this because it's technically part of College Station and is one of the best schools around for what it offers.

edit: I WANT our system schools to be better. I do not want College Station and Galveston to be the only schools that are credible.

aggie93 said:

---

BTW, virtually every school in the Top 50 have a General Studies Degree or similar as most are fundamentally Liberal Arts oriented. I'm not a fan of those degrees but if it's a very small number that means it is likely for exceptional and unusual cases.

---

Football Players

YouBet said:

---

infinity ag said:

---

Eliminatus said:

---

infinity ag said:

---

Flower Child said:

---

There are over 200 colleges/universities in Texas, with everyone fighting to get into maybe 5 of them.

Texas needs more of its universities to become great. We don't need to keep expanding A&M until College Station can accommodate hundreds of thousands of students.

---

The name "TAMU - College Station" has cache. Respect. Impact.
It is not the same if you say you are from TAMU - Galveston.

Just a couple of days ago, I dissuaded my friend from picking TAMU Galveston and Kingsville for his daughter on the CommonApp. I said go to A&M CS or go elsewhere. That is how it is.

---

And yet the degree will say, Texas A&M. Period. The only ones who give grief over the satellite schools are CS attendees. It's one of the dumber dick measuring contests out there.

Looking back in hindsight, I actually think I would have liked starting in Galveston over CS then transfer over.

---

So nowhere in the degree does it say Galveston or Kingsville?

What about the UT system? I am sure Austin people don't want to be clubbed with UTD or UTArl

---

To Eliminatus: it depends on the A&M system school and system school degrees do not say Texas A&M (unless something has changed) and are not remotely the same. My nephew is a freshman at East Texas A&M and it's a total ****hole. It's arguably worse than it was before we took it over. He's transferring to Arkansas at the end of the semester to escape it.

To infinitiag: Objectively, I think most people would agree that the UT systems schools are far superior (on average) than the A&M system schools. Our system schools are mostly a joke. I'm not including Galveston in this because it's technically part of College Station and is one of the best schools around for what it offers.

edit: I WANT our system schools to be better. I do not want College Station and Galveston to be the only schools that are credible.

---

A&M Kingsville has an excellent music performance program.

TheEternalOptimist said:

---

In the mid-90s I did not get into TAMU or UT because I was not good enough.

I did not work hard in high school and had questionable grades - if not terrible.

Despite scoring in the upper 20% on SAT at that time - had I actually applied myself - I would have been able to get in. I deliberately avoided Calculus and harder coursework in high school cause I was lazy and wanted to sail through easy electives for credits. Simply put - I did NOT DESERVE to get in.

This is how life works. It did not ruin me. I have done ok for myself. Had I decided to do the whole 'get straight A's in a semester or two of Blinn.... I could have.

Seeing standards decrease at our flagship institutions does NO ONE in Texas any favors.

---

Standards have not decreased at A&M, I would wager that you would have a very hard time finding anyone that was admitted last year that would not have been accepted 10 years ago but the opposite is not true. There are problems for sure and we can do a LOT better but it's not easy to get in or to graduate.

More enrollment is a really bad objective for any university.

fixer said:

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More enrollment is a really bad objective for any university.

---

More graduates = more potential donors.

aggie93 said:

---

TheEternalOptimist said:

---

In the mid-90s I did not get into TAMU or UT because I was not good enough.

I did not work hard in high school and had questionable grades - if not terrible.

Despite scoring in the upper 20% on SAT at that time - had I actually applied myself - I would have been able to get in. I deliberately avoided Calculus and harder coursework in high school cause I was lazy and wanted to sail through easy electives for credits. Simply put - I did NOT DESERVE to get in.

This is how life works. It did not ruin me. I have done ok for myself. Had I decided to do the whole 'get straight A's in a semester or two of Blinn.... I could have.

Seeing standards decrease at our flagship institutions does NO ONE in Texas any favors.

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Standards have not decreased at A&M, I would wager that you would have a very hard time finding anyone that was admitted last year that would not have been accepted 10 years ago but the opposite is not true. There are problems for sure and we can do a LOT better but it's not easy to get in or to graduate.

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Agreed. I would not be able to get in under current standards. Way harder now than what they were in the early 90s.

Also one of the reasons we've had so many Texas kids migrate away from Texas to other SEC schools. Can't get into Texas or A&M anymore.

texagbeliever said:

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What defines a diploma mill?
Id say: Easy passable classes that dont actually create a skill or improve the intellectual abilities of the students.

A&M has plenty of that. The writing standards are low. The reading standards are low. I remember my diffeq class anyone who got a 50 got a C on the test.

Can great students still get great things out of the opportunity. Absolutely yes. But that is largely individual driven.

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Wasn't that way back in the day (early 80s)

Plus, there were not all of the so-called resources available to make sure one passes a class. Back in the day, it was figure it out on our own. You would almost have to be an idiot to flunk a class nowadays. Technology has contributed greatly to the graduation rate of students.

CDUB98 said:

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Quote:

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University Studies is more of a placeholder for the overwhelming majority of students in it as is General Studies.

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I'm fine with it as a placeholder, but a respected institution should never have something like that as a degree, and before you post it, yes, I include the Ivy League in that statement.

All it says is that someone doesn't know how to make a decision, or isn't intelligent enough to get into one of the other colleges on campus.*



*Exceptions apply, of course.

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As a proud University Studies major I will say that the degree is more of a "let's graduate you already." The degree does require two minors. Mine were History and Sports Management. At the time I had no idea what I wanted to do and just wanted to graduate. This was the fastest route to do so. I feel it has a need considering many students just need to graduate and hit the workforce doing anything.

My degree, so far, has played zero role in my career but I'm also a business owner. So take that for what it's worth.

Yesterday said:

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CDUB98 said:

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Quote:

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University Studies is more of a placeholder for the overwhelming majority of students in it as is General Studies.

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I'm fine with it as a placeholder, but a respected institution should never have something like that as a degree, and before you post it, yes, I include the Ivy League in that statement.

All it says is that someone doesn't know how to make a decision, or isn't intelligent enough to get into one of the other colleges on campus.*



*Exceptions apply, of course.

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As a proud University Studies major I will say that the degree is more of a "let's graduate you already." The degree does require two minors. Mine were History and Sports Management. At the time I had no idea what I wanted to do and just wanted to graduate. This was the fastest route to do so. I feel it has a need considering many students just need to graduate and hit the workforce doing anything.

My degree, so far, has played zero role in my career but I'm also a business owner. So take that for what it's worth.

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Interesting. I was a General Studies major my Freshman and Sophomore year. Back then you were forced to pick a major at the end of your Sophomore year as GS was only allowed for first two years.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life at 51.

Ryan the Temp said:

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fixer said:

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More enrollment is a really bad objective for any university.

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More graduates = more potential donors.

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Exactly, Universities are not in the business of educating students. The ROI is just too low once facilities, housing, staffing is taken into account. Universities are in the business of creating alumni. The ROI on a few glossy quarterly mailers far exceeds that of educating students.