1939 said:

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

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We have. A freeze on incoming Freshman was adopted in the last couple of years.

Teslag said:

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The world need artists, philosophers, anthropologists, linguists, etc.

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There are plenty of BS waste of time schools where one can do this. It's doesn't need to be at our elite universities where real education matters.

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Bro, A&M is a fine school but lets not act like its Ivy League.

BoDog said:

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Teslag said:

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The world need artists, philosophers, anthropologists, linguists, etc.

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There are plenty of BS waste of time schools where one can do this. It's doesn't need to be at our elite universities where real education matters.

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Bro, A&M is a fine school but lets not act like its Ivy League.

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It basically is for engineering and possibly some other programs.

agracer said:

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Aggie97 said:

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agracer said:

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The fact that people attending blindergarden get an Aggie Ring tells me it's a diploma mill.

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You do know kids that transfer in still have to get 90 hours before ordering their ring. They also have to have 60 of those 90 hours being on campus. If they don't get the 60 hours before graduation they have to wait until they graduate to order. This does not make them less of an Aggie.

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Then why does a family relative, who never set foot on the A&M campus to attend classes have an Aggie Ring?

EDIT: I see online that you must attend 45 hours at the A&M Campus to get your ring. I never heard of this relative ever actually setting foot on the A&M campus but instead spend all his time at the Blinn Satellite (maybe that counts, I don't know).

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Did they graduate from Galveston or Qatar? Because you cannot graduate from A&M and/or get a ring without taking classes from the College Station, Galveston, or Qatar campuses.

Blinn is NOT a satellite campus of A&M. Blinn just has an agreement with A&M called Blinn Team that helps students transfer in if they make the grades.

Yep, as part of the Blinn TEAM program some of the blinn coursework is actually taken on campus at A&M in actual A&M classes with an A&M transcript. So while technically "at Blinn" for 4 years it's entirely possible they got 45 hours of coursework on an A&M transcript, transferred in with 90, got a ring, and peaced out before graduating.

agracer said:

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The fact that people attending blindergarden get an Aggie Ring tells me it's a diploma mill.

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What are you talking about? I'm going to need to see some receipts on that one.

Teslag said:

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The world need artists, philosophers, anthropologists, linguists, etc.

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There are plenty of BS waste of time schools where one can do this. It's doesn't need to be at our elite universities where real education matters.

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It's arrogant and hubristic to make a statement like that. The world needs more than STEM majors. The ones I listed are not BS majors.

There's many versions of this, but I will use the one that a Brit, Dr. Kettleborough told us in ME212 over 50 years ago:

Ask an engineering graduate to evaluate their university education:

Five years out: "Not very good I admit. I really needed more thermo, fluid dynamics and way more math. They didn't prepare me for this job.

20 years out: "Insufficient. I really should have learned finance, accounting, and business management. They didn't prepare me for my career."

40+ years out: "Really minimal. I should have had way more philosophy, art, and music. They didn't prepare me for my life.:

Teslag said:

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Yep, as part of the Blinn TEAM program some of the blinn coursework is actually taken on campus at A&M in actual A&M classes with an A&M transcript. So while technically "at Blinn" for 4 years it's entirely possible they got 45 hours of coursework on an A&M transcript, transferred in with 90, got a ring, and peaced out before graduating.

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A few year ago a Blinn Team student was Fish Class President. At one time they could also be in the corps.

Ryan the Temp said:

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Teslag said:

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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.

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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.

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I make anywhere from $75-150 an hour playing trombone, and royalties across media vary. I could get $2.50 for one piece and $150 for another. Arranging and composition commissions pay pretty well depending on what goes into the project.

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My friend who does quite well off royalties didn't go to College but, he did "Cum on Feel the Noize"

Here's a pic of men in tight pants to prove it.

QUIET RIOT: Their most commercially successful lineup consisted of Kevin DuBrow alongside guitarist Carlos Cavazo, bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Frankie Banali, and in 1983 released their breakthrough album Metal Health. pic.twitter.com/TQQgtZr5wQ

— Max von Side-Eye (@SvenTystnad) May 31, 2023

SIAP:


I find the "diploma mill" hilarious given A&M is MUCH harder to get into now than when most poster here were students! lol

91AggieLawyer said:

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Did YOU spend 5 hours a day studying/preparing for a 3 hour class when you were an undergrad? I didn't even come close to that kind of time until I went to law school. When I go play with folks, I can pick up fairly quickly: are these high school level players? Are they college musicians, perhaps JuCo (like I am, incidentally)? Or, are they degreed music pros? Frankly, it isn't that hard. It isn't that the HS guys are bad players, but we can do so much more with those that have some college music experience.

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I was in the Aggie Band. I spent several hours per day preparing for a 1 hour class. Not to mention performances on weekends.

Those 15 hour bus rides to Fayetteville in the old SWC days were great. That's 15 hours each way, BTW - between Friday night and Sunday night.

Hard work does not equate to $$$$ directly.

Doing something useful does.

Majoring in Music ain't it. Or most of the majors on that list.

And Languages. I could learn lots but that doesn't really do much for me if I don't also know how to do something useful.

cecil77 said:

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Teslag said:

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Yep, as part of the Blinn TEAM program some of the blinn coursework is actually taken on campus at A&M in actual A&M classes with an A&M transcript. So while technically "at Blinn" for 4 years it's entirely possible they got 45 hours of coursework on an A&M transcript, transferred in with 90, got a ring, and peaced out before graduating.

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A few year ago a Blinn Team student was Fish Class President. At one time they could also be in the corps.

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Blinn Team students can do everything a regular student can at A&M except play D1 sports (they can play Club). A decent number of kids in the Corps are doing Blinn Team. It's essentially the safety valve they created for Top 25% kids from top Suburban HS's and strong SAT's that can't get in due to the Top 10% rule. Then they end up taking a lot of the spots for the Top 10% kids from underperforming HS's when they flunk out. Of course some of those kids also do well, especially those from small towns and with 2 parent households. Those that struggle though are typically First Gen from the Valley and are dealing with massive culture shock as they suddenly take true college classes for the first time and have little guidance or support. Sad thing is that those are exactly the kids who A&M should be putting in the System schools and Blinn to transfer in so it isn't such a huge transition but they are more concerned about bragging on First Gen stats. A lot of those kids also start out in Engineering or Business and end up in Liberal Arts because they get their ass kicked.

Much of college success today is preparation and knowing how to play the game. If you don't understand how to sign up strategically for classes and profs and protect your GPA and you went to a HS where you never really had to do a lot of homework or study to get A's the odds are stacked against you.

Rapier108 said:

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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

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This times infinity.

Teslag said:

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For example, if you watch the latest Superman film, there are more than 100 people with music degrees in the credits.

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No, I didn't watch that woke trash.

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It wasn't popular. It was the 7th highest grossing film in the franchise adjusted for inflation. Just 3 spots better than Supergirl.

Supergirl was a good movie

Applying to an orchestral, industry, or any other music-related position without a musical degree is kind of like applying to most everywhere else without a degree. It's you vs. hundreds of applicants with degrees. Guess whose resume is going into the trash first?

Continuing to espouse musical degrees as trash because its easier for mediocre engineering majors to get higher salaries than mediocre musicians is the sort of one-track thought process I would only expect from a truly talented engineer.

Teslag said:

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The world need artists, philosophers, anthropologists, linguists, etc.

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There are plenty of BS waste of time schools where one can do this. It's doesn't need to be at our elite universities where real education matters.

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How is that not real education? Because it doesn't earn as much money? What defines education has nothing to do with salary.

This is why taking English classes is important.

Teslag said:

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agracer said:

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Did they transfer in and complete their degree at A&M. Then that's fine.

But right now, you can attend all 4 years at the satellite (like Blinn) and you still get an Aggie Ring.

And I 100% agree taking classes at the JUCO then transferring is the way to go. Much cheaper.

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Where do you see that in the eligibility?

https://www.aggienetwork.com/ring/eligibility/

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Texas A&M System Schools

Only qualified students and former students of Texas A&M University and its branch campuses (Texas A&M University at Galveston and Texas A&M University at Qatar) are eligible to receive an Aggie Ring.

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All Aggie Rings awarded to Qatar students should be repossessed. And don't ask me how they should be repossessed.

agracer said:

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The fact that people attending blindergarden get an Aggie Ring tells me it's a diploma mill.

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They don't just get a ring. They have to fulfill the requirements in terms of hours and graduating from A&M.

When I transferred from Rice I had to do a semester at Blinn because I missed the application window and often did summer school at both Blinn and A&M. I had to wait until my second-to-last semester before graduating to order my ring because I didn't meet the number of hours required until that point.

We need to lop off 10k students and go back to having a campus and community that can support the students.

Blinn Team are A&M students that must
take some classes at Blinn for 1-2 years, although some A&M classes are mixed in. Now Blinn students that transfer to A&M are just like any other juco kid.

TarponChaser said:

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agracer said:

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The fact that people attending blindergarden get an Aggie Ring tells me it's a diploma mill.

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They don't just get a ring. They have to fulfill the requirements in terms of hours and graduating from A&M.

When I transferred from Rice I had to do a semester at Blinn because I missed the application window and often did summer school at both Blinn and A&M. I had to wait until my second-to-last semester before graduating to order my ring because I didn't meet the number of hours required until that point.

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That must have been a total trip going from Rice to Blinn.

I assume you got super depressed every time there was a classroom discussion.
I only took one summer English class at Blinn and I felt like an R-word by association.

WestAustinAg said:

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We need to lop off 10k students and go back to having a campus and community that can support the students.

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You could lop off 30k students and entitled whiny townies would still complain about students befouling their precious neighborhoods/retirement enclaves.

Their numbers for Penn State are not accurate.

https://datadigest.psu.edu/student-enrollment/

I think we should reduce the enrollment increase rate because we don't have the resources to keep up with the demand for a 45% enrollment increase in just 13 years.

Iraq2xVeteran said:

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I think we should reduce the enrollment increase rate because we don't have the resources to keep up with the demand for a 45% enrollment increase in just 13 years.

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Not only that, but they're years behind planning for this scenario. The Wellborn-George Bush intersection has been in discussions for as long as I can remember. They recently asked to push it out another 2-3 years. And that's just one case of bringing College Station infrastructure to something reasonable.

DannyDuberstein said:

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I have one daughter that graduated in December and one that is a fish now. The size is crazy and we need to hold on any further growth, and it is easy for a student that is not prepared to fall through the cracks. THAT SAID, the quality of the teaching my oldest received was very solid, and the other side of that "wow, it's big and you can get lost" coin is that these kids learn to stand up on their own and be responsible for their education. No one is going to hold your hand. You have to do it. Some see that as bad, I see it as life preparation. Standing up on your own, owning your path.

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60K kids is insane! How much of this increase can be tied to the state's population increase?

Iraq2xVeteran said:

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I think we should reduce the enrollment increase rate because we don't have the resources to keep up with the demand for a 45% enrollment increase in just 13 years.

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Completely online students are a cash cow for universities.

They are just one more name online that do not overwhelm any classroom, take up parking spaces, litter on campus, use campus bathrooms, or need a dorm room/local apartment.

They are a cash cow for universities for that reason. And it's not surprising that thousands of students would rather have a degree with Texas A&M on it instead of Kaplan or U of Phoenix.

60k students on main campus is absurd. We really should have similar admission standards that texas does

Yup. Too big.

As to the "bs" majors.

For Trump to negotiate the Hama/Isr deal... Do you suppose we needed people who could speak their language? Indeed all the many languages involved. I wonder if we needed people who understand their culture, the Jewish culture, Egyptian culture, Persian Culture, etc.? And I'd guess somebody needed to understand the history of the region and it's progression through the centuries. You'd probably even want to know how the art and music of the region may influence their emotions and reactions. Religion? Wow, you'd really need a bunch of knowledge on the history and influence of the various sects and religions.

Just where are all of these people supposed to acquire their knowledge?

Just getting bs majors I guess.

ts5641 said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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I have one daughter that graduated in December and one that is a fish now. The size is crazy and we need to hold on any further growth, and it is easy for a student that is not prepared to fall through the cracks. THAT SAID, the quality of the teaching my oldest received was very solid, and the other side of that "wow, it's big and you can get lost" coin is that these kids learn to stand up on their own and be responsible for their education. No one is going to hold your hand. You have to do it. Some see that as bad, I see it as life preparation. Standing up on your own, owning your path.

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60K kids is insane! How much of this increase can be tied to the state's population increase?

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When a city gets bigger the grocery store doesnt grow in size it opens up other sites to fit the demand. The expectation that Texas A&M should be a % of the texas population ignores the reality of the limitations of economies of scale. The main one being bureaucracy poison.

Instead the state legislature should cut the endowments for A&M and Texas and look to start up other university systems. Limiting the size and power is almost always the best course of action.

I'm always surprised that so many former students carry such disdain for others' degrees.

If you have an engineering degree and make big bucks, why do you care if someone else -- years younger than you -- goes through A&M and earns a different type of diploma that suits their individual skill set and interests?

You got yours. Let them do their thing. Maybe they'll be great; maybe not. But either way, it doesn't reflect on you or impact your success.

By the way, one of today's most successful Aggies didn't necessarily utilize his degree. He made his mark by creating a chain of high-service convenience stores and just gave $60 million to support education for students in hospitality, retail and marketing. Horrors!

People are insecure. They are also ignorant on the classics, languages and math.

Or people hate wasted resources on garbage. I'd rather my kid be a welder or plumber than get a liberal arts degree. In fact I have a list of majors I'll help pay for and a list of ones I won't.