Hello!
My son is a sophmore, top 10% of his class, will be NHS, involved community ect and shouldn't have a problem getting admitted into school generally, but his goal is engineering program and I've heard about kids not getting into it, some highly qualified ones? Any input/advice/insight?

Don't take anything for granted is my best advice. Even with his class rank take multiple SAT's and ACT's and get private tutoring for them to increase his score. In NHS and other clubs at school he needs to seek officer roles or leadership positions in those organizations. Community involvement is great keep it up. Having a job helps. Being involved at Church helps. Sports, band, all extra stuff like that helps and they like to see leadership positions in all activities. Visit the campus, meet with Engineering department to show interest in TAMU. Apply early and fill out the application completely. Do all essays and send letters of recommendation. Have his essays reviewed. Now with everyone getting reviewed you have to do anything and everything you can to help your kid stand out.
It's great you are looking at this before his junior year. Good luck !

Wow, thank you so much taking the time to post such great information! He scored very well on his PSAT so he's getting free/extensive prep through the school to have him hopefully get some sort of National Merit recognition.
He's on a Jr board for a charity but I'll tell him to look at officer positions, as well as NHS.
Job/check Church/check
2 more questions if you don't mind

Think private is much better route for ACT?
Does the high school they go to matter? It seems at his school more are getting in, but other's at equal size schools it seems tougher.
In our school district, out of 4, his is the toughest by far as far as class ranking.

Think private is much better route for ACT?
Have him take both tests and see where he scores then you can decide on the tutoring. Most kids definitely improve their scores with it.
Does the high school they go to matter?
No, TAMU says they don't care about which school you attend, only how you rank against your peers.
It seems at his school more are getting in, but other's at equal size schools it seems tougher.
In our school district, out of 4, his is the toughest by far as far as class ranking.
There's the rub with the top ten percent rule or even academic admit rule. Your son will be ok but there will be others at his school that won't make it even though it's a great school.
Sounds like he will be well prepared from that school.

All good advice so far. Remember that starting this last year entry to engineering at A&M is different. All engineering admits are now after entry to A&M. At least theoretically now a student could be top 10% and auto accepted to A&M but if they had low SAT scores and hardly any outside activities, be rejected by engineering. That is to address the issue of some of the smaller school top 10% kids with very low SATS taking filling engineering and taking spaces away from better candidates that weren't auto admits or waiting on scholarships from other schools.

Nobody knows what type of point system they are using yet but the data from the first class suggests if you are top 10% or auto admit with a new version SAT north of 1300 and have outside school activities you were pretty safe.

Remember there is an extra essay for engineering now specific on entry to engineering. Again since its new there isn't a lot of info on what they are looking for but that would seem to be important to engineering as opposed to entry to A&M.

We just went through this process with our oldest son. Make sure your son takes AP math/science classes and finishes calculus is HS and scores high on the math portion of the SAT or ACT. TAMU moved to a separate holistic review process for engineering because too many students where being admitted to engineering that where either not prepared or did not have the natural aptitude for it. There is a great website called college confidential that has several threads onA&M engineering and admissions. It's good you are looking ahead. And yes, A&M doesn't look at what school you go to or how "very comtetive" it is. Their view point is A&M is very competitive so if you are competitive at a "competitive " HS how competitive will,you be at A&M?

AgOutsideAustin said:

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Think private is much better route for ACT?

Have him take both tests and see where he scores then you can decide on the tutoring. Most kids definitely improve their scores with it.
What I meant is he's getting free SAT prep through the school since he did well on the PSAT, so only needs prep for the ACT.

Does the high school they go to matter?
No, TAMU says they don't care about which school you attend, only how you rank against your peers.
It seems at his school more are getting in, but other's at equal size schools it seems tougher.
In our school district, out of 4, his is the toughest by far as far as class ranking.
There's the rub with the top ten percent rule or even academic admit rule. Your son will be ok but there will be others at his school that won't make it even though it's a great school.
Sounds like he will be well prepared from that school.

Thanks again, I so appreciate you time.

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Lone Stranger said:

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All good advice so far. Remember that starting this last year entry to engineering at A&M is different. All engineering admits are now after entry to A&M. At least theoretically now a student could be top 10% and auto accepted to A&M but if they had low SAT scores and hardly any outside activities, be rejected by engineering. That is to address the issue of some of the smaller school top 10% kids with very low SATS taking filling engineering and taking spaces away from better candidates that weren't auto admits or waiting on scholarships from other schools.

That makes perfect. I did know it was like that and assumed it was always get in school first then engineering. Didn't realize that was new.

Nobody knows what type of point system they are using yet but the data from the first class suggests if you are top 10% or auto admit with a new version SAT north of 1300 and have outside school activities you were pretty safe.

Great to know!

Remember there is an extra essay for engineering now specific on entry to engineering. Again since its new there isn't a lot of info on what they are looking for but that would seem to be important to engineering as opposed to entry to A&M.

Also good to know, thanks so much for your time!

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MominTexas said:

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Lone Stranger said:

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All good advice so far. Remember that starting this last year entry to engineering at A&M is different. All engineering admits are now after entry to A&M. At least theoretically now a student could be top 10% and auto accepted to A&M but if they had low SAT scores and hardly any outside activities, be rejected by engineering. That is to address the issue of some of the smaller school top 10% kids with very low SATS taking filling engineering and taking spaces away from better candidates that weren't auto admits or waiting on scholarships from other schools.

That makes perfect. I did know it was like that and assumed it was always get in school first then engineering. Didn't realize that was new. That makes complete sense and seems a more far way to do it.

Nobody knows what type of point system they are using yet but the data from the first class suggests if you are top 10% or auto admit with a new version SAT north of 1300 and have outside school activities you were pretty safe.

Great to know!

Remember there is an extra essay for engineering now specific on entry to engineering. Again since its new there isn't a lot of info on what they are looking for but that would seem to be important to engineering as opposed to entry to A&M.

Also good to know, thanks so much for your time!

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The Goo said:

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We just went through this process with our oldest son. Make sure your son takes AP math/science classes and finishes calculus is HS and scores high on the math portion of the SAT or ACT. TAMU moved to a separate holistic review process for engineering because too many students where being admitted to engineering that where either not prepared or did not have the natural aptitude for it.

I just looked at his schedule for next year. He has PAP for calculus and AP physics. I'm wondering if AP calculus is after PAP? He scored very high on the math on PSAT (97% nationwide, has my husband's math brains, not mine fortunately) with no prep so hopefully with prep even better.

Did your son get in?


There is a great website called college confidential that has several threads onA&M engineering and admissions. It's good you are looking ahead. And yes, A&M doesn't look at what school you go to or how "very comtetive" it is. Their view point is A&M is very competitive so if you are competitive at a "competitive " HS how competitive will,you be at A&M?

Awesome! I'll look at that website. A&M is the only school he wants to go to for engineering, so I would love for him to achieve his goal. He's been a blessing to raise and a great kid that is willing to work hard for what he wants. He's even giving up football to focus on it but will have other outside activities they'll consider.
Thank you for your time!

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MominTexas said:

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The Goo said:

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We just went through this process with our oldest son. Make sure your son takes AP math/science classes and finishes calculus is HS and scores high on the math portion of the SAT or ACT. TAMU moved to a separate holistic review process for engineering because too many students where being admitted to engineering that where either not prepared or did not have the natural aptitude for it.

I just looked at his schedule for next year. He has PAP for calculus and AP physics. I'm wondering if AP calculus is after PAP? He scored very high on the math on PSAT (97% nationwide, has my husband's math brains, not mine fortunately) with no prep so hopefully with prep even better.

Did your son get in?


There is a great website called college confidential that has several threads onA&M engineering and admissions. It's good you are looking ahead. And yes, A&M doesn't look at what school you go to or how "very comtetive" it is. Their view point is A&M is very competitive so if you are competitive at a "competitive " HS how competitive will,you be at A&M?

Awesome! I'll look at that website. A&M is the only school he wants to go to for engineering, so I would love for him to achieve his goal. He's been a blessing to raise and a great kid that is willing to work hard for what he wants. He's even giving up football to focus on it but will have other outside activities they'll consider.
Thank you for your time!

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Our daughter was admitted into engineering, and she is out of state. She focused on the SAT after taking both tests, and comparing scores. We looked at the automatic admit scores required for engineering. She largely prepared for the SAT by using the free program on Khan Academy.

Good luck to your son.

My experience is that any student in engineering and science needs to have a good, strong math background. I would make sure your son is focusing in on math (and physics) in high school.

Also remember that admissions to engineering is changing yet again. They now offer the Chevron Engineering Academies. Yes, these students are A&M Students from day 1; however, they will take their basic courses at a junior college near them (not Blinn team, and not necessarily at Blinn), and then take their upper level courses at A&M concurrently.

https://engineering.tamu.edu/academies.html

Look into it now, so if that is the way your child is admitted, it doesn't surprise you or them at the time, and then you will have the best information about what it is going forward.

histag10 said:

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Also remember that admissions to engineering is changing yet again. They now offer the Chevron Engineering Academies. Yes, these students are A&M Students from day 1; however, they will take their basic courses at a junior college near them (not Blinn team, and not necessarily at Blinn), and then take their upper level courses at A&M concurrently.

https://engineering.tamu.edu/academies.html

Look into it now, so if that is the way your child is admitted, it doesn't surprise you or them at the time, and then you will have the best information about what it is going forward.

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The engineering academies have been around for a couple of years. TAMU faculty teach the freshman engineering class at the CC campus. All other classes are taught by CC faculty but it is TAMU curriculum. The application process is seperate from the process for admissions to TAMU. You must first apply to the CC and they will "prequalify" your application. Once prequalified you will receive an admissions application portal to apply directly to TAMU engineering. They are mostly looking at your math scores. If accepted you are co-enrolled as a non degree seeking student and can go to fish camp, sports passes everything. However you are not in college station. During spring of freshman year the student will go through the entrance to a amojor process that all engineering students go through. This is the process of actually choosing and being accepted into an engineering major. Freshman are just general engineering. This is a big advantage over transferring or PTA because you are given priority for limited major slots. This program is not the same as the engineering acedmy at Blinn Bryan because in that program you take your engineering and another class on the TAMU campus. Much like Blinn Team for other majors. My son is going to enroll at the Brenham Campus this fall. They take 100 students per year and are completing a new dorm and engineering classroom that the academy students are required to live in together.

missinAggieland said:

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Our daughter was admitted into engineering, and she is out of state. She focused on the SAT after taking both tests, and comparing scores. We looked at the automatic admit scores required for engineering. She largely prepared for the SAT by using the free program on Khan Academy.

Good luck to your son.

My experience is that any student in engineering and science needs to have a good, strong math background. I would make sure your son is focusing in on math (and physics) in high school.

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Congrats to your daughter! Thank you! Where did you find the automatic SAT scores at?

http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/admitted, under Academic Admits, shows the automatic test scores folks have been referring to. However, for Engineering...

All applicants who select Engineering as a first choice major, including those who qualify for automatic admission to the University via Top 10% or Academic admission, will be reviewed holistically for full admission to General Engineering and pathways that lead to an Engineering degree. Applicants will not be reviewed for second choice majors outside of Engineering. Students may choose to change their major prior to receiving a decision. To qualify for Early Action notification for Engineering, your admission file must be complete by October 15.

TAMUAdmissions, What about students who list engineering as a second choice? How does that affect their chances in the holistic review?

I wonder because I think that the top 2 choices of my prospective student will be impacted majors - engineering and business. I heard from a friend that their student heard from Mays immediately upon admission and I know engineering will be a bit later. If a student puts value in being on campus as a freshman and wants to secure a spot to do that - does it hurt their chances in engineering?

This is complicated. The best thing to do is to have your student call an admissions counselor at 979-458-0950 and have a discussion. In very general terms, since both Engineering and Business are impacted majors, applicants really need to decide which of the two majors they particularly want. Since all Engineering applicants go into holistic review, Business will most likely be full before many Engineering decisions are made. If Engineering is your top choice, we will try to find an Engineering pathway of some sort but that process takes time. If an applicant is top 10 or Academic Admit, they apply early and have put Business as their first choice, they have a better chance of getting Business before it fills up. Again, discussing this with a counselor is the best option..

What's the process for getting a consult with an admissions counselor? They generally accessible?

My son will be an academic admit (applying in July), but certainly want to make sure we make the right strategy on the application. He wants Engineering, but just want to make sure there's a plan B.

He can call an admissions counselor at 979-458-0950.