Congratulations!

Heard a friend of our son's got rejected, top ten percent, solid SAT (1500's), four years sports and band at a 6A school. I ran into his dad last night at a baseball game and he confirmed. The counselor didn't get his transcripts in (same thing happened to ours) and he didn't verify in his portal. Luckily, ours checked his portal. Sad story, great kid, but he will be fine elsewhere too.

My kid got in with 1360 and good gpa but not the best. HS is way competitive 6a and does not score past 10%.

Difference is he chose ECON as his major and not engineering or Mays, submitted the first day of submissions and checked the status daily. If he chooses A&M he will do a 5 yr master with Bush program if he can keep the grades.

My son was accepted into Mays as a review applicant with a 1340 SAT and a 15% ranking. For those whose kids didn't get in with superior stats, the answer is straightforward. Mays was full by the end of October. I attended a Texas A&M prospective student session when my son was a junior and I asked at that time when did Mays fill up the prior application cycle and I was told it was full by November 2017.

Based on that information, my son worked on his A&M app immediately when it opened this summer. By the time high school had started, he had everything in: essays, SAT scores, resumes. The only thing he needed to do was wait until he returned to high school to have his transcript sent off.

He was accepted to Mays in September 2018 and based on the postings on College Confidential, there were a few other review applicants that also got into Mays in that time-frame as well. The fact is, the way A&M currently conducts admissions for Mays its first come, first served. Its unfortunate that such academically credentialed students as the ones referred to above did not know that and they did not get in because Mays was full at the time they applied.

For those that didn't get accepted, but offered the Program for System Admission (PSA) program, what's your take on attending a "satellite" TAMU school and then having an auto admit for sophmore year? I have never heard of this and need feedback.

Thanks--

Lots of good discussion here. https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/texas-m-university/2128422-psa-program-for-system-admissions.html

Luckylady said:

---

For those that didn't get accepted, but offered the Program for System Admission (PSA) program, what's your take on attending a "satellite" TAMU school and then having an auto admit for sophmore year? I have never heard of this and need feedback.

Thanks--

---

I have one daughter as a Soph at A&M and one in the PSA program as a freshman at CC A&M. I have been impressed with CC A&M and would recommend the PSA program. And most of the classes a PSA student takes will be full of other PSA students with the same goal...to be at A&M the next year.

My son did PSA at West Texas A&M. He struggled being so far away, but ultimately being there for his core math classes and to start his college career probably was that right thing. Think he probably would have struggled at A&M. He's in his second semester as a sophomore now in College Station and doing fine.

We were super impressed with WTAMU. Just wished it had been closer.

My understanding from talking to an admissions person this weekend in College Station, with my Jr in highschool, they are anticipating the top 10 percent to take an even larger chunk of admits next year and that PSA and Blinn team with be greatly reduced.

If A&M is ultimate goal, do PSA if it was offered and he's happy with his major choice.

But I will say, my perspective about A&M and college in general has changed. First, there are plenty of great schools around. I didn't really get that until we did some tours. I only applied to A&M myself. Second, my child is having a completely different A&M experience than what I had. Different personality, but also the school has changed.

Curious, you said WTAM was "far away". Was there not a PSA that was closer? How did you end up picking to go there?

My son is an incoming Sophomore in HS. Very good grades but not good enough (4.0 weighted avg but that still puts him about Top 35% at his ultra competitive HS, hell he got 2 B's (Pre-AP) so he is DONE as far as Top 10% and it will be a miracle for him to get Top 25%). Was 91st percentile on his PSAT which looks like he is tracking around 1350 without taking a prep class. Plays 6A Football, Mountain Biking Team, YMSL, and Fishing Team. I've basically assumed he is at best an outside shot at getting into A&M directly which makes me sad (I went there, wife went there, Dad was a Yell Leader in the 50's). Looking at Galveston as he has gone to Fishing Camp there 3 years in a row and he loves the ocean, looking at Marine Administration or Transportation there. He can transfer to A&M more easily from there as well but don't know that he would be able to go Mays if so.

Honestly though I am pretty aggravated with A&M. I have 3 friends with kids that got in and they all have had roommates from crap HS's that were Top 10% that didn't make it. It's a ridiculous policy to put the Top 10% at an elite HS compared to a HS that is barely accredited and ignore test scores. It's bad for everyone because those kids often aren't prepared and they get crushed competing against Top 10% kids from the elite schools. I don't know how many people I know that have kids accepted to far higher ranked schools than A&M and yet they can't get into A&M. Why the emphasis isn't simply around getting the best students as opposed to finding every possible way to encourage diversity is something private schools should mess with. Get the best qualified kids who are most likely to succeed, period. Skin color or socioeconomics should not matter.

aggie93 said:

---

My son is an incoming Sophomore in HS. Very good grades but not good enough (4.0 weighted avg but that still puts him about Top 35% at his ultra competitive HS, hell he got 2 B's (Pre-AP) so he is DONE as far as Top 10% and it will be a miracle for him to get Top 25%). Was 91st percentile on his PSAT which looks like he is tracking around 1350 without taking a prep class. Plays 6A Football, Mountain Biking Team, YMSL, and Fishing Team. I've basically assumed he is at best an outside shot at getting into A&M directly which makes me sad (I went there, wife went there, Dad was a Yell Leader in the 50's). Looking at Galveston as he has gone to Fishing Camp there 3 years in a row and he loves the ocean, looking at Marine Administration or Transportation there. He can transfer to A&M more easily from there as well but don't know that he would be able to go Mays if so.

---

As a rising sophomore, a lot of opportunity still awaits your son. It's great that he is able to attend an ultra competitive high school, not all students have that opportunity but it sounds like he has a lot of extracurricular choices as well as interests! Since you mentioned that he is in Pre-AP, does he plan on taking AP for the remainder of his high school courses? If he plans on attending A&M, regardless of campus, my opinion would be to continue to do so as the challenge may help him focus those interests of his even more intensely. A good foundation of coursework, varied extra-curriculars and volunteer work make for a well-rounded candidate at any school.

Now for the tough part. Will he get in to A&M main campus? Unless one has a crystal ball, who can say? He is a rising sophomore who is still growing mentally, physically and emotionally. What does he envision for his future in three years? How about in seven (post collegiate)? Perhaps he can sit down with you or his counselor and discuss some of the pathways towards achieving his short and long term goals.

When will academic auto admits start receiving their acceptance letters for fall of 2020 freshman?

A&M is anticipating those letters will begin going out in late September.

I was wondering how important it is to take three years of foreign language in high school. A lot of the public schools take a foreign language in junior high which counts toward their high school credit. Many of the kids in our neighborhood took Spanish III as a freshman and quit after that. My son is attending a private high school and is taking Spanish II this year (sophomore year). I know that A&M does not require 3 years of a foreign language but I am wondering if it will look bad on his application if he does not take Spanish III. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Recommended coursework can be seen at http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/coursework It is also recommended students take a very challenging list of courses. That will vary depending on the particular student and what their school may offer. It will not look bad to only take two years of Spanish. He can call an admissions counselor at 979-458-0950 to discuss his situation more thoroughly.

very hard to get into mays if they aren't an automatic admin.

Mays does fill up quickly each fall.

Hello! Does anyone know if the 5 yr deadline for GRE/GMAT scores can be waived? I took my GRE in August 2014 and am hoping to apply to a grad program for Spring 2020 and dread the thought of studying for and retaking the exam. Thanks in advance!

Talk to your academic department.

My son applied in July for Fall 2020. I don't believe he will be an academic automatic admit since his high school (Strake Jesuit in Houston) doesn't provide their ranking. He does have a 30 on his ACT and has a pretty good GPA.

If he doesn't make it in under the academic automatic admission, when would he find out if he makes it in holistically? The major that he put on his application is Psychology.

Review admits may find out anytime but most likely after the first of the year. A&M hopes to finish the review admits in March.

I just recently submitted an application for spring 2020 grad school admissions. The program is in the department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at the architecture school. The deadline was October 1st and I still haven't heard a decision. Does anyone have any experience with spring grad school admissions or this department?

Thanks for the reply.

Is there a way I can email you privately? My pm function is grayed out.

You can email Admissions at admissions@tamu.edu or you can call an admissions counselor at 979-458-0950. The general phone number for Admissions Customer Service is 979-845-1060. Current applicants can use the Contact Us feature within their AIS page.

@TAMUAdmissions

Hello, my son's high school doesn't rank, but he noticed he has been assigned to 1st quarter on AIS. With his SAT score of 1430, does that mean he becomes an academic admit? If so, does it mean his application to Engineering major will be reviewed sooner than as a review admit? He applied at the end of August and is currently under Engineering review. Thanks!

He can be admitted to A&M as an Academic Admit if he meets all of the list of criteria at http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/admitted

However, there is a holistic review of all Engineering applicants. Applicants meeting the deadline for Early Action for Engineering should hear anytime between now and mid-December.

Sorry, i just saw this. For his Major, not all campuses were offered. It was his only option other than Texarkana and Commerce.

I'm looking for a cool variation of the law school

I can recommend a few cool directions for development. For example, this resource https://lawaspect.com/alcohol-law-essays/ helps young professionals find useful information and generate innovative solutions. I recommend reading short essays on this topic.