I keep seeing all the threads about kids who don't get into A&M with good GPAs and test scores, but then I look online and see that over half the kids who applied from kids high school got in, some with mediocre at best scores.

For example, the scattergram from Naviance shows who was accepted and who wasn't...average ACT = 27 with 4.06 GPA (dashed line) but many kids below that got in? I know academics isn't the only part of the equation but what's the story?



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Ha...no doubt.

There are many factors that determine admission, from what I understand. While test scores, family income, and academic record are often predictors of success, I would hazard a guess that counselors have to weigh that with other metrics when making a final decision on admission.

As far as athletic eligibility, the NCAA employs a sliding scale, and that may be somewhat reflected in your scattergram.

See more here:
http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2018DIEC_Requirements_Fact_Sheet_20180117.pdf

If you scroll down, you can see that the scale in its entirety for Division I

Quote:

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Division I uses a sliding scale to match SAT/ACT scores and core-course grade-point averages to determine eligibility. The sliding scale balances your test score with your GPA. If you have a low test score, you need a higher GPA to be eligible. If you have a low GPA, you need a higher test score to be eligible.

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Maybe the chart includes team blinn....hmmm

Blinn Team could explain some of it but in general the Blinn Team SAT/ACT avg is higher than the A&M incoming freshman overall SAT/ACT average. But for one school that wouldn't necessarily have to be the case.

-How many athletes?
-What diversity checkmarks go with the data points? (Ethnic, cultural, etc.)
-How well did each of the data points virtue signal in their essays?
-Holistic review admits are all over the board in terms of academic quantifying points. Because A&M doesn't publish much on how many points an applicant gets for something or which boxes are better to check than others the qualitative aspect of it has lots of people on the outside looking in and saying "what"?

I would add that the high school you are looking at is above average high school. I do believe which high school a kid goes to is a factor in the admissions process. Not all high schools are equal.

A&M evaluates class rank (not specifically GPA), test scores and everything else submitted with the application - outside activities, leadership, employment, the essays, etc.

Some numbers can be seen at https://web-as.tamu.edu/ecardimages/2018/EAST/freshmen-bythe-numbers.pdf

http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/admitted details how A&M admits freshmen applicants.

Thanks.

I think these statistics include PSA and the various Blinn programs in the acceptance numbers. It makes no sense to me that they do this. A PSA is offered very widely, and it is a scheme to keep tuition dollars in the A&M system by dangling the hope of the College Station campus to students who are not admitted.

I mean, I understand why Sharpe is trying to grab that money... I don't understand why they want to make it appear that the College Station campus has a 70% acceptance rate by including those PSA offers in the stats.

TAMUAdmissions said:

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Some numbers can be seen at https://web-as.tamu.edu/ecardimages/2018/EAST/freshmen-bythe-numbers.pdf

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I mean that's a catchy graphic and all........ But does the 23k number of accepted students include PSA? That's the real question.

Just under 11k enrolled. Is that College Station campus only?

My understanding is that PSA students are not admitted students. They do not populate in our systems, and will show up as a transfer if/when they transition to A&M.

That is correct that the PSA students are not included in those numbers.

Exactly. Not only are high schools across the state not comparable to one another, but district methodology for computing GPA and class rank vary so widely that it is an exceedingly arbitrary measure. Think of it this way. Through this year there are 3 ways to be admitted to A&M:

1) top 10% class rank
2) holistic review
3) academic admit

Of the three, only academic admit has an objective, standardized component (SAT/ACT) that is uniformly applied to all applicants. And now they are doing away with it. The process is becoming more arbitrary, not less, with more power in the hands of admissions personnel. Holistic review is intentionally opaque - you'll never know why you were accepted or denied.

Class rank, class rank, class rank. That is all that matters if you are top 10% just need a 1000 SAT you are in, top 25% I think you need 1200. Non ranking school you might be in trouble, A&M comes up with a rank for you, so you might have a 3.8 but A&M puts you in 2nd qtr you will be Blinn or psa.

SAT and ACT does not matter much unless you are National Merit Finalist, commended doesn't do squat for you.
It is all a numbers game and the numbers are huge! 48k in applications with around 23K in offers with about 11K accepting.

If you are NOT top 25% look for other options, unless you are prepared for PSA or Blinn Team.

This is only for 2024, top 25 goes away in 2025. Then I think high SAT and ACT scores will start to matter again as will involvement in activities and GPA, I personally think it will improve the admissions, it makes no sense to me how low A&M SAT scores are when I know of several kids offered Blinn/PSA who had 1400 and above SAT?

Details on how A&M admits domestic freshmen can be seen at http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/admitted