Hello Everyone,
My nephew is thinking about going to A&M to study engineering.

The mother(my sister) doesn't want to send him to such a big school
like t.u. or A&M. The nephew has really good grades, but I am not
sure if he can get into Rice.

Don't throw stones at me, but does Texas Tech have a decent
engineering program?

Heisenberg01 said:

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NO!!!

She is legitimately ruining the kids career by bypassing A&M and tu for Tech. Tech isn't that small of a school either, so there isn't much to gain from that end.

Nearly every engineering firm in the country recruits A&M/tu, a very small portion comparatively recruit Tech. The number of hiring managers that are alumni at Tech pales in comparison.

Honestly a terrible decision if A&M and tu are legit options for engineering.

If they want a small school for engineering and can't get into Rice, they should look out of state (Georgia Tech, etc).

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Georgia Tech is a really good engineering school. I think the admissions there is pretty competitive.

I get your point though abut Texas Tech though.

Duncan Idaho said:

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What he said. The single biggest deciding factor on which school a kid should go to is the recruitment opportunities.

And the size difference between tech and TAMU is meaningless.

Sounds like mom is afraid to cut the apron strings.

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I don't think the apron strings are the issue. My sister is a Baylor grad and likes the size of the school as well as the quality of education. Baylor is not a realistic choice for engineering though.

OldArmy71 said:

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Doesn't UT Dallas have a good engineering program?

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I know that it is well-respected for computer science. I took a few classes there myself.

The rest, I am not sure.

OldArmy71 said:

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Doesn't UT Dallas have a good engineering program?

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If I had a college aged kid this is where I would push them, if they didn't get into a flagship or a top 10 school.

AggieAdvisor16 said:

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I'm involved in the recruiting efforts for the department I'm in and always have current students participate when prospective students visit. My students always tell them that A&M is as big or as small as you want it to be. There are tons of organizations to get involved in to get valuable leadership experience. And all of the engineering classes are capped at 100 student capacity, so you aren't going to have 300 students in a classroom like you would in a US History class.

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How does the Blinn Team function for engineering students? 1 year at Blinn then 3 at A&M?

Personally, I had over 300 students in my Chemistry class. It was distracting with that many students.

How do you arrange a vist/tour for the engineering department?

Regards,
SwissAgg

You can no longer be part of TEAM if you are engineering. TEAM is essentially general studies until you get to TAMU. There is a separate program for engineering, TEAB. Your first 2 years, you take some classes at Blinn and some engineering classes at TAMU. After 2 years, you apply to a specific major at TAMU. TAMU now does general engineering through sophomore year, and then engineering students apply to a specific major within the college of engineering.

(AggieAdvisor16, please correct me if im wrong on this)

They could apply to TAMUG for their engineering program. They attend for a year or two at tamug then go to main campus to finish. Even if just a year it helps with maturity. Great middle ground. If they stay at tamug they can get a BS in ocean engineering.

Tamug students are aggies and get the ring. If he wanted to switch majors and go to main campus that is all he must do is apply to the new major after year 1.

I believe this has changed with general engineering and ETAM, but I may be wrong. Ocean Engineering is out of the College Station campus (their offices). I believe all engineering (CS &GV) are admitted the same, and their site is determined during admissions.

Just double checked. Yes, they still apply through CS and indicate GV as preferred site.

https://engineering.tamu.edu/admissions-and-aid/engineering-at-galveston/applying-to-galveston.html

histag10 said:

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I believe this has changed with general engineering and ETAM, but I may be wrong. Ocean Engineering is out of the College Station campus (their offices). I believe all engineering (CS &GV) are admitted the same, and their site is determined during admissions.

Just double checked. Yes, they still apply through CS and indicate GV as preferred site.

https://engineering.tamu.edu/admissions-and-aid/engineering-at-galveston/applying-to-galveston.html

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Thanks.

Blinn Team doesn't dovetail with engineering like it does some other programs. A student wanting to go from Blinn Team to an engineering major would need to apply as a change of major applicant to that major once they have the minimum requirements. There's also the Engineering Academy at Blinn, which is entirely separate from Blinn Team.

You can set up a future student session with the College of Engineering through the link below. At the moment it is entirely online. With the Friday session, you also have the option of scheduling a breakout session with the major of your choice (Petroleum, Mechanical, etc.). A lot of departments will let you directly schedule sessions with them. I would get contact information for an academic advisor from department(s) you might be interested in. Tours in my department usually include sitting down with a faculty member and current student to discuss what makes our program the best in the world and what it's like being a student in the program, followed by a tour of the building from the current student.

https://engineering.tamu.edu/admissions-and-aid/schedule-a-visit.html

histag10 said:

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You can no longer be part of TEAM if you are engineering. TEAM is essentially general studies until you get to TAMU. There is a separate program for engineering, TEAB. Your first 2 years, you take some classes at Blinn and some engineering classes at TAMU. After 2 years, you apply to a specific major at TAMU. TAMU now does general engineering through sophomore year, and then engineering students apply to a specific major within the college of engineering.

(AggieAdvisor16, please correct me if im wrong on this)

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Its general for two semesters and then you get sorority matched to your department. Departments rank you, you rank departments. You can take up through your sophomore year to pump up your GPA, show you've improved, etc but then you're forced out if you can't cut it.

AggieAdvisor16 said:

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Blinn Team doesn't dovetail with engineering like it does some other programs. A student wanting to go from Blinn Team to an engineering major would need to apply as a change of major applicant to that major once they have the minimum requirements. There's also the Engineering Academy at Blinn, which is entirely separate from Blinn Team.

You can set up a future student session with the College of Engineering through the link below. At the moment it is entirely online. With the Friday session, you also have the option of scheduling a breakout session with the major of your choice (Petroleum, Mechanical, etc.). A lot of departments will let you directly schedule sessions with them. I would get contact information for an academic advisor from department(s) you might be interested in. Tours in my department usually include sitting down with a faculty member and current student to discuss what makes our program the best in the world and what it's like being a student in the program, followed by a tour of the building from the current student.

https://engineering.tamu.edu/admissions-and-aid/schedule-a-visit.html

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Thanks for the information!!

"How does the Blinn Team function for engineering students?"

This question shows a bigger potential issue: is your nephew not able to get into A&M and/or tu? UTD isn't super easy to get into either.

If that's the case (which alas probably knocks out GTech, etc), look at other big state flagships. OU, Arky, Miss State, etc.

Getting into A&M is not a problem. He is top 5% in a DFW top ranked Suburb school.

one MEEN Ag said:

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histag10 said:

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You can no longer be part of TEAM if you are engineering. TEAM is essentially general studies until you get to TAMU. There is a separate program for engineering, TEAB. Your first 2 years, you take some classes at Blinn and some engineering classes at TAMU. After 2 years, you apply to a specific major at TAMU. TAMU now does general engineering through sophomore year, and then engineering students apply to a specific major within the college of engineering.

(AggieAdvisor16, please correct me if im wrong on this)

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Its general for two semesters and then you get sorority matched to your department. Departments rank you, you rank departments. You can take up through your sophomore year to pump up your GPA, show you've improved, etc but then you're forced out if you can't cut it.

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Just a couple of points of clarification; there are 4 main options for which students are reviewed through the traditional freshman application:

• General Engineering in CS
• Texas A&M Engineering at Blinn (new name of TEAB)
• Engineering at Galveston
• Engineering at McAllen

With all of these options, students follow a general engineering curriculum for a minimum of 1 year. Students must complete at least 2 semesters, 2 engineering, 2 math (calculus 1 and higher), 2 science with a C or better in each and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 to be eligible to go through the Entry to a Major (ETAM) process. It's NOT a 'sorority match' but rather students list a minimum of 3 majors (in rank order) by which they wish to be considered. Departments look at academic performance at TAMU and statement of purpose to decide who's admitted. Students who maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.75 are guaranteed a spot in their top choice major.

Students admitted to any of these options can ultimately choose to finish a degree offered in CS, Galveston or McAllen. Obviously, the offerings in Galveston and McAllen are currently limited since they are smaller campuses.

To the OP, my advice would be to consider ROI. The 4-5 years a student spends at a place like TAMU are not just about those 4-5 years but really what those 4-5 years are going to do for them for the next 30-40. TAMU is currently #1 in TX (UT is #27, I'm not sure what TTU is) and #11 overall for ROI.

The TEAB option. Is this available through a junior college in DFW are or only at Blinn?

Thanks and regards

TEAB is specifically with Blinn. Details can be seen at http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshman/TEAB

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

Duncan Idaho said:

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OldArmy71 said:

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Doesn't UT Dallas have a good engineering program?

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If I had a college aged kid this is where I would push them, if they didn't get into a flagship or a top 10 school.

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This. My son is Freshman Eng at A&M and UT Dallas was a strong contender. I would def pick UT Dallas before Tech.

Macarthur said:

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Duncan Idaho said:

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OldArmy71 said:

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Doesn't UT Dallas have a good engineering program?

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If I had a college aged kid this is where I would push them, if they didn't get into a flagship or a top 10 school.

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This. My son is Freshman Eng at A&M and UT Dallas was a strong contender. I would def pick UT Dallas before Tech.

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What is your son majoring at UT Dallas? That is one university in the consideration.

If they are afraid of UT, then Georgia Tech would terrify them. Depending on the specific program, most Land Grant's are perfectly fine options. Remember, not every department at A&M is ranked first.

Buck Compton said:

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AgEng98 said:

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If they are afraid of UT, then Georgia Tech would terrify them. Depending on the specific program, most Land Grant's are perfectly fine options. Remember, not every department at A&M is ranked first.

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Yep. I've done some work in Atlanta and run by the Ga Tech campus. You are essentially IN downtown.

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The Georgia Tech dorms are converted olympic housing from the '96 games. They didn't put those in the boonies. You are absolutely downtown.

AggieAdvisor16 said:

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Blinn Team doesn't dovetail with engineering like it does some other programs. A student wanting to go from Blinn Team to an engineering major would need to apply as a change of major applicant to that major once they have the minimum requirements. There's also the Engineering Academy at Blinn, which is entirely separate from Blinn Team.

You can set up a future student session with the College of Engineering through the link below. At the moment it is entirely online. With the Friday session, you also have the option of scheduling a breakout session with the major of your choice (Petroleum, Mechanical, etc.). A lot of departments will let you directly schedule sessions with them. I would get contact information for an academic advisor from department(s) you might be interested in. Tours in my department usually include sitting down with a faculty member and current student to discuss what makes our program the best in the world and what it's like being a student in the program, followed by a tour of the building from the current student.

https://engineering.tamu.edu/admissions-and-aid/schedule-a-visit.html

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Are you guys only doing virtual visits at the moment?

Old RV Ag said:

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SwissAgg said:

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Heisenberg01 said:

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NO!!!

She is legitimately ruining the kids career by bypassing A&M and tu for Tech. Tech isn't that small of a school either, so there isn't much to gain from that end.

Nearly every engineering firm in the country recruits A&M/tu, a very small portion comparatively recruit Tech. The number of hiring managers that are alumni at Tech pales in comparison.

Honestly a terrible decision if A&M and tu are legit options for engineering.

If they want a small school for engineering and can't get into Rice, they should look out of state (Georgia Tech, etc).

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Georgia Tech is a really good engineering school. I think the admissions there is pretty competitive.

I get your point though abut Texas Tech though.

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Move up the road a bit from Georgia Tech and look at Clemson. Not as highly ranked but has a good engineering program and a great college town experience.

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Also NC State and Virginia Tech. All 4 of these, along with A&M and t.u., are highly regarded engineering schools in the south.

If she really wants small, and can afford it, Rose Hulman is a great choice.

If money is tight, and frigid weather is okay, Michigan Tech is a good option.