Farmer @ Johnsongrass, TX said:

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Received a call from TAMU today asking for money. The caller, a pleasant student, just manning the phones performing a job to contact alumni. We had a great conversation and shared a lot of experiences. In the end, I told him I was prepared to give the University more than $200,000, but unfortunately it will go to the University of Nebraska. ...

I am Class of 81 and Masters 83. My son graduates HS this May. He has the grades, the ACT, the community hours, the AP, the dual credits, 10th out of 232 class rank, swims competitively year round/honors scholastic athlete and works 15 hrs per week at a supermarket during the school year and 25 hrs/wk in the summer. We are out of state so I'm paying out of state tuition either way. FAFSA states I/we qualify for nothing. I know my son has the resume, it's just a matter of which university made him feel comfortable.

This is what I found through the process, so far. All schools mentioned below reached out to us first.

Some nearby and notables....Baylor, Kansas, SMU, and TCU were in our face from the get go with information to consider them. Didn't get squat from A&M. (I told the student on the phone today I was stunned that being legacy really didn't matter and my feelings are rather mutual now) Did receive something from West Texas A&M. Received a fair amount from Texas Tech. Penn, Brown, and Dartmouth were the Ivies that reached out.

My son narrowed his list to (alphabetical)
Case Western Reserve University
Fordham University
South Dakota State University
Tulane University
University of Chicago
University of Nebraska

The schools above provided plenty of materials to review and kept you up informed as to what was taking place on campus.

My son is Pre-Med bound to University of Nebraska...pretty certain.

Case Western is still recruiting him, but I think he's losing interest.

Hands down Nebraska's recruiting process was tops. Parents and students know what to expect, what to do, where to go and when. Communications were/are extraordinary, either in-person, on the phone and online. Online systems for the process made the most sense out of the university systems we registered on. His application was accepted and merit-based scholarship was awarded in Oct or Nov. It was amazingly fast versus every one else. I fully understand how my son made his decision for choice.

Fordham was second. Good communication overall.
Case Western third . Good communication but slow.
South Dakota State. Good communication but long spaced times between updates. Phone communications were excellent.
University of Chicago. Was okay.
Tulane fell off the list early, but their communication was really good.

He's got a 1/2 ride to Nebraska and we're being told there will be more.
He's got a 1/4 ride to Fordham (I told him if he decides to go Business versus Pre-Med, Fordham should be his pick as the Gabelli School of Business is tough to beat)
He's got a 3/4 ride to South Dakota State

I don't know if the above info helps anyone, I hope it does.

No comments about the A&M process, they didn't provide an opportunity to allow me to comment.

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Some of you people take this process way too personal. Hell, Liberty Univ was sending us stuff daily but it didnt mean we were going to consider them.

DannyDuberstein said:

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From what we experienced with my Aggie fish daughter and her friends, a school's recruiting effort and speed of process was inversely proportional to the school's desirability (not exactly surprising). College is big business, and they are competing for your $$$. But A&M is in position where it is not. They are going to get it, and if not, another quality student's.

I'm also of the opinion that legacy should not matter at state institutions. I have two degrees from A&M, my wife has one. But these kids should both earn and choose their own path.

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A point made in this thread is that A&M does not have a logical / fair selection process. So it's really not "earned".

maroonblood said:

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They call it "holistic ". Whatever that means.

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it's called QUOTAS.

Sorry this is a rant.

Have a similar story to many here but my son got into Galveston and is doing Maritime Transportation with a Minor in Maritime Business. Still gets his Aggie Ring and tickets to Aggie games and can just change majors and go to main campus after a year.

He applied to both in September. Got into Galveston pretty quickly. Only heard back from CS a couple of weeks ago and he got PSA but had already chosen Galveston by that time after doing an in depth look at both. He loves the ocean and fishing though and the idea of working on boats fits him well. That said the Maritime Business program there was more impressive to me than AgriBusiness at A&M which would have been his major.

Always knew it would be an uphill battle on CS and we planned around it both strategically and just as important emotionally long ago. He's the classic case of a smart kid from an ultra competitive, college prep, suburban HS that has taken AP and Dual Credit classes but had the audacity to get a few B's. BTW, I was in the Corps, wife was in Mays, Dad was a Yell Leader. Been going to Aggie games all of my life and my son has as well. Family has donated a ridiculous amount of money and time to the school over the years.

That said it doesn't make it any less frustrating to see how differently A&M treated us vs other schools. Ark and OU gave him admission almost immediately with nearly instate tuition, they are actually cheaper than A&M for him to go to. Tech called him to accept him and offered him money within a few days of applying. LSU acts like a stalker. A&M? If you don't call and push and do it on your own they DGAS. Even then no one seems to have influence with admissions and the secret sauce they use and believe me I tried everything. It's so short sighted to treat alumni and their kids that way, just beyond stupid. Doesn't mean they have to let them all in but part of the application involves talking about your connection to A&M so they know and they still do nothing. Freaking communicate. Have a Corps buddy as well who has a daughter that is going to Indiana Business on scholarship but got freaking PSA from A&M after zero responses, there goes another regular Aggie donor and his daughter that would have been an amazing Aggie.

For my son it's ended up what Galveston is the best choice but I encouraged him to look at everything. I have no illusions that A&M is that different anymore. I had him approach it as a business decision and look at ROI and take the emotions out of it. Do what is best for him and go where it makes the most sense. The only thing I would caution a lot of folks on here is to not equate admissions with the schools. Just because they call and give you attention doesn't mean they are a good choice, all of that ends the first day of classes and you are just another number. I guess at least at A&M they don't hide it. It's really foolish to go to a school because of how you were treated in admissions for good or bad, that's all the sales pitch or lack thereof. What matters is the value you get on the backend and are you going to the place that fits you.

The other thing I realized and am glad I did was we didn't do campus tours but instead set up meetings with the academic departments of schools we were interested in. Don't go for the prescripted advertisement where your kid ends up choosing school x over school y because they have a better Rec center or they think the campus is pretty. Keep your eye on the ball as to why you are there, it's not 13th grade.

I am going to enjoy the process with my younger son. He's extremely driven and currently Top 5% at the same ultra competitive HS and will be in AP Calculus II his Senior Year. He is likely going to have a monster SAT, great extracurriculars and checks every box. If A&M wants him they are going to have to give him a lot of money because I know others will.

BTW, I have discovered there are a lot of folks at A&M trying to fix the process and that understand the problems. It's just a tough nut to crack. In the end though they are treating alumni and dedicated Aggies in a business like way and they will be treated back the same. If decades of dedication and money to A&M means nothing then it makes it hard to feel like I need to have any loyalty if someone else offers better.