Texas A&M University Visit Report by serenefire

Visit Activities:

Information Session: Yes - Speakers were friendly and informative. They answered all questions presented. I learned a lot and have changed my initial feelings about A&M to more positive ones.

Campus Tour: Yes

Classroom Visit: Yes - The professor seemed friendly and like she genuinely wanted the students to learn. She willingly answered all questions. I was impressed by her demeanor.

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Campus:

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Our SHIP leaders were incredibly friendly! All the students we came across were great. I almost thought they were too friendly, but that's a good thing, I suppose.

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All the staff I met was friendly, but I think they only let the most friendly staff meet the SHIP students.

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As part of the SHIP program, I walked around campus with graduate student leaders. It's HUGE, but not as big as I thought it would be. Overall, it looked nice,but I wasn't terribly impressed

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Some were older and some were newer. Most of them looked to be in good condition. Apparently they're in the process of some major remodeling, so there should be more new buildings soon.

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There were ants in my bed and all over the room, the carpet smelled and was damp, the shower door didn't close, the room smelled, the thermostat didn't work. They said it was one of the best

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Everything was much better than I had expected. I've put A&M back on my list after this visit.

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Off-Campus:

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There were a lot of fast food joints, restaurants, and the like. Nothing special. It looked like I would need a car to get around.

Campus Visit Notes for Texas A&M University

Visit Description:

I'm interested in Astronomy and visited the College of Geosciences during my special SHIP tour, knowing that A&M does not offer Astronomy classes or anything similar. However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they do offer some such classes. I met a graduate student who works part-time for NASA as well as a professor who helped develop the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity!

The Geosciences building itself seemed very nice. It was relatively new and very, very tall. The top floor had a nice observatory. It seemed like it would be a great place to study if I were interested in Meteorology. The college itself was relatively small, with only about 500 undergrads, apparently, meaning the student to teacher ratio for the college was about 5:1, much smaller than the university as a whole.

I knew some people who visited the Engineering building, and they said it seemed overwhelming as far as size and number of people goes. I don't know how much individual time someone would get in that specific college.

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

While I did not eat there, I know a relative of the owner of the Blue Baker restaurant, and it's supposed to be amazing. The on-campus students said the same.