<p>A&M, like UT, has higher thresholds for the engineering school than for the university overall – this includes auto admission (top 10%) and auto academic admission (top 25% with high test score) applicants. </p>
<p>Basically, you need a high standardized test score in math and it can help your chances to have taken AP calculus in high school though that is not a requirement. People may find it of interest that the best predictors of freshmen year grades in engineering are SAT Math, SAT Writing, and class rank. The SAT CR section score is ‘statistically insignificant’ for engineering (it matters for other colleges/majors). The ACT version for engineering uses the ACT combined English & Writing score and the Math score – the ACT science and reading scores are essentially ignored. So, if you are a ‘holistic’ decision/non-auto/non auto academic admit type applying to engineering, don’t sweat a mediocre SAT CR score or mediocre ACT Reading & Science scores. The section scores are what really matter and not the composite. (The formulas UT uses are published in the footnotes of a recent publication on tier website. I haven’t searched for A&M version of these formulas, but they exist.)</p>
<p>The key criteria I have used for my children is the schools’ quality in the majors of interest. In many of the areas of engineering, A&M ranks in the top 20 nationally while Tech rates as a generic state university. In several other areas, the differences between the schools is smaller.</p>
<p>So, +1 on A&M over Tech overall and +100 on A&M over Tech in engineering.</p>