If you look at the website/link for Eng HNR, applications are open until Feb 15. Except for maybe NMSF, most applicants have not heard yet.
1 Like
*Book a hotel room for 2nd day of NSC. We live in katy. NSC is a LOT, especially day 1. You need to treat it like sheâs going away to college, not like sheâs just going to college an hour away.
Parking can be a beast, not to mention traffic. Hwy 6 especially can have some seriously crazy accidents and traffic.
Both days start early. Go up the night before, you wonât be rushed the morning of day 1. Walk & drive around campus after a nice dinner, work on her schedule that night in the hotel. Day 2 starts early, too. Trust me, you will be so thankful youâre not driving back & forth.
*Parking is a true lottery, doesnât matter if she applies 1st day or last. Always list WCG; if you donât, sheâs not guaranteed a parking spot-thatâs mentioned in the rules. Since she knows where sheâll live, of course she can register when it opens. But it still wonât guarantee she gets anything but WCG.
*If the student hasnât fully put high school in the rear view mirror, itâs hard for them to FULLY focus on NSC. She needs to cut those high school strings, be All In for college. It makes a HUGE difference. I would wait and book June NSC. Sheâs HNR, plus taking basics, she will get the exact same classes as May NSC, as new sessions are opened up each NSC (except August).
Switch to June, when high school is done done.
3 Likes
Re NSC - We live 1 hr away but still appreciated staying the 2 nights, as @52AG82 mentioned, for both sons. Had a great time renting bikes and exploring the campus, esp the gardens.
2 Likes
Is there any insights on which tuition to choose fixed vs variable. It seems like fixed is $500 more a semester then the variable. Do you think tuition will go up that much over 4 years or am I looking at it the wrong way?
Great topic-mentioned often-for one of the Aggie FB parent pages. You can search 
old posts, see the comparison. And thereâs no rush to select; I think student must select by August. They also go over this during NSC.
2 Likes
We are going with variable. Disclaimer that Iâm no expert but based on what others have shared variable hasnât historically gone up enough to be more than fixed and there was also a tuition freeze announced.
Edit: will also be waiting to hear what they have to say about this at NSC
Itâs a guessing game. They did not discuss it at nsc when we went. We read all the available material on it at the time. We chose fixed because it was supposed to be an average based on predicted increases. Then the freeze happened. I hoped TAMU would do the right thing and adjust tuition for all the students on the fixed schedule but they didnât. People have complained to their representative. We have as well. The freeze should benefit all students. They actually changed the wording after that in how they describe the difference between variable and fixed. But the old wording made it sound like it was just a choice between paying the average over 4 years or paying varying unpredictable increasing amounts each year. It actually had wording that recommended the fixed comparing it to a variable rate mortgage vs a fixed mortgage and that tuition increases each year and did not have the caveat they now added saying it hasnât increased enough to exceed the fixed.
Historically the difference at the end of 4 years was small. But the freeze was unprecedented. To tell students tuition goes up each year and you can either pay increasing amounts each year or pay a fixed amount that averages the increases and then have a freeze go in to effect so it doesnât really go up each year thatâs a material change. Students on the fixed plan for the past few years have paid thousands more than students on the variable plan due to the freeze. But who knows what will happen going forward. I wish we had picked the variable but we would have needed a crystal ball to know that. They need a better system.
4 Likes
This also feels like itâs set to flip-flop the other way after unfreezing, where a catch-up occurs that burns variable more than anticipated and benefits fixed.
2 Likes
To add insult to injury - they reclassified the degree program during her freshman year which resulted in lower tuition. But again only for those with a variable plan! Tuition at A&M varies based on major. If they reclassify the major it may go up or down. Now I donât think this happens often but it happened to my daughterâs major. The end result of these two factors - the tuition freeze and her major reclassification - my daughter is paying an extra almost $7000 over the 4 years because we chose fixed instead of variable. She does receive scholarships that cover part of her tuition so we are grateful for that. but I think they need to rethink this variable vs fixed plan model and rules. Itâs very frustrating and we had no idea there would end up being such a drastic difference when we chose the fixed. She will be a senior next year. So we now know how it has played out for class of 2026 with the fixed rate who majored in visualization and it would have cost almost $7000 less to choose variable.
2 Likes
Looking for off campus options and potential roommates have signed leases at ParkWestâŠcan anyone give feedback if you have any on this complex. Iâd prefer walking distance to campus but my daughter really likes the girls she chatting with. I posted on a parent blog but getting responses that are all over the place. Did a search here and seems more positive responses than on other sites.
Thereâs no perfect off campus place. That said, Park West probably gets better reviews than many.
Pros-
*location/proximity to campus (especially sports fields/venues)
*because Park West is built on land owned by A&M, it is the only complex that is TRULY students only-A&M, Blinn, RELLIS. No other off site location can guarantee that.
*Brookshire Brothers is onsite!
*multiple bus stops
Cons-
*parking situation is horrible
*parking for visitors is practically non existent
*nicknamed âPark Weedâ
*multiple bus stops
*itâs a HUGE complex
There is a turnover of students every year, so reputation changes yearly. But parking & towing only gets worse every year.
This is great information. Yes, and I did hear about the âPark Weedâ because also found out alot of athletes live there and they like to smoke :-(! We did find out they have garage/covered parking that you can pay extra for so might do that if we go with here to hopefully eliminate the parking issue. Is that what you mean by parking is horrible - not enough spaces for tenants?
Definitely not enough spaces for tenants, pretty much NO Visitor parking.
EVERY complex -even dorms- will have weed odor. But âPark Weedâ is real.
I do think some buildings vs towers at Park West are more desirable than others, based on parking, location and bus stops.
So you would suggest not doing towers if we go with this complex? Iâd be willing to pay more a month if we could find something walkable to campus and not so âweedâ prevalent. But the girls she has met and wants to room with already signed a lease here so trying to get all the information I can before we pull the trigger (if we even do with this scenario).
No idea if Towers is more preferred or not? I just know thatâs one of the options.
Weed & parking issues are at every dorm, every off campus complex. No getting away from either issue.
Just MAKE SURE she lives ON the Aggie bus line.
Definitely would NOT recommend The Barracks or Cambridge, for a freshman female.
1 Like
Canât hide from it from the negatives. This is a great location⊠all off campus comes with pros and cons. This is âwalkableâ but sheâll take the bus. Saves a ton of time!
2 Likes
Thank you!
Thank you. Location and price point is why the girls chose this complex and being on bus route. They also looked at Callaway but pricing for sharing a room compared to having own room won out.
1 Like
Calloway is pretty old so PW is solid. And to me, living in the tower is more like a dorm feel like white creek. The flats are more upperlevel feel to it. The tower also has rooftop pool and weight room plus the parking garage. Highly recommend that.
2 Likes
Great to knowâŠthanks!