Thanks for the reply @Christi1993! My son is pretty reserved and doesn’t know many others going to TAMU so he’s definitely open to meeting others during Fish Camp and making new friends. He’s going into Viz which is already going to be a pretty close-knit community from what I hear, so I think it will be great to have the opportunity to meet other freshmen in other programs! 
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My aggie is a third year viz student. It’s a great program! So many cool clubs and activities to get involved in: siggraph, women in animation (open to all students not just women), chillenium, Vizagogo and more. There is also a club for 2d art and a club for game design. Encourage him to get involved to meet others with similar interests and develop skills and portfolio. These clubs are open to all students. You will hear about FLOs with competitive process. These in viz are open application and membership. It’s a small major so they don’t run into the problem of getting too full! If you can get the date and go to the Vizagogo screening in the late spring each year. It’s awesome to see their projects at the end of the year. Oh and they did sort by major at fish camp. My aggie was the only vizzer so they put her in with another group.
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Interesting that they do sort by major! How is that done–by the discussion groups, or other activities?
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Does the phase 3 roommate matching in the housing portal work pretty well, or is it best to not rely on that and find other ways to find a roommate? Mine has been looking on insta and zeemee app already but said there’s not much activity so I mentioned that it may be too early and to wait until Spring.
There is no ‘matching’ by A&M.
Students either go pot luck, or find a roomie on their own.
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What about when they look through the profiles in the portal and try and find a roommate that way? It’s not literal matching but I thought it was another way for them to connect with potential roommates. I haven’t really been involved outside of placing the housing deposit so just going by what my daughter has mentioned so not sure how it all works.
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I guess technically one could find a roomie that way? I’ve never heard of anyone doing that. Many students won’t list bio/details.
Phase 3 Matching is really when students have found a roomie, list it officially-and the roomie with the higher dorm selection date gets added as the ‘leader’ (I think that’s the term they use).
Have your student post on social media they’re looking for a roommate, join the official Class of 2029 pages, put out word of mouth (friend of a friend kinda thing), join GroupMe’s.
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Thanks so much for all this great info & advice @martinezcs ! I really appreciate it! Every single person we’ve met who has some connection to Viz have all spoken so enthusiastically and so positively about the program! My son is really excited to be part of it all and is super hopeful to make lifelong connections there 
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I have never ever ever seen them sort by major. Their goal is to integrate you with everyone, not pigeon hole you with people in your major.
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That’s what I thought so too, but the comment above indicated that they did sort them?
It was for discussion groups. Not for the whole experience.
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They did in my daughter’s cohort group. Not for the whole time but for discussion groups. It is helpful to connect with people in your major. And people in same major and occupation have similar personalities and interests even across gender.
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Yes and they are a tight knit group! They are such a small major with a niche interest. They won’t find other vizzers usually at the big general events like fish camp but they will at the PVFA events and clubs . And they tend to move through the classes together so they get to know their cohort group well. Not that they need to limit their friends to their major but they do tend to flock together and they don’t have time to spend the weekend at football games etc. they are usually in the studio trying to get a project done. My daughter made a point to go to midnight yell a few times and go to a few games for the experience but none of her friends from viz go and she didn’t have time to stay for the whole game she just took breaks to go for part of the games.
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Oh wow - didn’t realize that SO much time would dedicated to working on their viz projects! 
My son definitely wants to experience all those things (midnight yell, football games in Kyle Field, etc) so he’ll need to figure out how he’ll best balance that.
Being that Visualization is a small program, does the cohort pretty much stay intact the first couple of years until they start to move into their specific areas of emphasis (and then those groups get even smaller?)? Or do they all have the same base classes through all 4 years and then their electives are what distinguish their areas of focus?
My son is looking to focus on 3D animation (as opposed to interactive media design or game creation).
If it is important to him I’m sure he will find a way. The work load is high. Project based. Advising is good. From what I understand the cohort group is pretty much intact the first couple years until they move into their specific areas of focus.
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Yes, counselors in that major will pull kids from different DGs with that major, but they are not grouped in a DG by major. That is all I was saying because that is how the post came across. Your DG is your family and very diverse. It’s a wonderful thing.
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Follow up on work load…… all my friends Aggies (even the engineering Aggies) were done on Tuesday or earlier. Tuesday was last day of finals. My aggie and her vizzer classmates were meeting up in studio finishing final projects all week through Friday night. 3 days past when finals were supposed to end. Grades are due Monday morning. Prof was with them Friday in lab checking out final product. But they got their projects done. Viz students usually have projects to do that overlap with breaks. So make sure to check in with your Vizzer Aggie before planning trips, flights, etc to see if they will be available. My aggie had told us she would be done Tuesday….and that turned into Friday and it wasn’t just her it was her class.
My daughter has a winter project we just found out about (no she isn’t enrolled in wintermester) and we are going on a road trip. She will bring her laptop and work on it when she can.
Also they advise viz students not to work and if they must, not to work more than 12 hours per week. Mine didn’t work her first two years of the program but now works 10 hours per week as a supplemental instructor (remote/virtual and sets her own hours) and it has been doable but challenging even with that flexible of a job.
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Helpful advice/reminders about planning for trips and activities during their breaks as well as working. Thank you! 
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Son fully admitted to Engineering in Oct. Has anyone heard back about EH yet?
Engineering Honors