Campus Visit this Sunday

AggieMomAgain
Tue, 16 Jan 2018 16:55:06 +0000

I hope that y’all have a great visit to the State of TX and the 3 schools on your daughter’s list. A campus visit is the best way to see which school best fits your daughter’s individual needs.

Even though my older daughter was an Aggie class of '16, and we had visited CStat for games and various other activities during my older daughter’s years there, it was the campus visit that solidified my younger daughter’s decision to attend TAMU. It helped her to see that she would be comfortable being a student there also.

We have not visited Baylor, so I don’t have any info to contribute for that campus.

With UT in the middle of Austin, TX, the Capitol city, that campus has a much more urban feel. The buildings are attractive, I think that they are prettier than TAMU.

The buildings at TAMU are much more utilitarian and a lot are just boxy and not very attractive! There is one classic building on the West side of campus (maybe the Administration building?) that has columns and a dome and is beautiful. I thought that the plain building exteriors would be a turn off for my younger daughter as she enjoys beautiful architecture, but the welcome that she received from the students was what appealed most to her.

TAMU in CStat is a very unusual place! This is the friendliest campus I have ever visited! The students and staff are just so nice and helpful. And get used to hearing “HOWDY!” If you need directions or have ANY questions, just stop someone. If they don’t know the answer, they will quickly get someone who does know the answer. In fact, when we were just probably looking puzzled, people would come over to ask if we needed help! There is definitely a special Aggie culture, it may not appeal to everyone, but I am grateful that both of my daughters were/are happy there.

TAMU is a HUGH campus and there is HUGE NUMBER of students, so I recommend that your daughter also find at least one small group to join if she enrolls. There are so many different groups, from Freshman Focus groups, major related groups, fun activities including dance groups, and even a Quiddich team, that hopefully at least one will appeal to her. In a school that size, it is important to find a few good friends and even more so since she will be from OOS.

Going Greek is also great if she is interested! Recruitment week is long and can be very hot and stressful, but that is one sure way of finding like minded friends if they can just survive that week. Both of my daughters are in a sorority and have made wonderful friends. When my oldest was married in the Summer of '16, there were 6 sorority sisters in the wedding and a total 15 of her sorority sisters who attended her wedding! My younger daughter has already made wonderful friends who are sweet, smart, funny and kind. A group of them gathered at one of their homes for a safe, fun New Years “sleep over” and there are plans for a get together at a parent’s lake house for Spring Break. Being Greek also gives them another “non-parent” grade requirement level and a built in group of people who can study together or tutor each other besides the social aspect. These friendships are life long and can be helpful wherever they go later in life.

College Station surrounds the TAMU campus and as a city is not a very big place, but it has every type of business that one might need, it is easy to navigate, and again, it is a very friendly place! Every business that I have shopped in has been very friendly and inclusive. I never feel like there is a division between the “town” and the “students”, it is just a really nice place throughout.

Have a wonderful visit to the great State of TX! I hope that TAMU is her best fit, but I am sure that she will thrive wherever she chooses to attend.
WHOOP!