Chance me for TAMS

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi there! I’m towards the end of my 8th grade year, and I am very interested in applying to the TAMS program at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. It would really help me out if I could get some advice from former TAMSters or anyone else who would lend me their time. So here’s my info as of now:

I attend a smallish school (3A) in a rural area about 1/2 hour from Denton. It is a combined middle school and high school, and I plan on staying there until the end of my sophomore year, provided I am admitted to TAMS. I am concerned about the lack of opportunity at my school. For example, we do not participate in Academic Olympiad, and while I take the most rigorous course load available, I fear that it doesn’t measure up to that of applicants at larger schools. Additionally, to my knowledge little to no students from my high school have applied, let alone been accepted, into the TAMS program.

7th grade Course Load:

-Honors Pre-Algebra
-Honors 7th grade Science
-Honors Language Arts
-Texas History (no honors offered)
-Reading(no honors offered)
-Athletics
-Band
-TMSCA
**My grades in these courses were all A+, mostly above 97, especially in Math and Science.

7th grade Extra-Curriculars:
  • UIL competitions in many subjects (Science, Number Sense, Calculator, Ready Writing, Editorial Writing, Spelling, Listening Skills, Social Studies, Maps Graphs and Charts)
  • TMSCA competitions in Science, Mathematics, Number Sense, and Calculator
  • Athletics (I played Volleyball and Basketball, would have been in Track but fell ill with bronchitis for 3 weeks)
  • Band (I play the Alto Saxophone)
  • Duke TIP Talent Search Participant

    7th grade Awards:

  • Band Student of the Year
  • "A" Honor Roll
  • Was Honored at the State and Grand Recognition Ceremony (Although I was not able to attend the Grand Ceremony, as my family was not in a financial place to fly to North Carolina, I was present at the State Ceremony)
  • TMSCA State competition- 3rd place Science, 10th place Mathematics
  • UIL competitions- 1st place Spelling, 1st place Ready Writing, 2nd place Science, 2nd place Editorial Writing, 4th place Social Studies, 5th place Listening, 6th place Maps Graphs and Charts, 6th place Number Sense

    8th grade Course Load:

  • Honors Algebra 1
  • Honors 8th Grade Science
  • Honors U.S History
  • Honors ELAR
  • Athletics
  • Band
  • TMSCA
  • Health (1st Semester)/Technology(2nd Semester) ** My grades in these courses were all A+, mostly above 97, especially in Math and Science.

8th grade Extra-Curriculars:

  • UIL Competitions (Science, Mathematics, Number Sense, Calculator, Spelling, Social Studies, Ready Writing, Editorial Writing, Maps Graphs and Charts)
  • TMSCA competitions in Science, Mathematics, Number Sense, Calculator
  • Athletics (Volleyball, Basketball, and Track)
  • Band
  • NJHS
8th grade Awards:

*** All competitions were canceled due to COVID-19, and so was our school awards ceremony. I was set to receive “A” Honor Roll, and compete in UIL and TMSCA.

9th grade Course Load (For next year, we selected schedules already):
  • Honors Geometry
  • Honors World Geography
  • Honors Biology
  • Honors English
  • Band
  • UIL
  • Dual Credit program courses

    ACT Scores:

  • 29 Composite
  • 20 Math
  • 28 Reading
  • 33 Science
  • 34 English ** These are my scores from the 7th grade Talent Search, and I am retaking the ACT between now and Sophomore year.

I want to apply to the traditional science track, as I am interested the field of biology and environmental science.

I know I have a while before applying, but I wanted to see if I was on track so far to be competitive. I am still concerned with my school’s lack of opportunity, so if someone could weigh in on that it would be greatly appreciated. If you have any tips for admissions, I would appreciate that too. Thank you for your time!

2

Could someone please reply to this? I could really use the advice. Thank you :slight_smile:

3

Hello! I am a rising senior at TAMS

Your course load looks fine, continue taking tough courses, and do well in them in both 9th and 10th grade. As for extracurriculars, I would honestly say its a little limited. The UIL competitions are great, but it would be helpful to get involved in some clubs, get some leadership going, and other things to show you can be involved in your community. I’m going to assume your math score on your ACT will be a lot higher since that’s your score from 7th grade and you have plenty of time to improve.

4

Thank you very much for your honesty! I am trying to get involved in more extracurricular activities, but I have had some trouble finding opportunities. I want to get more involved, but my options are limited to say the least. I know that I will be in tennis, NJHS, TMSCA, UIL, band, and I was hoping to get involved in student government, although I’m not sure how that works at my school. I thought that since there aren’t a lot of clubs to join at my school, I could try to start an environmental club. However, I don’t think many people would be interested, since I talked about it to a few classmates, all of which found the idea rather boring. I talked to one of my teachers about getting involved in science olympiad, but no one would sponsor us. I am trying to look for volunteer work, but there aren’t many options. I may look into volunteering at the animal shelter though. I was also going to apply for the AFS Project: Change scholarship, I’m not sure if you’ve heard about it but it helps teenagers come up with solutions to real world issues in a 1-3 week study abroad program. That would take place next summer if I got the scholarship. I am definitely retaking the ACT, and feel confident that my math score will be a lot higher the next time I take it. Do you have any advice for finding or creating extracurricular opportunities? Or any advice for the admissions process as a whole? How do the interviews work? Thank you for your time!

5

Yeah, it seems like your school is really limited in terms of opportunities, but don’t let that bother you because TAMS admin probably has experience with your school and knows what kind of opportunities they offer. Especially because of Covid-19, there’s plenty of things you can do online as well. I’m not quite sure what your interests are, but one thing a lot of people do are the online hackathons from MLH. So if you are interested in computer science I would definitely give those a try. I’ve gone to several hackathons (all in-person though) and they’re incredibly fun. Of course, since you’re only just now going into 9th grade you have plenty of time to find something you enjoy. The thing you have to remember is you do not need an established program in order to have good extra-curriculars. Working on a personal project such as developing an app or writing a small paper for something like https://ysjournal.com/ can often be a much better use of your time.

6

Thank you very much for the advice! I am not that interested in computer science, but my twin sister (also wants to apply for TAMS, has similar extracurricular activities, wants to apply to computer science) loves computer science and I will make sure to share the hackathon information with her. I will look into the Young Scientists Journal, I just visited their website and find it interesting. Do you know of any online opportunities relating to biology and research science? Particularly marine biology? I would also like to know about the admissions process. What are the interviews like? And if I do get in, what is TAMS actually like? How are the courses, clubs, dorms, etc.? Thank you once again :smiley:

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Hey I know this post was a long time ago but this is the twin sister of mpayne55_dophin. I just posted a chance me for TAMS page and I would really appreciate it if you would reply.

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Closing old thread