@carachel2 said
I am in the future…my D16 is leaving one week from today. My stomach has been in knots. I hug, kiss, touch, stare, soak in every minute I can. Yesterday was my bday and she wrote me the most beautiful letter, saying how much she is going to miss me because we are so close. I broke down sobbing. It’s as awful as you can imagine. And it’s all starting again with D17! No break!
:((
^^Me next year with D17 and D18. I’m going to clean out Costco’s tissue aisle, I’m sure. @-)
<> greeny8…
I can’t wait to get my kid outta the house. 
Thanks @MotherOfDragons I need all the hugs I can get!
@flatKansas WE submitted our app Aug 1 and she just heard from TAMU today that they acknowledge acceptance of the app so I don’t even have the ability to get transcript it. We start school next week so at the pace they are running we will be good since the counselors will be back at school tomorrow. We are an automatic admit based on Test Scores but they still need her Transcript, school profile etc since we are out of state. So, I know we get it but they are doing holistic reviews on all engineering apps (even top 10% kids from Texas HS) this year for the first time so who knows. I just need the general acceptance so she apply for housing. If she does get admitted to engineering we will not attend. TAMU needs some changes in Admissions since they are struggling in my opinion.
@paveyourpath Thanks for posting the link. That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.
Application update - 2 short essays done today. Had to get serious with her (must do to-do list for today) as she did nothing the past 3 days yet was making plans to hang out all day Thursday. She also knocked off a few items on the weekly to-do list.
D got her schedule today and it was a mess! She’s never had a problem before. They have her in DE classes she didn’t register for, missing classes she needs for graduation, and added an office aide position she didn’t request. Really? Hopefully it gets fixed tomorrow.
@Tgirlfriend 3.5 in engineering very difficult at A&M. I have a Chem Eng degree from back in the 80’s and not many in my class were above a 3.5. I remember my Chem E 354 Thermo Class which has two sections 61 kids and the professor gave 6 A’s 6B’s everything C’s D’s and F’s
@itsgettingreal17 How does your D do it??? Seems like she can crank out multiple essays a day. Good for her! Envy you.
@eandesmom It sounds like a good solution for you all. I really think you’re right – if he’s not getting into prepping, it’s better to just move on and save yourselves the headaches.
But wait, there’s AP Calc summer homework too? Is that pretty normal? Long after it was mentioned on this thread we discovered S had summer homework for AP Lang that he was unaware of. No one knows what happened to the packet supposedly sent to the house, so thank goodness the teacher followed up with an email referencing it. But that email came a month after the packet was originally mailed, so S has been frantically trying to complete two months’ work in one around his other commitments. I’d better have him email his AP Calc teacher.
And some of you are planning for next year? Sheesh. I’ll be glad if we’re ready for next week!
@eandesmom I think you were wise not to push for another ACT. My D didn’t want to take the ACT for the second time because she knew she wouldn’t be able to score any higher than the first time. I insisted and indeed her score was 2 points lower than the first one. Too bad. Two of her schools want to see ALL ACT scores.
I just sent scores to schools. I hope your S will have the final list soon!!
When any section of the common app says “approximately” or “please try to limit to” X number of words, it actually means X is the limit.
A couple of TAMU items!
First, you can use this tool to see the average GPA for engineering students at TAMU.
http://web-as.tamu.edu/gradereport/
I ran the cumulative GPR report, and the mean was a 3.024 GPA, but almost 24% had a 3.5+ cumulative GPA.
TAMU’s “entry into a major” is something to be considered. Here is an analysis of the Fall 2015 results. It’s useful to get a sense of the GPA required by major.
As you can see, for most majors, the average GPA for admitted students was about 3.0 or less. A few exceptions include Aerospace(3.4) and Mechanical(3.5).
@IABooks wrote
D17 had summer homework for ap calc ab last year, and she had about 6 pages to do for ap stats this year. She said it wasn’t anything high level or worrysome, just annoying. I remember last year asking her “how do they expect you to know how to do that when you don’t have class yet?”
I can understand some of the dorm room shopping a year ahead from the bargain hunter perspective-I can remember seeing some of that stuff go on super discount sale in September after everyone who’s going to college has left. I don’t think I’ll do that because I think she may have a lot of the stuff already from doing the summer camps at colleges.
@itsgettingreal17 that would make me crazy about the schedule. I hope they get it straightened out.
D17 finished her first draft of her common app essay, she says it’s about 60 words over. I asked her to drop it to 640 to give herself some wiggle room with regards to final edits, so she’s working on that this week. I think it’s actually a way to procrastinate for studying for the 2 SAT II’s that she’s supposed to be working on. Like mother, like daughter…
Tulane is seriously stalking her. Every day we’re getting calls, letters, app waivers. It is hard not to want to apply to a place that is gunning for her so vehemently. She looked at their CS offerings and was like, meh. I can’t argue with meh.
The TAMU statistics you point out are precisely why my son has no interest in the school. Students basically need a 3.5 GPA to get their first choice of engineering major and they definitely need a 3.5 GPA to maintain a merit scholarship. Yet less than 25% of students are able to achieve this. Maybe I’m missing something but this seems like engineered failure to me. Just my opinion.
Son17 wants to take the Act again, so he’s signed up. I’m not expecting his score to increase unless he devotes a solid 2 weeks of prep, and I don’t see that happening. His scores for ACT/sat have all been about the same, and they’re ok for where he is applying. If he could improve by 1 or 2 points it might make his app look a bit better, but I’m not really worried about it anymore. He is who he is. He’s a good kid with decent grades, decent scores,decent extra curriculars so he should get into a few of his schools on the list.
Came up with essay topic ideas. Some ok, some too trite.I wouldn’t say creative writing is his strong suit. He’s better with facts/figures or arguing opinions.
@STEM17 minus 10 for you, lol.
Rightcoastrider: slacker, non professional homemaker, retired maybe?? - 20 ha
@Gator88NE …very helpful, thanks so much for those links!
@Gator88NE Where do you find all your info? You’re like the 2017 Parent thread’s own IPEDS! You should change your name to Dater88NE.
Not sure how many schools disclose GPAs needed to get into engineering colleges (assuming you do not get directly admitted) or into the various engineering specialties but from what I understand the stated minimum GPAs are typically understated. So that a minimum 2.7 stated requirement is typically higher (and in some cases by a lot). Could be a 3.1 or higher.
Creates an issue for a lot of kids: go to a school you like with the hope of gaining admission to the engineering college or desired specialty but unable to do so. Then what? Likely another year of tuition at a minimum. Or a change in major. Or both.
@MotherOfDragons Just to prove what great marketing Tulane is doing, they’ve even got you thinking they actually have an app fee!
@saillakeerie …exactly. Looks like it could be a costly year if your kid doesn’t get into their major of choice.
TAMUs attitude was “we are so big and so amazing we don’t have room for your kids and are offering to shuttle them to the jr. college JUST so they can say they are going to our big and amazing college.” Ummm…no thanks.
And then a few hours away is UT with their big and amazing programs but your kid only gets exposed to the major they think they wanted when they were 16 and tromping around on college tours. UTs attitude seems to be "You sure had better stick to that original applied engineering major or you’ll have a headache and a wallet blowout if you decide to switch. "
It was really hard to understand why my D was so focused on Pitt. But now we get it. We really really get it. The first year engineering program is a program of growth and collaboration and the program is relatively small. You are guaranteed your major at the end of the first year.