I have been following this forum for about a month and found it to be super informative/helpful so this morning took the plunge to join y’all ! My son & I took a trip to College Station yesterday. He is a review applicant still awaiting a decision outcome and with time ticking on, we decided it was time to consider more fully the straight Blinn CC option for him - he is quite determined to be in College Station then look to transfer into TAMU. We visited the Rellis campus, learned LOTS and feel I now have a better understanding of things. As of Fall '19 this campus is where the Blinn TEAM students will have their Blinn input classes - they are moving this group out from the Bryan campus. Also it is possible to be a regular Blinn CC student and take classes at this new campus. You would have to nominate either the Bryan or Rellis campus as your one of choice - they won’t let you take classes at both. The very helpful front desk rep I spoke with said some Blinn professors are based solely there whilst others do commute and teach at both the Bryan & Rellis campuses. She also said she would recommend liasing with Blinn advisors re. appropriate course/ class selection if transferring to A&M is a student’s end goal. They can help set you up on the right path & their central office for this is in CS. This Rellis campus is brand new - just opened last Aug & has approx 1600 students. There is another adjacent building currently under construction scheduled to open in Fall 2019 and students currently participating in the A&M system universities degree courses offered at Rellis will decant into this creating more space for Blinn TEAM and regular Blinn students. Rellis is a little ways out of CS - a good 20-25 min drive. There is a regular bus service (#47) that runs from the main A&M campus approx every 25 mins. The campus definitely has a newer, smaller ‘but looking to grow’ feel about it. However, for those students seeking the ‘big college’ experience it may, at this point, be too small so it’s definitely worth a visit to pick up your own vibes. One huge advantage for the future is the amount of immediate land that is available for possible development - I can only see this campus mushrooming over the next 10 years. I apologize if I’m sharing info you’re all already aware of re. this new campus. It was all new to us! My son is not an engineering major so have nothing to share on what’s offered there/goes on there presently for this highly popular pathway. Our next visit to CS will be to look at Blinn Bryan and possible off campus accommodation options.
Thanks for this information, @Scotsfi! Very helpful! Do you know where the bus departs from, on campus, before heading to the Rellis campus?
What were her scores?
Even if your student is signing up for straight BlinnCC, if their goal is to be an Aggie, I would recommend finding housing as close to the TAMU campus as possible for their Freshman year so that they can still experience the feel of Aggieland. Not sure how all of the buses work, but would expect that there will be stops on the TAMU campus for both Blinn Bryan and Rellis.
Last year when my daughter was a Freshman on Blinn-TEAM, Fall 2017, she lived one of the apartment buildings which are just across University from the TAMU campus on the north side. There were also straight BlinnCC students living there as well as full TAMU admits. She took the bus from the TAMU campus to Blinn-Bryan for those classes, scheduling her classes on campus specific days so that she didn’t have to rush back and forth.
Your student can also eat on campus by paying with cash or credit card, they don’t have to have a TAMU ID or dining plan and there are a lot of events that they can purchase tickets without a student ID. If your student is living close to the TAMU campus for their Freshman year, they are more likely to make friends who are also on the plan to be a full Aggie asap or who are already either Blinn-TEAM or full Aggies.
Just got Galveston offer
I got the impression that there’s a central street in the heart of the main campus that all buses pick up/drop off from and even if you’re a straight Blinn CC student you can use them to travel to/from Blinn Bryan & Rellis campuses. The lady at Rellis said there’s an app all students in College Station can access for bus info no matter where they are affiliated to.
Is it possible to change major after Galveston offer and still be reconsidered for fall admission to college station?
@Scotsfi THANK YOU for your first hand experience. Please share away. Every first hand experience is important and info cannot be repeated enough!
As to the transportation buses, students need to learn to start catching the bus that gets them to where they need to be, about an hour or more ahead of time, depending on where it picks up. If your stop is several down from where it starts, chances are the bus will be full and will not stop for you at your stop and you will have to wait on the next one, which can also be full.
Thank you @Scotsfi !
As an OOS family whose daughter is 99% ready to enroll in NSC and say yes to Eng academy at Blinn (already accepted) this is super helpful!!
You have to have 24 graded hours to transfer to TAMU. Do dual credit courses count? Could my daughter go to Blinn in the Fall and take 15 hours and then use her 12 dual credit hours from high school and apply for the Spring 2020?
@txmomuv2 You may want to call the department your daughter is interested in. I thought the same thing but for us they won’t take several of her DC classes (Health Science) because they are considered vocational. Therefore, my daughter has to do 2 semesters before transferring.
@txmomuv2 to add to that, they want the 24 credits completed before you apply, not with them in progress. Best bet is to apply for the following summer! But yes DC counts for the most part because they are graded. As long as they transfer… can transfer as an elective and still count. But I have no experience with what @aggiedreamin mentioned on vocational DC. As she said, best bet is to call advisor in the intended major.
@AggieDreamin @AggieMomhelp I guess it would be better to wait anyway. I don’t see the purpose in enrolling in the spring and paying more. Once she gets there she will realize no one knows or cares where you are going. She is still under review and I would like for her to get Team so she can go to Fish Camp.
TEAM? and fish camp Which options are considered TEAM? Just Blinn or Galveston also?
@Thelma2 - sorry we were away in Lisbon for the holiday weekend (yes, bragging…LOL!!)
Son applied 11/23
Account activated 11/24
SAT 1320 (710 R 610M)
3.7 GPA
5 AP classes (4/5 on all exams)
Regional/national/world title holder in EC activity of 12 years
Good essay (not phenomenal but he’s a good writer)
LOR was strong as far as I could tell (we had others we chose not to use b/c they weren’t)
I forget what else you were looking for? I saw your post but was not logged in on my phone and couldn’t remember my password…LOL
Blinn TEAM TEAB and Galveston and McAllen can all participate in fish camp.And from what I know, other engineering academies that are applied to directly can also go. At least Blinn in Brenham can.
Galveston is not a TEAM or TEAB offer. It’s a full fledged admission on Galveston campus for the first year.
@Thelma2 – sorry for the double post - found the request -
Major applied Comp Sci
FBLA, JROTC, Drama (local theater co), Honor Choir, STEMposium, Creative Connections, student gov
Shoot - 1st quarter rank – sorry sorry sorry. LOL
@AggieMomhelp yet, the decision for the engineering school in Galveston is done in CSTAT? Correct?
Just wanted to add re; bus routes. If your student is living off campus at the various apartments available, many of those complexes now offer a bus provided by the apartment that’s private. My oldest lives at a very nice complex in Bryan very close to CSTAT and there are so many wonderful accommodations. Printing center/computer lab equipped with 30 Mac computers, rec center, tutoring services (this has been invaluable!), pool, tanning beds (just to add, really not important for us), sauna, movie theatre, giant gaming room with video game systems and big screens to play on. These have all been wonderful ways for her to make friends and it’s included in the rent. Ours is pretty affordable considering all that comes with. My daughter hates parking at Blinn Bryan, so she catches the bus owned by her apartment (coincidentally driven by one of her high school pals). It runs every 30 minutes and goes to Blinn and TAMU. Hoping this is helpful for anyone just starting to look at off campus apartments! Definitely look for ones close to bus stops, or better yet with private bus service if that’s something that would be helpful to your student!