@nervoussenior12356 - race is not a factor in admissions. Read the link I posted above.
Does anyone know if biomedical sciences is filled up? I put that as my major but I am still under review and I am getting worried.
This is the longest wait ever! But, whatever happens, just want to thank everyone for their knowledge and encouragement.
Fall 2017, 3800 holistic review applicants were offered full admissions to the university.
This article was on another forum on College Confidential. While the specifics are different, Race/sex vs Top 10%, the reply is on target.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/02/im-worried-my-son-wont-get-good-college/582979/
Across the board, retention rates at Texas A&M College Station campus for freshmen in the Top 10%, of all incomes and generation status, is consistently in the lower 90 percentile. 2017 was 92.4%. 4 yr Graduation rates 54.9-57%.
Across the board, retention rates at Texas A&M College Station campus for freshmen NOT in the Top 10%, of all incomes and generation status is consistently in the lower 90 percentile. 2017 was 91.8%. 4 yr Graduation rates 45.2-51.4%.
This is true the past 10 years, to 2008, as far back as the interactive data tables lets me go.
Because one does not like how something is done, does not make it garbage. If the Top 10% rule was abolished, it is doubtful that the middle performing student at a resource rich competitive suburban high school will move up much for admissions. There will still be the outreach to under-served, poor, underrepresented students, the partnership with 110 Regent Scholar high schools, the continued recruitment of National Merit Finalists (A&M is 6th in the nation in enrolled), there are those who perform at the top quarter of their competitive schools AND score well, and affirmative action will again be implemented. Not sure it will be the leveling of the playing field many think it will be.
Top 10% has been around for nearly 22 years and A&Mâs reputation as a top university, and its graduates, is as strong as ever. Grumblings because someone dislikes the process, their child didnât gain admission, what have you, doesnât make the school going down hill. That is just hogwash and giving too much importance to oneâs own opinion. When businesses stop desiring itâs graduates, and partnerships severed because of the quality of its graduates and the rankings of itâs colleges and departments start tanking, that would lend credibility to the university going down hill. In 20 years, that hasnât happened.
Fall 2017 has the most complete numbers. FTIC (first time in college)
2017 Applied College Station Campus: 36,140. Admitted: 25,104. Enrolled:11,205.
Top 10% Admitted: 12,044. Enrolled: 5039.
Academic Admits Admitted: 4300, Dars does not give us the Enrolled number
Holistic Review Admitted: 3800 Dars does not give us the enrolled number
2017 A&M top 10% freshman retention rate for College Station campus only and incomes:
Less than $20K: 332 students began, 279 retained: 84%. 277
$20K-$39,999K: 604 students began, 534 retained: 88.4%.
$40K-$59,999K: 469 students began, 406 retained: 86.6%.
$60K-$79,999K: 379 students began, 345 retained: 91%.
Over $80K: 2901 students began, 2774 retained: 95.8%.
2017 A&M top Not Top 10% freshman retention rate for College Station campus only and incomes:
Less than $20K: 118 students began, 102 retained: 86.4%. .
$20K-$39,999K: 234 students began, 198 retained:84.6%.
40K-$59,999K: 284 students began, 250 retained: 88%.
$60K-$79,999K: 323 students began, 287 retained: 88.9%.
Over $80K: 3124 students began, 2910 retained: 93.1%.
There is now a thread for PSA. Read the main link and follow the links from that page to learn about the program. Links to each system school that have PSA Webpages are also provided.
Has anyone from Biomedical Sciences received a decision? I feel as if most of us are still in review. Not a bad thing, Iâm just so anxious from the waiting game!
I still Thelma2 saying that BIOMED is always waiting on their decision, so thinking of that always gives me hope.
My friend got her admission in October with biomedical major. I applied for the same major and still havenât heard back. She wasnât auto; she was top 12% with 1330 sat.
@BlueBayouAZ & @Thelma2 thank you both for your responses regarding Top 10% historical stats for TAMU. One other thing that I hope posters here remember is that those students who gain admission via being in the Top 10% of their class are high achieving, hard working students who have sustained their academic dedication over years. Further, itâs not just a matter of being in the first decile of the class, but there are other aspects of the Top 10% rule that ensure that students who gain automatic admission are, in fact, college ready. Auto Admits meet the Texas Education Code requirements that the student:
(1) successfully completed the requirements for the Recommended High School Program (RHSP) or the
DistinguishedAchievementProgram (DAP);
(2) earned the distinguished level of achievement under the Foundation High School Program; or
(3) satisfied SAT/ACTâs College Readiness Benchmarks
The notion that scores of unqualified students are gaining automatic admission to Texas universities simply isnât true. Further, the SAT & ACT are not IQ Tests that determine which kid is smarter than another kid. Theyâre not even reliable for determining college success. What the SAT and ACT truly excels at doing is predicting socioeconomic status of the test taker. To date, the most reliable indicator of future college success is GPA. Kids who achieve, again-- over the course of years, high GPAs and rise to the top of their class have developed some of the most important tools that students can acquire for future success beyond high school. I donât think youâre going to find many (if any) Top 10% who stumbled into a high enough GPA to rise to the top of their class, and a big fat goose egg for every other category of achievement out there. Auto Admits have worked, and worked hard over the course of their high school career.
Finally, I just want to address the notion of âcompetitive schoolâ vs. âthose other schools that my kid doesnât go to, so they must be awful, with grade inflation, and my kid could have gone their and been valedictorian, etcâŠâ as being a big old myth as well, and more than a little insulting and classist. Inner city, rural, and poor school districts and schools still have education happening in their hallowed halls as well. Having less opportunity, due to less wealth, doesnât mean that the less privileged kids are by birthright dumber, or less educated. It means that their schools, school districts, and/or parents may not have had the money to pay for amazing ECs, AP classes, or AP tests, Dual Enrollment, or expensive test prep for a self-validating SAT/ACT test. Or, to take the tests multiple times. Those kids, like the âcompetitive schoolsâ (aka, wealthy, suburban schools), have hard-working, and high achieving students who also had an opportunity to compete within their environment to be one of the top students. âCompetitive schoolâ kids who did not gain auto or academic admit status werenât competing with inner city, rural,or poor Top 10%ers. They were competing in their own environment, where they had more opportunities for success. They had the same fair change to gain auto or academic admit status as their peers.
I understand disappointment, and shock. The college admission process is not for the faint of hear, thatâs for sure. I understand that a lot is riding on admission decisions for not only the students, but their families. But please, as decisions come out, even if the decision isnât what you expected or hoped for, donât denigrate the hard work and accomplishments of students who met the statutory requirement by working their butts off, sometimes in truly disadvantaged situations, to rise to the top of their school. A parting insult to kids who gained admission wonât lessen the sting, nor change the decision. And, it certainly doesnât act as a balm to the temporary hurt of getting an unfavorable decision.
My own son will be going through the admission process soon. He is a very high achieving âTop 10%â kid. Heâs fortunate enough to attend school in one of the wealthiest districts in Texas. Heâs afforded a lot of opportunity, so he wouldnât have any excuses for not achieving high. Still, heâs truly worked very hard (and continues to do so) in all aspects of youthful achievement (academics, ECs, community engagement, athletics, test scores, etcâŠ). Heâs no slacker, and if he was, he could not have risen to top 5% of his class. So, I apologize for the length of this, but this has become a huge pet peeve of mine as I delve into Texas college forums here on CC. I think my own student is very typical of the average âTop 10%erâ, so Iâd personally love it if people would stop taking out their frustration and disappointment on other hardworking kids. I know that the review admit kids worked hard. I know that they too are college ready, and can succeed at any college, including TAMU. But, do try to remember, Top 10% kids did nothing to earn your scorn.
Iâm mostly a lurker for now, and will go back to lurking until my own kid makes a decision about where all to apply, but Iâm pulling for everyone, and hoping that you gain admission. For those who donât, I know that you/your kids are going to shine wherever they land. 
@Thelma2 Great response to the 10% complainers. I completely agree with you. This nonsense about how top 10% doesnât work is spiteful and only being used by those that donât think their child should have to wait for admission or denials. This thought process is elitist in itâs very nature and anything else will likely still not be fair to all. All of these great young adults are likely the cream of the crop in their own elements. They all should be congratulated not sneered at because they came from a lower performing district/school/income bracket and had scores lower than their kid. There are private universities that are not required to abide by the 10% rule.
@Thelma2 You are truly amazing and giving of your time to answer and help people. Thank you so much for that, but I think itâs okay for people to discuss their dislike of the law though. There will always be people who see it both ways and everyone is entitled to an opinion. There are stats out there that will prove 10% is great and stats that prove it isnât working-itâs all relative to what a person wants to believe and see. Itâs very normal for a student (and in most cases a parent) to feel slighted by the system when they have worked very hard to achieve high GPAs in high-ranking schools and high test scores and those feelings are just as valid as the desire to make sure we include all groups of income levels, diverse backgrounds, etc. Iâm sure there is no way to create a perfect scenario.
My child has a decision (Blinn-TEAM) and Iâm on here now to see how it turns out for some people who weâve all been following, not to fight about the 10% law. I truly hope all of these very well-deserving students still in review get a happy answer and closure soon.
Cheers to all of you. Apologies if Iâve offended anyone as that was not my intent. Hopefully we can leave this 10% discussion and get back to TAMU-related info.
@Jasperlady ⊠re: your comments about CA: YES I completely agree. My daughter attends a catholic school in Santa Ana (the big football one) and when I was looking at her stats in Naviance, the selective UC schools were consistently denying admission to very well-qualified students from her school.
Although she toured many UCs, she didnât apply to any. She applied to several Cal states and public/pvt OOS colleges only.
Selective UCâs are a total crapshoot here unless you fall within certain categories (like first gen) that are highly recruited.
I commiserate.
Iâm grateful that my daughter was accepted at TAMU but I feel for all of these TX families and students who are still waiting on admission.
Iâll let yâall know when she decides!
I say kudos to the Top 10%-ers & the academic admits! Congrats to them for getting in!
Itâs just hard to watch my sweet girl who busts her ass for every grade. Is sitting at 16% with a 1330 SAT, lots of ECs & great essay & letters of rec watch classmates with lower % & SAT receiving decisions while she waits.
And yes, she could have taken SAT again. But in her words âI just canât & I really hope they do holistically look at all of me & that Iâm good enoughâ. Tests like that are not her strong suit. This wasnât her first attempt. She spent 6 solid weeks in the summer studying for that score. And she didnât have it in her to do it again this fall.
So I just hope & pray they do seem her âgood enoughâ
And for those of you who now think itâs okay to call people who may not like the law âbitterâ and âelitistâ because they donât share your opinionâŠit really is okay for people to not think like you. It doesnât mean they are evil and looking down on those who receive auto admit-maybe they just donât agree with the law. Off my soap box. (This is all way too intense for a CC forum.)
Prayers everyone hears this week. Hope the best for every family on here. Lol at âthis is all way too intense for a CC forumâ. Too funny and true.
Aggies are family so it stands to reason we can bicker like family on here. But much respect to all!!!
@Bellaire2828, if you go back and re-read the comments on this issue, there are a lot of disturbing pot shots at the Top 10% students, exclusively, or mixed in with dissenting opinions on the law. More than a few commenters, over the life of this thread, have tried to paint them as il-prepared charity cases who TAMU doesnât really want, and who are dragging TAMU to the collegiate slums, and thankfully flunking out after the first year to make room for their own deserving but cheated child. That sentiment is whatâs being addressed, not debate about the law. Frankly, I donât care, one way or the other, what people think of the law. But, Iâm not going to pretend that it doesnât rub me the wrong way when people are clearly allowing their anger/frustration/bitterness/disillusionment (whatever you want to call it) + anonymity override their manners, to attack students, including ones in this forum, who have earned their admission to A&M. Some of the comments have been elitist, and smack of bitterness. I know that most are reactionary, and come from a place of hurt. That doesnât make it okay to try to sully the image/perception/reputation of others.
Iâve been on A&Ms campus a lot. Iâve not run into the downtrodden, less than bright clods that some people are painting a large percentage of the student population to be. I love reading this thread, and the UT Class of 2023 thread. Iâm biting my nails right along with everyone else, and I donât even have skin in this game (my kid is a junior!). But, reading the little stabs against students (not the law) who gained admission takes away from the helpful, upbeat, and even competitive nature of the thread. Iâm sure itâs a little hurtful for kids and parents who have put themselves out there, sharing stats and experiences. As maybe a future Aggie Mom (maybe⊠the jury is still out), I appreciate all of the helpful comments, seeing the stats, getting to understand how TAMU works from those with more experience. And, I donât want it to stop because of the venom spread as a result of disappointment.
Absolutely, say anything about the merits of the law or lack thereof. It can be discussed, cussed, etc,. Feel hurt, disappointed, shafted by the law, but where the line is drawn for me, and it has been crossed many times by several adults, is disparaging of the students who earn this designation and further still, claiming the university and those admitted are less intelligent. That is in no way true and it is unnecessary and I will continue to call it out when that line is crossed. If you they canât behave from belittling others and cast aspersions on the school in order to make themselves feel better because of their feelings about others, perhaps they need to not post on public forums The university didnât make the law, the legislature did. There are many who have been able to express their utter disdain for the law, their utter disappointment in not receiving an admission decision they want or in waiting limbo, without talking down about anyone. It can be done.
Total enrollment for white students for Fall 2017 is 5556 students. That is 49.5% of total enrollment.
3563 of those students come from homes earning $80,000+. That is 32% of total enrollment from that one demographic.
There were 877 Hispanic/Latinos, 89 African American, 441 Asian, 4 international, 141 Multi-race excluding AA , in that same demographic. I think they are well represented.
The majority of us on here are here about all of the students. Otherwise, we wouldnât be here. We rejoice with the favorable admissions decisions and commiserate when what comes is not what was wished for. We get to know so many of you all for a season that we grow close to and long for the decisions everyone wants. This time of year is the worst for many reasons.
@Mommydoodle Your daughter IS good enough. There are just so few spots for review admits. Please hug her and tell her that there are so many rooting for her to get the admissions decision that she wants. If that is not in the cards, that not getting a spot had nothing to do with her worthiness. Itâs tough competing for those few spots and as intelligent as she is, she can bloom wherever she is planted, if that is another university or she decides to take a pathway of some sort to College Station.
Good for you! My mothers family are one of the oldest families in Princeton and I lived there til I was 30 and married my Texan husband. My grandfather and great grandfather were the foremen that built the chapel. My grandfather worked the admissions office. Saying that I wouldnât send my kid to that school in a million years. The founders must be rolling in their gravesâŠunlike A&M- College Station where I lived with my husband and our daughter was born. The founders must be overjoyed by its progress and growth while still keeping the traditions alive. Love this school!!
Thank you ! Why donât they see it the way we do? Im so exhausted by the politics of this. Prayers with us all who are waiting. I almost feel stupid logging in every morning.
We love this school and our daughter was born in College Station while my husband did research after graduation. We would love nothing more than to go back while half the kids getting accepted could care less,
Thank you @nomatter and @Thelma2. Iâve seen this same type of behavior on other school threads regarding admission and/or merit aid given and itâs just not OK. Unfortunately, nobody on those other threads spoke up in defense of the kids that were being minimized. Itâs appreciated that you have.