TAMU vs OU National Merit Visits

nutmeg_shippy
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 03:37:46 +0000

I recently visited Texas A&M to attend their National Scholars Invitational. I also visited Oklahoma on a personalized campus visit tailored for a National Merit hopeful. I wanted to post a little bit about each visit and give insight on what things I liked and what things I didn’t care for. Also, hoping to get feedback from others considering both of these schools.

TAMU

The National Scholar Invitational was overall a very impressive event. There were 100 students in attendance, along with many parents and siblings. We checked in in the Memorial Student Center and were given instruction to bring my luggage in, as we would be taking it straight from the MSC to Hullaballoo Hall, where the students would be staying the night. After an introductory session, the students were taken to small groups where we played some icebreaker games and got to know each other. The parents, I believe, had a session on housing. We then rejoined the parents and had sessions on admissions and scholarships.

At this time, we had lunch. This was one of the most favorable things specifically pertaining to how the Scholars people conducted the event. As a student with a significant food allergy, I was concerned about the food they would provide (I let them know about the allergy on my application). They had box lunches catered in from Jason’s Deli - and had a box specifically with my name on it, noting my allergy, and even went so far as to have an allergen free cookie for me for dessert. I was very impressed by how cautious they were.

The parents departed after this and students were divided by major and had a breakout session in their college of choice. We business students got a tour of the Mays’ Business School and talked to a very informative faculty member who is a former student.

Later in the evening we enjoyed a Mexican dinner in downtown Bryan (they took us in buses, and were again very careful and thorough in accommodating my allergy). We toured the beautiful A&M rec center and then enjoyed Bahama Bucks catered in while we got to ask questions to a current National Merit Student panel.

To wrap up the evening, we had a zombified evening campus tour…and I won’t spoil it for future visitors But it was a great and fun way to see campus.

Like I said, the night was spent in Hullaballoo Hall. This is the newest (and most expensive) dorm on campus and it is a beautiful building. I stayed in a room that had two bedrooms within it, with two beds in each room. 4 people share one bathroom that is just outside the bedroom doors. This is one of three or four different arrangements within Hullaballoo. There are study rooms and kitchens on each floor, as well as common areas on the first floor. There’s even a Starbucks. What else could you want?

In the morning, we enjoyed breakfast at Sbisa Dining and a lecture from a TAMU professor. This experience really cannot be replaced in any way. Being in a real classroom setting really helped the A&M experience come alive in my mind and was hands down my favorite part of the trip. Note : the engineering students had a different class, more tailored to their interests. The rest of us were in a type of history class.

We wrapped up our time at TAMU with a special yell practice, which was truly a brilliant way to finish off.

Overall, I was very impressed with the experience that A&M provided through the National Merit Inviational. They clearly discussed the options available to National Merit students and also explained the application process in detail. Staying a night in the dorm, as well as experiencing an actual class, were big pros. They also showed, in spite of being a huge campus, attention to detail in how they dealt with my allergy.

Comparison to OU, as well as OU visit in detail coming in next post.