Will the 2024-2025 TAMU application have the short/supplemental essay prompts in addition to the Common App essay? If so, what are the short essay prompts? (I know the Common App prompt stayed the same, not sure about the short/supplemental ones. The TAMU admission website mentions the Common App essay, but I can’t find anything about the short essays for the 2024/2025 cycle).
By way of background, when my daughter applied in 2023, she submitted responses to the 4 essay prompts below:
Prompt 1: (Common App) Tell us your story. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today? (750 words)
Prompt 2: Describe a life event which you feel has prepared you to be successful in college. (250 words)
Prompt 3: Tell us about the person who has most impacted your life and why. (250 words)
Prompt 4 (optional): If there are additional personal challenges, hardships, or opportunities (including COVID related experiences) that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, which you have not already written about , please note them in the space below. (250 words)
@FriscoDad - A friend’s son just learned he got a 1330 on the SAT. She’s asked for the stats/data on SAT scores for TAMU engineering admission. Do you happen to have that handy? (He won’t be in the top 10% but is a solid student at a non-ranking private HS in Texas.)
For SAT/ACT, but focus on the red circled data for SAT or ACT.
Those are the scores holistic need to target because auto-admit have less incentive to get good scores. Data below include TEAB, McAllen and Galveston offers.
I am quite shocked with this data, can you tell me why the red circled data is significant for holistic to engineering? If you don’t mind me enlarge it?
On the Headcount column. 1296/3208 engineering students with average of 1467. That’s a whopping 40.3% engineering students, nearly half.
We do know every year, half of all engineering admitted/enrolled are auto-admit. So based on this table, it is up to the readers to choose which group to focus on. (A lot of the rest of the groups get TEAB/McAllen/Galveston)
If you look at overall average 1334, one may think can easily get in with that average, unfortunately not many aware that the standard deviation is high (138). If good rank (~ top 20%), good essays, STEM course strength, and some meaningful ECs, 1334 “may” get TEAB.
For first quartile engineering applicants, the easiest way to enhance their chance is still increasing the scores, and focusing the STEM rigor in senior year.
Is anyone familiar with the University’s honors program? not specific departmental ones, but just the general one. What are the general stats to be accepted, and any feedback on the program itself?
Not a fan of UH, major/college specific HNR programs are FAR better.
Cons-
UH requires living in UH dorms freshman year-can’t select room or roommate.
UH is a lot of mandatory fluff/busywork freshman year, can be time consuming.
UH doesn’t have their own advisors, which can be a big problem.
Seems many drop out/leave the program after freshman year.
(While my Aggie was a student, UH sent out mass emails- to pretty much every student with a 3.0- asking them to apply.
No other program does that )
Being in UH doesn’t guarantee getting into every HNR section wanted, especially in Mays. While UH does get to register early-with all other HNR students-the Mays HNR sections will be open to BH students first.
Not having UH advisors is really a downfall. UH students are on their own.
Far more Cons vs Pros…IMO
My son is currently Auto-Admit but of course he wants to go into Engineering. Will there be a place in the main Apply Texas App for letters of req at the time of submission or will a spot open up for that in the portal when he goes holistic review after he applies? Do the teachers give him the letter or does he send them a link to where they submit it to? In the letters of req do the teachers need to talk about his as a student in general or about his math and science skills? He wants his english teacher to write one because english is not his strong suit but she can speak of his hard work and determination very well as it is the class he works his hardest in.
Also, our school is very a small private school and the counselor said that we do not have a subscription for submitting official transcripts digitally. She said that she would have to mail it in. Show we have her mail it in now or wait until after he applies in August?
I’m sure I will have more questions but I think that is all for now. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
LOR is optional, for auto-admit, they won’t even look at it. Engineering honor however, will require LOR but it has a different portal handling that, and that’s after admission.
Teachers can give LORs to students for them to upload via AIS.
Electronic transcript can send now, but paper ones may need to wait until after application when ID is assigned. ID is used as a form of letterhead so admission can match the applicant’s file.
Your student can work on Essay A now, as well as create SRAR account for linking later after application opens.
Thank you so much! This was all very helpful. He has already completed his SRAR and it is ready to be linked when needed. He will be working on the essay after he takes his SAT on Saturday and his English teacher will be proofreading it. She is such an amazing human being. I wish all teachers were like her.
Okay, so I have another question. If my son applies to both Main Campus (CS) and Galveston for Engineering and gets accepted at Galveston 1st and CS 2nd will the portal change? Will he have two portals? He is top 10% so he will be auto admit to both before holistic review for engineering.
I’m just confused as to how this is all going to work out. Right now he wants to go to CS first but both my husband and I both started at Galveston before transferring and graduating at CS and told him that it might be easier going from small private school to a small campus like Galveston at first. He agrees and said the will think about it. I’m really hoping that this jumbled up mess of a question makes sense.
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