<p>I understand there is about 54% of students goes to A&M are in top 10% is HS, just would like to hear your insights and decision story if you dont mind sharing.</p>
<p>I guess you mean as opposed to UT?</p>
<p>Ds is not in top 10% but has toured, applied and been accepted at both UT and A&M. He much preferred A&M because of a greater sense of community. On the UT campus, he saw lots of diversity, but no one related to anyone but their own “group.” I know that’s a generalization, but that was his observation, and once he pointed it out, I began to notice that, too. Scholarship money is better at A&M.</p>
<p>Those are his thoughts for now. He hasn’t made a decision where to go (lots of options in addition to these two schools).</p>
<p>I’ve been surprised at the huge percentage of my son’s top 10% friends who decided on A&M. Two of the NMSF mom’s told me that it was UT’s attitude that turned off their kids. Both said the UT tour guides made it sound like UT was doing them a favor by having them while the A&M tour guides were friendlier and said how A&M would love to have the kids. These are kids who will have offers of big scholarships at many schools and are choosing A&M.</p>
<p>I would estimate that of the top 10% kids staying in Texas from DS’s school 80% are going to A&M.</p>
<p>I’m top 10%, applied to both schools, got accepted into engineering at both, and it all came down to one thing for me: a campus visit. TAMU surprised me. I was not all too impressed by all there tradition (a bit much for me but I will probably just get used to it), but the atmosphere in general was welcoming, and the types of people found here fit exactly who I am/want to be. This was no easy choice because I was dead set from a very early age that I wanted to go to UT, but it was for all the wrong reasons. I never even had to make a campus visit to UT because in my heart I just knew TAMU was the better school for me. </p>
<p>Now from the elitist point of view, I would be called stupid. Is Texas ranked higher overall academically: Yes. Is Texas ranked higher in most engineering disciplines: Yes. Then why would I ever want to go to an inferior school? Well, first off, both schools are great and will provide the best possible opportunities a public education can offer. They both have highly ranked programs, UT’s are for the most part slightly higher, but the very minimal differences are not enough to make one an obvious choice over the other. </p>
<p>So when making a choice between these two schools, I think the most important thing as referenced in previous post is to do a campus visit. It made the decision much clearer and easier for me to make. </p>
<p>And regarding scholarship money. If you are national merit, TAMU is generous to you. However, if you are top 10 in your class, have high SAT/ACT, and great EC’s not so much. All of their money goes to national merit. That one test to them is worth more than any other high school achievement you could ever have. I still got money, but it was minimal compared to what many other schools gave. The biggest scholarships are through honors college, and their website says that roughly 450 students will receive any scholarship money from them. On the other hand, the engineering and business departments at UT give insane amounts of money in comparison to TAMU. I have friends who are getting 36k from just engineering at UT alone. So edge in scholarships goes to UT.</p>
<p>well its a pretty good school, Same Tier as UT, </p>
<p>one of the top schools in Texas and i believe its cheaper than UT
but it probably just depends on if you want to be in a big city or small city</p>
<p>Regarding my previous post, around 450 students receive the scholarships 10k and above. There are many others but they will not impact total cost very much. However, this is coming from their website. I have no idea what things really are.</p>
<p>D has been accepted to both UT and A&M, went with A&M after touring both. She spoke to students at both schools and felt that A&M students were much happier. There is more diversity at UT but as an earlier poster mentioned everyone was sticking with their “group” leaving an uncomfortable feeling. A&M was excited about her visit and stated that they wanted her to attend, the UT tour and interviews were much less friendly and she was a number in their system by the end of the day.</p>
<p>My D only applied to one school…TAMU. My husband and I both went to A&M as well as many other family members so brainwashing her into the Aggie tradition has always been a part of her life. She is in the top 5% of her class so she was an auto admit. However, she is an athlete. She isn’t quite good enough to play at a big DI school like A&M but had many offers from other schools like Texas State, Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston. She also had an opportunity to go to DII and DIII schools. Each time she would visit another campus she would always compare it to A&M. In the end, she decided that A&M was where she wanted to be. She is going to try-out for the club team and play intramurals.</p>
<p>How many NMFs does A&M have-either how many they get each year or total?</p>
<p>They got 189 this school year. No idea about total.</p>