Does anyone have insights as to how many students get into their first or second choice engineering major (AE or ME in case of our son) after the first year - in terms of # admits that were automatic with 3.75 or better and # of admits that were granted their choice via holistic.

Our son would have to take the Blinn Academy path to start with - and because both schools don't publish any results it makes me believe that very few get their first or second choice major if they don't achieve 3.75 in the first year.

Just how bad is it that they have to mask this information?

Here you go! Just search "tamu etam results spring 2024"

Thanks HuttoAg27!! Really great info.

As noted in my post - our son would have to go through one of the Academy routes (9 community schools plus Blinn) to take his first-year engineering courses to be eligible to transfer into one of the engineering degree plans via on-campus at CS.

These numbers probably just lump the Academy students in with those who were admitted to CS campus. I'm also curious how the Academy kids fair vs those who are already accepted onto the main campus.

I know it's probably not that helpful to hear, but the best advice I can give on getting into Mechanical or Aerospace is to get a 3.75 or higher. They are both very competitive, as only about 30% of first choice applicants that are not auto admits get in. I'm not sure about any statistics for the academy students, sorry. I know etam is a really stressful process.

I just finished the TEAB program, which involves taking some classes at TAMU while taking your math and science classes at Blinn. In my experience, my classes were slightly easier than the Tamu version, easing my transition to college. I believe that the statistics above include the Academy students as well. The one thing I did like about it was if I screwed up in my academy classes it would not affect my Tamu gpa.

Thanks Clrichardson

I think our son's path would be a little different - it would be Blinn Academy where he would be living on-campus at Blinn and taking all of his classes there. It does seem like the math/science classes are TAMU (taught onsite at Blinn) - so maybe your comment would still be true...if he doesn't make an A in English or History...it doesn't matter as much as not making the grades in math/science.

I'll try to confirm that with Blinn.

The best advice I would give is to be very conservative in Freshman classes and to prepare over the Summer. One of the worst things many kids do is not take any classes the Summer before Freshman year. Why? Many students are already checked out about now in their Senior year of HS and then if they don't take any classes over the Summer they have to re-adjust to an academic mindset. Then if they just take the "next" Math or Science class they are begging for trouble.

GPA is so important early on. It sets up ETAM. It sets up scholarships. It sets up organizations and research you can be a part of. Most of all it sets a tone for the remaining time in school. If you get off to a strong start it is so much easier to maintain it because you have the confidence built up, you have made the adjustment to college, and you have more time to research classes and profs and what would be the best chance for success as you sign up for them.

BTW, I'm not saying your kid should be taking a heavy Summer course load. For instance my son is going to take an online Python course and is thinking of taking Organic Chemistry (not for credit) in Community College (he wants to do BME and already took AP Chem). No pressure around either to perform but he will need to study and stay in the groove but not be overwhelmed so he can still relax and enjoy the Summer.

My elder son was a Non STEM major and was not strong in Math so he took his 2 Math classes in CC one after the other in Summer School after Senior year online, he was a good student in HS but not even Top 25%.. It was a bit of a slog at times for him but he got to start off at A&M with all of his Math done before stepping foot on campus and was able to take a lighter load with classes he was more interested in and ended up getting a 4.0. He's kept that up and is set to graduate with that same GPA as his confidence grew and he got so many opportunities from his grades that it really motivated him to work even harder. He has loved being seen as "the smart kid" which he really didn't feel like he was in High School.

It's so much more valuable to start off strong even if it is slower out of the gate vs worrying about maybe having to take an extra Semester at the end. GPA is such a driver of opportunities and it's much better to add an extra class or 2 after you have a couple Semesters of work under your belt than trying to push hard right out of the gate. Have a strong respect and even a bit of fear about the difficulty of college coursework and the adjustment to college itself. Much better to realize it was easier than you thought than the reverse. A rough start can take half of the options off the table before you really even knew what you wanted to do.

I would absolutely agree with doing some work over the summer, especially if your son has little experience in coding. The coding class you take as a freshman is not an intro course like they say it is.

I would consider doing core classes over the summer because they are cheap and easy to do over the summer and as far as I know they would not count towards your gpa for etam.

Good input bmet. He is accepted into Oklahoma State - who has a dual ME/AE degree path he is interested in. I think it's just been hard for him to let go of the desire to go to A&M - even though his only option is the Academy route that he isn't that excited about. We hope/think he is coming around to the facts that OSU is better fit. We loved it there when we visited with him and have secretly hoped that it would be where he ended up.

my son and I visited Oklahoma State today. He will likely get into A&M engineering but he really loved Oklahoma State which actually kind of surprised me. He likes the smaller town, smaller school, more intimate feel of the engineering school at OSU and being able to be admitted into the major of his choice. Really likes the dual EE/CE degree option too plus he can get a lot of scholarships at OSU.

He's just a junior so we haven't done an official college visit to A&M although he's been there quite a few times. He may still go to A&M but imo finding the best fit and getting the major they want is the most important thing.

Auburn is another one to check into. Has a good engineering program, guaranteed major, good merit scholarships, and a very similar conservative student body and school/town size to what A&M was in the late 80s-early 90s

My son is currently a senior that did the blinn academy route. Best path possible from my perspective. He got his first choice (mechanical) with no issues or waiting.

He did not have a 3.75. I think it was around a 3.5.

I think one of the things that is overstated is the "ME/AE or bust" mindset.

You can see from the chart above that the Multidisciplinary Engineering majors are not put as top choices by a lot of students. At times they can have very similar courses, and sometimes be much more effective at preparing one for the world after college.

For example, I graduated with a degree in MMET (Manufacturing & Mechanical Engineering). I would say that the classes I took actually better prepared me for a career in industry than some of my peers in ME. I had smaller class sizes, similar material covered but (at least in the case of MMET) a more hands-on approach. For example, after the standard Calculus 1 & 2 that all ETAM students take, MMET diverged and spent more time learning about quality assurance/risk analysis statistics while I had friends suffering through Calculus 3&4, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra etc.
In the 5 years I've been in the industry outside of school, I can count on one hand how many times I've had to take a derivative, while I am able to do more pertinent math that my coworkers never learned.

Have your kids pull up the degree plan for each degree they're interested in and actually look through the names/descriptions of the classes. They might find out they're a lot more interested in "Product Design/Solid Modeling" & "Manufacturing Automation and Robotics" (MMET) Than they would be "Heat Transfer" & "Dynamics & Vibrations" (ME).

You can still get hired as a Mechanical Engineer with an MMET degree (speaking from experience here).

Engineering is the easiest profession. All you have to do is make the grades and intern. Studying is solving problems. At work, all you have to do is solve problems. It's fun. The amount of money you get paid is ludicrous.

I was EE or nothing. Definitely no second choice considered. I would do Blinn Team or find any undergraduate school that would take me. The any school choice will likely lead to an MS. That MS does pay for itself eventually, when you're over forty. I worked with a lot of good engineers with a two year degree. If you can do the job, eventually they will pay you.

- Recently retired (out of touch) from semiconductors 1982-2024

"Industry" is the key term. So it's critical (albeit unfair in my mind) for students to have a good understanding of what "industry" they want to enter and spend a career in.. Again, I think that the system is being unfair to expect that level of commitment at that age.

An ME degree is way different than an MMET degree if you want to get into design. I work for a primarily Civil design firm. We hire some ME's that end up doing Civil design, especially in pump stations, lift stations, pipeline etc. The other consideration is what your clients (assuming you work for an engineering consultant) are like. Most of those we deal with are licensed engineers, so they expect their consultant counterpart to be a licensed engineer as well. Fair or unfair it's a reality in this "industry".

I received my BS in IE (industrial engineering). I ended up working in construction management for our design firm. They "recommended" I become licensed for more upward mobility in this firm and in this industry. It took a ton of work but I eventually became licensed in Civil. Since that was the work I was doing.

Just something to consider as you discuss degrees and corresponding industries.

That's the funny thing about licensing.
I guess I should have been more specific with my use of "Industry". I've spent a few years in the Aerospace Industry, The Commercial Utility Vehicle Industry, and the Automotive Industry.

When I was in undergraduate, many of our professors in MMET were pushing us to study for and take the FE Exam and to prepare to get our PE licenses.
When I did my first internship, I asked around the company (private sector) if it would be beneficial to get my PE license and if so what steps could I expect to take, who would be my mentor, etc. I was told that there were only a handful of people at the company (that employs hundreds of engineers) who would even be qualified to be a supervising PE and that it would be unlikely that I would work directly under them.

I understand it's important especially in the Civil sector to get one's PE license, but in the Aerospace industry I currently work in it's all but unheard of. FWIW I work for a Fortune 500 company, so it's not like my anecdote is from a small-time employer who just doesn't want to play by the rules or anything like that. Every Engineer I've worked with has basically stated that PEs aren't necessary in the private sector outside of Civil/Architectural Engineering. In my head, I've always divided Engineering into those two sectors I guess - Public and Private.

As far as getting into design, I guess it just depends on what kind of design you're referring to. I suppose an ME degree might be more helpful for someone who spends a lot of time designing pump stations, engine turbines, and the like, but the ones I've worked with in my industry have tried telling me it wouldn't be an issue to weld their aluminum part to a steel structure, that they don't see why it should be a problem to have two unlike metals touching in a marine environment (they couldn't even spell galvanic), and that they didn't understand why it would be so much more expensive to machine their design rather than build it out of sheet metal. (These are all conversations with A&M ME Grads, by the way).

I agree that it's incredibly unfair to expect a freshman to decide what 'industry' they want to spend the rest of their career in. Heck, I didn't even have a clue what I wanted to do until the summer after my Junior year. I was fortunate that I chose a degree that didn't pigeonhole me into having to stick with a specific job type. My point in my initial post was just to say that your degree doesn't necessarily define your job prospects.

I have MEs, AEs, and EEs on my team. We all do similar work. I respect the heck out of my EE counterparts because my brain does not work in the way theirs does. But they can't do what I can and that's okay - we all work on some pretty cool stuff and can contribute to the goal.

Great points and context. Yes, I think a big break in differences is public sector versus private sector. To your point, the public sector seems to lean a lot more on licensing, probably from a risk in protection of the health of the population perspective. Protecting tax dollars. Similar to a CPA license or a medical license or a pharmacist license. Outside of that public domain, you are entirely correct. It's a lot more rare to have licensed engineers. Great points.