Heavy Civil Interest 

Congratulations on your admission to Texas A&M University, and to the Aggie Family. It is truly a network like no other. For the rest of your life, you will meet other Aggies, and no matter how different you are from one another, you will be bonded by this experience you are about to embark.  They have a saying in Aggieland: "From the outside looking in you can't fully understand, and from the inside looking out you just can't ever fully explain."

Always remember the Key Tenets of an Engineer are Safety & Efficacy and are part of the Code of Ethics.

There are a few questions you should first ask yourself for your own reflection:

• Why Texas A&M? Why Engineering? What Engineering: that is, which specific discipline in engineering? And Why?

• What is more important to you (remember it is not just one or the other, but can vary along the spectrum): 

  • 1. 1. 1. • Family or Career?

             • Making Money or Making a Difference? 

             • Management or Design? 

             • Assuring Quality or Advancing Innovation?

• Are you committed to studying, working, and applying to be a licensed Professional Engineer?

• Manage! Welcome to the world of project management, or some may say adulting. Choose wisely and critically where and when you wish to be involved. There are so many student organizations. Many with wonderful causes, but remember, you are moving to the Bryan/College Station (BCS) area to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree at a Tier 1 Research University, not a rural community college, and not to get pulled into another organization's own goals at the potential detriment of your own. Beware! Hopefully you have applied and been awarded enough scholarships that you will not need to look for a part-time job (except perhaps student research assistant).

  • Student organizations are from any activity you can think of, and depending on your answers to your reflection questions you may be interested in:

    • ASCE includes Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge competitions

    • ASME includes Career Fair and Leadership Exchange

    • SEC includes voice of engineering students; increase engineering awareness through programs and events; fosters professional advancement of all engineering students

    • SGA includes leadership across the campus and 11 student senators from the College of Engineering

  • Project Management minor / certificate is available from Texas A&M's Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering (MTDE), Engineering Project Management. You will already be taking some courses which align with the minor, so it is very easy to meet the requirements to obtain the minor. This will also better posture you for seeking other professional credentialing, such as the Project Management Professional (PMP) of the Project Management Institute (PMI).

  • Community colleges are also good. The BCS area hosts Blinn College. You may be interested in taking a course such as English or Chemistry or Engineering Physics there for a host of reasons.

  • Scholarships are available from TAMU and other organizations (for TAMU see FRESHMAN tab)

    • Every Member of the Corps of Cadets is eligible to apply for a Scholarship even with no military obligation. First step is apply.

  • Student Research Assistant (SRA) is possible for student employment through Jobs For Aggies or can be coordinated directly with a professor performing duties as a Principal Investigator (PI) or there is also LAUNCH undergraduate research for more opportunities.

  • Doctoral studies are also available from Texas A&M with a special program called iGrad which is guaranteed three-year funded (plus $30k per year stipend) opportunity for domestic engineering students where even undergraduates are eligible upon completion of a bachelor's degree. This is where your own answers to your reflection questions are very important. Talk to your trusted mentors about the "I" in DIME of the national instruments of power. What students write and research influences policy. It is extremely important to have conscientious engineering students, with the best interests of our nation's security strategy, who are performing and publishing research. This research often serves as the "evidence" for many decisions affecting policy and law. Many domestic engineering students are heavily recruited from engineering companies, but in my opinion, there is a national strategic advantage to minimally delaying your entry to the workforce in order to work to complete doctoral studies - or working & studying at the same time!