Hi do I was wondering what is the minimum sat score I can get because I’ve had varying answers btw here are my ECs

-lifeguard -5 Red Cross certifications -deca member -student council member -president and founder of a tutoring club -4.0 gpa

I got a 1180 on psat since I’m in algebra 2 and didn’t know some concepts but translated into a sat score is a 1240 so what is the minimum score I should aim for?

For all those in the engineering track at TAMs, is the math really hard? I’m okay at math I guess but it’s definitely not my strongest point. I’m in AP precal rn and low key struggling so I’m a bit worried that if I do college level math I’ll just utterly fail 💀.

Are students able to take electives over the summer (such as Linear Algebra)?

So i’m in algebra 2 currently and i’m applying as a ninth grader.

Is not doing the best on the algebra test gonna REALLY negatively affect my application? I’m confident i can do good on the interview and i got a 740/800 on the math section of the SAT. The 60 points i lost on the math section were also all from the algebra questions. Will getting 5+ wrong really badly affect my chances of getting in because there’s also a lot of algebra concepts i haven’t gone over yet(as i’m still in algebra 2)

Thanks in advance

So I was filling out the application and saw that I need to provide a date I am going to take the ACT on. However, I am only going to take the SAT and not the ACT because I am pretty sure I only need one. Am I right? do I need to take both of them? if not, then what date do I put on the application?

Do my recommendations need to be from my sophomore teachers? Currently, my english teacher and teacher of my choice have taught me both freshman and sophomore year as part of my school's humanities program, so those technically count.

I'm also WAY closer with my alg 2 and bio teacher from last year, with the bio teacher having written me a rec letter before for some summer programs which I got into.

I could probably get a rec from my teachers this year, but I think my freshman teachers could write much more personalized letters.

Would using freshman teachers hurt my chances much? (i submitted the main app already)

Hi, I wanted to know if ap exams are worth taking if I'm planning on going to tams.

If I'm planning on the cs track for teams, will the ap csa exam give me credit in tams so that I can skip a class in tams.

so basically does tams accept classes from ur transcript or do they need an ap exam and are there any exception.

I'm applying as a 9th grader. I am in 5 AP classes, one of them being calculus AB. All of my grades are 95+ except for one class (I'll bring it up). I'm top 3 on varsity tennis and involved in boy scouts. I have been senior Patrol Leader for my troop for 3 years and almost Eagle rank. I also have a ton of volunteer hours from scouts. I have done piano for 10 years. Last year I was involved in TMSCA math science and qualified for state. I'm taking the SAT in October and my practice tests are averaging 1310 which I'm worried about. I am interested in the medical field because I love helping people and I have a passion for science. I hope to become an OBGYN in the future. Are these stats ok. Do you have any advice for the essay (short answer and long answer) portion?

Is it possible to go on a weeklong vacation while conducting summer research?

Hi, I’m a high school junior preparing to take the ACT this fall, and I’m considering applying to TAMS after missing my chance last year. I couldn’t find any information on their website about whether Class of 2026 students in 11th grade are still eligible to apply. Could you guys provide any advice, tips, or guidance on how I might apply if it’s still possible? Thank you!

Hi guys! New Reddit user here and I wanted to know if I actually have a chance to get into TAMs or not… My main sort of “niche” that I focus on is social activism, fighting for social issues (homelessness, poverty, racism), but I’m really interested in engineering as well. I only have like 1 extracurricular related to it though and I’ve been in 2 engineering classes at school so far (I’m a sophomore). I don’t really have many awards but my volunteer hours are over 400 because of my 2 nonprofits. Studying for the SAT rn so I don’t have a score but I won’t stop trying till I get a 1500+. I really need to get into TAMs because of errrrr let’s just say a rough household so I would appreciate any advice or tips for me. If yall have any advice for me regarding extracurriculars or awards please please let me know. Honestly this program is the only thing keeping me going, especially with home life. Anyways, here’s some more info: Grades:

• Freshman year was all 95+ except Algebra 2 ☠️, took AP bio (3 on AP exam idk what happened), AP human (5), and AP Comp sci (4). Also took an advanced engineering class I forgot what it was called. Also ranked 17th slay
• Sophmore year: Send help, grades are all above 90 but some are like barely, I’ll get better though

Extracurriculars:

• Suncake Specials: Nonprofit I made that bakes cakes for families who can’t afford them. Over 8 bakers around Texas, got 400+ volunteer hours from it
• Repaint the World: 2nd nonprofit I made that isn’t doing too well but still working on it; hosts bimonthly workshops for minority groups to create art about social issues
• Model UN
• DiscoverSTEM: Ended up quitting because the organization was low key corrupt and didn’t really align with me but I got an invention sent to get patented (it was a car blind spot innovation)
• SARC (Southlake Anti Racism Coalition)
• NTFB Youth Advocates

Again, I’m a very much a humanitarian person but I also love making things and plan on doing some sort of engineering in the future. If yall have any competitions in mind I also think I really need those since my only award is NJHS 😭😭😭.

for people replying to TAMS Chance mes, how do yall know that SAT score doesn’t matter as much as essays or that volunteering matters a lot or that the interview stage is what matters the most? Do admin tell you or are you just guessing?

What percentage of graduating class of students from TAMS get into Bs/MD programs?

alrighty here we go
SAT: 1470 - 750 math, 720 erw

HGAP - 5

CSP - 3 (slept through half the test lol)

Currently taking AP Physics, Precalc, Seminar, and World as part of GT humanities

Grades are all mid-high 90s with the exception of one semester in GT with an 88, i'm not ranked (schools competitive asf)

awards and shit

• All Region 50th place, 5th chair Philharmonic 1st violin
• Presidents Award for having all As in middle school
• made top level all region in region 24 in all 3 years of middle school
• solo and ensemble regional outstanding soloist
• President's Service Award Bronze (currently at like 100 smthn hours)
• misc FTC awards (inspire a couple of times, but this isn't as relevant)

i wanna go mech engi track, so heres robotics stuff

hardware member/designer on 21235 SHARK!, we've made it to regionals twice and have been state runner ups once and like 2 slots away the other time

attended Tufts Pre-College Engineering Design Lab after getting accepted

also i have a 3D printing business Protara Printing in which me and 2 others (ones also applying) have paid off our printers, and broken even a few hundred dollars

i'm also an officer in the Food Lounge (volunteer org spanning across tx)

i'm also applying for ESR so i've secured 3/4 of my teacher recs, and finished like half my essays (tryna submit around october ish)

GPA is around 5.05 rn (FISD scale), and 3.965 (4.0 college scale)

also i write music, and play drums, violin, and piano

i'm somewhat confident in my app, but at the same time, never know, so i wanna hear what the current ppl/alumni have to say about my misc shit

gg

Hey I wanted to take the March sat but colleges receive scores first week April when applications close. does this mean it’s not accepted? Or is there still a possibility they can take it

How important I the Algebra Test? Do you do it online or in person? How good do you have to do on it? What hard is it? And if I do bad on it, but have a 740 on the SAT math section, will I get invited to the interview?

Edit: I'm in algebra 2 right now so I haven't done Logarithms or Imaginary numbers yet, do I need to learn those?

How important is being a JCOD (junior coordinator) for a club in regards to eventually becoming a club executive?

i’m apply as a 9th grader so keep that in mind

4.0 GPA(gonna keep this fs becuz my school ez)

Got a 1490 in august sat

talking Algebra 2 right now

Probably gonna get excellent teacher recs

NJHS president last year

$500 NJHS scholarship last year

1st place math UIL last year for district (i dunno if i should put this)

JWAC this year

JV tennis

I really wanna go but idk if Ima get in

I really want to be an aerospace engineer, but i saw that they don’t have a track for aerospace engineering. Is TAMS still a good fit for me? Would physics or mechanical engineering still give me experience/college credit for aerospace engineering?

Edit. Ima be in precal before tams

I don’t know that much about the professor whose lab I want to join’s research but I think their research is interesting and aligns with my career goals,,, how do I approach them?

Also how to deal with rejection haha

How difficult were the exams and quizzes at TAMS? I’m like super scared cuz my first exam in gen chem is in the week after next week 😭😭 PLEASE GIVE ME SOME HOPE 😭 the professors are already burning me out on the first week bru

Hi I’m tryna bring my ECs up this year because sophomore year is gonna be pretty light. Any recommendations?

Hi im thinking of applying to tams this year, and am planning on applying to early summer research.

Im gonna prob submit my application in October or so after doing my sat in September(retaking it studied more this time and got near 1500+ on practice tests[only got 1400+ for previous practice tests for comparison] - 1460 first attempt).

questions:

how hard is it to get in and what do they do there if I'm interested in cs and do I have a chance(heard it was competitive)

stats(is this enough to get into esr or does this not matter as much):

if u wanna see the whole thing read this post(ill list them out here asw)

https://www.reddit.com/r/TAMS/comments/1ddwc0r/how_cooked_am_i/ - used another account

SAT: 1460 - first attempt: taking it again

ECS: Usaco bronze(gonna try for silver next comp), useso national qualifier(top 40, qualified for my regional isef competition after passing school and district, Ive done quite a few machine learning projects; also have a few other ecs that I will probably include in my application, boy scout(am a star scout) did a lot of volunteering in my troop, have participated in bpa and deca(bpa state qualifier for c++) -- forgot to mention this in other post but I qualified for state for principles of finance for deca; didn't make icdc for deca

School Rank: top 5 in my school

4.0 unweighted; 5.3+ weighted(my schools gpa is a little inflated)

5 on ap human; 5 on ap csp

grades are generally high: a+'s except a few which are in the 93-95 range(gt humanities is hard in my school)
grades were decent in middle school(95+)

I took geometry and algebra 2 in my freshmen year and am taking ap precalc and ap stats this upcoming school year

gonna take 7 aps mainly: precal, stats, csa, physics and a few other

algebra 1,2, geometry, 7th math: had 98+ on avg

----------------------feel free to give any other suggestions

Hey y’all I’m rly nervous bout taking my sat early and stuff so HOWD y’all study algebra 2 and stuff early and also what is the best month to do sat and apply to tams?thanks

I’m a rising Junior and am wondering if TAMS is worth it for me. I’m looking to apply for McCombs at UT and was wondering if TAMS would boost my chances of getting into the program over the normal public school route.(My current GPA sucks, but I’m aiming for a 1550 by January)

Hey I was wondering if I could have some advice on my app and if its enough to get into tams!

(BTW I'm from a pretty small school in a rural town, so there aren't a lot of opportunities to take high-level courses like AP/IB, but I took the highest level we have)

*Final grades (Freshman year)*:

Medical Terminology- 100

Principles of Health Science-99

Biology Honors-98

English Honors-97

World Geography Honors-97

World History Honors-96

Algebra 2 Honors (We take algebra 2 before geometry)-98

Science/STEM based ECs (9th Grade)-

Volunteered at a hospital in the endocrinology clinic/wound care clinic (80+hours)

Went to a low-acceptance science summer camp (35% acceptance rate) but it wasn't like research or anything

In HOSA (competed but didn't win- I still volunteer, do the fundraisers, and help the leadership)

In Computer Science

Did website-design for BPA and got 1st regionally and went to the state comp

Did a free tutoring class to help prepare 8th graders for the science staar once a week

CPR Certification

*Other ECs*-

Debate

JWAC (but not that committed to it)

Church Band 1st chair flute

Volunteer at an orphanage in india 3x a week when we go every summer (idk if this counts...? we haven't gone this year)

Played the flute for 3 years and the violin for 5 years

In leadership (underclassmen representative) for BPA

extra:

Student of the month

1st place at UIL modern oratory

I haven't taken the SAT yet because our school doesn't let us until we are juniors, but my counselor made an exception for me. I'm kind of scared to take it tbh (I'm not the best test taker) so I don't know if I should take it to get in. Honestly I feel like my app is pretty weak since I haven't taken it yet and I'm not taking many hard-level courses since my school doesn't offer any.