tamu essay topic

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Application Process and Guidelines

The Entry to a Major (ETAM) process uses a priority method that places you in your highest preferred major possible based on your academic performance, your ETAM application and the program’s capacity. 

There’s also an automatic entry pathway to your first-choice major if you complete the required courses for ETAM and maintain the required automatic entry cumulative GPA defined for your class .

During each ETAM cycle, all College of Engineering majors  will accept applications (other than the  Bachelor of Arts in Computing, the Bachelor of Arts in Information Technology Service Management, and the Bachelor of Science in Technology Management  degree programs). On the ETAM application, you must apply to three majors and have the option to select up to five majors. 

Double-check your major choices and rankings before submitting your ETAM application. You will not have the option to decline an offer to a major listed on your application.

Explore Engineering Career Paths Current Degree Programs

Application Guidelines

Below are guidelines for completing your Entry to a Major (ETAM) application. 

• Students are required to apply to three majors with the option of applying to up to five majors.
• Major selections must be   ranked  in order   of preference .
• You cannot select the same major twice.
• It is important to be mindful and intentional with the rank order of your selected majors. You will not have the option to decline an offer to a major listed on your application.
• if you are not willing to immediately leave College Station, then do not select majors outside of College Station such as Ocean Engineering (OCEN)-Galveston, Computer Science (CPSC)-Galveston, Interdisciplinary Engineering (ITDE)-McAllen, etc.
• if you are not willing to immediately leave Galveston, then do not select majors outside of Galveston such as OCEN-College Station, CPSC-College Station, ITDE-McAllen, etc.
• if you are not willing to immediately leave McAllen, then do not select majors outside of McAllen such as OCEN-Galveston, CPSC-Galveston, ITDE–College Station, etc.
• The only allowable deviation from this policy is applicable to students in a co-enrollment program. If needed, refer to the transition requirements for your respective program .
• There are three essay portions to the application. Do not use AI text generators such as ChatGPT to complete your application. For details and guidance to prepare your essays, read more here .
• You cannot update or revise the application once it is submitted. Please review all details carefully before you submit.
• You will receive a confirmation email when you have successfully submitted the application.
• Late applications will not be accepted. If you encounter a technical issue when submitting your application, immediately email [email protected] and include a screenshot to document the issue. Most technical issues can be mitigated and/or avoided by submitting your application early.

Preparing for Entry to a Major

Your academic advisors are here to guide you.  You should consult with your assigned academic advisor ( General Engineering and Engineering at Blinn , Engineering Academy ) as you prepare for the ETAM process. They are considered a primary source for information about ETAM, which can be very helpful as you prepare an application for your preferred majors.

College Policy on Major Changes and Appeal Requests

There is no appeal process for ETAM placement decisions. Once placed in a major through ETAM, any changes to your major must be initiated using a change of major form in Howdy . Requests to change your major within the College of Engineering will not be considered until you have completed at least one semester in the degree-granting major you were placed in through the ETAM process. During that semester, you are required to enroll in courses that count toward degree completion for that major. Work closely with your assigned academic advisor to determine the best options for your desired outcome. Your assigned advisor's name is located in Navigate under the Success Team box located on the bottom right of your Student Home Page .

Housing Prospects Post-ETAM

On-campus housing in College Station is often limited due to high occupancy rates by first-year students. If your ETAM placement may result in a relocation to College Station, we encourage you to consider off-campus housing options in addition to on-campus housing . To prepare for a potential relocation post-ETAM, you may preview the housing options below:

• College Station –  Off-Campus Housing or  On-Campus Housing
• Galveston – Campus Living and Learning
• McAllen –  Off-Campus Housing

Please note: Enrollment in the Bachelor of Arts in Computing program, the Bachelor of Arts in Information Technology Service Management program, or the Bachelor of Science in Technology Management program occurs through:

• An approved  change of major request   for  current students . 
• Official notification from the  Office of Admissions   for  new students.
• Entry to a Major Essays
• Engineering Department Advisors
• Current Degree Programs
• Placement Outcomes

Texas A&M Supplemental Essays 2023-24

Texas a&m supplemental essays 2023-24.

If you’re thinking about how to get into Texas A&M, you’ve probably come across the Texas A&M supplemental essays. Texas A&M is one of the top public universities in the country (currently ranked #20 by U.S. News). As such, the Texas A&M application is comprehensive, requiring students to respond to multiple Texas A&M essay prompts. The Texas A&M admissions essays are a critical part of your application narrative. The prompts allow you to provide valuable information to Admissions about why you would be a good candidate for admission.

Writing strong responses to the Texas A&M admissions essays can be tough. Throughout this article, you’ll find tips for how to respond to each of the Texas A&M supplemental essays. This includes specific details about each of the Texas A&M essay questions and things to keep in mind when writing. We’ll also discuss what the Texas A&M admissions committee is looking for when it comes to reviewing these essays. And finally, we talk more generally about how to get into Texas A&M beyond just the Texas A&M supplemental essays. We’ll give you key information about application deadlines and other Texas A&M admission requirements.

Ready to learn more about the Texas A&M admissions essays? Let’s dive in! 

Texas A&M Admission Requirements Quick Facts:

Texas a&m admission requirements: quick facts.

• Texas A&M Acceptance Rate: 63% – U.S. News rates Texas A&M as a more selective school.
• One long essay (max. 750 words)
• Two short answer questions (max. 250 words each)
• One Optional Essay (max. 250 words)
• Common Application
• Engineering Early Action Deadline: October 15th
• Regular Decision Deadline: December 1st
• Texas A&M Essay Tip: Start Early! There are many Texas A&M supplemental essays to complete for the Texas A&M admission requirements. The more time you give yourself to work on them, the better your essays will be.

Please note that essay requirements are subject to change each admissions cycle, and portions of this article may have been written before the final publication of the most recent guidelines. For the most up-to-date information on essay requirements, check the university’s admissions website.

How many essays does Texas A&M require?

For the 2023-2024 application cycle, there are three required Texas A&M admissions essays. In addition to the required essays, the Texas A&M essay prompts include one optional question. Students may answer if they feel the prompt is relevant to their life experience.

We will go into more detail with each of the Texas A&M essay prompts later on in this article. And, we’ll offer specific tips for how to answer each of the different Texas A&M essay prompts. 

How long do the essays for Texas A&M have to be?

Each of the Texas A&M essay prompts has a certain maximum word count that you must stay within. The first of the Texas A&M essay prompts has a maximum word count of 750 words. This means that your response to this Texas A&M essay should be absolutely no longer than 750 words. You don’t need to get as close to 750 words as possible in your long Texas A&M essay. However, you should also not submit a Texas A&M essay that is too short either. About 600-750 words is a good length to shoot for in this Texas A&M essay.

The shorter Texas A&M admissions essays have more strict word counts. Responses to these Texas A&M supplemental essays should not be more than 250 words. For these shorter Texas A&M essays, using as much of the word count as possible is beneficial. At the same time, make sure the words you use have purpose in providing new and relevant information. When writing a personal essay for college, be sure to pay close attention to maximum word counts.

Texas A&M Essay Prompt – Tell your story

Texas a&m university essay prompt #1, tell us your story. what unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today.

The first of the Texas A&M supplemental essays asks students to share some opportunities or obstacles that they’ve faced. The purpose of this Texas A&M essay is to help the admissions committee learn more about the writer’s resilience. They want to see how they behave in the face of adversity, specifically during their high school years. While exciting, college represents a significant challenge in a student’s life. The Texas A&M supplemental essays provide students the opportunity to demonstrate how they have overcome challenges in their lives.

Brainstorming Ideas

The most important step in writing the Texas A&M supplemental essays is the brainstorming phase. Start by coming up with a list of challenges you have faced in your life. Then determine which one or two topics you want to focus on for your Texas A&M supplemental essays.

It can be very tempting to write your Texas A&M essays about all of the challenges you have faced. But in fact, it is better to focus on one or two specific examples. That way you can provide more engaging details and evidence about the moments you choose. And, you can avoid simply recycling information from the rest of your application. 

Connecting to Character Traits

Here’s another helpful way to brainstorm for your Texas A&M essays. Think of three character traits you would like for your Texas A&M admissions essays to say about you. Then, use the challenges you thought of earlier to illustrate those characteristics.

For example, maybe you would like to demonstrate strong leadership qualities in your Texas A&M essays. So, you may describe how, despite setbacks, you put on a successful school dance as head of the prom committee. Or maybe you want your Texas A&M supplemental essays to showcase your interest in community service. In that case, you may write about how you organized a fundraiser after a natural disaster struck your neighborhood. 

Telling a Story

So, you’ve determined what you want to write about in your Texas A&M essay. Now you need to think about how you want to tell the story of these challenges to your reader. Remember that your reader does not know you or your background outside of what you write in your Texas A&M essays. Be sure to pick the details that are most relevant to write about.

Make sure the focus of your Texas A&M essays is on you and what you felt and accomplished.

Avoid simply listing facts that your reader can find elsewhere in your application. Instead, think about showing the reader your character through the actions you describe.

Texas A&M Essay Prompt #2 – Life Event

Texas a&m university essay prompt #2, describe a life event which you feel has prepared you to be successful in college..

The second of the Texas A&M supplemental essays asks students to reflect on a single life event. Specifically, one that has helped them to prepare for and be successful in college. This event can be anything you want it to be. However, make sure it’s a different experience than the one you wrote about in the other Texas A&M essays. This event should also demonstrate your college readiness by showcasing your maturity, academic skills, leadership, or resilience. 

As with the other Texas A&M admissions essays, your writing should focus on one defining event. Remember, this is one of the Texas A&M essays with a more limited word count. So, be sure to focus on telling a specific story of the specific moment in your life. You want your reader to feel like they’re experiencing the life event with you, so illustrate your points with vivid information.

Concurrently, use the details to illustrate the larger point that you would be a good fit for Texas A&M. No matter what the prompt for a personal essay for college actually says, they’re all asking “are you a good fit?” Each of your Texas A&M admissions essays should provide the reasons why you deserve admission to Texas A&M.

Choosing a topic for your Texas A&M essay

Deciding your topic for your Texas A&M supplemental essays is your first hurdle. For your Texas A&M essays, it is important to choose a moment that is personal and meaningful to you. With open-ended Texas A&M essay prompts, it’s tempting to write about what you think the admissions committee will find impressive. However, it’s always better to write about your authentic interests and let your true character shine through in your writing.

There is no specific formula for choosing your topic for the Texas A&M supplemental essays. Just make sure your topic is new and has not been discussed already in other parts of your application. And make sure you are writing about your passions in your Texas A&M supplemental essays.

Any experience can be compelling, so long as you make it clear why you’ve chosen to discuss it. For example, you may describe how an improv comedy show going badly wrong taught you how to handle adversity, think on your feet, and use creativity in a difficult situation.

Still need help coming up with a topic for your Texas A&M supplemental essays? Check out this webinar or this article for additional resources.

Texas A&M Essay Prompt #3 – Impactful Person

Texas a&m university essay prompt # 3, tell us about the person who has most impacted your life and why..

This is arguably the hardest of the required Texas A&M essay prompts. That’s because it asks students to write about a topic other than themselves. The Texas A&M supplemental essays are all about getting to know the applicants on a more personal level. However, this is not easy to do when you’re writing about someone else. Therefore, it is important to both answer the prompt while keeping the focus on you.

The first step to writing this essay is choosing the person that it is going to be about. This is not about finding the most famous or well-recognized person you know. It’s about examining your life and identifying those who have genuinely pushed you to be the best version of yourself. You also want this person to have impacted your life recently so you can show details from your high school years. Or, if they are from your childhood, show how their influence has stayed with you during your high school years.

Let’s say you’ve found the person you will write about. Think about what you need your reader to know about this person in order to understand who they are. Remember that you have limited space in your Texas A&M supplemental essays. Avoid using too much of it simply describing who your person is. The central focus of your Texas A&M essays should be on you, the applicant. So, your job is twofold. Describe the person who has most impacted your life in your Texas A&M essays. Then, focus on what you learned from them and how you’ve used their influence in your academics, extracurriculars, or school community. 

How do I write the Texas A&M essay?

The Texas A&M supplemental essays will take time to complete. So, the best advice we have is to start your Texas A&M essays early. The Common App opens on August 1st, which is also when the Texas A&M essay prompts become visible. It’s never too early to start planning your responses to the Texas A&M essays! Often picking the topics for your Texas A&M essays can be the most difficult part of the process. Give yourself plenty of time to choose what your Texas A&M supplemental essays will be about.

We also recommend writing multiple drafts of your Texas A&M supplemental essays. And, it’s beneficial to seek help from others throughout the writing process from a teacher, parent, or college advisor. Sharing your Texas A&M essays can help you clarify your ideas and improve the grammar of your writing. And, a trusted editor may catch errors you did not see or offer insights you had not previously thought of. For additional tips and help on writing college essays, check out tips for writing better essays!

Optional Texas A&M Essay

Texas a&m university optional essay prompt, 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..

In addition to the required Texas A&M supplemental essays, there is also an optional Texas A&M essay. This is the most open-ended of the Texas A&M essay prompts. It asks students to describe any challenges they have faced, particularly those which may have negatively impacted their academic performance. This is the only one of the Texas A&M supplemental essays that is optional. However, it could still be well worth writing for many students.

The optional prompt for the Texas A&M essays is a great place to explain worrisome aspects of your application. Here, you can address any potential red flags directly with the admissions committee. Perhaps your extracurricular resume is not as strong as those of other applicants. But, that’s because you need to spend time after school taking care of younger siblings while your parents work late. Or, perhaps your grades dipped towards the C-range for a semester while you were dealing with a close personal loss.

This optional choice in the Texas A&M essay prompts gives you the opportunity to provide context. Providing details regarding these unflattering parts of your application can only benefit you. Don’t hesitate to show Texas A&M Admissions why they should still consider you for admission despite these facts.

Is this optional essay really optional?

Many students wonder whether the optional Texas A&M essay is truly optional. We recommend that you complete all the required Texas A&M supplemental essays and also the optional essay if you have a personal challenge that applies to the prompt. Do the optional essay only after you have finished all of the other required Texas A&M supplemental essays. Starting with these essays ensures you are prioritizing the Texas A&M admissions essays that are required for your application. The optional Texas A&M essay can be a helpful addition to your other Texas A&M essays. Especially if you have some extenuating circumstances that affect other areas of your application. 

So yes, the last of the Texas A&M essay prompts is truly optional. But, responding to this prompt is a good way to communicate additional details about your personal situation to the admissions committee. Completing all the Texas A&M essay prompts not only shows the school that you are a hard worker. It can also help them get to know you better and explain any anomalies in your otherwise stellar application.

Are the Texas A&M supplemental essays important?

The Texas A&M supplemental essays are an important part of your Texas A&M admissions application . Your Texas A&M essays are your only opportunity to give Admissions information beyond your grades and extracurricular activities. The Texas A&M essays also provide important information to the admissions committee about your readiness for college. And whether you would be a good fit for the culture of Texas A&M.

Strong responses to the Texas A&M supplemental essays can help increase your chances of admission to Texas A&M. These Texas A&M admissions essays are your golden opportunity to stand out from the rest of the applicants. Plan to spend ample time on your Texas A&M supplemental essays. They’ll likely be the most time-consuming portion of crafting your application.

When are essays for Texas A&M applications due?

Students need to submit their Texas A&M supplemental essays by December 1st. So, be sure to satisfy all of the Texas A&M admissions requirements ahead of the deadline. The deadline is different for students applying for the Early Admission Deadline for the College of Engineering. If that’s you, your Texas A&M admissions essays must be in by October 15th. For more information about the timeline and deadlines for your application, check out their admissions website !

Five Tips for Writing the Texas A&M Essays

Texas a&m university essay writing tips, 1. start early.

Because there are so many Texas A&M supplemental essays, get started on them as early as possible. This is especially true if you want to complete all of the Texas A&M essay prompts, including the optional one. You’re probably not going to put all of your best ideas into your first draft of the Texas A&M supplemental essays. Setting aside time for multiple drafts will help strengthen the writing of your Texas A&M admissions essays. 

2. Brainstorm ideas before writing

The Texas A&M admissions essays require personal reflection and thought to answer effectively. Because of this, take time to write down some of the most important events and people in your life. That way, you have a bank of topics from which to pull for your Texas A&M supplemental essays. (And you can choose the very best ones to answer the Texas A&M essay prompts). The Texas A&M essays are not long enough to capture every one of your unique life experiences and qualities. Choosing a few to focus on will help streamline your essays!

3. Show, don’t tell

Following this guideline can strengthen not only your Texas A&M admissions essays but also your writing in general. The idea is to use relevant examples to demonstrate the qualities showcased in your Texas A&M essays. These stories are powerful tools because they do two things. One, they help your reader see the kind of person you’ve become. Two, they provide perspective into the kind of student you would be at Texas A&M.

4. It’s all in the details 

This tip is related to the last, because no personal essay for college would be complete without vivid, specific details. These details help separate your essay from the crowd and allow the reader to transport themselves into your memories. The more descriptive and specific your language, the better your message will come across to your readers. Avoid stringing together several different stories with only surface-level descriptions for each one. When responding to the Texas A&M essay prompts, use as much descriptive language as possible!  

5. Ask for help

The Texas A&M supplemental essays are not easy. Writing college essays is a skill and is very different from writing a paper for class. So, it can be helpful to have some other people that you trust edit and review your essay. They might even catch mistakes in your Texas A&M supplemental essays or see improvements that you would not have considered. Just make sure that anyone you ask for help is not writing the Texas A&M supplemental essays for you! Admissions officers are trained to look for essays written by parents or siblings. Nothing someone else writes will come close to the power of your original, authentic voice.

Texas A&M Supplemental Essays – Final Takeaways

The Texas A&M essays are one of the most difficult parts of the Texas A&M admission requirements. However, with the proper preparation and guidance, anyone can write strong responses to the Texas A&M essay prompts. Any personal essay for college is important. So be sure to put your best foot forward in your Texas A&M supplemental essays. 

We at CollegeAdvisor are here to help you with your Texas A&M admissions essays. Our advisor network includes Texas A&M graduates who have personal experience with writing Texas A&M essays. By signing up for a CollegeAdvisor.com account, you get access to individual coaching for your personal essay for college. (And help from admissions experts and our Essay Editing team!) To register for an account and get help with your Texas A&M supplemental essays, click here .

This essay guide was written by senior advisor, Alex Baggott-Rowe . Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.

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Texas A&M University 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Regular Decision: 

Regular Decision Deadline: May 1

You Have: 

Texas A&M University 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanation

The Requirements: Two required essays of 250 words each; one optional essay of 250 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Oddball , Additional Information

Describe a life event which you feel has prepared you to be successful in college. (250 words)

This prompt is incredibly vague, which is kinda awesome because it sets you up to talk about almost anything you want. Which life event has sparked personal growth? What do you think it takes to be successful and how do you embody those qualities? Maybe a parent’s fragile health situation challenged you to take on more responsibilities than the average teenager, preparing you for the hard work ahead. Or perhaps you learned to love your football team’s playback sessions, as they forced you to routinely examine your mistakes, welcome constructive criticism, and guide you toward self-improvement. Whatever story you choose to tell, be sure to infuse it with personal details that no one else could include in their essay.

Tell us about the person who has most impacted your life and why. (250 words)

Who is the first person to come to mind when you read this prompt? The person you write about can be someone in your immediate circle, larger network, or on the world stage. Remember that the person you choose is going to say a lot about what you value and respect in others. Maybe an adult in your life has served as a mentor and role model for you, or perhaps the person who has impacted you most is a close friend and confidant. Once you identify the person you’d like to write about, be sure to summarize who they are to you, how they have impacted your life, and how you’ve changed as a result of knowing them.

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)

Let us start by saying: this prompt is not for everyone. If your GPA has not dramatically increased or decreased during your high school career, move along. If, on the other hand, you’re thinking, “Yes! An opportunity for me to explain!” then read on.  Your transcripts are like Garfield Minus Garfield . Sure, we can see that something’s changed from frame to frame, but we don’t know why. Grades need context. Admissions doesn’t know why or how things happened—good or bad—so ake a look at your grades and note any anomalies or odd jumps/drops. Think back to that time in your life and tell your story. Maybe your family struggled with financial instability or the loss of a loved one. Maybe you started meeting virtually with a tutor and climbed from a fall semester C in geometry to a spring semester A. No matter your story, you are not alone in your journey of ups and downs—high school is a veritable war zone of distractions and possibilities. And, remember, everyone loves a comeback. 

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How to Write the Texas A&M Supplemental Essays 2018-2019

For 2019-2020, please read our essay breakdown for ApplyTexas Essays .

Found sprawled across College Station, Texas, a city found between Houston and Austin, Texas A&M University is one of Texas’s flagship public research universities. The university boasts an undergraduate student body of over 50,000 and offers 130 majors.

According to US News, Texas A&M was ranked 4th out of public universities in the “Best Value School” category and is known worldwide for its research output. Notable alumni of A&M include football player Johny Manziel, politician Rick Perry, and actor Rick Torn.

A&M requires applicants to complete two essays, one from the ApplyTexas application and the other from the Coalition Application, and also includes an extra optional essay. Additionally, if you are applying as an arts major, another essay is required. We here at CollegeVine are here to help you navigate through these essays!

Texas A&M Supplemental Essay Questions:

ApplyTexas Application:

1. What was the environment you were raised in? Describe your family, home, neighborhood, or community, and explain how it has shaped you as a person. (Response required in about a page to a page and a half–no longer than 120 eighty-character lines of text.)

Coalition Application:

1. Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. (Response required in about a page to a page and a half.)

2. Personal interaction with objects, images and spaces can be so powerful as to change the way one thinks about particular issues or topics. For your intended area of study (architecture/interior design, art history, design, studio art, visual art studies/art education), describe an experience where instruction in that area or your personal interaction with an object, image or space affected this type of change in your thinking. What did you do to act upon your new thinking and what have you done to prepare yourself for further study in this area? *This essay is only required for Architecture/Interior Design, Art, Art History, Design, Studio Art, Visual Art Studies/Art Education major applicants

3. If there are additional personal challenges, hardships, or opportunities that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, which you have not already written about, please note them in the space below. (Optional – 40 lines will be sent)

What was the environment you were raised in? Describe your family, home, neighborhood, or community, and explain how it has shaped you as a person. (Response required in about a page to a page and a half–no longer than 120 eighty-character lines of text.)

This prompt is very straightforward but can be quite difficult to not over-exert yourself and dive into an autobiography. Focus on one of the listed examples, either family, home, neighborhood, or community, and then grow it from there (inevitably these categories will blend together, especially family and home—the end goal is simply to have a focused, compelling essay). “Community” is the broadest category by far: this could be a sports team, a band, a religious center, or just a group of friends.

The second part of the prompt is the most important: how your surroundings have shaped you as a person. What did you learn about yourself from the environment you were raised in? What are the values you feel like were cultivated from the people who raised you? What do you want to contribute to the world, and how did what you learned growing up shape it? Be specific here, as it may be cliche to simply say “I want to change and fix the world” or “I learned that my family and neighborhood love me.”

Here are some examples to guide you:

Example 1: If you choose to talk about your family, maybe your mother was a particularly inspirational figure in your life, a lady who worked two jobs and took care of you and your siblings, a lady who could exude great amounts of joy even though you knew she was always dead tired. Maybe for the majority of your life, you didn’t like your mom because other peoples’ moms were always home and cared for their children, while your mom was never home, but eventually, you came to appreciate your mom. However, you don’t want to spend the entire essay talking about your mother. Transition the essay back to yourself, and talk about how you, inspired by your mother’s character, grew within you the same sort of resolve. Talk about how you want to become a nurse and work to help improve the lives of those around you because you want to live your life as fully as your mom did.

Example 2: If you choose to talk about your neighborhood, you could talk about the racial diversity in your neighborhood, where you could find Vietnamese-Cajun food, Nigerian food, and Mexican food in a square mile. You could talk about the food as a lens into the different influences that surrounded you growing up, and how you became much more understanding of all the different ethnic groups in your neighborhood, especially as a daughter of immigrants yourself. You want to spend your life bringing together different types of people in whatever capacity, and you know that delicious food can always bring different types of people together for a good time.

Example 3: If you choose to talk about your community, maybe you were on the school’s basketball team for all four years, moving up from the freshman to the JV to the varsity team. You could talk about an important game you played in, where your team was coming off of a losing streak and morale was incredibly low. As the captain of your Varsity team, you also wanted to quit, but you pushed through and set the example, bringing your team to break the losing streak. You could talk about how you grew your leadership through this experience, how you, just like everyone else, had no gas left in the tank, but through understanding the weight of your position, took it upon yourself to raise up the people around you.

Example 4: Maybe your community is something larger than just a group of people but includes your city, which all went through Hurricane Harvey together. You could talk about how you and your family persevered through the incident and the subsequent recovery efforts, as well as how you came together with others from your city to rebuild what you had lost from the ground up. Maybe this has shaped how you view the world around you: everything and anything can be taken away and destroyed, but you can always get back up and try to rebuild what you lost. Maybe some things will never be recovered, but you know that this experience will forever hold a place in your heart, and will enable you to live stronger each day.

Coalition Application

Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. (Response required in about a page to a page and a half.)

You want to make sure that your Coalition Essay is different from the ApplyTexas essay. Because you have these two broad essays to talk about yourself, there is a lot of room to sprinkle in different aspects of your personality. If your first essay is serious and heavy in subject matter, you could be thinking about writing a more light-hearted Coalition essay to complement that. If you already have the Coalition essay written, maybe you’d want your ApplyTexas essay to complement the pre-existing Coalition essay.

The actual essay simply tells a story and talks about how you grew as a result. Make sure to always turn the story back to you—don’t spend too much space retelling a narrative. Another key is to not be shy: don’t be afraid to brag about yourself, or talk about some good that you did if you’re the type of person who feels uncomfortable sharing these things. This essay could be something monumental in your life, or something completely ordinary, as what matters is not the event, but how the event shaped who you are today.

You can use either a  first person, present tense, to retell the story in a way that the reader feels like it is happening at that moment or a more reflective past tense. Whatever you feel like fits the tone and plot of your story better.

Example 1: Maybe your story is based on family, specifically around the huge extended family that congregates in your house every month. Through this experience, you have learned, most importantly, how important family is to you, and how you want to remain as connected as you can be. You could talk about how rowdy your family can get, and how sometimes people get into arguments, but how, at the end of the day, there is nothing but love.  Maybe your Uncle Brett taught you the importance of sticking up for others, working as a public defense attorney, and your Grandma Lydia taught you the importance of cooking with love. You could use a specific anecdote from a particular gathering, and then transition it to talking about how exactly the people you raised you influenced how you want to live your life.

Example 2: Maybe this story is a bit more tragic: you experienced your father passing away due to cancer and spent countless nights on the hospital beds by his side. You are still recovering from his death, but through the experience, grew determined in your belief to help those who are suffering from similar inflictions. As a result, you want to study biomedical engineering at A&M to help create medical devices that will lead to better healthcare for patients. From the engineering side, you want to create technology that best allows patients to positively react to the drugs and treatments they may be undergoing.

Example 3: Maybe your passion and character are defined by making people laugh. You love doing performances with your school’s improv team, performing at school open mics, and just goofing around with your friends. You always wanted to perform at a local comedy club, but was always deathly afraid of the potential of failure, or even worse, being heckled. However, through the insistence of your friends, as well as your determination to succeed in comedy, you performed at the club to a few patrons, some who laughed and some who didn’t. The reception wasn’t what you had hoped for, but you gained the confidence to perform in front of strangers, and so you continued to do shows and got better and better.

Architecture/Interior Design, Art, Art History, Design, Studio Art, Visual Art Studies/Art Education major applicants

Personal interaction with objects, images and spaces can be so powerful as to change the way one thinks about particular issues or topics. For your intended area of study (architecture/interior design, art history, design, studio art, visual art studies/art education), describe an experience where instruction in that area or your personal interaction with an object, image or space affected this type of change in your thinking. What did you do to act upon your new thinking and what have you done to prepare yourself for further study in this area?

*This essay is only required for Architecture/Interior Design, Art, Art History, Design, Studio Art, Visual Art Studies/Art Education major applicants

If you have taken a class in the field you are intending to study in, you have the option of talking about a specific learning experience you’ve had in the field, such as a particular art lesson you had. If this is the case, you should choose a specific moment, whether it’s an interaction with a teacher or an experience with a certain fabric or the creation of a graphic design poster. And if you haven’t, don’t worry! You can instead talk about a personal interaction you’ve had with art that really piqued your interest in the field, even if you were self-taught.

It’s critical in this essay that you are as vivid as possible in your descriptions—the more senses you utilize the better. Because you are trying to distill a visual item into the written word, diction is particularly important.

Finally, you want the experience you are talking about to have shifted your perception of art or changed how much of your life you want to dedicate to creating art. You want to talk about how art just isn’t a hobby or side interest of yours but has become your primary interest that you would like to pursue long after college ends.

Here are some examples to help guide you:

Example 1: If you are applying as an architecture major, talk about your interactions with a particular building or structure that sparked your passion in the subject. This could be an iconic space like the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth or the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, or something more mundane, such as your house. Talk about how being in that space, feeling out the concrete, observing the cantilevers, seeing the historical cracks in the stone, all helped contribute to you really falling in love with architecture. You began to appreciate how much a physical space impacts the well being of the people inside, no matter what kind of space it is. You also began making your own sketches of buildings, creating models (most of which fell apart), and researching all the different types of buildings and architects in your area.

Example 2: Maybe you are applying as a studio art major and want to eventually become a painter. You could talk about a specific painting you did, maybe of yourself dressed in the clothes of your home country. Before doing this particular painting, art was just a hobby you enjoyed and were good at, but after completing the painting, art entrenched itself as something you wanted to do for the rest of your life. You wanted to paint people who looked like yourself, in ways that you didn’t see being shown in both the media and the art world.

Example 3: You could talk about an interaction with an art teacher you had, where you really wanted to keep doing art but weren’t sure if it was possible for you to live as an artist after graduating from college. Your teacher urged you to seriously consider it, naming all the strong qualities you possessed already as an artist, and how much further you progressed. Inspired by his words, you began to take his words more seriously and began building a portfolio of work you came to be incredibly proud of. You’d love to continue working on art at A&M’s state of the art facilities, especially in its ceramics studios, which your school does not have.

If there are additional personal challenges, hardships, or opportunities that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, which you have not already written about, please note them in the space below. (Optional – 40 lines will be sent)

Here you have the opportunity to talk about something you’d like to mention if you haven’t had anywhere else to talk about it in the essay (you also have the opportunity to submit a resume if you feel like the space on the application is insufficient). However, considering the sheer amount of applications that get sent in to the A&M system each year, you should probably leave it blank unless there is something absolutely necessary you feel the need to talk about, such as an extreme hardship or a special award. If you choose to do so, make sure to keep it brief, as the word count suggests.

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

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Find your college’s application essay prompts for 2023-24

Latest essay prompts for the top 100 schools.

At CollegeVine, our goal is to make the college application process a little less stressful, so we’ve compiled the latest essay prompts for the top 100 schools in one easy, searchable database.

Also, every year we create free guides on “ How to Write X School’s Essays ” for the top 100 schools. In these guides, we give you tips and tricks on how to approach each prompt. As such, our prompt database also contains a link to each school's Essay Breakdown.

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Education & Human Development

Educational psychology, how to apply.

The Department OF Educational Psychology

The Department of Educational Psychology (EPSY) is home to a variety of interrelated disciplines and degree options focused on human development and well-being in educational and community contexts. Our undergraduate programs prepare students to work with children and youth in a variety of community and school contexts. We also offer a range of professional master’s degrees geared towards professionals in schools, communities, and the corporate world. For those interested in doctoral studies we offer Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Educational Psychology, Counseling Psychology, and School Psychology.

Program Areas to choose from

Educational psychology, us news & world report 2021, number of online courses available, former student highlight, michele sheppard.

“When I started at A&M, it was unlike any other, they push you to be your very best. Being a single mom and going back to school was not always easy but you can do it!”

Master’s →

Bachelor’s →

Certificates →

Emphasis Areas

Educational psychology programs.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

EPSY offers a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Education and University Studies, with one of three focuses.

Undergraduate Studies

Graduate Programs

The department of Educational Psychology offers a range of professional graduate degree programs.

ONLINE EDUCATION

EPSY offers a wide variety of online programs and courses to many the diverse needs our students.

Online Education

Certificates

Undergraduate students have the opportunity to complete certificate programs while completing their degree requirements.

FROM OUR FORMER STUDENTS

“I came to the conclusion that being a special educator is less about whom you teach and more about what you teach.”

– Stephanie Haetchen ’12 Special Education Programs

Upcoming Events

View all upcoming EPSY events

Statement of Purpose Essay

All applicants must complete the Essay, Statement of Purpose and explain the following:

• Why you applied to this program
• Academic background and training
• Potential for graduate study
• Research experience
• Other relevant professional experiences

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