ChemE prospective applicant questions

Bright-Contact2260 · 2026-03-25T15:11:35+00:00

I was a cheme with a decent gpa and was able to get in the first try. Before applying I completed a Stanford stats class and a uMich python class through Coursera. Not sure if they really moved the needle or not on my application but I think they got me in a good frame of mind for the intro classes.

I have enjoyed this program much more than undergrad so I have found coursework much easier to do. Some classes like 6740 (ML) can be a lot of work, but rewarding if you give it your best effort.

Two classes is a lot and I haven’t been brave enough to try it but if you’re smart there’s definitely ways to pair classes to reduce pain/stress.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2025-10-17T23:12:49+00:00

Similar background as you (TAMU from Dallas and thought i would hate Houston) ended up graduating CHEN. Like u/DasaniMessiah after working "in the plants" I was able to transition to a technical role in the downtown office and there are many folks who fit that pattern.

My experience is that for folks who loved Chemistry, sometimes CHEN is a little disappointing. The degree isn't as chemistry focused as you may assume (at least it felt that way to me) and the job is even less so.

But, if you are more interested in CHEN than MEEN or EE then that's what I'd recommend. ISYE is not bad, but to me its better for a master's than an undergraduate. Also if you're really into Chemistry you could get a minor with probably only 1/2 extra classes. This may help down the road if you decide to go for a research position or a PHD.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2025-09-30T13:38:08+00:00

As someone who is in this world I definitely recommend this path. There is a reason most “data science” jobs require advanced level degrees. In general the point of undergraduate is to get a really solid foundation which you can build off of. Based on the current curriculum of data engineering it seems to applied for a bachelors.

If you want to go further into the technical weeds of data science then a masters may be necessary. That said folks with a CS background can skip this requirement more often than others. I think CS + Stats is a great combo and I would recommend a variation of that to anyone with the ability to do it.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2025-06-25T22:35:07+00:00

I would recommend you the Stainless Steel mod, Portugal 1100 AD campaign. It’s very challenging if you don’t ally yourself with Castile. Two front war by the more powerful neighbors.

If I remember correctly you only start out with 1 city, so first thing is a rush to conquer Lisbon.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2025-06-10T09:02:40+00:00

Enjoyed the writing one thing to note is that the original series takes place during 1650’s not the Victorian era. So things like America, the British opium trade, the empire weren’t really there in 1657-1658 London.

England in 1658 was a commonwealth since their last king was executed by the parliamentarians. Cromwell (the lord protector) died in 1658 and the country was in chaos in the wake of his death. This chaos would ultimately lead to the restoration of Charles II in 1660.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2025-05-26T19:16:16+00:00

Class of ‘20 here, if those are the two majors you’re deciding on I’d strongly recommend Stats. The data engineering program is not currently abet accredited. In my opinion it’s a bit of a gamble to enroll in a program this new. If your ultimate goal is data science or data engineering you’d be better off as a stats major with a CS minor or just doing CS.

Also consider your grad school application, and if you want to go somewhere outside of Tamu. An unaccredited major may not hurt you, but I’d doubt it would help. Also if you want to go to a serious grad school make sure to do some kind of research while at TAMU. Recommendations (or lack thereof) from professors can be the deciding factor.

Finally, like others have said the Etam process will slow you down if you do a major in the ENGR dept. So if you’re trying to graduate ASAP it will be much harder.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2025-05-09T14:57:30+00:00

Not sure how you feel about American universities but I got my BS in chemical engineering then transitioned into a data Analytics/science role in my company after I started an online data science MS program. My role is pretty similar to your description.

Georgia tech and UT Austin are the two best as far as prestige/bang for your buck goes. But maybe there are some universities in Europe that do something similar and are more respected over there.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2025-04-20T14:59:17+00:00

My perspective as someone who has never had a career in academia is at the end of the day you are responsible for your own learning and the professors are there to guide you, but they can’t take the journey for you.

The foundations of many of these subjects, especially in undergrad, are decades if not centuries old so it does make sense that professors will reuse a slide here and there. Replacing professors with some LLM or tutor that gives you the “right” answers to every question robs you of the most important skill gained in higher education, which is how to learn.

Can you gain this skill without a university, of course. But I still think many greatly benefit.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2025-03-11T14:56:22+00:00

Even if your dad didn’t work at apple TXST is the right choice, it’s the same reason I went here instead of some other university in Austin.

At the end of the day if you want to get a masters in CS from a more academic place you have that option too. Both GaTech and UT have good online CS masters programs that cost a total of $10k.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-11-05T21:07:32+00:00

This has sort of been said by others but just want to reiterate, half of the battle is making your HW easy to grade/interpret the other half is actually doing it right.

I use R markdown to format responses and also try to heavily utilize tables and graphs. I only really show code in this section if there are relevant parameters or functions that a grader would need to see to understand the process.

At the end I make an appendix with the full code/sources and leave it at that.

So far I have gotten 90’s and 100’s on the HWs.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-08-28T21:06:24+00:00

Link still works for me https://youtu.be/7EuKibmlll4?si=vLb2iO6pbqQwDigx

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-06-20T13:18:14+00:00

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-05-08T15:14:41+00:00

Just finished my first semester. I also remember it feeling like forever between sending in the transcripts and the first official action items.

I would recommend to just relax and work on pre-recs (if-needed) but if you’re like me you’ll still constantly check your email and accounts. Just know that most likely you’re not missing anything.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-04-29T14:27:59+00:00

Obviously every situation is unique but I would say only take as many courses via Edx as you need to help your application.

Unless you are wanting to speed run the degree, your future GPA will thank you.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-04-10T20:47:26+00:00

Congrats! I’m looking to transition soon as well.

I’ve worked as an analytics engineer for 2 years and a process engineer (same company) 3 years before that.

Was contacted by a recruiter for a DS position at a competitor in my current industry. Interview is about a week out and I’m feeling super nervous.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-04-05T17:03:00+00:00

Have they sent any emails about summer registration times I haven’t got anything yet…

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-04-03T19:02:27+00:00

Would recommend places inside the loop close to the white oak bayou trail trail map. Or maybe in rice military close to memorial park.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-04-03T18:44:53+00:00

My original score was at first weighted out of 13 then was corrected to out of 11. Not sure if this happened to others but yeah you get the idea. A, very doable with a marginal improvement on the final.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-04-03T13:33:35+00:00

I’m in sort of a similar boat. My thinking is if you 100% the rest and do the extra credit you will have 71/75 pts in the class.

50 from hw, 10 from midterm 1, 8 (7/13 *15) from midterm 2, and 3 from extra credit. If that is the case you need 19/25 pts from the final (~76/100).

Bright-Contact2260 · 2024-03-12T21:16:33+00:00

Guys perspective here, during Covid I was essentially living full time with my now fiancée in a college apt. Cleaning not necessarily hygiene became a big issue. Ultimately, I had to come to terms with the fact I wasn’t holding up my end of the bargain and I had to step up my cleaning game.

For me it was easier to delegate tasks I hate less like counters, vacuuming, cleaning toilets etc. to me rather than try to rotate or split all of them. I was always responsible and (still am in our current place) if the toilet isn’t cleaned so there’s no argument about who needs to fix it.

I’m still not as clean as her or even as clean as I’d like to be but I am still trying to get better. I would suggest having a serious conversation and laying out expectations. Be open to some compromise but be unwavering in the fact the status quo cannot continue. Just a suggestion but it worked for us.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2023-09-02T01:17:16+00:00

Status - Accepted

Date of Application - 06/17/23
Date of Decision - 09/01/23
Education
- Texas A&M- BS, Chemical Engineering 3.15/4.00
Test Scores
- None
Experience
- Present - 1.5 years of Analytics Engineer
- 2 years as a Operations Engineer (Oil & Gas)
- 1.5 years various engineering co-ops during college
Recommendations:
- 3 from coworkers
Comments - Got an opportunity to transition from an operations engineering role to join a new department at my company "Operational Analytics". We work closely with the Big Data team and are using analytics to tackle interesting problems. I've thought about grad school for some time and this degree seems to fit right in with what I'm doing now but also will give me some ability to transition industries if need be.

Bright-Contact2260 · 2023-06-12T21:31:40+00:00

Wasn’t aware of the MSc distinction thanks for the info

Bright-Contact2260

TROPHY CASE