Many lucky young people looking to pursue even MORE school after their bachelors are facing big decisions right now. Applications went in, interviews took place, you have an offer in your hand- maybe lots of offers!! For masters degrees, for PhDs, with various levels of funding and stipends and in different areas of study and in all different parts of the country (or maybe the world!), so the question is….

Where are you going to go?

Now obviously I can’t answer this for you, I can’t even start to try to answer this for you. It’s a huge question, and SO unique to you and what you want to study. But, if one of the offers happens to be for Texas A&M University (TAMU for short), I’m here to tell you all the reasons I have enjoyed my decision to come to A&M for my PhD.

Bigger is better for grad school

TAMU is a big school- I’m talking 70,000+ students big. And while that may sound intimidating, it means we have an insane amount of resources available to us as researchers and as students. The library system, I’m convinced, can find any piece of writing you could ever possibly need. We have core labs to help with engineering and science and computer work. And if you can’t find some sort of formal institution to help you solve a problem- there is probably a student or professor or researcher on campus who can help you one-on-one. Walking to class can sometimes take 20+ minutes, but when it comes to easy access to great minds and the latest technology, TAMU being big is a huge plus.

It literally pays to be at an R1 institution

Not only does TAMU have tons of resources for graduate students, but there is also funding in place to support us and the work we are doing. Research-related spending at this university surpassed $1 billion last year- and while that doesn’t measure up at all to the expenditures in football in Texas, it’s still a super impressive sum. This means a lot of students are offered research assistant positions, which allow for full-focus on the work you’re passionate about. And, like I said before, there are tons of students here- so there’s also tons of teaching positions to fill every semester, which is a double win: funding for your tuition and stipend, plus teaching experience to boost your resume for the future.

Aggies really do hire Aggies

Speaking of resumes- the Aggies are known for being a close-knit group, but I had no idea just how useful that could be until I started searching for jobs. Aggies are so thrilled to hear that you are also an Aggie, and it gives you tons to talk about in an interview to put you and the person potentially hiring you at ease. Plus, anyone who went to or is aware of the quality of education at A&M will surely be impressed that you got an upper-level degree from such a great, research-focused school.

The sense of community will make grad school easier

The Aggies are tight-knit, but even if you’re not the school-spirit type, there is a huge diversity of people here with interests in a broad range of activities. This means you’re bound to find some like-minded people to hang out with while you’re here. And I don’t know everything there is to know about all grad programs- but I can almost guarantee that ANY grad school experience is made much better having a support system to talk to about it, whether it’s other people in your program/department, folks you meet through on-campus organizations, or people you meet doing things you love in the broader community.

I certainly can’t make you decision for you, but hopefully I’ve convinced you that A&M should certainly be a contender for your graduate school experience.