Thelma Gonzalez, the school’s college adviser, said this fall “everyone wanted to attend A&M. It really is the little things that get these students more excited to attend A&M,” she said — like face-to-face conversations about how to apply for financial aid.

Several students have decided to attend this fall, including one of Samuell's top-performing students, Jose Lopez. During the first semester of his senior year, Lopez said, "I probably saw [the A&M representative] about 10 times in, like, three months. He even gave us his number and everything."

"Whenever we would email him, he would respond within 24 hours. It shows how much they really do care," Lopez said.

Lopez originally planned to attend UT-Austin, where his sister is a student. But that school's admissions representative was rarely seen at Samuell, according to Gonzalez and Lopez. Only one student from the school plans to go to UT-Austin next year; had there been more recruiting, Gonzalez estimates that more would have chosen the school.

Every year is different, however. Last year, W.W. Samuell sent four students to A&M and two students to UT-Austin — not a very big discrepancy.

Work to do