OT: Helping out a Prospective Student
Hey MGoBloggers,
Because a large percentage of you guys attended or are currently attending the University of Michigan, I thought I would enlist your help. I am currently a high school junior attending Maryville High School in Tennessee and a prospective student of the University of Michigan. To clear the air, I lived in Toledo, Ohio for nine years of my life, so my love for the university is at least somewhat explainable despite of my current location.
Anyways, Michigan is at the absolute top of my list, but its relatively low acceptance rate and disturbingly high tuition rates for out of state students are two enormous factors that may likely prevent me from attending someday (not to mention it's all of eight and a half hours away from home for me). You may ask why I'm still considering, and I'll answer the same reason everyone did: I took a tour last fall and while I knew the campus was amazing going into it, experiencing it was something else. U of M has been a goal of mine since college came into the discussion at the beginning of my freshman year in high school, and I have worked exceedingly hard ever since in terms of academics. My credentials include: a 4.0 GPA unweighted, 29 on the ACT (still hoping to get it up to 31-32 range), 8 AP courses taken by the time I graduate, National Honors Society, Mu Alpha Theta math tutoring, Catholic Youth Organization member, high school orchestra member, two years of varsity soccer, and 70 hours of volunteer work.
So I ask:
1. How are my chances of currently getting into the university? If they aren't so fantastic, what do you guys suggest I do in order to build my chances?
2. Are the chances of getting into UM anything like North Carolina- Chapel Hill in which they only accept a very select group of out of state students?
3. for any further insight on how friendly Michigan is with scholarships and financial aid toward out of state students.
4. Please give any tips, suggestions, or other help regarding admissions, campus life, financial aid, etc., that you guys found were helpful at one point.
Mods, if this is too off-topic or irrelevant, feel free to remove. I just came here simply because this was the first place I thought of to get in-depth help in regards to the University of Michigan other than the official website which I have looked at repeatedly. I really appreciate all help, tips, suggestions, and answers.... GO BLUE!!!
January 30th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^
And to reward help, here is a pretty funny parody of the latest Beats commercials.
Definitely not thread worthy, but I thought I would share since I'm here.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
What's your 40 time? How is your vertical?
Edit: Just kidding...in all seriousness, sounds to me like you can get in almost anywhere you want. If UM turns you down, let me know. My alma mater, Air Force, would probably be happy to take you in. :-)
January 30th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
I'm on the slower end.... Hoke hasn't contacted me yet, but I'm still optimistic... I've sent my recruiting video numerous times.
I appreciate the input. Thanks much!
January 30th, 2014 at 3:25 PM ^
that's damn funny. I think you'll fit in well in Ann Arbor.
But think about this: AF's only tuition, besides blood/sweat/tears, is 10 yrs of your life of guaranteed employment. And 10 yrs is only if you're a pilot, which every physically qualified graduate can go do. And let me tell you, flying for a living is THE best job in the world. Don't let anyone else tell you differently. AND Air Force has a great engineering programs, too.
Just offering options if you're so inclined.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:32 PM ^
Don't get me wrong... Those options sound incredible... The only thing holding me back would be distance.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:36 PM ^
they beat that out of you the first week. Just kidding. Not really. No, really. :-)
Edit: But if you are interested in hearing more, message me on twitter, handle is the same as on here.
January 30th, 2014 at 5:12 PM ^
I grew up in Florida and getting away is a very good thing (Polar Vortex be damned). Remember, Tennessee will always be there but a chance at a Michigan education might not be. Take a few years and go to the school you WANT to go to. Family and friends will wait. And if you're like me and you don't move back home, technology is a wonderful way to keep in touch.
January 30th, 2014 at 9:19 PM ^
'Need money for college, willing to kill for it?'
jdon
ps. Think long and hard about going into debt for a college degree. With your resume you might just be able to go to a pretty good school near where you live, for free. Then, when grad school comes calling head on over to Ann Arbor...
January 31st, 2014 at 8:46 AM ^
And I'll resist the temptation to explain the nature of warfare as an extension of politics because...no politics.
January 30th, 2014 at 7:59 PM ^
January 30th, 2014 at 10:16 PM ^
Couple things, if you have time to reply:
1) I can't believe a 29 is the bottom quartile. that seems nuts. I would have said that he's a slam dunk, assuming good letters of rec and a solid essay.
2) do you have any info on how the UM admissions counts legacy applicants? years ago they got what amounted to a 3-4% bump in the old pt system (90s era). curious about how they account for that now.
3) If one were interested in being an Alumni Student Recruiter, would one contact the local alum. assoc? Would a teacher or administrator in a high school in this position lead to a serious conflict of interest do you think?
Anyone else who may have ideas, please chime in- thanks
January 31st, 2014 at 9:43 AM ^
Sorry, went to sleep early last night.
1) Yeah I know, but its true.
2)The old Pre-Prop 2 formula allocated points for that. In the current system I haven't gotten a clean answer from the admissions people about exactly what having alums in the family will do for you. However, if I could summarize the collective responses I've received to that question in the last few years I would say that if the child of an alum and the child of a non-alum have identical qualifications (which does happen often when you consider how many applicants there are), absent other factors the alum's kid would get the nod.
3) As far as becoming an ASR, it depends where you live. Based on your avatar I'm guessing you're somewhere in or around NYC. There are two ways to do this, each of the local clubs (Westchester, Connecticut, Northern NJ and NYC) have a board member in charge of coordinating their ASR efforts so I would contact that person. You can usually find that info by clicking through to the club's website here http://alumni.umich.edu/connect/club-finder?page=3 . Same is true if you live anywhere else outside of Michigan. If you live in Michigan, you should contact the Alumni Association's coordinator (her name is Phyllis) and ask about the Adopt-A-School program where you will be assigned a high school (or multiple schools) where you will be in charge of communications with that school's students.
January 31st, 2014 at 4:02 PM ^
thanks- that's what I thought. I'll give the ASR a look, but I'm not sure if teaching is a conflict or not...
January 30th, 2014 at 3:16 PM ^
January 30th, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^
then thought about it and realized I also applied 9 years ago. Son of a...
January 30th, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
Time flies way, way too fast
January 30th, 2014 at 8:41 PM ^
...31 years and counting. Now, get off my lawn and GO BLUE!
January 31st, 2014 at 1:53 PM ^
I applied 14 years ago! I literally have a pair of jeans older than that.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
Northwestern...........Where Michigan beliefs where born................
January 30th, 2014 at 3:19 PM ^
You'll probably get in. However, if you can get 2 points higher on your ACT, you'll almost certainly get in. That might be enough for one of those "Michigan" scholarships, which cuts the out-of-state tuition down to in-state levels. At least, that's what I got when I went there (2000-2004).
January 30th, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^
I'm old, so I can't give you advice on admissions. However, I will say that when you are considering good/ great schools don't worry about the cost, if you plan on majoring on something readily employable. For example, Business, Engineering, Computer Science...
My undergrad from UM cost about $100,000 all-in for me/ my parents. I was in B-School and the average starting salary was in the $50-$60K range, so you did and could repay loans. The same thing was true for Engineering and C/S. Just keep that in mind. I think the same is true for Medican and maybe Law Schools.
Also, I would assume UNC has similar admissions standards since they are also a very good school.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:36 PM ^
I really appreciate the help... I am looking at biomedical engineering, bioengineering, and statistics currently, so UM would definitely be a great option for all three. As for UNC, what I've heard from people who have applied, UNC accepts a very low amount of out of state students (like applying to Duke or Vandy) but will accept around half of in state applicants which evens out to about 30% acceptance... I just wanted to know if UM was anything like it when looking at out of state prospective students.
January 30th, 2014 at 4:14 PM ^
In general, engineering is one of the easier fields to get scholarships in. I was able to almost completely cover my undergrad tuition with scholarships. Picking a major before you start helps in that regard too, even if you don't end up sticking with it.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^
They're a lot pickier for out of staters (if you were in state I think you'd be a slam dunk) so getting your ACT score up at 30+ will get you to a safer area. Apply as early as you can. I think it'll get harder and harder the later you apply.
Tuition will probably be crushing unfortunately. It is what it is for out of staters. And it may make economically not worth it in the end (comparable education elsewhere for $100k+ cheaper)
January 30th, 2014 at 3:25 PM ^
Really........What happened to football? You guys. I will open up someday but not on her, look back its about the money brian
January 30th, 2014 at 4:53 PM ^
Take the ACT every time it's offered between now and next fall. You'll very likely score a few points higher on one of those tests just due to random variation. And they'll only count your highest score. The value of a 31/32 will be worth the extra testing fees and the Saturday mornings involved.
Good luck!
January 30th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^
DO NOT SEND PROVOCATIVE PHOTOS OF YOURSELF. THEY DO NOT ASSIST YOUR APPLICATION AND THERE WILL BE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES!
January 30th, 2014 at 3:37 PM ^
Psshh... Don't be ridiculous.
January 30th, 2014 at 5:25 PM ^
Hey not everyone was blessed with Frank Murphy's creamy thighs.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
Try to get the ACT score up. Everything else looks pretty good. FWIW, my brothers friend applied two years ago and had pretty much the same credentials as you, but with a 31 ACT and got denied, though she was instate. In the past 10-15 years or so its become way harder to get accepted.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:27 PM ^
I don't think your chances are great. You said you took AP classes. Did you take the AP exams? If so did you get at least 4's? Your ACT score is not high enough. You need to be over 30 for consideration. I have a friend's daughter who is in-state, varsity athlete, AP courses, outside organizations, High GPA but a 28 ACT. Was flatly rejected. No wait list or anything. She also was the first person in her family to attend college. Colleges love that, but it just wasn't enough forher. Michigan is great, but unfortunately it is not for everyone. You can get a quality education at many, many places. If you hold a special place in your heart for Michigan consider coming here for graduate school. More scholarships are available (per number of students) and if you can keep high GPA in undergrad and do well on the GRE your chances are much better.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:48 PM ^
Do AP test scores matter for admissions? I wasn't aware of that. I thought they were only important for receiving credit. (FWIW, I did not score 4 or 5 on every AP test I took, and received course credit at U-M for one in which I scored a 3.)
January 30th, 2014 at 4:01 PM ^
High ACT matters a lot, but there is no point that everyone below it is rejected. I think OP has a lot of solid credentials and shoud apply.
January 30th, 2014 at 7:08 PM ^
It's a good thing I'm old. I got in to the engineering school in '89 with a 30 ACT, a 3.7GPA, zero AP credit, and limited extra-curriculars. (granted, I was a local kid)
Toledo was my fall-back. I still shudder to think if I had not been admited to Michigan. I'd probably be working at Tire World, fielding offers to manage the Indians.
January 30th, 2014 at 8:44 PM ^
January 30th, 2014 at 8:42 PM ^
This is blatantly false.
You don't need over a 30 for consideration. A 30 is, at worst, around the 50th percentile of attending students. The "friend's daughter" bit is the type of anecdotal evidence that makes navigating application advice almost impossible. There are obviously isolated horror stories, but honestly if she was flatly rejected with a 28 in-state she almost certainly had serious issues elsewhere on her application.
GPA > ACT score, though both are important.
January 30th, 2014 at 8:47 PM ^
January 30th, 2014 at 3:28 PM ^
WTF? No mention of pad level, motor, or fake 40 time and you expect an honest answer? Stop wasting the board's time!
In alll seriousness, your credentials line up pretty close to mine when I got accepted. I think you're good.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^
In terms of admissions, I'd say you have a very good chance at being accepting barring them really being that much more picky with out-of-staters. Your gpa is obviously great as well as your course load which obviously is the basis of everything. Your Ec's are good as well with a good variety and depth
January 30th, 2014 at 3:37 PM ^
Source for admission knowledge:
Counselor telling me I have 90% chance at acceptance with 3.75 UW 4.0 W 33ACT and less EC's and volunteer hours than you. Although keep in mind I am in-state and my school is a pipeline to UofM
January 30th, 2014 at 3:52 PM ^
Okay, Joey.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^
January 30th, 2014 at 9:27 PM ^
I am wondering how i got in with a 3.1 and a 29... in state, and late addition (like already had a dorm room at state)... I was probably one of the lowest scores to get in I guess?
Do you still have to write essays?
jdon
January 30th, 2014 at 3:34 PM ^
You seem to have better extra curriculars than I did along with the same GPA and ACT/SAT. I was also out of state but I was deffered and eventually accepted during regular decision, which was partly because Michigan is changing the way the accept kids. Most of the Early Action kids are the very top tier. So I very much like your chances, write good essays and keep working on the ACT score.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:45 PM ^
Can't emphasize this enough: apply as early as possible. If you can, have your application ready to submit on the day they start accepting applications. I was a borderline applicant at the time I applied (way back in the dark ages of 1997), and I don't think I would have gotten in if I had applied in November instead of September.
January 30th, 2014 at 7:17 PM ^
I knew a few people in high school who were borderline (4.0 GPA but only a 24/25 ACT) and they applied right at the beginning and got in. Not sure they've would've if they had waited.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:35 PM ^
You'll probably be able to get in, but scholarships seem unlikely. I graduated high school 3 years ago and applied to Michigan with similar extracurriculars and such but I did have a 33 ACT and 4.4 GPA (granted that was weighted though). Not really sure how they deal with scholarships but I wish I did because I would've gone there but out of state is way too much for me.
January 30th, 2014 at 3:35 PM ^