Tips for Getting into M
I have a ten year old son who gets near perfect grades that is dead set on attending Michigan. I know that it is not grades alone that will get you in. He works hard now to make sure he does well and I think/hope his ethic will continue as he gets older. I was hoping to get some suggestions on extra curriculars that can help him become more of the well rounded student that they are looking for.
We would also be out of state.
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:15 PM ^
also wants to go to UM. We'll going to try and get him in with his Baritone horn skills. It's worth a shot.
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:52 PM ^
Help your sons organize a not for profit, get it recognized by the government (laywers fees, but nothing exorbitant) and then have your child be the CEO/President for 3 years. It looks amazing to the committee and the non-prof can be as simple as a blanket drive one a year. Works for Harvard applicants, it will work for M applicants.
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:54 PM ^
Sign him up for Mgoblog and tell him to make lots of smart, witty comments. I hear that 100,000 mgopoints is the new 30+ ACT score.
March 24th, 2011 at 11:41 AM ^
March 24th, 2011 at 12:04 AM ^
I go to private school, have a good GPA and got a 30 on the ACT (first time without studying) any tips?, I am relatively involved in extracurriculars. Is there anything y'all have heard UM really likes?
March 24th, 2011 at 12:38 AM ^
March 24th, 2011 at 12:10 AM ^
My daughter is a freshman this year fulfilling a desire she had at a young age to be a wolverine like her mom and dad. I do think taking her to Michigan football games at a young age had something to do with it, too. She remembers very clearly that she was at the first overtime game ever at the Big House.
Anyway, AP courses are important to demonstrate a willingness to take an academic challenge and those courses really do prepare kids for college. I took 0 AP classes back in the day. My daughter placed out of two semesters of chemistry, a semester of calc, needed to take one semester of spanish to fulfill her language requirement. She is taking freshman physics and it's just like what she did in high school, so it's easy for her while it kicked my butt. She's taking organic chemistry and it seems easy to her. Proves the point. AP classes get you ready to meet the challanges of college academics.
Contributing to the university and being involved can only help. I've been a steady contributor to the Engineering school fund (not big $$, just contribute annually), stay in touch with the engineering alumni office, attend alumni events on homecoming weekend, and made sure they knew about my daughter's interest in attending Michigan. She met the dean of the Engineering school, took tours, got to see what it was all about when she was a sophmore in high school. She got her application in early and received her acceptance letter on Dec. 20th or something like that. Oh, yes, she's in LS&A right now, but I anticipate a transfer to Biomedical Engineering soon. The apple never falls far from the tree.
Good luck. You have a long journey ahead and who knows what will happen, but football saturdays do help.
March 24th, 2011 at 12:23 AM ^
Kind of funny that I'm also a freshman who started out in the college of engineering to do biomedical engineering, but I'm in the process of transferring to LS&A since calculus and such just aren't my cup of tea.
I remember getting an A on the first physics test, thinking "this is just like high school."
Then the rest of the semester happened.
March 24th, 2011 at 10:42 AM ^
I hit that moment second semester of sophomore year - I recovered fairly quickly, but I was definitely doubting my intelligence for awhile. Never let your guard down.
March 24th, 2011 at 12:14 AM ^
I had a 32 on my ACT (out of 36) and good grades. My GPA was almost a 4.0. I think it could have been a little lower, but the combination qualified me for the honors college automatically, and they admitted me very quickly.
I only did soccer and band and got in. Also I went to a SAT prep program that really boosted my SAT scores.
I managed to get in despite applying on the last day possible, from out of state, with a 3.4 GPA in high school. I think it's really important to take APs that are relevant to what ever major someone plans on applying to, and doing well in those AP classes. I'm also pretty convinced that having a really kick ass essay for your application can make all the difference. I don't think I'd of gotten in with an average essay.
A little luck can go a long way too, I'm sure I had some.
Wicked GPA.
Get it on with the President's daughter/son (not judging).
$80,000
Know someone (at least a janitor).
Good GPA, good showing on AP courses, and good SAT / SAT II scores. Nowadays a lot of schools love the SAT II stuff.
He's 10? Start working on his essay now. My teenagers procrastinated so long it just about killed me.
Don't know what the essay question will be 7 years from now? You can be sure it will have something to do with diversity. Every one of the schools my kids applied to had a diversity-related essay question.
I do not know if this is viable or not as this was 25 years ago. All my friends went to UM and I did not because I was a terrible student, at least compared to them. I had about 25 AP credits, a 2.8 GPA, and a 26 ACT score. My essay had "English as a second language", written all over it. Yes, I scored a 19 on the English portion of the ACT.
So even if you fail the first time, keep trying. I like to believe my experience made me a better student and person. My miserable failure just fired my ambition to finally study for a change. I attended EMU for a year. I aced third semester calculus. After aceing first semester college chemistry, I was admited to the chemistry honors class and had the highest score in the class. I took the hardest classes available. That was enough to allow me to transfer into LSA.
The school does not make us, what we put in makes us what we are. At some point we will have setbacks in life. So never give up. A few setbacks may fire your ambition. I have a lot of friends who had it to easy and never adjusted to the college setting. I did not have that problem because I knew what a precious thing I had.
hfhmilkman
He's 10. He'll change. Maybe you'll find that a smaller school is more appropriate for him, based on how he develops and learns. Maybe he has already won the genetic lottery and he will ace his SAT's. Maybe he's lost it and he won't. Much as I loved my time at Michigan, the key to college is finding a school that is a good match for the student. He is already motivated, just let him do what he enjoys and has a passion for, and encourage him to work hard. Then revisit this issue in 10th grade. When all is said and done, there are many roads to success, and the key is choosing the one you are comfortable navigating.
March 24th, 2011 at 10:19 AM ^
I'm currently a HS senior, and I have been deferred ( 3.8 GPA and 31 ACT), on the unfortunate chance that I do not get in, has anybody in here transferred into UM or know someone who has?
My best friend transferred in pretty easily after a year of doing fairly well at MSU.
March 24th, 2011 at 10:55 AM ^
4.0+ GPA in high school but my ACT was awful -- 25. I was accepted into Michigan's College of Engineering. So it is possible to get into Michigan (Engineering no less) with a mediocre test score. I took AP classes and did well in them. I can't remember what I wrote for my essay but I remember being proud of my work.
I think it helps a little to have siblings or relatives that attend or graduated from Michigan. And it definitely helps if you can donate to the school every year.
March 24th, 2011 at 12:41 PM ^
March 24th, 2011 at 10:54 AM ^
It's been said a couple times in this thread, but National Honors Society is a perfect topping to a sterling resume. The community service associated with it speaks volumes about an applicant. I strongly endorse this for any serious high school student.
Sports are great too.
March 24th, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
March 24th, 2011 at 11:51 AM ^
one thing thats offered here in Washington is the running start program. It is a program that allows you to attend Community College and earn HS credits and College credits at the same time all on the states dime. I know plenty of kids that that graduated HS with their AA degree. Do you guys think this would count as AP? For example, If you take English 112 at the CC you'll get credit for your HS English class. I just wonder if its better to take a class actually listed as AP.
March 24th, 2011 at 12:47 PM ^
This can be a double-edged sword. It wouldn't hurt to take a few community college classes (though depending on his major, they might not really be any use), but if he does well in HS they'll already know he's at least as smart as most people at UMich.
If he wants to do them, that's great, but its definitely not something I would pressure a kid into doing when he could be training to be a 5-star linebacker (or having fun with his friends, cuz some things are more important than school).
That's why I suggest taking classes in the summer, where the average kid sits on his/her butt all summer doing nothing. And I took the class with a friend from high school so that made it fun. Although training to be a 5-star linebacker commit to UM is also a good use of time.
March 24th, 2011 at 12:00 PM ^
people we're not talking about Harvard... just get good grades in honors or ap courses (above 3.7-3.8) and get a good ACT... biggest thing is not getting a C, if he gets a C chances are he will be deferred. Also since UofM is rolling make sure he applies as early as possible (september/october)
You don't need to have him start some volunteer crap, if he doesn't want to do it why should he be fake just to put it on his college app... this is the problem with kids today all they are about is what looks good and not what they truly care about.
March 24th, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
As a somewhat recent UM grad with younger siblings who got in, can't stress the importance of a job/work experience. Having a job in high school speaks to the independence, motivation, and other intangibles of an applicant that grades and test scores don't capture.
Seeing as most UM applicants don't need to work in high school, it makes your application stand out and shows your drive.
My grandfather served as the director of admission for Wayne State Univ. for 10+ years and talks about work experience as a huge X-factor.
Good luck to all!
Grades are good (as an indicator of being able to do what you're told), but writing a killer essay is going to communicate intelligence a hell of a lot more.
Get decent grades but don't let him obsess over a B in calc. Do a good job on the ACT/SAT.
If you're concerned about extracurrics, find one that he actually wants to invest time in, and he can go to a few meetings for other ones and say he was involved/gained life experience from/etc. For the record, my time invested in my "4" extracurriculars over my 4 years of high school = about 2 hours.
Basically don't come off as a boring white person with boring white person problems and average white male middle class experiences and he'll be fine.
Also ditto on working in HS and applying as early as possible (have letters of recommendation done early in his junior year or something).
IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE, send him to something like Michigan's summer math camp (MMSS, for one): http://www.umich.edu/summer_prog.php#Anchor-child
It is very possible he will meet some important faculty member who can basically guarantee your kid gets in (we recruit science and math concentrators the same way we do athletes).