<p>I'm a rising junior living in California. I have a great academic record (4.0 unweighted), but not too many extracurriculars. In whatever extracurriculars I am involved, however, I've completely immersed myself. Generally in my community, we don't look beyond UCs, primarily because college tuition is very cheap. I was wondering about the admission standards of some of these schools. How do they stack up against UCSD, UCLA, and UCB? I'm not asking for a match/reach assessment -- just an overview of what it takes to get admitted into these schools.</p>
<p>University of Michigan
Washington University in St. Louis
NYU
Duke</p>
<p>Does Washington University have Early Action, and does it greatly improve one's chances of getting admitted? Also, does the fact that I'm a California resident greatly enhance my chances at UCs?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Washington University is Early Decision, and yes it improves your chances. And yes, being a California resident GREATLY helps your chances at the UCs. I wouldn't even bother looking at Michigan because you have the best public school system in the country (IMO).</p>
<p>OoS applicants to Michigan need to get their application in really early. Around 30% of Michigan students are OoS. However, according to my GC who said he spoke to Michigan's dean of admissions, Michigan really prefers that OoS students be from the midwest.</p>
<p>Given all the OOS students at UM from the east coast, that sounds like bunk. I know they are actually stepping up recruiting in Washington.</p>
<p>Kcirsch, I do not think you should look at it as Private vs Public. Cal is one of the top 10 universities in the nation, private or public. So is Michigan. UCLA is not far behind. All of those schools are at least as good as NYU and Washington University-St Louis. Cal and Michigan is rated as highly as Duke according to academe and the corporate world. Obviously, the OP wants to leave California. I personally agree that it is not worth leaving California if you can get into Cal, unless it is to go to H,Y,P,S or M. But if the OP wishes to leave the state, Michigan is just as good an option as any of the other schools listed above.</p>
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However, according to my GC who said he spoke to Michigan's dean of admissions, Michigan really prefers that OoS students be from the midwest.
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</p>
<p>barrons is right. </p>
<p>Your guidance counselor did not hear him correctly. This is absolutely, laughably untrue. Maybe what he said is that we love our Illinois students, and we do. We have a steady stream of applications from the Chicago area and elsewhere, and they're great. But that's not the same as saying U-M prefers midwestern students over others. And for the record, U-M doesn't have a "dean of admissions." We have a director.</p>
<p>Take a look at last fall's enrollment by state (undergrad). I've included the Great Lakes/Midwestern states along with some from both coasts.</p>
<p>New York 1297
Illinois 1000
Ohio 682
California 626
New jersey 602
Pennsylvania 354
Maryland 300
Florida 233
Massachusetts 214
Indiana 149
Connecticut 148
Minnesota 145
Wisconsin 123</p>
<p>He probably just meant that I had a better chance at Michigan because I'm an Illinois resident than residents of most other states do.</p>