I’m a junior in high school. I attend a full-fledged IB school in Michigan that was ranked a Top 100 high school nationally by the Washington Post in 2014 and in 2015) and because of this I feel like I am going to be really prepared for college as far as study habits and knowledge. With all of that said though, I do not feel very confident in my chances of getting accepted into Michigan. Here’s why:
U of M came to our school earlier this school year and gave us a presentation. I’ve seen the same presentations from 6-8 other colleges and Michigan gave the hardest sell by far, with Wayne State and Alabama being 2nd and 3rd by quite some distance. Regardless of how much they really wanted us to apply, one aspect they never sugar-coated to convince us to apply was how only the absolute elite will get into U of M. At first, I looked at this as a way of them boosting their prestige but the more I researched, I saw that this was not a hype-up statement or anything like that. The average unweighted GPA for incoming freshmen for 14-15 was a 3.85.
I have a 3.65 unweighted GPA (4.04 weighted but U of M probably disregards this GPA) and that’s with 3 semesters of high school left still. There’s a chance my cumulative GPA could slightly drop with 2 challenging semesters remaining. (Semester 2 of junior year and Semester 1 of senior year being the hardest of the IB course. Semester 2 of senior year is mostly spent on just preparing for IB exams).
So long story short, I am doubting getting accepted into U of M. I never considered it a sure shot or anything but I’m feeling like it’s more likely I won’t get in as opposed to getting accepted. Is this realistic for me to think that or am I do I not have as complete of an understanding of Michigan’s admissions standards as I think?
Oh and of course I know they don’t just look at GPA but my projected ACT score range is a 26-30 according to the Pre-ACT administered in school last year. Therefore, I don’t think I can count on an exceptional ACT score that would draw attention away from my GPA. On the PSAT, I did score on the 93rd Percentile, so that is a positive if I can translate that success onto the real SAT here in a couple months.
I was admitted out-of-state from a feeder state (read: tougher admissions standards than in-state) with a similar GPA, so I would say you still have a shot given if you have an interesting overall provile. Also, try to do as well at you can on the SAT.
The PLAN (pre-ACT test I assume you are talking about) projection isn’t always the most accurate. You should aim to get at least 30 on the ACT, and you can do it with practice.
UM does give much more consideration to the unweighted GPA, as that is less likely to differ from school to school. But if your school is in Michigan, they may better understand the differences in rigor from school to school. I would say try your best to get you GPA up, but you aren’t in a position where your application will be filtered out due to your GPA.
Projected score range is based on previous statistics. That simply means most students with that particular score will likely get the score in the projected range. For my D, she always got 1 point above the projected range from ACT Explorer to PLAN, and from PLAN to ACT. That involves a lot of hard work and practice. It is not impossible to get more than a point higher than the projected range, but it would be very difficult.
Okay thank you guys. My question is more regarding my GPA though. Even if I do get a 30-32 ACT, I still felt my GPA is holding me back a lot. Can some people that got into U of M that felt doubtful they would get accepted post their GPA and ACT scores?
Do as best you can for the rest of your high school career, and really try to knock the ACT/SAT out of the park. I think the SAT was a “redeeming” factor for me.
Take time with your “why Michigan” essay, too. I’m convinced that the essays make a big difference. Have a teacher you trust go over it with you, then revise. If you show your passion for UM, and give specifics of why UM fits your goals, that will help.
Have something to stand out on your application. I only had a 30 ACT (median is 33), a 3.99 Gpa, but I also had some tough classes.
I think that even though I had a bad math ACT score (27), the fact that I had taken community college calc 1,2, and was currently in 3 at the time of applying really helped show I could make it in the college of engineering.