<p>I asked this in the U of Mich forum, and mostly got a lecture! Let's try it here.</p>
<p>I have a Junior. In-state. UMich gpa of 4.0. Good EC's. His plan is to go to Univ of Michigan in Engineering. We have gotten very little advice from the GC that we didn't already know. One of the (few) things she said was "Take the ACT until you are satisfied with the score". Well, Son would be most satisfied if he never had to take it!</p>
<p>What score should he aim for so that he/we can all relax and assume he has a pretty good chance of getting in. I know that U of Mich is pretty selective and there is no guarantee. I'm just looking for a non-legally binding ball-park number.</p>
<p>peggy - you may already have this info from USN&WR Premium, but just in case. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with any Engineering-specific stats:</p>
<p>ACT 25/75 %iles: English 26-31; Math 26-31; Composite 26-30.</p>
<p>% of first-time first-yr students enrolled in Fall 2004 with:
ACT composit ACT English ACT Math</p>
<p>Additional note: since the overall acceptance rate is 62% and you are in-state, I would think being around the median could be safe? Being 30+ would look very, very good to me. But that is just "going by the numbers," no first-hand experience.</p>
<p>(Please be patient with me today. I am having a "no-good, dealing with blockheads, think I'll eat ice cream for lunch" day.)</p>
<p>I've seen people talk about "median" scores, and never did really figure out how that applies. If the average ACT score for Freshmen is 30, does that mean if Son gets below a 30 (27 or 28), does the college become a reach?</p>
<p>Maybe this is my question: At what point (score-wise) does a college become a Match?</p>
<p>Peg
who would really like it if Starbucks delivered</p>
<p>peggy, If all they give you is a median it is very difficult to answer your question. It's a lot easier when they give a middle 50%. With only a median of 30 all you know is that 50% are at 30 or above. If your son scores 28 you don't know if 51% are higher, or 90% are higher, or in an extreme case they could have a 29 cutoff and still have a reported median of 30. No way to tell with the data provided. Is there anyone in the admissions office that can give guidance? I wonder if there are any Michigan high schools that participate in Naviance where you could see some U of M acceptance data. There are several posts that point to high school websites with tons of data.</p>
<p>Your son has an excellent GPA, good ECs and he is in-state. I would think he would have excellent chances with an ACT of 30 and certainly could get in below that. But yes, I would have your S aim for the 30 and above if you want peace of mind. Have you asked Alexandre on the Michigan board? You might try PMing him. Some Michigan specific advice would be to get the app out ASAP - as early as September. They operate on a rolling admissions basis and the earlier you apply, the easier it is to get in. It's more competitive there even by late October.</p>