<p>Im an Asian Male from New Jersey. I'm currently a Senior in High School. So I'm done taking SATs. But I am taking the ACTs next week for the last final time. </p>
<p>I want to major in Computer Science or Computer Engineering</p>
<p>3.97/4.6 GPA (weighted)
SATs: Math- 670, CR- 570, Writing- 610
Subject Tests: Chem- 650, Math 1- 700, Math 2- 670
Rank- 70/389 (About top 17%)
ACTs: 29
APs: Chem, Calc, US history, English, Literature, Computer Science, Bio</p>
<p>I have a intuitive and stunning essay written. </p>
<p>ExtraCurriculars-
4 year varsity boys tennis- Captain year 3 and 4
4 years of boys soccer
Science Club- Vice President Year 4
Computer Club- Liason
National Honor Society President
Math Club
Ski Club
Ping Pong Club
Christian Fellowship Club- Head of Club year 4</p>
<p>About 350 hours of community service.</p>
<p>Also, If you guys could give me some suggestions for other colleges to look that match my stats that would be great. THANKS!</p>
<p>You have a chance, but Michigan is a reasonable reach, not a match. Five years ago, Michigan would have been a match, but with an acceptance rate likely to dip to 30% (significantly lower for OOS and international applicants) this year, and a mid 50% ACT likely to be in the 30-34 for admitted students (probably 29-33 for enrolled students), OOS students with your credentials should regard Michigan as a reach. That’s not a knock on you by the way. You have strong credentials. But Michigan has always been very selective for OOS students, and since joining the common application, has really experienced a significant increase in applicants. At this time, I would estimate that Michigan is one of the 15 or 20 most selective universities (not including LACs) in the country for OOS students.</p>
<p>Submit your ACT, not your SAT as your SAT is in the bottom 25% of Michigan’s freshman class last year.</p>
<p>I would agree with Alexandre that you would be best advised to submit your ACT score instead of your SAT score. However, as usual, I think Alexandre is overestimating Michigan’s selectivity and how much admitted/enrolled students statistics will increase for the newly enrolled freshman in the Fall of 2013.</p>
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<p>Its important to note that its very difficult for universities to strengthen their student bodies in a short period of time since the reputations of schools tend to be static and only move very slightly every decade or so. Alexandre, UMich’s Mid 50th range for the ACT was 27-31 for about 5 years before it finally jumped up to 28-32.</p>
<p>UMich SAT CR Range
2007: 580-690
2012: 600-700</p>
<p>UMich SAT Math Range
2007: 630-730
2012: 650-750</p>
<p>UMich ACT Math Range
2007: 26-32
2012: 27-33</p>
<p>UMich ACT English Range
2007: 27-32
2012: 28-33</p>
<p>Yes, Michigan is more selective in 2012 than 2007. But has the delta in scores been so drastic that someone like Alexandre can confidently say that Michigan, “would have been a match 5 years ago but not now”? Absolutely not.</p>
<p>I predict that it will take another 5 years to Michigan to boost its enrolled student ACT range from 29-33 and for its acceptance rate to hit 30% unless Alexandre can convince UMich to cook the books like Emory and GWU hehe. ;)</p>
<p>Actually Goldenboy, on CC, I downplay Michigan’s quality and selectivity. If anything Goldenboy, it is you who is irrationally anti-Michigan. </p>
<p>The Freshman figures you provide was for the 2011 Freshman class. The 2012 Freshman class figures have not yet been released. Although I am fairly certain the stats will not change much for the 2012 freshman class, I am fairly certainly it will not take 5 more years for Michigan to see another point increase in ACT. The difference between 28-32 and 30-34 is insignificant. Michigan will likely have a 30-34 mid 50% range by 2015 or 2016. And Michigan’s acceptance rate will not take 5 years to drop to the 30% range. It dropped from 50% to 40% in 2010-2011 and from 40% to 36% in 2011-2012. I expect it to drop to 32% or 33% in 2012-2013 and to sub 30% b 2013-2013. The reason for the increased pace in selectivity is because Michigan joined the common application in 2010. When universities do that, they experience several years of increases in their applicant pool. Before 2010, Michigan’s applicant pool used to increase by 1%-3%. The last two years, it increased by 20% and 6% respectively.</p>
<p>“Alexandre can convince UMich to cook the books like Emory and GWU hehe”</p>
<p>Public universities cannot “cook the books” as their data must first be audited by state officials. But I am fairly certain that many private universities have lied through their teeth for years. CMC, Emory and GWU are not isolated cases. Wait 12-18 months. Many more universities ranked between #4 and #30 in the USNWR will be found guilty of seriously falsifying data. I have said it for years, Universities should be audited diligently because many of them are exaggerating or flat out lying.</p>
<p>Please take Alexandre’s advice cyi5514. Goldenboy is a well known Michigan hater on these boards and will do anything to disparage the university. He trolls the Michigan boards incessantly, even though he is a Duke alumnus. If you look at the Duke threads, you’ll barely ever see him post there. </p>
<p>Michigan went on the CA just in the past two years goldenboy. It’s way beyond obvious to me why the ACT scores have gone up suddenly and will continue to go up. Knowing this as I know you do, to show a five year period of ACT scores is just totally disingenuous. This proves, once again, that you are totally obsessed with doing anything you can to make Michigan appear less stellar than it actually is.</p>
<p>I will not take issue with Goldenboy’s status as the premier ■■■■■ on the Michigan board but I do not think he is trolling on this thread. The OP has a 3.97 UW GPA which probably means that he got a B in one class. This with a rigorous curriculum and a slew of extracurricular and community service. The only thing on his application that is questionable is an ACT score that is near the bottom of the 25-75% percentile range. Unless there is something that suggests that the 3.97 is not legit or his high school is known for massive grade inflation, I think U-M is going to want him irrespective of the ACT score. U-M does not admit students on the basis of test scores - the test scores are only one of several factors (and far from the most important factors) in the admissions decision. While I don’t think the 29 is the OP’s selling point, I do not think it is so horrible to disqualify him even if U-M is becoming more selective. If I had to bet, I would bet he will be admitted. Because I don’t have to bet, I would say he is a low match or a slight reach. Definitely apply. I agree with submitting the ACT rather than the SAT. Good luck and Go Blue!!</p>
Alexandre, if Michigan wants to raise its ACT range to 30-34 like Duke or Penn for instance, it will have to enroll almost 20% more students who score 30 or higher on the ACT, making this a total impossibility. There are only a finite amount of high test scorers in the country and there’s no specific reason why they would all of a sudden start choosing Michigan when previous classes of students handn’t. </p>
<p>A quick glance at the Common Data Sets for these schools would confirm what I’ve said above. Its much harder to continue to increase test score ranges each incremental time-its easier for a school to move from a range of 26-30 to 27-31 and even 28-32 like Michigan has done than it is for schools that have ranges of 30-34 (Duke and Penn) to shift to 31-35(Harvard and Princeton). The reason being that there is only a finite amount of test scorers in this range even available in the country for these schools to pick up.</p>
<p>Michigan will have to raise its academic reputation if it wants test scores to match Penn while Penn will have to do the same to match Harvard. Neither of these situations are likely to occur in the next few decades.</p>
<p>I’m afraid you’re wrong that the difference between ranges of 28-32 and 30-34. You can check Duke and Penn’s CDS’s and find that these schools have almost 20% higher 30+ scorers in ACT Math and ACT English than Michigan. This is a very significant difference.</p>
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What’s happened at Columbia shows us that the Common App “Effect” only lasts for two years and those two years are up. Applications to Columbia actually decreased last year and likewise there will be a leveling off of applications to UMich in the near future if doesn’t happen right this year.</p>
<p>“Michigan will have to raise its academic reputation if it wants test scores to match Penn”</p>
<p>That is not likely to happen. Michigan’s academic reputation can’t improve much from where it is at current. Only HYPSM have significantly stronger reputations, while Cal, Caltech, Chicago and Columbia have slightly stronger academic reputations. Michigan could conceivably match the reputations of Cal or Chicago, but no university is likely to match HYPSM anytime soon. What you probably mean is that Michigan is going to have to improve its appeal among 17-18 year olds. In that age group, Michigan has much room for improvement, and the potential for increased popularity for Michigan are off the charts. As Michigan’s acceptance rate continues to drop, expect the feeding frenzy to intensify.</p>
<p>"What’s happened at Columbia shows us that the Common App “Effect” only lasts for two years and those two years are up.</p>
<p>Actually, Columbia is an exception. It already had an acceptance rate of 7% when it joined the common application. That means that its reputation among high schoolers had already matched that of academe when it joined the common app in 2010, much later than any other private elite. In other words, Columbia did not need to impress high school students as its reputation had already peaked in that age group. For this reason, it did not experience much of a surge in applicants because its joining did not change anything. Every qualified applicant already had Columbia on their list. Universities that experience a prolonged surge in applicants when joining the common app typically have higher acceptance rates, like Chicago or Michigan. Those are two elite universities with unlimited resources and global prestige, but they lacked appeal among high school students, relative to their reputation in academe. The effects of the common application will be more pronounced. I could be wrong of course, only time will tell.</p>
<p>Shenanigans aside, this is an excellent question:
</p>
<p>OP, this is a bit problematic for you, because it suggests grade inflation at your school, and it puts you at 17%. Mich usually prefers its admits in the top 10%.</p>
<p>My suggestion is that if you have teachers who feel you stand out more than your rank suggests, (because you do sound well rounded) be sure to include that info - “EG - academically OP is one of the top 5% I’ve ever taught and his/her contribution to this school has been x and x and x” etc. In other words, ask them to be specific in indicating the ways in which you stand out.</p>
<p>In addition, if you’ve done some super programming somewhere along the line, perhaps include a sample. You will need to do something to “stand out” a little more, I feel, to offset your rank and your SAT/ACT and to move from a “near reach” to a “match” – is my hunch.</p>
<p>@kmcmom13
Thanks! That helps a lot.
And i dont even know if it’s grade inflation at my school. We just has a pretty horrible grading system. It makes A’s in C level classes worth more than a B in an AP class. Which screwed me over big time. So some very lazy and unambitious people are ranked higher than many rigorous students. But oh, well i can’t change that. haha. At least (as i know of), rank is not too big of a factor anymore in admissions.
And also about my teacher recommendations, apparently my guidance counselor reviewed them and said that they all had stunning letters. So hopefully, i have the edge on that too. Ehh… still iffy though of course. Just gotta do well on the last ACT this saturday and we’ll see.</p>
UMichigan is a known quantity among every demographic in the United States Alexandre; there probably isn’t an American alive who hasn’t heard of the school just like Harvard and the University of Alabama. Its reputation isn’t going to change soon unlike newer universities like Stanford, Rice, and Duke. The reason its getting a lot more applications now is because more and more students are applying to a greater number of schools to cast a wider net and its also easier for prospective students to apply to the school so they can add it as a safety while they wait for Ivy results. This is pretty much the case for schools across the country of course which is why we are seeing application increases uniformly nationwide.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I think Michigan is close to peaking on its acceptance rate decreases since the dynamics are starting to settle down a bit. If Michigan really is getting more highly qualified students from across the country to apply, then its yield will be lower since now its targeting students who are applying to schools all over the country and will jump ship to an Ivy as soon as they get that precious acceptance letter or accept a scholarship at a less prestigious school.</p>
<p>Unless Michigan overtakes some schools considered better than it in prestige, its acceptance rate will not dip that much lower. I could be wrong but it will be interesting to see what happens. The acceptance rate dropped 4% last year so it might drop another 2% in the latest cycle (following the pattern of lowered acceptance rate deductions as the effect of the Common Applications starts diminishing).</p>
<p>It’s more of an issue of convincing 17-18 year olds that it is worth applying to. Obviously, once the school becomes more selective, there will be increased interest in applying due to a perceived prestige boost. Also, while there are only a finite number of very high level SAT scorers in the US (1.6 million graduating seniors taking the test this year, so those in the top 10% are 160,000, 1% are 16,000), obviously there are millions more in countries with growing middle classes. A larger school needs more in terms of shear numbers of applications to increase its selectivity, but as it stands a school like UCLA gets about 60,000 applications, and this number shows little sign of dropping. I could see Michigan getting that much soon, and if their admit number stays the same, we would have an acceptance rate of about 27%. We are getting ready to start a $4 billion capital campaign in the next year largely dedicated to scholarship money, so I don’t see us not being able to attract students for monetary reasons, and we might very well be able to pick off students from other similar (or slightly more prestigious)schools because we are able to give better aid. I see no reason why, especially given the millions of international applicants thrown into the equation and more overall spots available for students as we are a bigger school, we couldn’t get a 25% acceptance rate in the next five years, and that would theoretically also play a role in bumping our test scores of admitted applicants, perceived prestige, etc. Obviously, that picture might be a little rosy and it might not play out like that, but I don’t see why it happening is really any less likely than any other scenario.</p>