Chance a Former Slacker, Rising Senior

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

<p>Hi guys,
I used to be a huge slacker. I didn't do homework , never studied for tests, did nothing after school...It was a disaster. Then about halfway through my sophomore year I realized that what I was doing was gonnna hurt me in the long run. From that point on I never recieved below a B. However, the damage had alraedy done,as my freshman year GPA was pretty low and my sophomore year GPA was just ok. This year I had a huge improvement and really did as well as I know I can.</p>

<p>So heres my stats, and let me know what you think.</p>

<p>Freshman year: 2.78 GPA
Sophomore Year: 3.14 GPA (Honors English)
Junior Year: 3.72 GPA (AP Gov, Honors English, History, Business classes. Awaiting AP exam score for AP Gov)</p>

<p>Cumulative GPA: 3.23</p>

<p>School doesn't weight.</p>

<p>I go to a top 10 school in NJ, and we typically do very well at most colleges (Northern Highlands)</p>

<p>took SAT's Twice:
First time: 610 Math, 620 Reading, 640 Writing 1870 total.
Second time: 610 Math , 620 Reading, 680 writing, 1910 total.
Considering taking a third time come october.</p>

<p>E.C's
DECA Member/ Participant (reached states) Junior Year -Senior Year
Stock Market club member freshman year
Big Brother Program Participant Junior year (Program was cut by state)
Summer Camp CIT for one year, then Counselor the last two years.
Worked at my mom's real estate office as an assistant for a little while.
Bowling Team JV junior year, may do again this coming year.
Rec Basketball up to Sophomore year.</p>

<p>my senior schedule!
AP Psych
SUPA (Syracuse level college class) English
SUPA Forensics
Honors Calc
Entreprenourship
TVP II
Film Studies
Gym/Health
Chance me.</p>

<p>Really interested in something like a business/ film joint program, whether it be Majoring in business in minoring film, or a communications and business double major.</p>

<p>So can I overcome my bad freshman year with my huge upward trend?</p>

2

<p>You can overcome this freshman year slump. I had one myself and managed to impress them enough to let me in without a deferral (3.4 GPA IS). I would suggest retaking that SAT and perhaps beefing up your ECs with some leadership. Your school’s prestige always works in your favor, but your rank would be helpful in judging how much it would help. Your OOS status hurts you, but doesn’t make it impossible. This is a decent reach. Good luck and apply early!</p>

3

<p>yes, retake your SAT, you’ll need a higher score than that. Low gpa and OOS makes you a reach but even if you don’t get into U of M, I still applaud you for turning your academics around. best wishes to you at whatever college you go to.</p>

4

<p>Although that gpa is low, if you can raise your sat and explain your turn around, then you have a chance.</p>

5

<p>If Northern Highlands uses Naviance, your best bet is to look up admissions stats for UMich from your school from the last admissions cycle…in my opinion, GPA is gonna be an issue from that standpoint but I am not privy to your school’s history with UM</p>

6

<p>Low GPA, low SAT, few APs, and OOS puts you at a reach. Write a very strong essay and you’ll stand a good chance. I had an OOS friend last year who, with stats marginally better than yours, wrote half-decent essays and got in. I guess the prestigious school factor can only help.</p>

7

<p>I am familiar with Northern Highlands…very good school. Have cousins that graduated from there and both went to prestigious private schools. Lots of kids from NJ attend U MI. Like they said check out the stats from your HS regarding admittance. Don’t forget to get great recs too. Oh…have you considered taking the ACT…you may do better on that test…some kids do.</p>

8

<p>One thing that could make more of a difference than you think: Somewhere in your school there is a teacher or adviser who will have noticed your outstanding turn-around, someone who’s really in your court and wants you to do well in life, whose respect you’ve earned.</p>

<p>Find that person and ask them to write your recommendation and specifically address your growth in character, and if your current level of performance is ‘high ranking’ (eg, you are now one of that teacher’s top students, even though your overall rank is low due to freshman/soph years) ask him or her to include that percentage and to give very concrete examples of what sets you apart.</p>

<p>Eg. my son had a slow start to HS (but truthfully, slightly higher stats in the end than yours) and one just such teacher wrote an outstanding recc, saying he was top 2% of all students he’d ever taught in terms of character, and top 5% in performance after 26 yrs of teaching, etc. and gave very good illustrations of how son was ‘in it for the love of learning, not the grade-grubbing’ etc. Even though we never expected it, the letter was actually very reflective and insightful of my son’s character. His other recommendations echoed parts of it, so I think the adcom could tell it rang true.
We’ll never know for sure, but we suspect it made a big difference b/c he was not only admitted, but received 2 scholarships as well.</p>

<p>So do your best to find those who are in your court. Someone who has learned a lesson the hard way and conquered their issues to my mind is usually someone worth taking a chance on. So congrats and good luck!</p>