Chance me for engineering at UMN?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi everyone...</p>

<p>I am applying the UMN Twin Cities for Fall 2014 and while I don't doubt I will get into the university, I am having my doubts about getting into the engineering school. It's very competitive and I wanted to see if anyone on here knew anything about UMN admissions. I've scoured the internet already, so I'm not really looking for the average ACT score or % admitted for this school. Personal experiences, preferably! </p>

<p>Here are my stats:
GPA (unweighted): 3.44 (First year and a half of school was rough, but I have maintained a 4.0 all through junior year and it should continue this year)
Rank: 35/85 (This may or may not be accurate; our rankings are messed up)
ACT: 28 with an 8 in writing (My superscore is a 30, I know UMN does not superscore but they do look at individual scores from different tests. Best scores are English 33, Math 26, Reading 29, and Science 31)
AP classes: AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, AP Calculus AB
Dual Credit Courses: Intro to Environmental Science, Anatomy and Physiology
Schedule: Extremely rigorous for my school (small, rural high school), and pretty rigorous for any school, actually. Four years of foreign language (Spanish). I have more credits than needed to get into UMN.</p>

<p>Academic Awards:
Math Honor Award
Writing Honor Award
Academic Letter
Possibility in AP Scholar</p>

<p>ECs:
FACT
Link Crew Leader (senior year)
Future Business Leaders of America (senior year)
Spanish Club (all four years of high school, President this year)
Student Council (all four years, plus three in middle school)
Student Council Junior Class Treasurer
Forensics (won 1st in Conference for poetry, junior year)
Key Club (freshman year)
Yearbook Committee (sophomore year)</p>

<p>Work:
McDonald's (sophomore year)
Kmart (first part of junior year)
Oakdale Credit Union Bank Teller (junior year - present, earning a finance credit through school)</p>

<p>Sports: Two years of track, might do softball this year</p>

<p>Leadership experience: Link Crew Leader, FBLA, Leadership Congress last summer (and earned a $2,000 scholarship for best essay), three-week college course at Loyola University Chicago for entrepreneurship/leadership last summer (one of 50 chosen applicants out of 500+), Student Council Treasurer and participated other six years</p>

<p>Volunteering:
Fairview Nursing Home, only 30 official hours
Been volunteering all my life in girl scouts, part of Key Club, or just on my own</p>

<p>Sorry for the long post! Any knowledge you have about UMN that isn't on the website will be helpful to me!</p>

2

<p>Where is your home state?
My suggestion is to apply early particularly if you are not going to retake any test. Their rolling admission has already started and some have already received the admission notice online yesterday. They will first pick the top students. The deadline for this priority application is 12/15, but applying early may help. Your GPA is a little bit below average, but hopefully the upward trend may help. Did you get the Golden Gopher Application? That would waive the application fee and essay requirement.</p>

3

<p>Yes, I did get the Golden Gopher App. I live in Wisconsin. My GPA is below average, but I’m thinking they might take into consideration the 4.0 I have held since the beginning of junior year? That is my hope. I have had extremely rigorous classes, especially for my school, and exceed all of their class requirements. Do you know anything about the engineering school? I know the average ACT is 30.6 and I am a little below, but my superscore is a 30. Do you think they would take all three of my test dates into consideration?</p>

4

<p>Are you applying to Purdue? You may give it a try too. If you get the Golden Gopher App, you should submit it as soon as possible unless you are waiting for better scores. I think you should be a high match. Your ACT is within the mid 50.</p>

5

<p>UMinn: High match</p>

6

<p>I am applying to Purdue, but I visited U of M and fell in love. Plus, there is tuition reciprocity so it is much more affordable than Purdue. I did love Purdue, though.</p>

<p>A high match for engineering, you are saying? I just want my app to be perfect. I have been waiting a month to submit it because I am so unsure of myself, even though I will probably end up doing just fine.</p>

<p>What do you think about sending in a strong recommendation letter? They do not require it, but I think it might be worth sending one in.</p>

7

<p>^ I guess you must go there in Summer. :wink:
Yes, the oos tuition at UMN is more affordable than even some in state schools. They don’t require recommendation letter although the FAQ said it may require for some program. I could not find any information. My D applied without any. I think with the Golden Gopher Application, it is really easy to submit. At the same time, since they don’t need anything other than GPA and test scores, that may be the only thing they evaluate you. If you need some financial to go to other schools within the mid-west, look up the mid-west student exchange program on the web. I think some WI resident can pay as in state at UMN too.</p>

8

<p>I do actually qualify for in-state at UMN. I think I will submit the recommendation letter anyway. It’s worth a shot, and I don’t think it will hurt me at all.</p>

<p>I visited just last Friday. If its the winter weather you are referring to, I have a feeling I will hate the snow and ice, but being from Wisconsin, I think I’ll adjust. :)</p>

<p>I have been on MSEP already. There isn’t much helpful on there. I may be a little OCD when it comes to my future plans. Any college website out there, I’ve been on it. I was hoping for some personal experience on here, but I guess I will just have to wait and see. I do really appreciate your help, though! Sometimes I just need someone knowledgeable to talk to me about these kinds of things and ease my worries a little. :)</p>

9

<p>We are from the mid-west too, but we are still a bit worry about the winter in MN. I assume you will apply to WISC Madison too, won’t you? We did not visit the UMN campus as it is a further 3-4 hours driving. How do you compare the campuses between UMN and WISC?</p>

10

<p>Personally, I don’t like UW at all. I live an hour away from Madison and have been there too much, so maybe that takes away from the new and exciting aspect of college. Academically, UMN and UW are pretty similar but the campuses have a completely different feel. Madison has a very urban feel, so if you’re into that then it’s perfect, but I wasn’t. It doesn’t provide me with the college feel I’m looking for. It’s very much combined in the city. UMN is right in the heart of Minneapolis, but it has so much green space and the 51k students isn’t scary when you’re there. It’s very green also, which is perfect for me wanting to go into Environmental Engineering. UW might just be too familiar for me. Something about it gives the wrong vibe. I don’t plan on applying there at all, as much as it pains my parents.</p>

11

<p>UW has a great sense of school spirit and great people, I think, but it’s one of those campuses that you have to visit. UMN is similar in that way. UMN is different than any college I’ve ever seen. For me, I base my college decisions off of academics mainly, of course, but if a school doesn’t have the warm and belonging feel to it, it’s a dealbreaker.</p>