Hi everyone. I’m a rising senior and I’ve been wanting to go to UofM for as long as I can remember. I would really appreciate it if anyone could look over my stats and give me advice on improving my chances. I am planning to be in a premed track with the likelihood of majoring in Biology. I will apply EA.
Female. In-state.
GPA : 3.98 UW / 4.3 W (All A’s with one B+ and junior year 4.0 UW)
ACT : 29
Class rank: Not sure but I’ve been told that I’m one of the top 10 or so students
Course rigor: 3 AP classes and 10 honor classes
In the context of what my peers are taking, I have been told that my schedule is rigorous.
AP Bio
AP Lang
AP Psych
Senior year: AP Lit and AP Macro
EC:
School Newspaper Club (3 years)
Newspaper Club Leader (2 years)
Debate Club (3 years)
AP Scholar
400+ hours volunteering in local community hospitals and schools (mainly long-term efforts over a few years)
Raised over $700 for starving refugees overseas
Research intern at a well-known hospital + shadowing
Biomed Program at a major research university
Competitive leadership program
Principal’s Award (3 years)
Volunteer Appreciation Award
Achievement Award from an embassy here in the U.S. signed by a Prime Minister
LORs: Good. I have a couple from teachers who have known me pretty well during my high school years and another one from the director of one of my programs. Another one is from a doctor who knew me well during my shadowing and research experiences.
I am not sure if this helps but I am trilingual and I come from an underrepresented background. I am also a first-generation student. In my essays, I will talk about how my community inspires me to do better and how my background relates to that.
Your ACT is a little low but everything else looks good. If you could retake the ACT in September with the intention of adding 3-4 points that would make your application a lot stronger. The 2017 25/75 ACT is 31-34. Apply EA. A lot will depend on the strength of the HS you attend.
@TooOld4School Thank you for replying! I am looking to retake the ACT in September to hopefully raise my score by a few points. Do you have any advice on showcasing passion in the essays without sounding too cliché? I’m a good writer so I’m not too worried about the content but rather on showing my interest.
Write from your heart and start early. Avoid hyperbole. Plan on 3-5 revisions for a very tight essay. You can always make them better. Finding an editor or reviewer helps too.
I am concerned that I’m not seeing AP Chem or AP Calc…both will be important to being a successful bio major at UMich. Stats and Physics would also be helpful.
Agreed, that you should try to get your ACT in the 30’s, but otherwise Umich would be a good target school for you. Admissions is becoming a bit like the Ivies, where sometimes people may end up being rejected even with a strong application, and sometimes people who do not seem like the type who would get admitted somehow end up getting admitted. Your prospective major within LSA is not a factor, since all freshmen enter undeclared, and whether or not you will be allowed to declare a certain major depends on how you do in your actual Umich courses.
Yes, AP chem and AP calc can help you get credits that could count towards a bio major. If you have the opportunity to take them, that would be great, but all majors at Umich design course plans which assume you have no credits coming in. AP stats is not so useful, not because stats won’t be useful to know when studying bio, but rather because Umich only gives departmental credit for AP stats. Departmental credit can be used towards elective credits, which can count towards the number of credits required for graduation, but cannot be used to fulfill a major’s requirement or a prerequisite to an upper level course. Therefore, if you choose to study bio, or another major which requires an intro stats course, the credit you may get from AP stats will not be accepted in fulfillment of that course.
@TooOld4School Thank you for the tips! I will definitely keep that in mind.
@MaryGJ I didn’t list my full senior schedule, but my schedule will include Calculus and Physics. AP Chem was not offered at my school, so I took the Honors course.
umcoe…I was not referring to those particular AP classes being useful for credit…my point was more that comprehensive classes would best provide a useful background for the siege of demanding classes that a bio major will face.
Some bio majors are very surprised that in addition to having a gift for biology, they must also have a gift for chemistry, physics and math. Stats will be important for anyone interested in research. Medical schools value undergrad research on applications.