Chance me for UMiami!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Miami - Florida
1

Hi! I am currently a junior, who lives in Florida.
Female, (Adopted) Asian
UW GPA: 3.95
W GPA: 4.869

ACT: 33 (35 English, 31 Math, 33 Reading, 31 Science) 10/12 on the writing potion
SAT: 1380 the first time (710 Reading, 670 Math), 1470 retake (760 Reading, 710 Math)
I also got a PSAT Score of 1470 which may make me eligible to become a national merit scholar, but that isn’t out yet

Class Rank: 35/589
APs: Human Geography (9th grade), World History (10th grade), US History, Environmental Science, Lang, Psychology (11th grade), Literature, US Gov, Macro, and Calculus AB (12th grade)
Dual Enrollment: Introduction to Business (10th grade), Internet and Computer Literacy (11th grade), Principles of Marketing (11th), and around 4 more in my senior year. Each class counts as half a credit, except one I may take in my senior year (College Algebra).

Other classes: I am going to be going into my fourth year of Spanish next year, and I just finished up my school’s Drafting and Illustrative Design program, ending with a certification in AutoCAD. I took Sociology as a sophomore and am going to be taking Anatomy+Physiology Honors next year, as I am currently interested in psychology/psychiatry

Extracurriculars: President + creator of my school’s Psychology Club, Vice President of my school’s Drafting Club, Secretary of Science Club, member of Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society), member of National English Honor Society, applied to National Honor Society for next year

Achievements: I won 2nd place in the World Languages District Competition, in Spanish 3, for Declamation and Impromptu Speaking. I also won in my county’s literary fair, but I am unsure how I placed (will be receiving that award the 17th)

Other: I am going on a heritage tour to China to see my background and I was thinking of somehow incorporating it into an essay, if it permits. Otherwise, I would likely talk about my interest in psychology and dedication to creating the club at my high school.

Intended Major: I was looking into different fields of psychology, and have been considering occupational therapy, psychiatry, and neuroscience. I also looked into engineering, but if I was accepted into Miami, I would likely go down one of their well renowned medical paths.

I had attended an in-school informational session about UMiami, and I am aware that Florida Prepaid is valued at its purchase value (which is nothing compared to Miami’s actual costs). I was wondering if they gave moderate financial aid/academic merit scholarships. My single mom makes ~90k/year, supporting 5 people, and 3/5 have to attend college. I am also eligible for bright futures and was planning on applying to a plethora of scholarships in my senior year, which would likely be the only way that I would be able to attend Miami if accepted. Thanks so much!

2

You have a great shot but if Miami is your top choice apply EA or if you are dead set on UM apply ED. I’m sure you will get scholarship money too but I’m not an expert on that front.

3

I would say UMiami is a safety. You too have a shot at full tuition.
I’m wondering how your GPA is calculated. What are the bonuses for AP and for honors?

4

@AimingTop50 thank you so much! Also, @Cane615 thank you as well!

i know a friend who got in with 5 aps and a 27 ACT (although her dad is a professor there) so i wasn’t completely worried, but i know that their med schools can be competitive especially since they attract more international students than other florida colleges.

4.0 for regular classes, 5.0 are given for honor classes, and 6.0 are given for AP classes. Additionally, we are able to dual enroll at our local college and those are counted as 6.0 as well. Prior to this year, I only took 2 AP classes (and many regular classes, for drafting and spanish 1-2) hence my GPA. I know that certain colleges recalculate it and only take into account your core classes though, I just never knew how to recalculate my GPA for certain colleges.

5

FYI, I got into UM for fall of 17 with a 27 ACT and four AP classes. My GPA was 3.5-3.8. I applied ED and didn’t get any aid.

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@kuustarr Ah ok. The normal maximum is a 5.00 so I was shocked, if you would have had a 4.9/5.
My school does it differently too.
4.33 for A+ instead of just 4.00
+.5 for honors and
+1 for AP.

So the max is a 5.33

7

I think that you are probably overqualified for UMiami and would not be intellectually challenged there. Also, with your stats and personal circumstances, you would have the opportunity for very high financial aid at higher ranked schools. If you want to stay in the South, you should definitely be looking at Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt, etc.

8

My son graduated from U of Miami a couple years ago and is now in medical school. I know a lot about the U. Miami gives fantastic merit scholarships for high achieving students like yourself. Check out the Stamps ( full ride) and Singer Scholarships (full tuition). Even if you do not get these there is still significant merit money for many other students. I would recommend applying Early Action ( not Early Decision). The merit scholarships are used to entice top students to come to Miami rather than other competitive schools. He had acceptances a couple higher ranked colleges but it was hard to pass up the merit scholarship.

Don’t let londondad’s comments discourage you. He has posted his adverse comments about Miami on other threads ( even though his son is happy there). If you check out the many other Miami threads you will see his opinion is in the minority. My S was premed and had a great 4 years. He found a group of friends who were academically motivated, very intellectual, and all around good young adults. Just like any college there will be students who care more about social life/partying than academics- it will be up to you to find the groups you want to be part of. One of his friends got a Fulbright scholarship, and many are currently in medical school or in graduate school going for a PhD.

The science classes at Miami are very challenging. My S worked extremely hard to maintain a high GPA. He had very good professors, some he got to know very well ( and they wrote recommendation letters for medical school). After 4 years he was well prepared for medical school. There were many opportunities for research, volunteering, shadowing doctors, etc. He was very organized so he still was able to have fun, go to football games, and go to the beach. I loved the U of Miami and looking back I’m glad that my son attended there.

Good luck!

9

@racquetdad Okay, we can agree to disagree with whether UM is a great fit for high stat, potential STEM girl who might be eligible for a large financial aid award at a top 20 school. I do agree with you and aimingtop50 that the OP is a great candidate for the UM Stamps and Singer programmes. Therefore, I would say that the optimal strategy might be to apply EA to both UM and UF/FSU (given the participation in FL Prepaid which I know nothing about, I assume that the money is lost if she goes out of state?), but also to apply to some tippy-top schools given her strong grades, ACT and relevant ECs.

10

My incoming freshman daughter had a 33 ACT, high GPA, strong academic rigor, and good extracurriculars. She applied to the University of Miami and to her dream school, the University of Notre Dame. She was accepted to both and that is no small feat if you know the difficulty of being admitted to ND.

She attended Scholarship Weekend at UM where she met some amazing students. She was awarded the Singer Scholarship. She chose UM because of cost and the reasons @racquetdad mentioned above. The schools mentioned by @londondad don’t give generous merit aid like UM - maybe only to a select few brilliant students.

Have you calculated your Expected Family Contribution (EFC)? You might be surprised to find out how much your family will be expected to pay for your education.

11

^ Good points. Most kids at UM who have 33 Act and 4.0 GPAs are probably Stamps or Singer scholars. (The same with anyone who turns down ND to go to Miami!) The OP is also a good candidate for high need-based aid based on family size and income, which is why I am recommending that she aim high.

12

@londondad @sdteak thank you guys so much for the input!!! Also, I keep forgetting to mention this in chance me threads, but I’ve been volunteering at the hospital since February of 2016. I’ve accumulated around 150 hours there. I mainly work info desk, and it’s really helped peak my interest in the health career. I also got accepted into NHS for this coming year (just found out last week) so that’ll hopefully be something else to pad my college application (and allow me to gain more hours!!!)

London, I’m really flattered, thanks so much for the compliment!! My mom and I both came to the agreement that I stay in state for undergrad, and then save money for going to the more expensive universities like Duke, Emory (which I had looked at before!!) and such if I chose to pursue grad school. However, I just thought to apply to U of M in the case that I did get a scholarship and could attend. I really adore the city’s livelihood and the college’s diversity, and I think that i would be happy there.

With places like FSU or UCF, I think I would be more of an outsider considering I never really considered Greek or Party life, but with UM/UF (which are also party schools, but have more academic emphasis), I could see myself fitting in with the crowd. Unfortunately, as Miami is private (and ~$50k per year, considering the cost of housing and semester hours), I can’t consider it my first choice, but I was planning on applying Early Action to it.

Racquet, thanks so much for the insight and scholarship suggestions! I’ve done some of my own research, but I wasn’t sure what else I had much more than FAFSA and Bright Futures.I know that Notre Dame is an extremely prestigious school, so congratulations to your daughter!!! I completely agree with you there. I know that considering my other two sisters attending college, that I will (hopefully) be able to receive some financial aid, but I am also relying on financial aid.

Thanks again for the help!!!

13

also @sdteak I just roughly calculated it, and it was around $11-12k, which isn’t bad, considering. Plus, with merit-based scholarships, it might be even better! Thanks for the suggesting, I actually never heard of EFC before.Thank you for your input!

also @racquetdad thanks for your help too! I forgot to mention you in the above comment, sorry!

14

I would just like to offer that while you certainly have high stats and should be competitive for many scholarships at UM, you should be careful when predicting merit aid and scholarships during this process. This past admissions cycle, I applied to UM with a 33 ACT, ~3.8 UW GPA, and solid extracurriculars. I am unhooked and from an Illinois family with a middling EFC. Overall, I had thought that I had a decent chance to be invited to an interview weekend and to be a strong candidate for the Stamps or Singer. Ultimately, I was deferred from EA and accepted RD with no scholarships offered - just a Coral Grant that may not have even been renewed the following year.

Even with a Presidential Scholarship, I likely would have attended. Though, the cost of UM was going to be at least $55k, and they were not willing to adjust the financial aid package to meet demonstrated need. The worker at the financial aid offices even told me that her own daughter chose FSU over Miami as a result of the lack of offered financial aid, which UM is notoriously frugal with giving. Truthfully, it is an extremely expensive school for a middle-class family if a sizable scholarship is not awarded.

Please still be excited about the University of Miami, but I just don’t want you to assume anything before it is given. I was extremely hopeful for a scholarship. And I was extremely disappointed when I did not receive one. Hardly anything is guaranteed with college admissions. Still, your great achievements show that you have much to look forward to! Good luck!

15

@ColoredAlabaster thank you so much for the input! Yes, Miami is definitely not my first choice, and I am well aware that Florida/FSU/UCF are much better in terms of cost. I am in-state but I don’t believe that private universities have to take that into consideration. Everyone I have asked in person told me that UM is very picky about their scholarships, plus, with Florida Prepaid, if I didn’t get a near-full scholarship, I wouldn’t even heavily consider an acceptance. It’s definitely a gorgeous campus, but I’d probably have to look at it more realistically for grad school or something of the sort just considering how expensive they are, haha. Thanks again!