Chance me for University of Michigan Ann Arbor?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Summary:

I just finished Junior year of high school, so all of this information is as of the end of Junior year. I am applying Early Admission when the time comes. I intend on majoring in Computer Engineering. Chance me?

Applied to:

University of Michigan Ann Arbor
College of Engineering

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): none

ACT (breakdown): 32 Composite (32M, 32E, 31R, 33S, 8W)

SAT II: none

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.81

Weighted GPA: 4.35

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 3% of a class of about 450

AP (place score in parenthesis): United States History (3), Chemistry (not yet graded), United States Government (not yet graded), Macroeconomics (not yet graded)

IB (place score in parenthesis): none

Senior Year Course Load: 3 AP courses, 5th year french course (continuing French track throughout high school), a specialized 2-hour a day course in computer repair and security at an out-of-school center

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Academic letter from school (at least 3.5 GPA for 4 straight semesters), Summa Cum Laude (4.0+) GPA award every year

Subjective:

Extracurricular activities (place leadership in parenthesis): 3 years in National French Honor Society, and in Senior Year I will be Vice-President of it

Job/Work Experience: none as of yet

Volunteer/Community service: 50+ hour of french tutoring via National French Honor Society

Summer Activities: none as of yet, I might do college visits

Essays (rating 1-10, details): haven’t written college essays yet, I’m fairly good at writing essays in general

Recommendations:

Teacher Rec #1: Advanced physics teacher

Teacher Rec #2: French teacher and french department head

Counselor Rec: none as of yet

Additional Rec: none as of yet

Interview: none as of yet

Other

State (if domestic applicant): MI

Country (if international applicant): US

School Type: Public

Ethnicity: Arab

Gender: Male

Income Bracket: $70,000 annually

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Both parents are immigrants from Lebanon, I’ve taken 5 years of french and am a member of National French Honor Society which adds value for an engineer, love of computers since a young age

Reflection

Strengths: Immigrant parents, strong GPA, upward GPA trend, 7 APs at the end of Senior year

Weaknesses: ACT score a tad low, not many ECs

Notes: The high school I go to is good and well known in our region. Also, I will be applying for financial aid. Let me know if you need any more information. Thank you!

2

Your ACT is good for Michigan. It’s above average for that school so you’ll be good in that respect. You really should get some more volunteering and work experience to broaden your horizons and such. Your ECs seem fairly limited- just french. What do you like? Show that to colleges.

3

Mich LSA is a solid match
Mich Engineering is high match
predict results- http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1787321-predict-results.html#latest

4

@uafootball27 ACT32 is actually below average for UMich CoE. It is the just the median for UMich overall. For CoE, the admission median last year was 33.
OP’s GPA is below admission average of UMich overall (3.85 last year) while their CoE average admission GPA is 3.9 in the last few years. What is most critical is the Math section score at 32 which is near the 25% at CoE. So there are several things like EC, GPA, and ACT scores that OP needs to improve for a better chance at UMich CoE even from in state. I know an in state student with similar GPA and ACT33 got rejected from CoE this year.
Nevertheless, LSA should be a match to high match. OP should recalculate the GPA in UMich’s way (no subgrade and core only) to see if it helps or not. They consider GPA as the most important factor, then course rigor and test scores.

5

In calculating University of Michigan GPA, should I include freshman year? Do I only include the required core classes (math, science, english, history) even if I took electice classes in the same subject (i.e. optional AP Chemistry class)?

6

Include freshmen year and all English, Science, Math, Social Science, and World Language grades.

7

So in doing that, do I treat B the same as B+? Or are they different numbers?

8

Wait, I heard U of M isn’t even recalculating GPA anymore. They just use the school’s reported GPA.

9

@LogicalNonsense They stopped recalculating GPA only for 1 year a few years ago. When they resumed recalculation, they added freshmen grades too.

10

Would retaking ACT and getting 34 and making sure entrance essays highlight diversity/immigrant parents/first generation American improve my chances enough to overlook the lower than 3.9 GPA? What percentage chance would I have then, again assuming EA?

11

First generation American does nothing on your college application. Try to bring up your test score (particularly the Math section score) and GPA as much as you can. They are both below the admission average for CoE right now, but being an in state applicant helps. EA may not help your chance much with current stat. UMich does not count subgrades, so B+/B/B- are all 3.0. Try to recalculate your core subject GPA to see if it is better.

12

Hey there! As a student that was just accepted into Michigan’s class of 2019, I say you have an excellent shot! Your GPA and ACT scores put you at the higher end of the applicant pool… Being in state is also very helpful! Go blue!

13

@nnocnat2 Thank you for replying. However, you are thinking of the LSA section of the University, where the admission requirements are easier. We are talking strictly about the College of Engineering, where the admission requirements are higher.

@billcsho There’s nothing much I can do for my GPA seeing as I will be applying before Semester 1 of Senior Year is complete, so nothing else will affect my GPA. It might be worth noting, however, that every class I’ve ever taken has either been honors (gives honor point) or AP. I’ve taken care to make sure I have the hardest course load possible at my school. Having said that, I am calculating my UM GPA at 3.78. As for my ACT score, I will be retaking it in September to try for a 33-34, especially improving the math subscore as you suggested. Thanks for all your help, by the way!

14

@nnocnat2 The admission average GPA for UMich overall was 3.85 (3.9 for CoE). So I don’t see how 3.81 to be at the higher end at all. 21% of admitted freshmen last year has 4.0 uwGPA.

15

@logicalNonsense @billcsho Yes, I was thinking about LSA when I made my comment earlier… but I stand by what I said. Your UW GPA of 3.81 and W GPA of 4.35 is still highly competitive. Your ACT score, although not a 36 by any means, is also very good. And not to repeat everything that you already stated in your intro, but you are apparently in the top 5% of your class… again, very competitive. Although I must say that you are definitely doing yourself a disservice if you think that UMich bases their decisions solely off of student statistics. Extracurriculars, essays, and teacher recommendations are critical as well. To be honest, you seem to be lacking in this area of the application. Your commitment to French is awesome but one Vice President position doesn’t exactly showcase your leadership capabilities. Check out the EA and regular UMich 2015 decisions threads to see the vast amount of applicants rejected with 4.0 GPAs and 36 ACT scores if you don’t believe me…

On a sidenote… “…However, you are thinking of the LSA section of the University, where the admission requirements are easier. We are talking strictly about the College of Engineering, where the admission requirements are higher.” Your condescending tone is quite palpable and sorry I wasn’t aware this was an exclusive conversation. In the future, try being a bit more gracious to someone who took the time to learn your situation and advise/support you. good luck

16

OP, that comment to the poster was above was unnecessary.

I was accepted to UMich Class of 2019 College of Engineering, and I had similar stats. I do recommend that you take the ACT again, primarily, people usually do better on the second time. I had a 3.85 UW GPA, and I had a 35 ACT. On my first time, I got a 33, and I got a 35 on my second time. Your EC’s are lackluster, and might affect your admission, but emphasize what you really love to the admission committee, and you have a good chance.

17

People are perhaps reacting a bit too much about the 3.81. If it’s the top 3% I don’t really see a problem with that. GPA is a lot about context. A 4.0 in a ghetto public school in Detroit may not have the same weight for example as a 4.0 at the International Academy (a well-known school in Michigan)
One thing maybe is that if you’re applying to CoE, I think they would like to see some EC’s related to engineering or something.
You have good EC’s related to French, but you may need something engineering related to show interest.

18

@nnocnat2 Sorry, I didn’t intend for my comment to come across as rude or demeaning. I said what I said to point out that the LSA and CoE areas of the University are completely different worlds of admissions requirements. It was primarily to prevent future readers of this thread from being misinformed, as having a 3.81 UW GPA and a 32 ACT isn’t highly competitive for CoE, it’s below average. Nevertheless, thank you for your input. I do appreciate you taking the time to help me. I’m just really stressed with all this. Again, sorry. :frowning:

@rdeng2614 I agree in the sense that I don’t have Engineering related ECs, but the idea was to emphasize my bilingual background because it benefits engineers in today’s world to be bilingual, so they can be sent out of the country. Plus I have a way of tying it in with my parents as a possible essay topic. As for my GPA, it’s by no means coming from a low end school. My high school is pretty good for my region, with plenty of UM recognized accredations. Might help. Might not. I do participate in a few things related to engineering (hobby of disassembling/reassembling/building PCs, codeacademy coding classes, etc.) but I’ve never considered putting them down as I have no concrete proof of having done them, unless admissions wants to send a representative to my house :stuck_out_tongue:

@Hawkace I do intend to retake the ACT to improve my composite. I don’t know if I can land a 35 though… I was thinking of improving my 32 to a 33 or 34. Just something to put me above admission average. Was your 3.85 GPA a UM UW GPA, or just an UW GPA?

19

@LogicalNonsense Both.

20

@Hawkace Whoa… you’re lucky. My school requires for graduation classes that aren’t covered in UM grade recalculation, so it hurts us.