Chance Me? Michigan and Vandy

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I know Vandy is next to impossible for me and I won’t be upset if I don’t get in but do I have a shot at getting waitlisted?

Michigan is my top so I’m really hoping to get accepted, or waitlisted and then accepted. Either would be splendid.

White OOS female
Major/Interest: Biology/Pre-med track

SAT: 2140 (CR 640 / W 730 / M 770) superscored
ACT: 32 (E 35 / M 30 / R 34 / S 28 / W 10/12) single-sitting

GPA: 3.7/4 (92%) W — by far the biggest problem with my app. Got a bad grade in an honors math class and dropped halfway through. Did much better afterwards but still ended with a high C, the only C on my transcript. My school doesn’t do UW gpas due to its competitiveness.

Senior year classes:
AP Literature & Composition
AP Environmental Science
AP Government & Politics
AP Spanish 6
Calculus

Took AP & Honors classes throughout sophomore and junior year.
Not submitting the scores.

Extracurriculars:
Volunteer Emergency Medical Technician for three years — equates to over 900 hours of community service.
Leader of all high school level EMTs ages 16-18 for 9 months, elected by president of the EMS squad.
Spent one summer voluntarily co-intstructing my old EMT class
JV soccer captain during freshman year
Three year Varsity starter
Played for a nationally ranked soccer team (top ten in country), won two state championships and multiple northeastern tournaments
Varsity Track & field during freshman, sophomore, & senior year
Member of NHS — won winter community service award for most community service hours
Member of sexual education and advocacy club/organization — 200 hours of community service — 20 NJ seniors who travel to middle/high schools and juvenile detention centers to talk about pregnancy prevention, HIV/AIDS, dating violence, etc.
Shadowed a plastic surgeon over the summer

Hook?
My dad attended U-M’s business school.

Essays:
Please PM me if you want to read it because I would love to get some feedback.

Common app:
Wrote about why I became an EMT/my passion for helping people/interest in medicine. I think it was a pretty solid and genuine essay.

Vanderbilt EC essay / Michigan community essay:
Wrote about volunteering for sex ed. club and becoming an advocate for the LGBTQ community.

Why Michigan?:
Wrote about my interest in doing research and contributing to the U-M community, as well as my interest in attending an academically rigorous yet prideful/spirited school. I concluded by talking about my personal connection to the school, as my dad is an alum and die-hard michigan fan (he plays the fight song during long car rides with my family and still receives michigan apparel from my mom every christmas. We have a giant - at least 8x8ft - poster of the big house in my basement, among many other posters and jerseys hanging on the walls in my house. I could go on but that would take a while. Michigan has always been a huge part of my both my childhood and family life in general and I do not want to picture myself attending any other school. I talked briefly about all of this in my essay but made sure to convey how important U-M is to my family and how I would love to continue the legacy.

I applied Regular Decision to both schools because my school’s acceptance history showed that the average accepted RD applicant’s GPA was lower than that of an EA applicant’s. Additionally, I wanted to take the ACT and had to wait until after the EA deadline.
My school’s acceptance history also showed that people with my GPA and test scores have been both accepted and waitlisted at Michigan. I honestly have no idea what is going to happen so I’m looking for some sort of guidance.

I emailed my state rep. and told her that Michigan is my #1 and I will 100% attend if I get in, but I talked to a Michigan support lady via the live chat and she said that that information didn’t appear on my file, however it is possible that my state rep. just passed that info onto other admissions officers.

Thoughts?

2

vandy is stat driven, so low chances there bc of low act and sat. Better shot at michigan, especially arts and science

3

I don’t think 3.7 is going to cut it for Pre-Med LSA. You don’t have AP in Math and Science…which is what you need for Pre-Med. Also…you have a C in Math on your highschool transcript. That’s pretty much death for a STEM major at UMich.

Let me frame this another way. My kid is a (Pre-Med) Microbiology LSA student. Got all A’s in highschool. She took AP Calculus and got a 4 on the test. When she took Calculus One at UMich, she broke a sweat to get B’s. First B in math she’d ever gotten in her life. Calc 2 was twice as brutal. Math is tough at UMich. My kid loved math before UMich and thought she was really, really good at it…now, not so much. LOL.

Now, she’s having a battle to the death with Organic Chemistry Two. Another Brutal course. She got 5’s on the AP Bio, AP Chem and AP Physics tests…and this course is mopping the floor with her. She’ll pass, but only because she no longer has a social life of any kind, and is pouring every waking moment into slaying this dragon.

Pre-Med at Michigan is populated by the most insane competition you’ve ever experienced. Freakishly smart people who are working like frenzied dogs for the highest gpa possible for med school. It’s super human and crazy.

My kiddo was the Salutatorian of her class. The Valedictorian of her class also attends UMich. Recently, they saw each other. My daughter asked her old classmate, “Do you ever feel like the stupidest person in the room, here?” He laughed and said, “Every day.”

4

@MaryGJ My math teacher wrote one of my letters of rec and explained that I improved a lot over the course of the year. I don’t know if that will help. I’m hoping admissions officers consider my experience in the medical field thus far and are impressed, although I know being an EMT and being a doctor are incomparable. Do you think I have any chance?

5

If I’m honest, my gut says your chances are very slim, quiteabeaan. Unless you had a catastrophic illness or a close family member died, I think that C in Math is bad news. Paired with a lack of AP in Math and Science, and a poor gpa…it really concerns me. The volunteer hours are crazy impressive, but it might actually cause admissions to wonder to themselves…maybe if this kid did fewer EMT hours, she could have gotten some tutoring in Math and got her core competencies up to speed.

That said, I have been surprised before. I don’t mean to be discouraging. I wish you every success in your future. If UMich doesn’t work out (time will tell) I think you might still have excellent chances of becoming a doctor. There are so many medical schools, now, and all of them have decent premed programs that I’m sure you could get into if UMich is a bust. It never hurts to stay positive, but having a really solid back up plan is important for everyone.

Also, if UMich says no this year, you could take some transferable math and science at a Jr. College and try to get in next year as a transfer. if you do this, you want to prove you’ve got the Math chops…so take Calc 1 and 2, and something fairly impressive for Science that shows you’ve got what it takes, like maybe Human Physiology and Organic Chemistry One. If you can four point those four classes with transferable credit, they will strongly consider you for transfer. Any med school would. Good Luck!

PS…Make absolutely certain the credits transfer. Don’t take the Jr. College’s word for it. Get counseling at UMich to confirm this, and document it.

PPS…I’d be happy to read your essays.

6

@MaryGJ Although that’s not what I wanted to hear, I want to thank you for the feedback. My essays are quite average so there’s no point in having anyone read them, but thank you for the offer. I guess I have to just relax until I get my decision, which will most likely be a rejection! I will update you, though. Thanks again.

7

For what it’s worth, I’m gonna cross my fingers for you. Best wishes. And hey…i’m not any expert. I could be dead wrong…and frankly, I’d be delighted if I was. Good luck!

And by the way…with your outstanding English scores, I’m sure you knocked your essays outta the park. Might help a lot.

8

@quiteabeaan and @MaryGJ don’t underestimate the huge deference Michigan gives to legacies. As I’ve said before I really believe you will squeak in at the end. I am an alum and both of my kids and so many of my Michigan alum friends kids get in year after year -as long as they have strong academic stats that are in the ballpark , which yours are in this case–with 32 ACT and a 92% gpa in a very rigorous course load, including 4 APs and calculus, and very stellar extracurricular activities. And it also helps that you would be full pay. Michigan may say they are need-blind in admissions, but the reality is that they know which applicants can afford to be full pay, based on the geographic area, high school and other application data. Michigan relies on full pay OOS applicants (who pay over 3x the instate tuition rate) to help make up for the lack of in-state funding. Remember, college is a business. Michigan relies on the loyalty of OOS alums. @Quiteabeaan please let us know of your decision ether way, but i really expect a good decision here.