Chance me please!

<p>Hi, I'm an African American female and resident of Florida. I'm a junior in the IB program, my schedule is as follows:
AP U.S. History- A
IB Math Studies- A
AP Biology- C (May be able to pull this up, but I doubt it)
Pre-IB Spanish 3- A
IB World Geography- A
AP Psychology- A
AP English Lit- A
I've taken: AP World History, English Pre-IB, Geometry Honors, Pre-IB Biology, Spanish Pre-IB 1, AP European History, Algebra 2 Honors (took Algebra 1 in middle school), Chemistry Pre-IB, Spanish Pre-IB 2, AP Human Geography, and AP English.
Throughout my highschool career I've taken 4 AP exams and gotten 3's on all of them except for 1, when I got a 4. My grades are pretty fair except for my freshman year where I kinda screwed up, especially towards the latter end where my grandmother was dying and the trauma caused me to totally blow on my exams, do you think if I used the application essay and explained this as well as to retake the two classes I got C's in, UM would be willing to over look that? Anyway, I've had loads of community service (as a requirement for IB) and was in band, on the soccer team, on the volleyball team, and a part of the english lit and photo club, I also will be joining the national honor society very soon. IDK what my unweighted and weighted GPA is, but i got a 23 on the PLAN (pre-ACT test) test and a projected score of 1630-1950 on the SATs. What are my chances of getting in this school? I would like to be in pre-med and major in biology or anatomy and human physiology, or whatever since I hear your major doesn't matter too much as long as you take the pre-med track. Also, will UM factor in my AP elective courses when recalculating my GPA, or what? Thank you for taking the time to read this :)</p>

<p>I’m also an IB student in Florida. The rigor of your courses are great, but you haven’t provided much other information. UM will consider your rank, GPA, and test scores all of which you haven’t provided. Now, if you are at an all IB school, they will consider that when looking at your rank. They will consider your AP electives, but I’m not sure how it will contribute when they recalculate your GPA.</p>

<p>I can’t give your chances because of the lack of information, but I can give you some advice. Study for your ACT and SAT! Also, take both so you can choose your better score. If you do well on the SAT, consider taking SAT subject tests to add to your resume. If you are good at Spanish, take that SAT subject test. People in the IB program usually preform well on that one. Also, keep up your GPA. You wanted to explain your GPA. There is a section in the commonapp to provide additional information where you can explain this. You could put it in your main essay, but I recommend putting your best essay that gives them a sense of you there. Keep up your extracurricular activities, and take challenging courses senior year. I would also recommend taking a tour of UM so the school knows your interested.</p>

<p>Hope this helps! If you post more stats, I would be happy to chance you.</p>

<p>I agree with dreamingofum, without your GPA, SAT, and class rank we can’t really say too much. And the SAT range you provided is massive: if you score on the lower end you have almost no chance, and if you score on the upper end, especially with your URM status, you have a really good chance. The most important thing you can control right now is your grades for this year and your SAT/ACT scores, so be sure to study hard for both your classes and these standardized tests. I also want to emphasize that UM <em>does not</em> recalculate your GPA. They will take whatever GPA your school reports, so it’s important to find out what GPA your school will report to them. They will also, of course, look at your transcript and your course load, including the number of AP’s you have taken and your grades in them, but for your overall GPA they will take what your school reports.</p>

<p>Regarding your freshman year grades: they usually don’t mean much anyway, especially if you have an upward trend. Your more recent grades are far more important. UM should be willing to overlook those grades. But don’t provide that information in the main essay, you should add it in the “Additional information” section.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p>Thank you all so much! I’ll find out my uw and w gpa at the end of this semester and report back :). I realize how large my range is, but that’s what the college board gave me, so what can ya do? I’m at a public school and IB is just plopped in the middle of it so, though I’m not going to be in the tippity top of IB’s class ranking, I should be pretty high as a whole. Is class ranking very important at UM??</p>

<p>Which ranking does your school report…? Class rank seems to be pretty important, especially for scholarship consideration. If they report your IB rank AND your overall rank, I think UM will understand the difference, but if they only report your IB rank it might be wise to ask your school’s college counsellor to mention that on your secondary school report.</p>

<p>Ok, my mom scheduled an appt. With the IB coordinator, for sometime soon after we get back to school and I’ll find out my rank then, I suppose.</p>