<p>Rising Senior
ACT: Currently 25 (26 E 30 M 20 R 23 S 8W)
GPA: 3.75 Unweighted/ 3.82 Weighted
APs: 2 on APUSH</p>
<p>Classes:
10th: APUSH (B+/ B+/ A-)
HP Bio
HP Alg 2
HP English
Animal Kingdom
Gym
Health
Orchestra
Rest of my classes all A's</p>
<p>11th:
AP English 11(B+/B/B+)
AP World History (B+/B+/B+)
HP Chem (A/A)
AP Chem (B- then I dropped)
Orchestra (A's all year)
HP Precalc (A/ A-/A-)
French 3 (B-/B+/A-)
- My Junior year really killed me. Also our school switched to a Standard Based Grading system for the first time, so it was worse.</p>
<p>12th:
AP Calculus BC
AP Microecon
Government and Civics
Positive Leadership
Orchestra
English 12
HP Physics
- are these okay classes to take? do they seem like too easy of classes compared to Junior year classes?</p>
<p>Extracurricular:
Student Government (hopefully president)
Site Council
Nordic Skiing (Captain/ Varsity)
Track (Lettered - 2010/Varsity)
Cross Country (JV section runner/ hopefully Varsity next year)
Link Crew
Fiddle Club
String Quartet
National Honors Society (Council Member)</p>
<p>Outside of School:
Summer Job
GTCYS - Philharmonic
All Conference Orchestra (Section Leader for 2nd violins)
Hospital volunteering (200+ hours)
JEM program
GopherBusiness
Korean Culture Camp</p>
<p>Your EC’s are good, however with that gpa, you’d need a 30+ act to be considered a match for Michigan try enrolling in an ACT prep course, then taking it again in the fall to shoot for that 30+, also absolutely destroy first semester senior year with excellent grades. Additionally, if you write strong essays, along with everything else, I’d admit you. </p>
<p>By the way- with regards to your 12th grade schedule it looks solid, however that Positive Leadership or whatever it is sounds sketchy. I’d replace that with a more standard academic elective, but it’s your choice. I haven’t heard of that class before, and adcoms may perceive it as a fluffy schedule padder.</p>
<p>The ACT score is near the low end of what U-M accepts so it would help if you could raise the score. The GPA is OK but not extraordinary by U-M standards. The schedule looks OK but I noticed you skipped the 4th year of French. I could see things going either way for you. Some of it depends on how students with similar stats at high school do. Good luck.</p>
<p>you are being too nice. 3.7 and a 25 is a hard sell, even for LS&A. Hit the books hard this summer. You can improve that Reading & Science section, but you’ll need to be serious about it.</p>
<p>The mid 50% for admitted students was 29-33 for the Freshman class of 2011. For the 2013 class, I would assume the mid 50% to be 30-34. As for the OP’s chances, it is hard to guess. I would say reach.</p>
<p>I wasn’t trying to be nice. U-M admits students with ACT scores of 24-26. I have heard of 23 but have not heard of anyhing below that. In such cases I believe a decision is made to admit the student in spite of the ACT score rather than because of it.</p>
<p>I tend to agree that 3.7 and 25 is tough sell because U-M will not find the 3.7 to be exceptional performance and may use the 25 to question the validity of the 3.7. If the OP had a 4.0 and a 25 then I think U-M may be more inclined to question the validity of the ACT scores. This is why I suggested trying to raise the score.</p>
<p>I would think if he can raise the score to 28 he will probably get in but would agree that a 3.7/25 is a reach.</p>
<p>res ipsa, I’m not sure I agree with you. I think U-M would be even more likely to question the GPA if it was a 4.0, not a 3.7 (it’s 3.75, by the way) with a 25, because it would imply that the school practices extensive grade inflation. Conversely, if a student had a 3.2 and a 35, any admissions department would know that he or she came from a tough school (or was just a little lazy).</p>
<p>But yeah, kwonjuhyun, retake the ACT. I’d aim for about a 30; if you somehow get 33+, you shouldn’t have any problems.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about that AP score; there isn’t anything you can do about it now, and AP scores are looked at more after the student has already gotten accepted, as they’re considered much more for course placement than for admission.</p>
<p>res ipsa, the acceptance rate for students with sub 30 on the ACT is low. It is negligible for applicants with sub 27 ACT scores. Encouraging applicants with a 25 on the ACT is not responsible. Odds are, almost all such applicants are rejected. I obviously have no actual figures, but I would estimate the rejection rate for such applicants, even with perfect GPAs, is close to 100%. All of the above is even more pronounced for students from overrepresented groups, such as the OP’s. </p>
<p>A student must have a very compelling hook (URM from a very unprivileged background, super-athelte or musician, tragic life experience such as losing a parent at a critical age, child of a super alum like Stephen Ross, child of a head of state/Fortune 100 CEO/billionaire etc…) to have a realistic chance of being admitted with an ACT score below 27. Of course, given the thousands of applicants who apply with lower standardized test scores, many will be admitted, but relative to the total number who apply, it is a statistically insignificant number in the absolute sense.</p>
<p>I don’t think it would be difficult to determine whether a school practices extensive grade inflation and your inference ignores other factors that influence test scores the primary one being test anxiety.</p>
<p>The acceptance rate for students with low ACT scores is low becasue most good students perform well on the ACT but there are students who take rigorous classes in good high schools and have strong grades and low test scores. You don’t hear much about these students because good students do not like to advertise low test scores. </p>
<p>When the point system was used to admit students, the difference between a 23 and 36 ACT score was the same as the difference between a 3.9 and 4.0 GPA. The holistic review looks at various factors. The GPA and course selection are the primary factors. Test scores are considered but I don’t know anyone who has been admitted to U-M because of a high test score but there are situations where students are admitted in spite of low test scores if the admissions committee can conclude the test score is not reflective of a students academic ability even if the student is not a URM from a very unprivileged background, or a super-athelte or musician, or the child of a super alum like Stephen Ross, child of a head of state/Fortune 100 CEO/billionaire etc.</p>
<p>I don’t if statistics are available at U-M but Wisconsin has published a matrix showing the likelihood of admission based on GPA and test score and shows a higher rate of admission for high GPA/low tests score students than most would expect. The theory is that four years of high school is more revealing than four hours in a test room. Studies also show that standardized test scores are not a strong predictor of success in college.</p>
<p>I am not suggesting that the OP is match for U-M. I think I said his test score was at the bottom of what U-M would accept which suggests a reach. I also suggested that he retake the ACT and try to raise his score. I do not know where he goes to high school or the typical rate of admission to U-M from his high school.</p>
<p>OP, do you know your class rank? While your GPA is quite good, your test scores strongly point to the fact that your school has extreme grade inflation. That 2 on APUSH, despite B+/A- grades, is quite telling. I do not think your GPA will compensate much for your low ACT score, since the adcoms will most likely have a school profile that indicates grade inflation, so unfortunately Michigan will be quite a reach for you.</p>
<p>^^ AP test score does not have to be reported unless a student “wants” to. Unweighted GPA at first glance from info the OP posted above looks more like a 3.6 (15 As and 9 Bs in academic core classes if I counted correctly and can still divide in my head) which is neither here nor there and none of the information contained has anything to do with grade inflation. The original post also does not say if this poster is in-state or out of state. If the poster only took the ACT once, he/she should retake in September.</p>
<p>I realize this thread is not about grade inflation, but I think if a student has a 3.75 - a good UW GPA - and yet can only get a 25 on his ACT, combined with the fact that he got a 2 on an AP after receiving B+/A- in the class, we can reasonably conclude grade inflation exists here. And…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Basically: with grade inflation, the OP’s best “stat” is diminished. A non-inflated 3.75 would be good and might make up for a low test score, but not an inflated one. So despite some posters giving encouraging replies, I seriously doubt the OP will get into Michigan. Sorry.</p>