Attending the University of Michigan has been a dream of mine since I was nine years old. Please be completely open and honest with me! I would prefer replies from those who have gotten in, or are parents/ close relatives of someone who has gotten in within the last five years; however, anyone is welcome to provide some insight. I’m feeling discouraged right now because my ECs keep getting cancelled. I am out of state and I am applying to LSA.
As far as stats go, I have a 3.65 unweighted GPA and a 3.8 weighted GPA. I have taken no APs, but I will be taking 4 next year as a senior-AP Stats, AP Gov, AP Language and Comp, APES. (numerous APs are offered at my school, but it has taken me awhile to be eligible to take them because of a bad GPA freshman year.) Undoubtedly, this is the weakest part of my app. My ACT score is a 34 with a 9 on writing. Superscore is a 35, but I can’t find if U’Mich accepts superscore.
ECS- Tried to take a mission trip to a 3rd world country, but it was cancelled. (will not list exactly where because I don’t want anyone to find out this is me). I have played lacrosse all four years (varsity as sophomore.) I volunteer at an organization that works with special needs adults and children… I am president (not founder) of a non-profit. I am a founder and president of a club. I am in the National Honors Society. Lastly, I am taking a class at a prestigious university (top 15 in the country) online; it would have been on campus, but it got moved because of corona.
Essays/ Rec Letters- I am a great writer and I think this is really where I will stand out. I have so many unique things to write about. I have had type one diabetes since I was nine years old which has been a burden, but has allowed me to grow immensely as a person through hardship. My recommendation letters should be pretty solid, I have a lot of teachers and coaches that like me. I may use an alumni too.
Michigan doesn’t superscore but will look at all your scores so send them. If you take away your freshman year what is your unweighted GPA? They don’t do weighted GPA and will reconfigure your GPA. Also it will be important for you to get as many A on your AP classes. Michigan will look at your senior year so no senioritis. They want to see your getting prepared for college. People underestimate how hard Michigan is.
Don’t worry about your ECs. Doing a program in a third world country is sorta cliche and also a essay on your diabetes and your struggles. I would find something else that speaks about you and who you are and how that person will contribute to the campus community as a whole. In other words. Why should Michigan pick you? Make it interesting, unique and personal.
All your other stuff is fine. Keep doing things that you have an interest in. Good Luck.
I know how hard it is to grow up with diabetes (not that I had to), and if I was an admissions officer I would respect that aspect of you very much if you write about it well. But it might not be enough. Michigan is tough and gets a lot of applications. It is too many people’s dream school. And not having any AP test scores yet after junior year is a strike against you. But a lot of people get in to UM off the wait list so apply and stay positive.
My advice is that there are a good number of schools that are similar to UM in a lot of ways but a touch easier to get into. Apply to some of those - chance are you would love them too.
Wisconsin, Ohio State, Univ of Georgia, Univ of Maryland come to mind.
Hi!!! I am an OOS admitted student who is attending Umich next year. I was accepted in the first December wave. Umich, at least for OOS students, cares a lot about act scores which you are good for because of your 34/35. I would send all the scores that culminate in that superstore because UMICH will look at the highest section of each of your acts even if they don’t formally superstore.
My biggest tip is to emphasize how umich is your #1 choice and if accepted you 100% will attend. All of the students from my school who got accepted in the first wave had their guidance counselors email their AO and said that umich is their first choice.
with your freshman gpa being bad, I would really emphasize your growth in you supplemental essays as well as talking with your guidance counselor about it (so they write about it in your rec).
I honestly can’t tell you if you’ll be admitted or not (college decisions are so random) but you definitely have a chance!!!
@joecollege44 Thanks for the kind remarks, and full honesty. I know the chances of me getting in are quite slim, but it’s a dream of mine and my mentality when someone tells me I can’t do something is “hey why not try anyways?” If I get denied at least I can tell myself that I put myself in a good position. Those other schools you mentioned are great. I got a tour of Georgia and I loved it. It is probably my second favorite (that or smu.) I’m surprised that not one, but two people have said diabetes isn’t the best example of overcoming hardship. I didn’t know that taking six shots of insulin everyday, checking my blood sugar 8 times a day, dealing with constantly fluctuating blood sugar (that is potentially harmful to internal organs) and dealing with the reality of likely having 15-20 years cut off your life isn’t enough to show persistence. Maybe Michigan isn’t for me. I wonder what all the other applicants have been through, I pity them.
@gummybear202 congrats on your acceptance! Thanks for advice and encouragement. My guidance counselor will do those things for me. I wish you success at Michigan! Good luck.
@Knowsstuff thanks for the constructive criticism and advice. My freshman gpa was a 3.21 average- this was because of personal issues that I don’t want to get into. Type 1 diabetes is not a “cliche” topic. It’s really tough for a 9 year old kid’s childhood to be interrupted by such a time consuming and detrimental auto-immune disorder. I think people automatically associate type 1 diabetes with a self inflicted disease because they think it is the same as type 2. I got it out of a mutation in my dna- purely by bad luck. It’s not easy dealing with what I have to daily- 6 shots, 8 finger pricks, fluctuating blood sugar, ketones, etc. Sorry I may have come across passive aggressive there, but it hits close to heart when people say diabetes isn’t much of a burden. Dealing with it first hand isn’t easy. Despite the tangent I just went on, I appreciate the feed back.
It’s all how you write about it. So many kids write about medical issues. I feel for you but lots of students are going through the same thing as you. This doesn’t separate you from the pack. The key is to be personal, unique and interesting. Why should you be on campus. You have like less then 30 seconds to grab their attention. You want them to read and keep their attention through the whole essay
They read “lots” of these daily. Whether it’s diabetes or whatever they all have the same Central theme. You want to separate yourself out of that pack. This is for any school not just Michigan.
So… My suggestion is to write 3 different ideas that speak to you. Do some rough drafts. Send them to an English teacher /counselor etc. Get some very early feedback
Hint : sure mention you had to persevere through your daily routine of… But personally. I want to know more about your non-profit that you didn’t mention. I want to find out more about your work with special needs kids. That makes you very interesting to me. The non profit etc shows great leadership and how you are active in your local community and high school campus. Michigan wants leadership (Leaders and Best), and wants kids active in their campus community. These alone are great attributes. If you discount your freshman year(which they will to a point) your unweighted GPA is most likely much higher. If you do well next year you will be in much better shape then you are giving yourself credit for. The 34 Act is huge.
Get help next year to get the best grades you can and then you will have a better shot then you think. The balls in your corner now. Good Luck.
So I am a doctor. Trust me I get it. Let your counselor talk about this in their report and review about you. It has weight coming from them and what you overcame. If you talk about it your losing the focus of what the college essay is all about. Whatever issues you had in freshman year have your counselor address it also.
Life dealt you somethings that are unfair. But it seems you are doing great academically besides that. That is your focus. Read my other post that just crossed you. Do that.
BTW - I know several kids with the same or close enough freshman grade and they are at Michigan now. It’s all up to you now.
@Knowsstuff the non-profit I am president of is an organization dedicated to serving veterans; we have been featured on the local news a couple of times. I really appreciate the uplifting advice, I needed that. I will certainly be using your recommendations to build my app! Since 1st semester of sophomore year, I have gotten straight A’s. My current semester GPA is a 4.6 (honors classes.)
Again… Michigan doesn’t weight. A=4,b=3 and so on. My sons high school was the number 1 in our state, all honors classes and APs. They still don’t weight. But they want to see you challenging yourself and taking the most rigorous classes that you can in your school with still getting good grades
So a non profit for veterans. There must be a back story on that? But you don’t want to repeat what’s on your application also. Media coverage. Hmm sounds cool to me. Unique, personal and interesting. Put all that together. Link it to what you want to study or combine your interest and your getting closer.
@Knowsstuff I know Michigan doesn’t weight. I simply just wanted to use that as reference to show that I’ve come a long way since freshman year. As you mentioned the non-profit is perfect for an essay, so I will certainly elaborate on that in my app. I think my application will show I am a service oriented person. I thrive on seeing others around me joyful. I have found it to be extremely rewarding, although I am not getting any tangible prize.
I was recently accepted OOS LSA and my grades were a bit under their average because I also had a year where I had some challenges which my guidance counselor wrote about, but I didn’t focus on them within my application. I focused my why Michigan on what I saw myself doing on campus both academic interests and outside interests, I was very specific naming clubs and organizations. I had visited and brought those experiences into my writing as well. I mentioned areas I saw myself growing and enjoying taking on new challenges, getting out of my comfort zone. Be authentic and really read up on all that they have that interests you. I had my guidance counselor reach out after I was deferred EA and they let them know that I would 100% accept which I did the same day I got in. If you are not 100% your guidance counselors will see through you. Let your teachers who are writing recs know too that Michigan is your top choice, one of mine sent an additional note to Michigan.
Lastly be certain to do well in your classes senior year as the odds are you will be deferred in December and they will see your first half grades, they seem to take the top top students in that initial wave from what I saw on CC and within my own school.
Would love to get people’s thoughts on my chances for 2021 admission:
OOS
3.81 UW, 4.7W (grades are essentially done this year)
2 APs (Junior Year - first year APs are offered at H.S.), 3 APs will be taken Senior Year
33 ACT (will take again)
Both parents + grandparent attended UM
Captain of 2 HS sports Teams, National Honor Soc., Mult-Year Local Hospital Volunteer
Will be able to show significant demonstrated interest in UM in essay.
Seems to me that I’m headed for a deferral.
@Max2020 thanks for the reply, sorry for seeing this late. How many APs did you take? What was your ACT? What were your ECs? Sorry if I’m bombarding you with these questions, but I find your response very valuable since you have been through the admissions process and you were accepted. I will make sure to get into the specifics of my on campus interests in my why Michigan essay. I also told my guidance counselor a few days ago that Michigan is my #1 choice.
@stevensmith123 My high school had the IB program and I was a full IB candidate which is the hardest level my school offered. Some of our classes were dual AP/IB and so I did sit for 2 AP tests, but did not submit them. My SAT score was 1470 (710V/760M) I did not take the ACT, but your ACT is good enough. I don’t think AP test scores matter as much as getting good grades in the classes.
See my comments above on earlier post but solid shot, but don’t be surprised on a deferral in December, GPA is just under 3.9 avg with tough classes and ACT is good enough as well. Legacy they say will not help from admissions, BUT because of it you should really be able to write well about what you will do and be involved with on campus and what specifically inspired you to apply beyond family. So don’t overkill in writing about your family, mention it but then move on and keep it about you and all that YOU will do as a Wolverine. At my school the one who got in December never visited but she was top 10 in our class, she did end up accepting. Good Luck and keep your head up and grades if deferred it is a long process.