Hey guys, I’m a current senior and I’m worried about my chances to get into University of Minnesota, Twin Cities as an OOS. Here are my stats:
UW GPA: 3.33
ACT: 29
Extracurricular:
4 years of Interact Club, Service Coordinator this year
4 years of Anime Club, Vice VP (junior) President (senior)
4 years of science olympiad
2 years of GSA
2 years of speech and debate
1000+ hours of volunteering at a local education center where I taught kindergarteners
50+ hours at my local animal shelter (still ongoing)
Spent a summer volunteering at my local court
Took Community College Classes since sophomore years (currently 18 units)
I’m interested in CLA, specifically, criminology. Thank you!
Is the UW GPA low due to the college courses? What were those classes?
Most of the classes that dragged my grades were honors and AP classes. I took about 4 honors and 3 AP classes. The college courses aren’t included in my gpa because my school doesn’t accept them.
So your college courses weren’t taken for credit? Then that would be personal enrichment/development. If they are pertinent to your major then definitely list them. My D15 was a prospective art major and listed her college art classes in terms of hours spent, rather than in terms of credits (since she took them through continuing ed. and didn’t earn any credit). She wanted to show how much time she was spending on additional skill development.
A 29 ACT is a fine score for CLA. The UW GPA is a tad low so hard to say overall. Do you know your class rank?
You have a good shot. Be sure to apply early (application is open now) and answer the optional essay questions. Also have a good reason for choosing your major so that you show focus and passion in that subject. Good luck to you!
surprisingly enough I don’t think the U looks at GPA as much as ACT and your community involvement, activites, and coursework
^ That’s true to some extent. For instance, using CLA as an example, a 3.3 UW and a high ACT (north of 30) may be a more likely admit than a 3.8 UW and a low ACT (south of 26), all else equal. They also tend to focus on class rank rather than merely the GPA, and they look closely at course rigor. Finally, secondary factors (first generation, URM, special talent, etc.) may well come into play at the margin. But GPA is a primary factor so they will be assigning more weight to that than they will to things like community involvement. You can read all about it here:
http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/admissioninfo/fresh_overview.html
Thank you all for the information. I’m retaking the ACT in September and I’m hoping to get at least over 30. Hopefully, that’ll help my chance of getting in.