Chances at University of Michigan College of Engineering

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi, this is my first time posting on the forums, but I really need an outside opinion on my chances to get into Michigan’s college of engineering. U of M COE is my dream college because it is convenient in-state, it’s a great school that I could afford, and I believe I have a fighting chance to get in, which is why I need an outside opinion.

I am a current senior and attend International Academy East in Michigan, the number one public school in Michigan known for its IB curriculum. My IB courses include IB Math SL, IB Physics, IB Biology, IB History, IB Literature, and IB Spanish.

GPA: 3.76 UW, 4.05 W, I had straight A’s in honors math and physics in my sophomore year, then in my junior year I got an A and A- in IB physics, and a B+ and and A- in IB Math SL.
ACT: 31 in March, split of English-34, Math-30, Reading-31, Science-30
I am also taking the ACT this September and October

My GPA gradually increased from a 3.65 in freshman year, a low 3.7 in my first semester of sophomore year, and finally a 3.8+ from there on.

EC’s: Member of HOSA (have won awards), DECA, Mu Alpha Thetha, National Honor Society, Red Cross, and Physics Olympiad. I am the founder and president of the fitness club at my school, my only leadership position. Outside of school played recreational basketball for teams throughout high school.

Volunteered at Miracle League of Michigan working with special needs children and other small clean up volunteering.

My teacher recommendation is very strong and it comes from my Junior year math teacher and my counselor recommendation is also very strong because she wrote about family hardship I have gone through in high school which includes domestic violence and abuse and my brother having down down syndrome, topics I also wrote about in my essays.

Recently, I also became a lifeguard and CPR certified and am currently working as a lifeguard at the local YMCA, not an extracurricular, but a job I can put on my application if it adds anything to my cause.

Overall, I want to know what my chances would be at the College of Engineering if I applied with my current statistics because if they are low, I would prefer to apply LSA and transfer to COE after a year. I feel I have worked too hard to settle for MSU or Wayne State, so I would prefer to apply LSA, which I am fairly confident I i will get into, if my COE chances are low. Also, I want to know my chances if I improved my ACT this september to a 33 with my math and science going from a 30 each to a 32-33 range each. Thanks for any responses.

2

Your uw GPA is a bit low for UMich. How many Bs in total did you get (including all subjects and all years)? If that B+ in Math is the only B you got, then your UM recalculated uwGPA should be over 3.9 which is the admission average at UMich CoE. But it seems you should have more Bs than that as your freshmen GPA is below 3.7. For UMich, just recalculate your uwGPA with 4.0 for all As (including A+ or A-), 3.0 for all Bs, etc.
On the other hand, you ACT is also rather weak right now and near the 25th percentile. If you can bring it up to 33 (particularly your Math score), your chance would be much higher. However, I know an in state student with 3.8+ uwGPA and ACT 33 got rejected from CoE this year. So it is a low reach for you right now. I do know another in state student got in last year with GPA 3.9+ and ACT 29 though, but she is a girl with legacy.

3

Thanks for the advice on the recalculated GPA. I see that you went off their website’s median statistics of a 3.9 uW GPA and 33 ACT, students from my school in the past have gotten into Michigan with a 3.6 because they have considered applicants from the school I go to in a much higher stance, so I am hoping that plays a factor. Overall, thanks for your response, a lot of what you said matched my initial thoughts and i’ll see what I can do about GPA this semester and ACT.

4

My info is not just from their website. Your school profile would play a significant role, but don’t look back too many years as the admission stat has changed a lot lately. Also, make sure you are looking at the stat for CoE, not Umich as a whole. The CoE admission rate has dropped from 40% in 2012 to 30% in 2013 and 28% in 2014. This year, it is expected to be approaching 20%.

5

I just got my september ACT results back today and my composite was a 33 with a 35 english, 32 math, 30 reading, and 35 science, my STEM score was a 34, how do you think this affects my chances?

6

You have improved your ACT score from the 25% to admission median and that helps a lot. It should be a high match to low reach depending on your recalculated GPA.