I have been really stressed out about college applications. UMN is my dream school and I’m worried I won’t meet their criteria. I have a GPA of 3.2 and an ACT score of 27. I took one AP class my junior year and am taking 2 this year. I was involved in boy scouts and a few other sports. I’m not sure what my chances are and would really appreciate someone else’s opinion.
Which UMN college are you applying to (ie CSE, CLA, CSOM, CFANS, CDes, CEHD, etc.), and what is your proposed major? Are you an in-state resident or out-of-state?
Out of state (small south dakota town) and CLA for Journalism
MN has reciprocity with SD for purposes of tuition which is good news for you! =D>
IIRC Journalism is not a direct-admit for freshmen; you have to be accepted to CLA and meet some pre-major requirements first - is that correct? Here is the webpage https://cla.umn.edu/hsjmc/undergraduate/major-minors/apply-major
So, that might mean your real goal for now is to get into CLA. Once there, you can begin the pre-major track, apply and hopefully be accepted to the school of journalism. If not accepted, there are likely to be alternative majors (such as communication studies) that you could pursue instead and/or you can reapply for the major another time. You should develop a Plan A and Plan B just in case the journalism major happens to be selective entry and you don’t get in right away.
Now, as to getting into CLA, your ACT right at last year’s median for enrolled students: https://www.oir.umn.edu/student/characteristics
However, your GPA might be the stickler so they are going to look at stuff like course difficulty and trend in grades (up would be better than down, of course). Is the 3.2 weighted or unweighted?
You might consider getting a GC or teacher to write a rec. letter attesting to your academic abilities. It’s not required, but they say they will read supplemental materials if you send them.
Your other activities are fine - if you made Eagle, that will help (but not doing so won’t hurt).
I think you have a fair shot 
Thanks for the feedback! My 3.2 gpa is weighted with an upward trend. However, my class rank is pretty bad ranking me 115 out of 191. I’m wondering how much of an impact my class rank will make on my application.
@camelman18 no one single factor will be a deciding one, according to the admissions website. However, being in the bottom 50th percentile for class rank is going to be sizably below about 75% of both the admitted and the enrolled class for CLA, as the following links show:
https://admissions.tc.umn.edu/academics/profile.html
https://www.oir.umn.edu/student/characteristics (click on the “High School Rank Percentiles” tab)
You might look into getting that GC or teacher to write a rec. letter, as suggested earlier.
If you do not end up getting in on the first try you can always try to transfer after a semester or two at another school especially if you show that you can get exceptional grades then.
Hopefully, you will be applying to a few other colleges & universities as your stats are a bit low for Minnesota.