Chances for Michigan State University?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Michigan State University
1

To start, I have a 3.886 GPA, and a 1250 SAT score (out of 1600). I also got a 25 on my ACT but I don’t think I’m going to send that score in because my SAT is better. I am interested in going into Mechanical Engineering as my major (I am female). I have a small upward trend in my grades (I’ve gotten A’s and nothing less than B+'s my entire HS career. I’ve never had more than 1 B+ in a school year)

I have taken Intro to Engineering my freshman year. I am technically one year ahead in mathematics (took Geometry in 9th grade, algebra 2 in 10th grade, and precalc in 11th). As a senior, I will be taking 3 AP classes (AP Literature, AP Calculus, AP Physics) and I am considering taking an IB Class (or possibly switching into a college engineering class if I can).

I played travel softball for 10 years (including this summer) but I am done now as a result of knee problems. I plan to be an assistant coach this fall and give younger girls free pitching lessons as a volunteer effort.

I was in 4-H for 6 years. I did it until my sophomore year of high school. I was a treasurer in my club during my freshman year. (SIDE QUESTION: Should I include the assistant/pitching coach info in my college application even though I haven’t done much of it yet? And should I mention that I was in 4-H from middle school-high school or just high school?) In 4-H we did a lot of volunteering but it wasn’t really anything that I could count as community service because we did lots of little things as a group. The entirety of our state 4-H programs is an extension of Michigan State University.

I was on my school varsity Equestrian Team in 9th grade. I was also a part of my school’s JV softball team freshman year. (I played on both JV teams)

I didn’t do NHS (dumb idea on my part) and I should have done it this year but I had heard that it is pointless in most cases. My school isn’t overly heavy into it.

I was in a Hippology (study of the horse) club from 8th-10th grade. I competed at MSU a few times, actually. This was a club outside of school.
I own and show a horse and I am heavily involved in that. I am always at MSU showing (should I add that into my app as well?)

Due to the rigorous schedule of horses and softball, plus school, I was never available enough to get a job. I am doing the early application for the college. I haven’t done much volunteering outside of 4-H and this coming venture, and if I did, I never logged it (of course…).

MSU has been my dream school since I was in 6th grade and I’m worried that I haven’t done enough to get in. Now that it’s the summer before my senior year, there’s not much that I can do now. What are my chances for getting in, and if I can up my chances, how so?

Thank you!

2

Yes. They will love you at MSU. I also encourage you to apply to Michigan, especially if you are seriously considering mechanical engineering. For about the same price as MSU you could attend a program ranked #5 worldwide, and it is only about 1 hr away from MSU.

I would also recommend retaking the ACT in September to improve your score unless your SAT is well above admission average (especially math) , Your ACT is substantially below the averages for both MSU (somewhat) and UM (much more) engineering students. Engineers score 2-3 points higher on the ACT.

You will get a small boost as a female , (presumably) rural applicant to engineering

3

@TooOld4School I did consider retaking the ACT again… My math score wasn’t bad but it was the science that got me. When I was reading the test there was so much on the science pages that it was so overwhelming to me and my brain went blank, as I remember. I also considered retaking my SAT math portions (they were above average but I honestly didn’t see 5 of the questions on the bottom where you had to write in your answers so I didn’t answer them… smh. Brain farts. So that, of course, didn’t do anything to improve my score) but I’m not sure if my scores would be in in time for me to early apply?

4

The September ACT is definitely within the time limit for Michigan. MSU has rolling admissions so make sure to mention that you retook the SAT or ACT if you do. Michigan engineering did not use the Science portion in the past but the current class profile lists it, so that may have changed.

The first SAT test date is October 1, which may or may not make the Michigan deadline. Michigan will use your old score if they do not receive it in time for decisions. That would likely result in a deferment (EA in-states are rarely rejected in December)

This link will give you an target:
http://admissions.umich.edu/apply/freshmen-applicants/student-profile

MSU’s ACT average is around 25, so if it follows the 2 point pattern bump for engineering it should be around 27. Michigan engineering’s average is 32.

Did you only take the ACT once? If so you have plenty of room for improvement. Can you post your ACT subscores?

5

@TooOld4School so I should retake my ACT and then if I improve, send those scores?
I didn’t send my ACT scores to MSU, just my SAT (which I’m glad because they’re better). I’ve heard that if one of your test scores are lower, turn the better one in. That’s why I only sent SAT scores to MSU. My SAT score for there is above the average I believe. I was happy with my 1250 until I saw that the 75th percentile had 1310 or more so i considered retaking just the math portions (my writing and reading portions were way above average in scoring, whereas my math was a little bit above average)

I do plan on applying to Michigan but I don’t think my ACT/SAT scores are even close to their average and they usually expect a 4.0. Which, a 4.0+ may happen this year due to my AP’s, but I only have a 3.886 as of right now. Plus, Michigan usually wants tons of extracurriculars which I just don’t think I have.

If I got accepted into both MSU and UM I’d want to go to State, just because it’s a little closer to home (I live in MI) and I am very familiar with it as I show my horse there and all that. But yes, I did only take the ACT once. There is room for improvement

6

I forgot to add into my original post that I am also a member of Link Crew (which I was told is nationally recognized) for this coming year.

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My sub scores for ACT are a 25 in English, 24 in Mathematics, 27 in Reading, 22 in Science, and 22 in Writing. So obviously, mathematics could improve. I wasn’t required to take the ACT so the one that I did take and got a 25 on was more of a practice since I figured that I’d just use my SAT score (which ended up being better anyways).

8

Both MSU and UM will used whichever test score is highest. If you take the September ACT reference MSU and UM at test time to avoid any delays since you will be close to the EA deadline. Playing softball and riding are strong EC’s and show real commitment. You don’t need to be a social activist or have crazy ECs, especially in-state.

FYI:
http://www.umich.edu/~micheqtm/
http://www.ans.msu.edu/students/student_clubs

If you are fortunate enough to be admitted to both schools you can weigh the offers and any scholarships and financial aid you may quality for and visit the schools, talk to the staff, etc. You will find that once you are admitted both schools will do their best to get you to attend. Best of luck to you!

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@TooOld4School Update: just signed up for the Sept. 10th ACT and am going to sign up for the Oct. 1st SAT. I’ll definitely focus a lot on studying the mathematics portion this time… MSU asks for dates of tests I took/will take. Does this mean that once I take my ACT and SAT, they will count those scores even if they come in later than Nov. 1?

10

MSU will consider what they have and if insufficient, may defer a decision awaiting your updated results. You are still early enough in the application process that it should not matter. Michigan does this a lot for EA applicants on the edge, they ask for fall grades and updated scores if they think you are in the ball park, defer to RD.

11

My daughter is looking at MSU and has very similar scores. GPA 3.724, SAT 1210, ACT 26. Plan to complete the application this weekend. We are OOS and did an unofficial visit last fall, doing an official tour this October. She will have an Honors Degree from HS, is in NHS, is a Scholar Athlete, lots of volunteer work and took AP Lit and has two ACP classes this year. Looking to be Education Major and MSU is in her top 3 of choices for school.

Actually stopped last fall on our way to visit Central Michigan. Happened to be going through East Lansing so I said do you want to stop? We did and she loved the campus, didn’t like CMU as much.

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Do msu and umich look at 9-12 or 10-12 gpa? And based on their freshman profile, is it Weighted or unweighted?

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@dcolosi yes I love the campus! I did a tour in the spring I believe. I’ll probably complete my application in the next 2 weeks- I have to talk to my school next week because they messed up some of my schedule (eye-roll), but I was planning on getting it in pretty early. CMU is a HUGE party school. I know some people that went there who were serious, but most others really went there just to party. I’ve been going to MSU for 7 years now with horse shows and other horse-related competitions and love it.

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@TooOld4School Okay, so most likely I’ll be deferred by MSU and UM until they get my scores? I know that at this point my scores are too low for UM (so best case scenario I’d get deferred), but could MSU accept me even though they haven’t gotten the new scores in yet, or will they definitely wait?

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@gene167e7 I believe it’s an unweighted GPA from 9-12th. Could be wrong about the unweighted part, but I know for sure that they look at all grades in terms of GPA.

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Perhaps this will clarify:

At MSU you apply to the university, and then need a specific GPA at MSU to be accepted to your major of choice.

At Michigan you apply directly to the engineering college, and you can pick any major within the college without regard to your college GPA.

You are likely to be admitted to MSU with your current stats, which are above the 75th percentile for GPA and 50th percentile for ACT. Raising the ACT to the 75th percentile (28) should remove any doubts about admission. You will still need a 3.1 GPA at MSU to qualify for the Mechanical Engineering major.

For Michigan, with your current stats (GPA is fine!), you are likely to be deferred in EA and rejected in RD. Raising your ACT into the 30s - especially the math and English scores, along with a boost as a female in-state engineering student, and excellent essays and recommendations will make you a good candidate for UM.

So as I see it your choices are:

Do nothing - reasonable chance at MSU, but ME major not guaranteed. Extremely low chance at Michigan.
Raise ACT 2-4 points - excellent chance at MSU, but ME major not guaranteed. Low reach for Michigan, but ME major guaranteed.
Raise ACT 5-11 points - near certainty at MSU, but ME major not guaranteed. Match for Michigan, but ME major guaranteed.

It is definitely possible to raise your score a lot - especially with a situation like yours. My son took the ACT 3 times and scored 25,33, and finally 36.

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@Inicole good luck to you on MSU. We are looking forward to the official tour and learning more about the school. Our trip last year we spent a few hours just walking around not really knowing what was what. We found our way to the Union and picked up a map and that helped. My daughter loved all the open green space and the river that runs through campus. Their education program looks very strong as well.

We are considering taking the SAT and ACT again but not certain. One of her top 3 schools she needs to bring up her SAT by about 50 points for some guaranteed scholarship money. We just started looking at the application this week since its now available online. Need to work some more on the essay but pretty close to having it done. Expect that she will have everything submitted by tomorrow night. Then we wait.

Our HS won’t send transcripts out until the 29th of August. Something to do with Naviance that I didn’t quite understand. So we know that for us, none of her apps will be fully complete until the HS send out the official transcripts. Once the schools have the transcripst she should have everything else needed for their reviews.

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@lnicole so Weighted gpa doesn’t matter as much for msu and umich?

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Not exactly sure, I would ask someone a little bit more experienced than me to be honest. I think it depends on what your school sends in. If your school sends in a weighted GPA they’ll look at that and if they send in an unweighted, they’ll look at that one.