<p>Planned major: Atmospheric Science</p>
<p>UW GPA: 3.9
W GPA: 4.3</p>
<p>Math PSAT: 68
Reading PSAT:64
Writing PSAT: 60 </p>
<p>Sophmore in High School</p>
<p>Classes taken freshman year:
World cult/geo
Geometry Hon
English 1 Hon
Symphonic Band
Biology Hon
Spanish 1
HOPE (State-required health course)</p>
<p>Sophmore year:
AP World History
AP Environmental Science
Chemistry Hon
World Lit Hon
Algebra 2 Hon
Wind Ensemble (Advance band)
Spanish 2</p>
<p>Junior year (planned) :
AP US History
AP Statistics
AP Psychology
AP Language and Composition
Pre-calc
Wind Ensemble (Advanced band, counts as honors class Junior year)
AP Chemistry</p>
<p>Senior year (planned) :
AP Macro/Gov
AP Calculus
AP Physics
AP Literary (forget whole name)
AP Euro or AP Human Geography
Wind Ensemble (Advanced band, counts as honors class Senior year)
Journalism</p>
<p>EC:
410 volunteer hours as a "junior naturalist"
Trumpet player in Marching band
Mu Alpha Theta member
Academic Challenge Team
National Honors Society (future president)
Chess club member
All-county band member</p>
<p>Notes on High School: Ranked 89th out of 555 schools in Florida
The nearest high school is an hour's drive away.
Is the best school in the district.</p>
<p>Back up schools: University of Florida
Penn-State University
Florida-State University
University of Michigan</p>
<p>Race: White
Income Bracket: $30000-$40000 </p>
<p>Its hard to say because you’re only a sophmore. If you maintain a gpa above 3.75 and receive a 30 on the ACT you’re a shoo-win. </p>
<p>If you keep up these grades with your workload, you should consider applying something better than UMiami (unless you want to stay close to home and/or prefer parties over prestige)</p>
<p>Honestly I’ve never been the one for parties. I’m looking for Universities that have strong atmospheric science programs, and have extensive levels of research taking place at said university. What I wanted to do is to do bachelors degrees in math and physics, then get a masters and PhD in Atmospheric Science (looking far ahead, but this is my ultimate goal). Location isn’t particularly important. UM just looks good because it has a decent Atmospheric Science program, and it gets hand-on experience to my favorite kind of weather system. I do plan on applying for a variety of colleges.</p>
<p>I go to UM, so I figured I can help clear up some misinformation. First off, if all your grades stay where they are you will be a solid candidate for UM. If you get your standardized test scores up a little you will probably get a scholarship too. In regards to the whole “parties over prestige” thing, let me just say that the “Miami is a party school” stereotype is way overblown. Students here are very serious about their academics, and do not party nearly as much as students at your typical school with big time athletics (not that there is anything wrong with that). This isn’t the same UMiami of the 80’s. Of course there are kids who love to party, and kids who don’t. Personally, I’m somewhere in between the two and it is easy to meet people on either end of the spectrum. </p>
<p>Secondly, in regard to the concept of “prestige”. Prestige is a word that gets thrown around a lot on this website. Truthfully, prestige means very little and you definitely should not pick your school based on it. I got accepted into schools that were more prestigious than UM, but UM was the best fit for me. When you end up making your decision choose the school that you can see yourself at, not the most prestigious one.</p>
<p>UM is a great school that does a ton of research. The fact that it really is a small/medium sized school allows for a lot of research opportunities for undergraduates. I do agree though that you can make your college list a little more ambitious. UM is a solid match school for you, not a reach. </p>
<p>Ahh, thanks. Yeah, perception of UM isn’t particularly great, even though it’s arguably the best university in Florida. Honestly, if I were accepted, the biggest thing that i’m considering is that if I do not get a scholarship, or a large enough one, then I won’t attend, as UM costs are very high</p>
<p>My son was admitted ED with a 3.97 GPA & 31 ACT. Small College Prep Private Midwest HS ~ Football, NHS, Leadership, Service, AP’s etc. His acceptance letter stated that for 2000 freshman spots they received over 30,000 applications. I think the competiton for admitance there has increased. Good luck! </p>