chances into CSE and honors

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Minnesota
1

<p>hey guys</p>

<p>currently an incoming senior, taking 4 APs this year, i just want to see whats my shot at CSE at the u of minnesota</p>

<p>27 act ( 35math, 29science, 26eng, 16 reading, and 11/12 essay) i might improve it to like a 29 or 30 possibly</p>

<p>i have only lived in the us for 6 yrs ( hopefully that will explain my ACT reading and english....)</p>

<p>taking 2 sat 2 subject test and aiming for 2 800 in chem and math 2</p>

<p>gpa 3.973 uw, class rank top 5%</p>

<p>5 ap classes, scores of 5s in chem, bio,us hist, and euro and score of 4 in stats</p>

<p>senior transcript with ap calc, ap physics, ap gov, and ap econ, and honors mentor connection</p>

<p>mentor connection this year- very likely to land a research project in chemE department of the U of m and get to know people around</p>

<p>ec:
captain of robotics team 3 yrs, head of electronics department 3 yrs, team driver 3 yrs
varsity track 1 yr, athlete of the meet 1 yr, top triple jumper
soccer 1yr, most improved player
swimming 1yr
business camp this summer
member of NHS 2 yrs, top tutor for math and science and ap courses
member of link crew 2 yrs
volunteered for boyscout and at homeless shelters.</p>

<p>awards:
3 yrs of academic letters with high honor roll
french honor society
american legion school award winner
theres a few more...</p>

<p>so chance me please! and also i really want to get into the honors program. whats my shot at it based on this data?</p>

<p>thanks for all the help guys!</p>

2

<p>From what I see your ACT hinders you. However, your GPA and good ECs will probably get you in, but you might get wait listed first. You won’t get into the Honors Program. For that think basically a 4.0 and a 33 on your ACT, especially for CSE.</p>

3

<p>The average ACT score for CSE last year was like a 30.4 so bring up your ACT score but your GPA is fine.</p>

4

<p>anyone els? chance me and i will return the favor. help!</p>

5

<p>jaychou…I agree with the posters above. Your GPA and class rank are very solid, but the ACT score may hold you back from getting into CSE. Here’s a link to the profile of admitted students for this year’s incoming class, and you can see only 11% of CSE’s admits had an ACT score below 28.</p>

<p>[Academic</a> Profile](<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/academics/profile.html]Academic”>Academic Profile of Fall 2022 Admitted Freshman Applicants by College | Office of Admissions)</p>

<p>The rest of your stats are great for CSE, so definitely retake the ACT but also consider taking the SAT. Many students find that they do better on one standardized test versus the other. Looking at your ACT subscores, your math and science are very strong and the English score isn’t hurting your composite too much…it’s the reading section that you’d need to concentrate on. Have you tried any of the ACT prep books (Princeton Review, etc.)? You may find them helpful in giving you some techniques to improve on the reading section. Bring up that subscore and it will bump your composite up a couple of points, and given the rest of your stats you’ll have a great shot at CSE.</p>

<p>Honors is hard to say. I think each college within the U makes their own selections for the Honors Program, and CSE and CBS are the 2 toughest colleges to get into…thus you’re competing against a stronger pool of applicants. Remember though, even if you don’t get into Honors as a freshman, you can still apply as a current student and still get accepted.</p>

<p>You’re very close to being a great candidate for CSE…possibly already good enough…based on everything else in your stats. I think it’s definitely worth your while to retake the ACT, as even a moderate improvement on your reading subscore will give you what you need to get over the top. Good Luck!!</p>

6

<p>thanks wolverine86! yeah i am definitely retaking the act. hoping to get that reading score way up (did 2 practice tests under time this week and got 28 and 31 on them. a huge improvement lol) and trying to work on the english and science to squeeze a couple more points out of them.
and about the sat, why should i try it? from what i have seen the test’s english and reading is kind of nasty. but i will look into it. i personally like the act better because its math and science, reading and english, vs the sat’s english and writing, then math.
the proportion of science+math vs english is better off on the act than the sat. thats why i prefer the act</p>

7

<p>jaychou…For some students the SAT is more suited to their style of test taking than the ACT, and for others it’s exactly the opposite. For a student who may struggle with one standardized test it may help them to try the other and possibly get a score that helps them more with admissions. In your case it probably wouldn’t be as much of a benefit since it was really only the reading sub-area that you struggled with as opposed to the overall test as a whole.</p>

<p>Great to hear the practice tests are helping!! If you score anywhere near those levels on Reading during a retake you should see a nice bump in your composite score. You’re definitely on the right path. D1 applied by the priority deadline last year, and if I remember correctly she got her admission notification in early to mid November and had her scholarship offer by mid to late December. Based on the strength of the rest of your stats, you might consider sending in your application prior to a retake and then just sending in the additional ACT score once the retake is done.</p>

8

<p>thanks for all the tips wolverine!
i dont think i have time to give a shot. i will look at the basic structure real quick and give it a glance though. gotta see it before studying for it.
oh and wouldnt they decide your admission based on your data once your application is complete? so if i retake the act in oct but they have already decided on my admission before my oct test score come out, wouldnt the oct act score be worthless to them? and plus, i heard honors is a 1 time deal. they dont reconcider you for it for freshman admission once they have looked at data at the time of reading the application.</p>

<p>btw is there an advantage for applying early? like chances of getting in wise.
and also are there some scholarships based on the act and stuff? ( sry if this is a dumb question).
thanks again wolverine!</p>

9

<p>jaychou…The admissions department will look at any and all info you send to them when considering you for admission. Many students at many schools “plus up” their applications by sending in additional information after their original application package has been received (new test scores, first marking period grades, additional letters of rec, etc.) so it’s a very common thing.</p>

<p>Regarding Honors, it’s not a one-time shot although a student probably stands their best chance of getting accepted as an incoming freshman. Here’s a link showing the requirements for applying as a current student at the U.</p>

<p>[Admission</a> After Freshman Year - Future Students - University of Minnesota](<a href=“http://www.honors.umn.edu/future-students/post-freshman-admission/]Admission”>Admission After Freshman Year | honors)</p>

<p>There are different opinions about whether applying early helps your chances of admission or not. Overall, your application package is very good (the ACT score is only a possible hangup because you are applying to CSE) and by applying early you’ll get the advantage of an earlier decision on admission as well as scholarship consideration. They will look at your whole package when deciding on scholarships, but High School class rank seems to carry a lot of weight on several of their scholarships and you’re strong in that regard.</p>

<p>[University-Wide</a> Scholarships](<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/costsaid/schol_campus.html]University-Wide”>University-Wide Academic Scholarships | Office of Admissions)</p>

<p>You have several options, depending on how prepared you feel for a retake.

  1. If you feel ready (or almost ready) you can try to test Standby for the September test. It’ll cost extra and you may or may not get in, but it’s worth a shot. You shouldn’t need to take the writing part as you did extremely well the first time. You can call the Admissions Office to confirm they only need one ACT Writing score to be sure.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Retake the ACT in October. Again, I’d confirm with Admissions that your Writing score from the first ACT is all they need.</p></li>
<li><p>Stand pat and send in your application as is. You can apply to more than one college at the U as a backup plan, and some students have applied for CSE or CBS but gotten accepted into CLA. You’re a very strong student, so if the U is where you want to go you’ve got a great shot at acceptance into CLA now and you can transfer to CSE during/after freshman year.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>If you were my child I’d recommend Option 1. If you’re able to get in, your scores should be available in October and you’ll still be in position for priority consideration. If you can’t get in Standby in September, definitely do the retake in October (but your scores won’t get to the U until sometime in November).</p>

<p>What you can (and should) do now is call the Admissions Office (1-800-752-1000) and ask them how much that Reading sub-score will affect your overall admission/scholarship chances given the strength of your other stats. We found them to be extremely friendly and helpful, so hopefully they’ll have some words of wisdom for you on whether or not you should apply before doing a retake. Good Luck!!</p>