Hey all! I’m still relatively new to CC, and I recently applied EA to the University of Michigan for Computer Science. For the last four years, I have been attending a special high school that has allowed me to study Computer Information Sciences along with the usual curriculum. I’m caucasian and am OOS.
GRADES/COLLEGEBOARD:
wGPA: 4.5 u/wGPA: 4.05
SAT I: 1550 (750 ENG, 800 MAT)
Rank: Not given
My school only offers 3 APs, and I am the only person from my school to ever have taken all 3.
Computer Science A (5)
Physics 1: (4)
Calculus (5 Note: My school only offers AB Calculus, but I self-studied for BC and got a 5)
I am taking all of my senior-year courses at a local county college:
First Semester:
Multivariable Calculus
Discrete Mathematics
Composition 1
Lifetime Wellness
Computer Architecture and Assembly Language
Second Semester:
Linear Algebra
Composition 2
Weight Training
Data Structures and Algorithms
EXTRACURRICULARS (in no particular order):
- NHS (member 2016-18)
- Tech Club (Co-founder, VP 2015-17, member 2017-18)
- Teach MIT's Scratch and Python to Elementary/Middle Schoolers (2015-18)
- First Job: Systems Analyst at Prudential Financial (2017-18). I do data-visualization, and I am a paid employee.
- Second Job: Server at a local ice-cream shop (2015-18).
- Leadership team at church (2014-18)
- FIRST Robotics Team (member 2009-2014, captain 2014-18)
- Co-founded a political op-ed website that produces income (2016-18)
- Intern at a presidential campaign (2015-16)
HONORS:
- AP Scholar
- 2nd Place in SkillsUSA Computer Programming competition
- High Honor Roll
- FTC Regional Champions
WRITING:
Letters of Rec:
Algebra 2/Trig teacher (10/10. He knows me really well, and we have had some really good conversations)
Counselor (8/10. According to a lot of other students, all my counselor can talk about is me, so I think he likes me.)
Computer Science teacher (5/10. The guy likes me, but I don’t think he’s great at writing. However, he does know
me rather well.)
Common App Essay:
My writing is not my strong suit, but I got it read over by a few people I trust.
OTHER:
- I took courses at Stanford over this past summer via the High School Summer College Program. Statistics and High-Performance Computing. Got an A and an A+.
Anyways, let me know what you guys think. Thanks for reading the long post!
Good chance, weakest point may be ecs. But I think you have a great shot. Chance me back please?
I don’t think your ECs are weak at all. You never know with OOS, but you have a very good shot of getting in.
Please recalculate your uwGPA without subgrades and in 4.0 max scale. If you only have nothing lower than A-, it would 4.0 in the eyes of adcom at UMich. The EA deadline has passed. Did you apply to LSA or CoE?
@billcsho 3.9875 assuming all my "A-"s are seen as 4.0. In total, I have gotten 1 grade that is a B.
I think your ECs especially the job at Prudential are great. You will get in.
@billcsho Also I finished applying a week ago and applied to CoE
@Testingearly Thanks for the confidence. What would you think about me applying to an Ivy? Any chance?
Your uwGPA at 3.99 is good. SAT 1550 is near the 75th percentile of UMich too. You are an above average OOS applicant and your chance would be higher than the OOS admission rate. It should be a very low reach to near high match for you. However, your chance would be even better if you applied to LSA instead. You can major in CS in LSA too.
@billcsho Doesn’t the 2016-2017 UM CDS state that the 75th percentile is 730/740 for Reading/Writing and 770 for Math? Thus, wouldn’t a 1,550 be over the 75% percentile?
The OP’s chances look pretty good to me, but I don’t know how much emphasis UM puts on the essays.
@sushiritto Thanks for the reply. I looked at the CSD and it looks like a 1550 is over the 75th percentile.
@billcsho What are the main differences between LSA and CoE then? To me, it seemed like the CoE was more engineering-based (duh lol), which interests me a bit more. Am I wrong, or does it not really make a difference? Either way, thanks for informing me.
The 75th percentile last year is 1530 and the admission stat has been climbing up in recent years. That’s why I said 1550 is near the 75th percentile. There is little difference between the CS major in LSA and CoE. The main differeneces are in the elective requirements. As you do not apply to a major directly and LSA is less competitive, applying to LSA for CS major would have a higher chance particularly from OOS. The OOS admission rate is ~20% last year and likely lower this year for UMich overall (or LSA). The admission rate at CoE is always lower than LSA.
LSA has a foreign language requirement, which you can pass out of showing proficiency or and AP test. Engineering has a number of required engineering into classes designed to help you select your engineering discipline, plus physics and math requirements. Certain engineering disciplines also have additional intro requirements (e.g. chemistry), and some require 128 credit hours to graduate. If you follow the engineering route you won’t have as many electives.
@DrCoolSP “tech club co-founder” u sure buddy? as far as I know you were only VP cause a girl founded it