<p>I'm considering applying to the University of Miami, and I want to know if it would be worth paying the application fee. I know that it is at least a slight reach, but I'm not sure how much of a reach it is. </p>
<p>Here are my stats:</p>
<p>I live in Michigan
GPA: 2.802
ACT: 25(retaking, probably going to get a 27-29)
SAT: 560 on CR, 560 on M, 610 on W</p>
<p>4 year of lacrosse, we won the state championship this past season. I will play if I get in, but it's only club so it wouldn't help in admissions.</p>
<p>3 years of IM basketball.</p>
<p>3 years of drumline/band.</p>
<p>Hopefully getting a job soon, I've been managing 3 different properties and landscaping them for my parents this summer.</p>
<p>I've done some volunteer work, not a ton.</p>
<p>My counselor told me I should send a letter to all the colleges I apply to explaining part of the reason my GPA is low, which is that I had really bad ADHD and anxiety disorder that weren't really diagnosed well until my sophomore, which really sucked. I don't know how much this will help, but my counselor seemed to think it was worth it to write the letter.</p>
<p>I plan on applying regular decision, because I plan on doing well first semester of my senior year, to show them that my GPA could and should be higher.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your help.</p>
<p>I would honestly say its a reach..
I wont say how much of a reach because I dont want to scare u away from applying when I might not even be right.. Again the only way to find out is applying. </p>
<p>Here is how u might improve ur chances even more!</p>
<ul>
<li>Re take the SAT: Shoot for a 1200-1250 range</li>
<li>DO VOLONTEER WORK! In fact, do lots of volonteer work this year.. The more the merrier.. why? well ppl know Volonteer work takes a long time and if u have a lot of hours, they realize u were very busy throughout high school and ur low grades might not be directly the cause of slacking.. instead they may think its because u had so much stuff goign on. Volunteer work, a job, school work, sports etc... They might cut u some slack is my point. </li>
<li>Keep working on ur EC's becuase Miami does look at that. Show leadership and get into some academically geared clubs such as Model United Nations.</li>
<li>Def work on ur gpa! I would strongly urge u to pick up only A's and B's this year. NO C's....</li>
<li>Get letters of reference. try ur best to pick the right ppl because ur gonna need some good letters. do u think teachers/counselors will write good things? I know at my school they wouldnt mention anything bad but thats at my school (a very close knit community where they actually do care about their students and know everyone by name). I reccomend 3 as 1 is required and u are sending 2 more than the required. It shows tremendous amount of interest.. also Here is a trick i did when applying this year.. I told my teacher to address the letter to The University of Miami.. big difference because now they can actually prove ur immense interest in the school. </li>
<li>Essays: UM requires only one.. Here is what I reccommend.. You will write 4 essays:
<ul>
<li>1. write the required one</li>
<li>2. write that letter of why ur grades are so low</li>
<li>3. write a letter of why u want to go to UM. Make them seem as its ur #1 choice.. UM dosnt want to admit a student with a sub 3.0 grade point average if their not gonna attend. they Might want to admit a student with a 2.8 that has great letters of reference, solid SAT scores and sound like a good person, but most importantly, WANTS TO REALLY ATTEND.
-4. write a letter of ur career and academic goals both at UM and after UM. Show them u are definately an ambitous person and not a slacker who just wants to come and live the college life. </li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<p>Hope I helped.. If u do all that I think u have just made UM a low reach/High Match :)</p>
<p>Good LUCK!</p>
<p>thanks acarta, that helps a lot. i just have a couple of questions:</p>
<p>-should i retake the sat as well as the act? because ive already signed up for the act in october
-my community is like yours, very tight knit, everyone knows everyone, and my school is hard academically. but my counselor recently moved to vice principal, and i dont know who my new counselor will be. im planning on asking my old counselor for a letter of rec because we were really close, but will my new counselor have to do a letter of rec as well?
-how heavily does um weigh essays? not to brag, but im a really good writer and i write essays really well, so if they take essays heavily into account, then that could really help me.</p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>UM looks at Essays just as much as they look at grades.. that might be an exageration but trust me, they seriously look at essays. That is the case at many top privates across the nation. At UM ur essay/Essays may be the decisive factor in admitting u. </p></li>
<li><p>if ur already registered for the ACT take it. you didnt do that bad at all on either one. I suggest u buy prep books for each test.. Take the SAT Again as well. However the strategies used and taught in SAT books are different than those of ACT... Becuase of this I suggest u take each on spread apart dates so u dont mix up the strategies.. ur ACT is in October so take the SAT in November/December date so u have around a month-month and half to get ready for the next one...</p></li>
</ul>
<p>thanks for all your help acarta. one more question:</p>
<p>im thinking of appyling as a journalism major. would it be harder to get in applying with that major, or would i be better off applying undecided?</p>
<p>hmm id apply as journalism... UM is expensive and why would u come here and pay lots of money and study something u dont want. what if u get in undecided and u cant transfer from within later on because u dotn meet a requirement... u just wasted a lot of money in that case :S</p>
<p>Apply journalism. if it works out great, if it dosnt then pick a school that offered u the opportunity to study journalism... U sed u can write great essays so again a big positive for u especially when ur looking at journalism.</p>