Desperate Transfer Student

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

<p>I currently attend U of M - Dearborn (sister school of Ann Arbor) and I have really, really wanted to go to U of M - Ann Arbor since i was a kid. I got rejected last year as a high school student, and I got rejected again this year for winter 09. Just wanting to know any tips that may be helpful for getting me in Fall 09 for LSA, or getting me in period. Thanks!</p>

<p>High School Unweighted GPA: 3.5
In - State
ACT Score: 30
SAT II: Math I - 760
Math II - 760
Biology - 650
AP Classes: Micro (3), US History (3), US Government (3), Comp. Government (4), English Language (4), Biology (4), Chemistry (4), Statistics (5), BC Calc (5)
Honors classes: Honors English 9, Honors English 10, Honors Geometry, Honors Algebra 2/Trig, Honors Precalc
Legacy: both my parents went here
mom - m.s. in biochemistry
dad - m.s. in electrical engineering, ph.D in Computer Science
Extra Curricular: Varsity Tennis, USA Hockey Referee, played in piano and violin competitions up till 10th grade, Diversity club
Letter of Recs: good</p>

<p>my desired major - biochem and/or economics
current course (credits) load w/grade probability:
Physics 150 - (4) General Physics - (A)
Comp 106 - (3) English Comp II - (A)
Phil 100 - (3) Intro to Philosophy - (A/A-)
Psych 170 - (3) Intro to Psych as a Nat. Science - (A/A-)
Econ 201 - (3) Prin. of Macroeconomics - (A/A-)</p>

<p>GPA probability = 3.83</p>

<p>next semester course (credits) load
Physics 151 - (4) General Physics
Math 215 - (4) Calc III
Phil 442 - (3) Medical Ethics
Econ 202 - (3) Prin. of Microeconomics
Econ 311 - (3) Money and Banking
Extra curriculars: Political Science Club, Flag Football</p>

2

<p>Hmm strange… Your GPA and test scores are decent. Did u get waitlisted or deferred? Something must be wrong with ur essays/recs/etc</p>

3

<p>Yeah, that is odd. Your stats are solid.</p>

4

<p>i got deferred, then waitlisted, then rejected haha.
And i got straight up rejected for winter 09.
I don’t think my essay’s were a problem for when I was in high school and applied.
But even if they were, I changed all of them when i applied again as a transfer student, and I even got them run through by my english teacher to make sure they wouldn’t hinder my application.</p>

<p>I’m just worried that if i don’t get accepted for fall 09, I will be stuck at Dearborn for all of undergrad. U of m Ann Arbor only accepts a maximum of 60 credits for a transfer student. So i would have 33 from AP credits and 33 from courses I took at Dearborn my freshman year. I am already going to be at 66, but I already know which 6 credits i would drop. And since Dearborn and Ann Arbor’s AP policy’s are different, i’m having to hold out on taking my bio and chem classes until i get to Ann arbor so i don’t repeat credit.</p>

<p>It really is just a pain in the ass wanting something soooo bad, and trying alot for it, but yet they dont want you.
It’s like you want a girl, and your doing everything to impress her, yet she doesn’t care for you at all.</p>

<p><em>sigh</em>. Thanks for the feedback though guys.</p>

5

<p>Not to add insult to injury but i am really really taken aback that you were rejected again. I was accepted as a transfer for winter 09 and although my college record is better, it’s not by much - soph with 3.92 gpa (roughly 20 Credits per semester) - my hs is below yours - 3.3 gpa, 27 act, 2100 SAT - </p>

<p>the only thing i can see and maybe you jsut havent said it here. are ou doing any EC’s this year?? that is one thing i had a lot of -i am presently on 3 boards at my school holding positions and run one campus organization - i ahve organized a few community action programs in my home town (GR, Mi) and a lot of athletics in college and HS. I had no direct legacy - my parents went to BC and ND - but my grandparents and uncles/aunts went there - maybe put up an appeal – i mean there must be a reason that they rejected you again but it never hurts, you seem like a shoe in to me… but one never knows these days with college admin</p>

6

<p>I agree with snwrider et. al. you certainly seem like a good candidate for transfer. I would go a step further here than in the general case, and try to get some information on where you are lacking. Is there a transfer coordinator at Dearborn who might be able to get some insight from the Ann Arbor admissions people on what you are missing? Did you have a disciplinary problem in high school? Something unusual in your application that you haven’t mentioned? Anyway, see if there is an indirect channel to go thru to find out what is going on, and if that doesn’t work, maybe give a call yourself and see if they will let you interview to discuss appeal. Can’t hurt to show that you really want to go there.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the info.</p>

<p>No i didn’t have any disciplinary problems in high school. The two things i might have left out are that i have no official college gpa right now because this is only my first term at U of M - Dearborn. That 3.83 GPA is my expected GPA for this semester, however, it could go up depending how i do on finals.
My letter from recommendation in high school was written by my Honors Precalc teacher who decided to leave everyone’s until the last minute for early decision. However, i dont think that’s the issue because a.) she has an english minor and b.) alot of my friends who got rec’s from her got in.</p>

<p>Should i get a letter of recommendation from one of my college professors? Should i apply to another school within Michigan and try to transfer to LSA later? Should i just shutup and wait it out patiently for fall 09?</p>

8

<p>Wow I am *really *sorry to hear you did not get in. I have been at Dearborn for the past year and a half and was accepted to the college of engineering for Winter 2009. Your test scores are more impressive than mine, but I had a 3.97 gpa after 31 credits. In high school I had just under a 3.5 gpa, and got a 28 on the act. Only got a 3 on the ap bio and calc tests.</p>

<p>From what you said your intended major was, you did not apply to the college of engineering? If you had, that would explain why you did not get in, as they have prerequisite courses that must be completed before admission.</p>

<p>I do actually have some advice that may benefit you. Try to contact someone high up in the college you are applying to. During my freshman year I was completely paranoid about screwing up my chances at going to Ann Arbor. Last January I sent an email to the Dean of Engineering. I explained my situation and he actually responded. He told me to contact the Coordinator of Transfer Admissions and Programs for the CoE. He was very helpful with all the questions I had about prereqs and stuff, and I kept in contact with him up until he notified me of my admission in October through email and talked to him on the phone a few times. He told me if I kept my GPA above 3.9, I would possibly get a scholarship. I don’t know if this is because I talked to him or not, but I was notified last week of getting a $10,000 merit-based scholarship. </p>

<p>Up until I was accepted (and until finals are over actually) I was extremely apprehensive and afraid I wouldn’t get in. I was lucky enough to get an internship over the summer for an electrical systems manufacturer (I am an electrical/computer engineering major), and was able to write a great essay about my experiences there. Without this, I really don’t know if my 3.97 would have alone gotten me in.</p>

<p>I would say, contact some people immediately and inquire why you didn’t get in and what you need to do. Send an email to multiple people, and from my experience, they will forward it to who you need to talk to. Tell them you are at Dearborn, explain your entire situation. Best of luck and definitely ask me any questions you have.</p>

<p>I am confused, is this your first semester at UMD? You only mention your current and next semester classes. If you were here last year, when did you take you calc classes? Maybe we were in some classes together. I had Hoft for calc 1/fall 2007, Fakler for calc 2/winter 2008. Oh yeah, I had chem 144 last fall, too. Who did you have for comp 106? I am in the middle of revising my 20% research paper for Wright. As you can probably tell from my long post, I know how important this is to you.</p>

<p>Just read your last post, the CoE did not require any recommendations and I didn’t submit any. They only asked for a resume and a 500 word essay. I do not think recommendations would hurt.</p>

<p>Many times I thought about driving over to Ann Arbor and talking with some people, so you might want to consider that. In the end though, I got all the answers I needed over the phone/email. Good look on your remaining finals (if you have any), and ask me any questions. Now back to my comp 106 essay.</p>

9

<p>Reading snwrider2007’s post, I completely agree with him. I don’t know why you were not accepted. Your parents being alumni alone is a huge benefit. A close friend of mine got in out of high school with a 3.7-8 gpa and 26 act (fall 2007). Only his dad had attended. The closest relations I have to alumni are numerous cousins who have recently graduated. In all honesty, I have closer ties to Dearborn. With an aunt, uncle, and also some cousins as graduates from there. Also, I did not have many major related ECs (accept for the lucky internship). In high school I was highly involved in my school’s music programs (marching band, jazz band, etc.). With all the info I have mentioned, it is worth noting that the college of engineering admissions are completely separate from the rest of Ann Arbor.</p>

10

<p>hey hockeyguy17m, thanks alot for the advice. I genuinly appreciate it.To answer some of your questions…</p>

<p>I am applying to LSA, not college of engineering. Also, many of my credits are from ap classes i took in high school, i.e. credit for Calc I and II. And yes, this is currently my first term at dearborn.</p>

<p>My final grades for the semester look like this:
Philosophy 100 - A
Comp 106 - A
Physics 150 - A-
Econ 201 - A-
Psych 170 - B+</p>

<p>So that gives me a 3.77. I will fight my physics grade with the UMD dean, because i believe i deserve an A. My course schedule is the same as what i posted originally.</p>

<p>Based on your advice, I should:
a.) talk to a person high up in LSA, preferably someone in the biochemistry department.
b.) talk to an admission’s counselor on where the biggest defficiences in my application were the past two times.
c.) get a letter of reccomendation</p>

<p>Anything else that will be helpful.</p>

<p>merry christmas to everyone</p>

11

<p>I’ve heard it’s much easier to get in after your sophomore year. I guess they want to see how well you maintain your grades.</p>

12

<p>I feel for you. I was almost rejected and 5 of my friends were rejected. We all had extraordinary apps in some way or another, or in general. The others are now at MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Yale, and Harvard. My backup was WashU… then Harvard.</p>

<p>None of us were black or anything like that, so stats, ECs, publications, research, self-built technology, legacies, etc are all we had to rely on.</p>

<p>As you can probably tell, no amount of merit was enough to persuade the admissions committee. My fate was only different from that of my 5 friends because, aside from getting annoyed, I did something about it (I went to the admissions committee in person and asked them in slightly nicer terms what the F@#^ they were thinking).</p>

<p>Basically the admissions committee is ■■■■■■■■. UM was 1st choice for 1/2 of these people (2nd for others). My advice? Apply elsewhere, forget about Michigan. Idk why UM chooses to accept barely literate minorities over you and others. I’m sorry this is happening to you.</p>

13

<p>Wow, hockeyguy. That’s pretty awesome that you contacted the Dean. I just applied to Michigan College of Engineering for Fall '09 and I have a couple questions. This is my second year at Michigan State where I am also doing engineering. Here are my Engineering prerequisite stats (I’ll list the class as they are at UM): </p>

<p>MTH 115-4.0
MTH 116-4.0
MTH 215-4.0</p>

<p>CHEM 130-4.0
CHEM 125-4.0</p>

<p>PHY 140-4.0</p>

<p>ENGLISH 125-3.5</p>

<p>The following, I am taking this current semester:</p>

<p>MTH 216
PHY 240
ENGR 101
PHY 141 (actually plan to take this in the summer)
PHY 241</p>

<p>(By the way, at MSU, you either get a 4.0, 3.5, 3.0, 2.5 and so on.)</p>

<p>I’ve actually got a total of 60 credits altogether, and my GPA is 3.8. I was pretty indifferent about college as a high school senior and didn’t even apply to UM, and just went to MSU because ALL my family goes/went there. I’m simply just a good student I guess you could say and had a 4.0 in high school. My ACT is only a 24 (25 w/ writing). Looking back, I really wish I at least took it a second time and put a little more effort in it. So that brings me to my first question: Is my ACT score going to be a significant part of their decision to accept me, or is it more my grades at MSU?
Off and on I’ve been thinking about UM, and now I realize it’s a really good school just a few hours away where I can get in-state tuition, and I really think I’ll like the environment there. So I pretty much took action over Christmas break cause I knew if I don’t try this now, I might never know if I could of had a shot at going to UM-Ann Arbor. This is also why I’ve got a significant amount of prereq’s yet to do, since I was not at all taking my courses at MSU with transferring to UMich in mind. That’s why I’ve got the ENGR 101 and the two physics labs smashed in there. Also, another question: Do you feel that UM was significantly harder than where you were going before at UM-Dearborn?
By the way, my intended field of study is civil/environmental engineering. If you want, you can look at my application/essay.
Thanks.</p>

14

<p>Jones,</p>

<p>I would say that you have very good chances of getting in. As for the ACT, they will want to see it, but I honestly don’t think they give it much importance. You probably took it three years ago! I would think they care most about how you did in the prerequisites, specifically the math and science. Since you so far have A’s in those, you should be set.</p>

<p>Also, civil/environmental engineering probably does not have as much competition/applicants. When I was at orientation a few weeks ago, there were about 30 total transfers. Among them, I don’t think any were civil/environmental engineers. If there were any, it would have only been a couple, so that should help you. There was an even mix between mechanical, electrical, and aerospace. There were also a couple nuclear engineers.</p>

<p>As for the difficulty of classes, it is hard to tell as I have only been here for three weeks. This is a very different experience for me overall, as I am now living in a dorm. When at Dearborn, I lived at home and commuted. I can only imagine it will be more difficult, because the students here are among the brightest.</p>

<p>The best advice I can give you is to contact Gary DeGuzman. His email address is <a href=“mailto:gdeguzmn@umich.edu”>gdeguzmn@umich.edu</a>. He is the Coordinator of Transfer Admissions and Programs for the College of Engineering. He was present during an orientation meeting and mentioned that he had been in contact with almost all of the transfer students via email and phone. I am not exactly sure what his role is with admissions, but it may be big. At one point right before I applied, he mentioned he looked forward to reviewing my application. He was the one who sent me a personal email notifying me of acceptance. If you contact him, it will send him the message you are really serious about transferring. Just be sincere and sound very interested. He can answer any questions you have.</p>

<p>Good luck! Just keep your grades up this semester and summer, and I think you should be in good shape. They calculate two different GPAs: one that is overall and one that includes only math, science, and engineering courses. This may help you.</p>

15

<p>To the OP, I guess that would be my advice. I think the most important thing to do is to contact someone. You need to stand out and be more than an application I think. I’m sure there are more transfers in the Fall, but this winter there were maybe 100-125. Maybe about 70 or 80 of those being LSA.</p>

<p>If Fall 2009 doesn’t work out, just apply for winter again. I know I was disheartened when I found out about all the prerequisites I had to complete, but in the end, the extra time spent at Dearborn saved me money. This is your freshman year? If so, admissions had no idea what kind of a college student you are. As time goes on and you get more college credits and your GPA means more, I would guess high school records mean less.</p>

<p>Knowing you applied as a first semester college student gives better understanding as to why you were rejected. Before entering Dearborn, I thought about the possibility of transferring my second semester. I found out this was not possible for engineering. Then Fall 2008 was pushed to winter 2009. I think it will work out for you. Just try to raise your GPA a little this semester. I am not positive about this, but I may have read somewhere that LSA does not consider plusses and minuses for calculating GPA for transfers. So an A- and A would be the same. Look around the umich site and see what you can find. Good luck, it is worth the effort!</p>

16

<p>Thanks so much for the info, hockeyguy. This really helps.</p>

17

<p>when do transfer decisions come out for fall 09? are they rolling, or are they all released at once sometime in march/april?</p>

18

<p>hockeyguy,</p>

<p>Hi, I just thought I’d let you know that I was recently accepted to UM CoE for Fall '09! I am quite excited about the whole thing. Again, thanks for your advice.</p>

19

<p>Glad I could be of any help. Congratulations!!! By the way, did you ever get in contact with Gary? Just be sure to keep your grades up, as they can always revoke admission. Don’t mean to pressure you too much…</p>

20

<p>Yep, I did exchange a couple emails with Gary. He was very helpful and friendly. Right now I am actually planning on visiting the campus during my spring break (which is a different time from UM’s) and hopefully sitting down with Gary to ask him a few questions in person. </p>

<p>I’m still working hard with grades. I don’t want to get my hopes up too high, but I’m kinda hoping for a possible merit scholarship because if I do get 4.0s in my courses this semester, my CoE pre-req grades will literally be flawless.</p>