<p>Well I'm a junior, and UM is my #1 school. I got a letter in the mail from them, on how they will have interviews in a city in my area.</p>
<p>It says how a rep from the office of admissions will be conducting personal interviews in your area, and they will address any questions about the apps process, majors, financial aid, etc.</p>
<p>My question is.. would it help me towards admission, or is this just basically an information session?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>The interviews are said to be informational only, but they definitely help to demonstrate interest. My S had a local admissions interview which was wonderful. He found out so much inside info about the school and the interviewer did take 2 pages of notes on my S. He even wrote down when we were scheduled to visit the campus and was there to personally greet us and give my S some additional info based on his interests discussed during the interview. That interview went a long way in selling my S on UM and how they care for their students. </p>
<p>While certainly not neceassary, if it is convenient, I highly recommend it. If your parents can also attend, they are welcome.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info.</p>
<p>I'll definitely try to attend.</p>
<p>Well an interview can show them ur really interested. But it does not make a significant difference on ur chances. However u can get an interview and if u do well, it should help somewhat on ur chances. </p>
<ul>
<li>Im gonna give u some good advice*
do NOT apply early decision or early action. This applicant pool is always extremely competetive and unless ur an extremely strong candidate do not apply. I know a girl that applied with 3.5 gpa and got waitlisted. I applied witha 3.2 RD and got accepted. Early action, the admission officers are really not sure how talented the RD pool will be so they tend to waitlist most of the "qualified" and accept the "super talented."</li>
</ul>
<p>In my opinion...applying Early Action or Early Decision is the best way to demonstrate interest. If you sell yourself passionately in your essay(s) and get some good recs... the worst they could do is defer you to RD. </p>
<p>It's up to you. If you can get the app done early, why not apply EA? It won't hurt you to apply early.</p>
<p>Early Decision, well you better be sure that you 100% want Miami.</p>
<p>I want to apply Early Decision, but I don't think I can because of financial reasons. </p>
<p>Is it possible to back out of ED because of financial reasons? What are the effects of backing out?</p>
<p>Because if not, I will apply EA. If I'm not good enough to get in, I'll eventually accept their decision, and just attend another school (even though miami is my #1).</p>
<p>While I'm not sure what the penalty is or whatever for "backing out" of and Early Decision contract... It seems like you'd be better off applying Early Action in your situation. That way, you can weigh the financial options of every school you get into and you don't have to worry about being penalized, withdrawing other apps, etc.</p>
<p>SOCAL, im not sure u can back out. ur supposed to sign a document telling them u will attend and they dont list any conditions. I imagine they would have expected u to look at the tuition before commiting in that way.
However ur sure Miami is ur first choice? Miami is similar to Cali in a way and it might be cheaper for ya to stay in Cali. USC and UCLA are both quite similar. Eitherway if u really like Miami (I personally love the school and the location) then u should visit prior to going ED.</p>
<p>Well I haven't visited the school yet, but I'm 99% sure that Miami is my school.</p>
<p>I've visited both UCLA and USC, and because of the UC gpa (don't count 9th grade and they cap ap's) I can't get into UCLA, and I'm not a fan of USC. Miami seems so much more appealing.</p>
<p>As for my other schools I'm considering Miami, UCSB, Loyola Marymount, University of San Diego, San Diego State, and Arizona State.</p>
<p>And if I don't get into Miami I don't know what I'll do, because it has exactly what i want to major in, and everything about it seems perfect for what I want out of college.</p>
<p>Another thought on applying Early Action - our interviewer suggested that my daughter do so because it is non-binding and more scholarship money is available to the EA candidates than to the RD candidates. Something to think about.</p>
<p><em>Here are my stats in case you're interested</em></p>
<p>GPA: 3.5 UW - 3.75W
PSAT: Predicted 1280 (I'll find out Apr. 4th)
RANK: Top 5-10% out of around 650 students</p>
<p>AP/Honors Classes: HL Pre-Calc, AP Calc, AP US, AP Eng, HL Chem, HL Span 3, AP Eng, AP Stats, AP Gov/Econ, AP Psych.</p>
<p>EC's/Community Service/Awards: Tennis, CSF, Foreign Foods Club (VP), Journalism (Entertainment Editor), Early Academic Outreach Program, Relay 4 Life, Key Club (VP), Random Acts of Kindness Club, Conservation Club, Certificate of Scholastic Achievement, Circle B Athletic Award, Block B Academic Letter, and "Most Consistent Player" - Tennis.</p>
<p>And I should have 1 or 2 great recommendation letters.</p>
<p>Also 2 immediate family members had/have cancer during my high school years. My essay topic is about Relay 4 Life....I will have done it for 5 yrs, and the team I'm on with my high school friends should have raised over 50k dollars.</p>
<p>I also have one major negative. I got a D in Calc one semester, however this semester I have a C, and I'm hoping I can pass the ap test.</p>
<p>What do you guys think my chances are at getting in?</p>
<p>Well thats the thing with a 3.75 ur not gonna get scholly money unless ur really talented in sports or music. Therefore u should apply at the time where u have the highest chance of getting in. However a 3.75 will give u a good chance of getting in. </p>
<p>Here are suggestions for ur app:
- give 3 letters not 1 or 2. I suggest one from ur guidance counselor, a teacher and if u can mayby ur high school principal if he knows u. otherwise get another teacher.
- Write an amazing essay cause UM seriously gives a huge amount of weight on the essay.
- Send a resume with all ur activities
- Finally send them a carrer and academic objectives essay. this one is generally short. half a page on average. I int total sent two essays. the required essaya nd the academic and career objectives. I sent all the stuff i metioned which i know sounds a lot, but again UM loves to see ppl that show effort and determination to go to UM. </p>
<p>Id really think about applying RD. its not a myth, they are more lenient in RD that EA/ED. The big benefit of applying EA is they have more sholarships available, but be realistic, have u seen the scholly requirements. after looking at them, the chance u get scholarship money is doubtful. however the majority of the ppl applying there will be qualified ppl for scholarships with 4.0 averages, which puts u at the bottom of the EA applicant pool. In that case they would defer u and u wont here till Late May. If u apply RD, u will be at the top of the pool and have a better chance of just getting in. Think about it.</p>
<p>^^acarta07 - I will do all of your suggestions, about the essays, recommendations, and essays. And I see your point on the EA/RD debacle. And on usnews.com they have a list of what schools improve/decrease your chance of acceptance by applying early, and UM had a decrease of I think 7%...i don't really remember.</p>
<p>But I think I want to email a UM admissions counselor and ask for their advice.</p>
<p>here's the link it is actually 8%</p>
<p>wow, sweet. I guess I was wrong. if thats the case, apply early :D
lol</p>
<p>I guess you misread my post, but I'm saying you are correct. </p>
<p>If you apply early the acceptance rate is 39%
But if you apply rd the acceptance rate is 47%</p>
<p>SoCal-If you do the regional interview, that would be the time to ask about EA/RD stats. They are usually scheduled at the beginning of your senior year and you will have a clearer picture of your stats by then. S's interviewer was able to get very specific about S's stats and encouraged him to apply EA. </p>
<p>I think your app will be competitive, keep working hard. You should consider a second try at the SAT, it can only help. Your rank and strength of schedule are nice and strong.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info.</p>
<p>The interviews that I'm talking about are next month, but I think I want to wait till my senior year, so I have a clearer picture on my sat scores, and i have a finalized gpa.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help.</p>