My counselor told me I shouldn’t “waste [my] time and energy by applying to the University of Michigan.” While I respect his advice, I think I have a decent chance of getting in. So, I want to apply and see what happens. Will my counselor know if I apply there?
Thanks!
If you have to submit recommendations, transcripts, etc. through the school, yes they will know.
Ugh, alright, thanks.
I’d still encourage you to apply, though. It’s not like the counselor can refuse to send your transcripts. That’s their job, and if they don’t fulfill their duties you would have a very legitimate complaint against your school.
Yeah, I know; I just didn’t want to deal with him lol.
While I understand that GCs try to “keep it real” for their students, I fail to see why a GC would advise to “not waste your time”. As long as kids have a complete list of colleges, including reach, match, and safety, what harm does it do to apply? As longs as kids go in with eyes wide open and are willing to write the application and pay the app fee, then it’s not the GCs place to say things like this IMHO.
That’s what I think! I understand his concern, but, in the end, there’s no harm in me applying.
@woah16 I know exactly what you mean – our GC has biases. For example, apparently Bates, Colby, and Bowdoin HATE our school so there’s “no point in applying.” I know GCs can have a lot of experience and really need to manage expectations, but if the numbers etc are there, it’s up to the student, I feel.
Yes, the GC for sure would know which schools you are applying. After all, it is us to you to decide which school to apply. I think the GC is just giving you some reality advise. I know a student got accepted by Stanford with totally out of range stat but quadruple legacy. So sometimes the GC may not know all the details. Anyway, with GPA 3.91 and ACT 30, your chance is low but not without a chance.
I know my chances are low, but they’re in the range (GPA is above their average, ACT is at the bottom 25%) according to UMich’s senior admissions officer. However, I think it would’ve been better handled if he had said, “It’s not likely, but it’s possible. Just don’t get your hopes up.” Unless it’s detrimental to the student (few things ever are), why discourage applying? It doesn’t cost him anything, it doesn’t cost me anything (fee waivers are awesome!), and the worst that’ll happen is a rejection. Again, I appreciate my counselor’s concern and wanting to be realistic, but there is a decent chance and it hurts literally nobody if I apply and (God forbid) get rejected.
Thank you for your answers!
So the ACT is how they can really compare you to the rest of the applicant pool. GPA is subjective, your HS could have grade inflation. The test score is the measure against which they can really compare across the pool. The bottom 25% is mostly going to be hooked applicants – athletes, URMs, legacies, etc. Your GC knows this and is probably just trying to get you to focus your admissions efforts more on matches. And it does take them some time to send the materials. That said, they probably will send the materials you need them to if you apply. So go ahead if you want to, but like your GC, I hope you have realistic matches & sateties you would be happy to attend.
Of course I do. I didn’t say UMich is the only college I’m applying to.
There are indeed some surprised admissions at UMich from OOS reported in this forum this year that have lower stat than you. So do give it a try.