<p>I'm an African American male from SoCal living in a single-parent, low income household. I will be a senior in the fall.</p>
<p>I plan on majoring in business (finance preferably; possibly economics).</p>
<p>Stats:
- Cumulative GPA: 3.44 (RL issues freshman and sophomore year; I'll elaborate on my applications. Everyone says I have "a story to tell." Junior year GPA: 3.64) Senior year GPA will hopefully be a 3.8-4.2. School doesn't rank percentage-wise.
- ACT: 30
- 4 honors courses and 1 AP course - all math classes; taking Honors Precalculus and AP Statistics for senior year. I've taken Public Speaking and Spanish III at my local Community College and earned A's in both; taking Introduction to Business this summer.
- I've been a professional actor with an agent since I was 5 1/2 months old. Since then I've established a pretty long resume and been in numerous TV shows, commercials, billboards, print ads, etc. I have an agent and am currently on the IMDB website.
- Starting a non-profit organization for lung cancer patients who don't receive the right treatment due to not having medical insurance (in memory of my favorite aunt).
- I'm in NHS and CSF.
- I've been part of a Church youth group since I was about 3 that goes out to witness to the homeless and people in poverty-stricken communities.
- I've been in a ton of church plays and musicals.
- Will have great essays and recommendations.</p>
<p>Those are my stats, for the most part. How difficult do you think it would be to get in?</p>
<p>Hi Baddy. I’ve written to you before on the other thread. My son was accepted to U of M last year. I am betting most posters on the U of M board will tell you that with your stats you could be quite a reach out of state. But if your hook is significant enough, you could stand a chance, particularly if you’re applying to something portfolio based such as the theater bfa program. Only 14% of admitted freshman have GPAs lower than 3.6 at U Mich, and some of those (most) are from very well-regarded private schools or rigorous programs. You may be viewed as light on APs and U of M wants to see lots of rigor in your course load. Again, a professional program (eg. fine arts) may judge it a little differently if a significant amount of your time has been devoted to acting. If you are a serious musical theater candidate, then you are in better shape (b/c the baseline academic qualifier is lower if the talent is highly competitive…but not too low : ).</p>
<p>Most importantly, you should know that U of M does NOT meet full need for out of state students and it is highly unlikely that it would be an affordable option without outside resources, substantial loans, or other scholarships. That said, it’s always worth a try…in the highly rare case, U of M can also be very generous with talent-based programs. OOS cost of attendance is about $46,000 a year I believe. This is precisely the kind of financial issue to which I was referring on the other thread. Even if you received a generous package, eg. $20,000 grant, $5500 pell, $5500 max govt student loans, you’d still have a $15,000 gap to meet each year. That would be rough for a single parent family to absorb. That is why your UCs and fiscal safeties are critical, and why you want to have that conversation with your mom.
Cheers,
K</p>
<p>PS - -If you’re referring to the Ross business school, you are talking about a phenomenal reach. Entrance is very competitive and your GPA and rigor will make a big difference. Calculate your GPA without your freshman year included, and ONLY include academic courses. Then you will know your MI GPA.</p>
<p>thrown in an application, and do it early. It doesn’t cost much, you might be surprised at how much more attractive OOS applicants are becoming because of the higher revenue they bring in. I think UMich may look at applicants more “holistically” than some believe.</p>
<p>I would still apply. I think UMich puts a lot more weight on the application essays than most people realize, because I’m from out of state and got into LSA (and am excitedly attending) with only a 3.6 UMich GPA and a 29 ACT. So you never know what they are looking for. It can’t hurt to apply.</p>
<p>Whoa, whoa, whoa. Michigan likes people who have a story to tell. Few universities care as much about having students with different experiences as Michigan does, and if I were you, I would definitely apply. It’s certainly worth a shot. You have several unique things about you that will help you on your app - being an actor? Having started your own non-profit org, rather than just volunteered? These are things Michigan looks for.</p>
<p>Baddy, I am not suggesting you keep U of M off your list at all. I think it’s entirely possible that with your unique features you’d have a decent shot, and I agree that U of M is very holistic in its assessment. But because of our discussion on the other thread about safeties and your mom’s insistence on your applying to Harvard etc. with no safeties, plus my comment about the need for a financial reality check in the mom-aisle and the fact that you’re in-state for the UCs, I am letting you know NOT to regard Michigan as a safety either fiscally or statistically. Which is NOT to say you’re not a fit! So do apply – it’s an awesome school – but apply with your eyes wide open.
Cheers,
K</p>
<p>“I think UMich puts a lot more weight on the application essays than most people realize”</p>
<p>hmmm… you sure? A way overqualified kid (3.6, 2300s type) from my high school decided to do an experiment. He applied to many top publics with essays that do not make any sense… just random words put together. He got into U of M with a huge merit scholarship…along with a UC (I think LA…maybe SD i dont remember) among others… interpret it however way you want</p>
<p>I don’t consider it a safety in the least. To be honest, I think it’d be a reach. Like… a super reach. Not an ivy league reach, but a big reach nonetheless.</p>
<p>Although UM is a university devoted to in state people, but they are good with FA for out of state students, they give full rides to many OOS students</p>
<p>"A 3.6 gpa is a way overqualified student from your high school? WOW! "</p>
<p>I dont know if you are trying to be sarcastic or not (and you probably arent), but yes, you will pretty much get into at least an ivy with chance of getting into HYPS with that kind of gpa. but bare in mind we graduate like 1 actual 4.0 kid every few years in senior classes of 180 kids and less than 10 with 3.7+ every year so put that in perspective (the grading scale is wierd and the way they do honor roll is complicated so the numbers are rough) and that is out of a preselected group of students who about 80% will end up at either ivies or top universities/LACs</p>
<p>anyway, he was just on a mission to prove that the effort we put into essays is not well spent at certain schools</p>
<p>"Are the full rides only for National Merit Scholars and people like that? "</p>
<p>no. i think the most common full rides are shipman… and i dont think you have to be NMS to get it. but i dont think you should get your hopes up for scholarship.</p>
<p>I remember when I applied to colleges, I was gonna do the same for wharton. My college advisor told me, “YOU NEVER KNOW IF YOU NEVER TRY”. And I ended up getting in. I didn’t end up going there, but that taught me a good lesson in life. You should think about it that way.</p>
<p>^ ur thinking is…a bit faulty. there’s nothing to lose!
sure michigan doesn’t provide 45k, but it does help out alot, even for OOS students. you can apply first(use a fee waiver if possible), get in, and then compare financial packages with ur other schools. then decide.</p>
<p>and u can always take out some loans on ur part too</p>
<p>…coming from someone who applied to michigan on the last day(dont do it, apply early)</p>
<p>Ren is right. If you get to the point where you apply, get accepted, and get anything close to reasonable for financial aid–then you can decide to cross it off your list if you need to. But I wouldn’t even do that before I visited the campus ,once I was accepted.</p>