<p>I think that all you can tell your daughter is that you love her, and that you’re proud of her accomplishments. That based on other admissions she was clearly qualified to go there, but unfortunately, the school has more qualified applicants than positions. Make her feel that you’re completely on board with M St., do some research, find good things to share about that school, and let her know that if she wants to transfer that’s great, but if she decides to stay at Mich St for 4 years, that’s great too. Most important, don’t let her think that she’s let you down or disappointed you in any way.</p>
<p>Other than that, what’s happened to your daughter is a major disappointment to her. There’s no way around that, and nothing you can say to make the sense of disappointment go away. It’s a life lesson (we all have major disappointment at some point in our lives) and we have to learn to make the best of things and go forward. </p>
<p>Finally, though your D doesn’t realize this yet, in the grand scheme of things, where one goes to college is far less important than just about anyone who posts here thinks. In this case, I think if you look, you’ll see many distinguished Mich St. Alums. Many students admitted to Med School and any other graduate school you can think of. Many Mich St. alums are successful in all endeavors. </p>
<p>Now, here’s the hard part. If it were my child, I would not push for her to appeal the decision at UM (her chances are slim at best). Again, it’s important for her to know that you’re proud of where she did get into. I think the sooner she accepts the decision and gets the grieving over with (and that’s a natural way to deal with a major disappointment), the sooner she can start to realize how lucky she really is and to begin to get excited about where she is going.</p>
<p>live4physicz- Please stop going through everything I said, trying to prove that I fabricated my GPA when you asked. It makes me feel a little creeped out that someone is reading everything I ever wrote before because you can definitely piece together my identity from everything I’ve given out before. It’s probably my own fault for giving out so much but sometimes I couldn’t help it when I’m trying to get the most accurate view possible on my situation. I admit that I did combine my ACT with someone else’s (who didn’t get in) GPA to make my story seem stronger and more sympathetic but that was to try and make the poster’s daughter feel better. I felt like she would have felt better seeing a stronger candidate get rejected rather than weaker. I apologize for fabricating my GPA but I would really appreciate if you would also stop reading all my previous comments. </p>
<p>In case anybody wants to know, I got waitlisted and rejected with a 3.64(UW) and 33 ACT and the person’s GPA that I borrowed did with a 3.70 (UW) and 29 ACT.</p>
<p>It’s best not to lie in the first place. Providing misleading information may be disconcerting to future applicants (such as myself) with 3.7 GPAs. That’s the only reason I was concerned about it. (Although, my ACT is a 35)</p>
<p>I also appreciate anthonyxy21’s story. He took some time to write it and I suspect it was helpful to the OP. If some of the details aren’t accurate, so what? That doesn’t change that the overall story is relevant and helpful.</p>
<p>I also gave out too much information about myself early on posting on CC. Live and learn.</p>
<p>“That said, I feel that a candidate who is performing at a high level at MSU may be slightly more desirable to admissions.”</p>
<p>Believe it or not, this may not actually be true. I talked directly with a UM admissions counsellor who put it this way: UM values Community College students who 1) take classes that are acceptable and transfer to UM, and 2) do exceptionally well at these classes. UM, as a state supported instutition, realizes that part of their commitment to the State of Michigan is to educate their students, and students enrolled at two year community colleges need to transfer SOMEWHERE for their third and fourth years. A student enrolled at MSU, or any other four year college, already has a place to attend in years three and four. All things being equal, this individual in admission said UM has more of an interest in taking QUALIFIED students from Michigan community colleges over transfers from four year schools. There are exceptions both ways, but the CC route–assuming you have a high GPA and transferable classes–is a good road to pursue. It is also true that ACT scores are weighted less for transfers, as admissions puts a weighted value on semesters of college work they have to evaluate–in general, college coursework will be more difficult than high school coursework. I was told directly that ACT scores are primarily used to measure the ability of high schools students and “predict” how well they will perform in college–UM is not as interested in ACT scores in transfer applications. Three or four semester of college level work, even at a community college, are the primary determinate…just make sure you are taking UM transferable courses and you do exceptionally well at these courses.</p>
<p>Snacky, it’s completely true that umich is both duty-bound and even participates in an agreement with state ccs to accept transfer students. There are I believe about 1200 transfer spots available and I might be misremembering but I think they get two to three times that number of transfer applicants. (or maybe the total is 1200, I did read it once but can’t recall.) however, from a parents perspective I am not sure it would be the healthiest choice to encourage a daughter to forego the residential college experience at an excellent research university in order to continue to pursue what might be a temporary preference, when mich state has such a rich student life and so many opportunities for scholarship. While we are fortunate to have so many excellent community colleges in Michigan, I would not put the level of rigor on parr with Msu. </p>
<p>So pretend that you’re an admissions counselor for a moment again and think about getting a transfer app from someone who does not have any economic reason or substandard high school gpa/act to overcome, both factors which you know rationalize a community college route and then ask yourself the popular umich question – did this student take the most rigorous coursework available to them?
It’s equally possible this would factor in.
I personally know both types of transfer student, so it seems obvious to me that they accept both. One who transferred with a high gpa from another four year program still had to “recalibrate” his concept of academic performance when he got to umich. So from a parent’s perspective, given that helping her get over the rejection, I’m not sure it makes any sense to say 'stay home and go to a cc while your best pals head off to umich this fall so that you have a better chance to get in later —unless that’s what the student actually wants to do. To my mind, it would be better to SHOW her that life goes on by encouraging her to make the MOST of the academic and social opportunities that await her at a great research university – and then hope that she either enjoys it or at least equips herself for the rigor ahead if she transfers. Just mho. At the same time, if she prefers to stay home or if that fits the family finances, equally fine. But I think it might further exacerbate the sense of unfulfilled expectations and disappointment or failure if there is not a presiding necessity to do so. The general rule of thumb is to seek the highest level of rigor and achievement you can afford ;)</p>
<p>One quck addition – remember that employers at competitive companies review transcripts that tell the whole story. So just “getting a umich degree” does not really give an advantage unless your actual coursework at umich is strong. If I am looking at a candidate that’s a cc transfer and then performs at a 2.5 level at umich, that resume is not stronger than a higher performing msu transcript with four years worth of relative rigor, honors courses and a 3.5 gpa. Hr folks really do consider these variables, and many others. Your umich graduating gpa will be institution specific as well. So a transfer student ideally want the best prep available to succeed.</p>
<p>Your points are well taken, but when the rubber meets the road, this scenario does happen. There are some students who choose CC for financial reason, some for social reasons, some who are not sure they are ready to the four-year college experience. But CC students who can be accepted as transfers to UM could, in all likelihood, have been admitted to MSU directly out of HS. The assumption that merely going to MSU will trump going to a CC is not necessarily valid. The cirriculum chosen and the student’s success in those classes (yes, we mean GPA) will weight heavily on UM’s decision. Numbers from a couple of years ago had approx. 3000 transfer applicants, with about 1100+ admittances. I am not suggesting that the student referred to in the OP follow this, I just wanted to clarify that UM does take this into consideration. In the end, every student (and their families who may be paying) have to make their own decisions about what experience they are looking for. If, and this is a BIG “if”, the goal of the OP was to eventually attend UM as an undergraduate and graduate with a UM degree, I still think the odds may be slightly in her favor with an excllent performance at a CC. Because the competition level at a CC will most likely not be as rigorous as at a four year university (I’m painting with a broad brush, I know), a 3.9 at a CC may translate to a 3.6 or 3.7 elsewhere. Considering that UM does attempt to “place” qualified CC students somewhere in years three and four, I believe there is a edge with the CC route. Of course, if you can go to MSU and get a 3.8 or 3.9, go for it–but there is a reasonable chance that if you did not get into UM as a freshman, acheiving this level of GPA at MSU may be a bit of a reach…and without high numbers in your first two years of college, the barrier to admittance as a transfer to UM “may” be steeper.</p>