<p>Miami remains one of my top picks and I can't believe I will be applying in just a few short months! Question............I have written before my gpa is going to be lowish due to a weak 9th grade year, I was in a private school, had some personal issues and basically it was just a disaster of a year. 10th got better, 11th even better and 12th will be the best to come, I am taking IB classes and doing well, thats the bad news, the good news is my SATs are coming in strong, got a 760M, 600R and 640W, I do plan to bring up the reading and just started a prep class on that. Since my SATS are above the average will this help offset my GPA? I am not applying for aid and neither of my parents went to college, will these two factors help at all? I would be soooo happy to get in and just trying to realistically assess my chances. Thank you!</p>
<p>I think all those factors will be taken into account. Keep working hard and spend some time writing a great essay. I don't think UM asks for recs anymore, but they will read one if submitted. Good luck.</p>
<p>Would you consider going early decision?</p>
<p>the thing with early decision is i want to be able to show as much of my 12 grade year as possible to somewhat make up for my lousy 9th grade year and if i apply ed then i am only showing them like a month or two and then i also think the ed pool is generally more competitive? Any thoughts on that?</p>
<p>My son did early decision and we weren't sure his stats were good enought to get in and he did. So, it seemed as though the ED really helped him....unless they loved his essay. ;)</p>
<p>hi lily do you mean if i ask what his gpa and sat scores were? just curious as to how i compare. Thanks and was his essay really that powerful?</p>
<p>Anewkid, if paying full tuition at UM is gonna hurt u financially and ur just doing it cuz it raises ur chances, then dont do it! look the fact that ur parents didnt go to college will help u. The fact that u are not applying for aid makes little difference. ur financial aid situation dosnt go with ur app, it goes to another office so i suggest u apply for aid. doing so wil not affect ur chances.
As for ur chances: I dont know ur grades. if u got a few D's ur freshamn year, then u should ideally have a lot of A's to back it up and a cum GPA above 3.0. UM does not want any D's. Having them reduces ur chances significantly regardless of SAT scores.
Now if u got a lot of C's freshamn year and since then have shifted to A's and B's, then ushould be in excellent shape. i had a crappy freshman year and i got in a few months ago. However never had a D in high school.
Ur SATS sound great and will definately help u out. U need to write an excellent essay because that essay could ultimately get u in considering ur SAT scores are amazing.
Assuming you had lots of C's freshman year and since then B's and A's, then i would rate ur chances as: 75% chance of getting in.
Assuming u got D's in freshman year: 40% chance. In this case u should have a very good excuse because UM does not want D's. </p>
<p>Oh yea forgot to say: DO NOT do EA/ED. if u look at the stats the percentage of admits RD is a lot higher than those in ED/EA. The thing about UM's EA/ED is that its filled with ppl that have SATS similar to urs and grades a lot higher than urs. u will be in the bottom of that applicant pool and prolly get waitlisted. In the RD pool, you will have SATS way above everyone else and GPA's that are prolly in the bottom of the pool but nevertheless ur cances are a lot higher! i know a ton of friends of mine this year that applied ED with good stats but not excellent stats and got waitlisted. I know ppl like myself with similar stats to them, applied RD and got in. DO NOT go ED/EA. I guarantee u a waitlist response!</p>
<p>Thanks all your points are valid and well taken BUT you are forgetting Michigan DOES NOT consider 9th grade grades, they are not considered nor factored in to the GPA, which helps me TREMENDOUSLY. Between my10 and 11 th grade, I have gotten 1 c mostly B's and a few A's. I have strong ec's and will get great recs. I agree about the ed/ea, I think I will just apply regular plus I can show them more of my "new me" grades in my senior year. Thank you.</p>
<p>"Oh yea forgot to say: DO NOT do EA/ED. if u look at the stats the percentage of admits RD is a lot higher than those in ED/EA. The thing about UM's EA/ED is that its filled with ppl that have SATS similar to urs and grades a lot higher than urs. u will be in the bottom of that applicant pool and prolly get waitlisted. In the RD pool, you will have SATS way above everyone else and GPA's that are prolly in the bottom of the pool but nevertheless ur cances are a lot higher! i know a ton of friends of mine this year that applied ED with good stats but not excellent stats and got waitlisted. I know ppl like myself with similar stats to them, applied RD and got in. DO NOT go ED/EA. I guarantee u a waitlist response!"</p>
<p>Acarta: How do you know this? Is this your hypothesis or published fact? Where can I find those statistics that you refer to? There is no online common data set for UM. Would be very interested to know if this was true.</p>
<p>There is a list on US News about EA/ED schools. And if you apply EA/ED at Miami the acceptance rate is 8% less than RD.</p>
<p>yea Seiclan aside from that fact published by US News, My School counselor has told me the same thing.
Moreover, I know several ppl who applied ED/EA with stats like myn that got waitlisted or rejected.
I just think it makes sense. When the majority of the applicants apply in Feb, they dont wanna take all the ED applicants because they dont know how good the RD pool is. they will take the few that are sure shots that they can almost assure themselves will not be better than the RD applicants. the rest will probably be waitlisted to see how competetive the RD pool is.</p>
<p>Anwekid, btw, reading wat u sed bout Michigan is really good news for u. If Michigan dosnt factor it in then u should be in descent shape. im guessing ur gpa is a 3.3-3.5. not bad. its not great but again, ur gpa was never meant to be the shiny part of ur app. Ur sats will be. and based on ur sat scores and ok gpa u should get in to UM. I would not reccommend u apply ED/EA. if u apply RD im pretty sure ur gonna get in.</p>
<p>Acarta: My daughter, a junior at a competitive private school, has stats a lot like yours. Do you believe that she has a much better chance of admission in the RD pool? Her GPA is a 3.6W (3.4UW).</p>
<p>My son had similar SAT scores as you but his gpa was a higher. He applied ED and got in. His essay was really good. You might want to consider writing about any hardships you suffered in your freshman year. I'm surprised to hear that others are not recommending ED.</p>
<p>Seiclan. It would depend on her SAT scores. however a 3.4/3.6 is not bad at all. I remember when i spoke to an admissions counselor back in August, they told me UM was looking at an A- average (3.5). the thing is they are also looking for very competetive SAT scores.
I had lower gpas than what they were looking for and a barely competetive SAT score (1700). I applied RD and got in. big surprise :D
now here is what helped a lot and i suggest ur daughter does likewise:
I submitted 4 letters of reference from very impressive sources (owner of my private school, director of high school, guidance counselor, English teacher).
I also sent 3 essays:
- the required one
- personal statement stating why UM is my dream school and how UM has an excellent program and is such a great school. I basically made UM look like an Ivy League school and showed them how interested I was in being a part of that.
- my academic and career goals essay</p>
<p>Finally i also sent them a resume of my extensive list of Ec's. </p>
<p>I basically sent them a major file that showed them even though i didnt have a 4.0 i had a descent SAT scores and a very attitude and potential. etc...
they dont want ppl that see UM as a safety school. they want to admit ppl that really want to go there and are interesting candidates. not just good students. in my case i lived in 4 countries and wrote about that in my essay. </p>
<p>ur daughter has good chances if she applies RD. if she goes ED her SAT scores better be very high (ideally a 1750-1800 range). Her gpa might be a bit too low for ED but if u want ED go ahead. if u apply in RD ur daughter has about a 60% chance which is pretty strong.</p>
<p>hi thanks for the all the advice above, its well taken. I think between what you all are suggesting and what I am hearing outside, I am going to apply RD. I think its a great idea as suggested above to also submit a seperate essay indicating why i want to go there and can easily get recs from good people, two teachers, my counselor and the person who is the coordinator for my comm. service. ALthough i think my GPA will be lower like a 3.3 or 3.4 I will have SATs between 2000-2100, well above the norm. SO given the above info, how do all you "experts" rank my chances? I am also interested in BU, Miami,NYU and BC as my dream school. Thanks guys!!</p>
<p>nice list!
BU And NYU dont really have a campus so be aware of that. I personally dont like BU and NYU for undergrad cause theres no campus life but i love it for grad school. BC is nice though. Anyways back to chances:</p>
<p>with a 2000 u should get into most.
- NYU: 65%
- BC: 60%
- UM: 70%
- BU: 75%</p>
<p>if ur gpa were a lil higher ur chances would go up but their still pretty strong chances of getting in.</p>
<p>Make sure you have some safeties. None of the schools on your list are a sure bet and I think acarta's estimates are a bit high. My S had a bit higher stats and was waitlisted at BC (his dream also) and accepted EA at UMiami among others. Class rank will definitely come into play and your upward trend is a real positive. Still, I would consider these schools reaches.</p>
<p>Keep working hard and really polish your essays. You will have a shot at these schools, but please find some safeties and matches where you can also be happy. Good luck.</p>
<p>hmm yea but Boston there arent that many safeties i can think off. Suffolk would be a safety but the school isnt that good. NYC i can think of a few.
St. Johns, Fordham, Manhattanville.</p>
<p>I know the above is by no means my complete list, I do have safties, and of course realize the above are a gamble, not a guarantee. But I am going to go for it and shoot for the moon! I am still looking at schools as we speak so until the end of the summer, I am sure my list will continue to change. Thanks guys!</p>