<p>My son had a weak start to 9th grade for a host of reasons. However he has since been on a real upward trend each year and in his senior year is in a rigorous IB curriculum and challenging himself. His GPA is low though, 3.0ish, 9th grade really brought him down, but with his senior grades that will partialy be factored in it will be a bit better. His SAT's are 1990 and he just took the SAT 2's so don't know those scores yet. Neither of us graduated from college and he is from a mixed cultural background. GREAT essay, strong recs, good all around nice kid. He loved Vanderbilt and unexpectedly decided to apply. Also has nice ec's..he applied regular. Does itsound like he stands a chance? His current curriculum:
IB PHYSICS, IB MATH, IB HISTORY HIGH, IB ENGLISH HIGH, IB PSYCHOLOGY, IB COMPUTER TECH, he is presently earning all A's and B's with one borderline C in psychology.</p>
<p>FYI: there are still a ton of people with fairly high GPA's and SAT's/ACT's that have not heard yet from Early Response.(above 3.5 UM GPA/>1400 SAT)....Not meaning to discourage you, but if they are deferred/rejected, I don't think your s will have a chance.......9th grade, btw, doesn't count for UMich, only 10th & 11th for UM GPA......Sorry I couldn't be more encouraging.....</p>
<p>I agree, GPA is their most important factor in admissions, and most everyone applying thinks they have great essays, recs, and ECs. and, most of them are pretty good kids too. He should definitely still apply, bc maybe his essays are once-in-a-lifetime, but just know that there are tons of good schools out there, and many of them are not as strenuous admissions-wise as Michigan.</p>
<p>The good news...Michigan doesn't look at Freshman grades when calculating often refered to as "UM GPA". Bad news...it's the only state in the country (I think) where racial background of the applicant is not taken into consideration. I DO think they are figuring ways around this new state law and I DO think the first generation thing is a good hook and could help.</p>
<p>Are you in state? That would certianly help. Maybe if you recalculate the GPA with only sophmore and junior years and then only the academic classes (no health, gym, business etc..) you'll see his GPA is significantly higher from a U of M standpoint?</p>
<p>I think the smartest applicants are those who have a "Hail Mary" school, a couple reach, maybe 5 "matches" and a safety or two (that he'd be OVER qualified for and surpasses the 75th percentile over their median numbers.</p>
<p>That said, he should apply to Michigan...but don't bank on him getting accepted...if he does think how thrilled you'll all be! In the meantime do your research and find some schools that might interest him where he falls in the ballpark numbers wise.</p>
<p>best of Luck</p>