MSU, UMich, UWis, UIUC...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm doing a "chance me" post because of my academic situation. I'm wary of my not-so-good gpa but wondering if my large improvement in grades for my junior year would help me get into the schools I wanted. I regret not putting my best effort in freshmen and sophomore year. I know that I have the academic ability to do well in most of these colleges, but unfortunately on paper it doesn't show. I'm also taking a rigorous schedule for senior year to help in my admissions. Any comments and suggestions to other schools would be great. Thanks</p>

<p>Colleges Applying To:
University of Michigan, University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin: Madison, University of Illinois: Chicago, Michigan State University, Marquette, Boston University, Northeastern University, Northwestern, and Loyola University of Chicago</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.19 </p>

<p>Weighted GPA (5pt. scale): 3.71 </p>

<p>*In my Junior year, my weighted GPA was 4.1 and my unweighted was 3.5 which was A's and B's in all honors and AP classes except for regular Pre-Calc</p>

<p># of AP/honor courses:
3 AP/7 honors out of 18 classes which exclude P.E. and health but includes orchestra </p>

<p>*In Senior year, I'll be taking AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English 4, AP Econ, AP Calc, and Symphonic Orchestra (plus P.E.)</p>

<p>Class Rank/Size:<br>
top 14% out of roughly 500 students</p>

<p>ACT: 33 Composite </p>

<p>SAT Subject: 710 U.S. History
600 Math II (yeah...I probably won't send that)</p>

<p>AP Scores: 3 AP Euro, 4 AP English, 4 AP U.S.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Spanish Club - 4 years
Cross Country - 1 year
Tennis - 4 years (2 JV/ 2 Varsity)
- Co-Captain Varsity for 2 years
Orchestra for HS Variety Show - 2 years
National Honor Society - 1 year
Tri-M (Music honor society) - 3 years
Teacher's Assistant for Summer Program for Kids: 3 years (roughly 180 hours)
Basketball Team for a Korean American Chicago Youth League: 4 years
(placed 1st and 3rd in the last 3 years)</p>

<p>Honors/Awards:
Academic - Excellence in History Award (for A students)
Athletic - IHSA Athlete Scholar Award</p>

<p>Other Information:
1st generation college student
From a low-income family
My first choice was going to be University of Michigan because of the rigor of a student's schedule as a "very important admission factor." I'm not sure now because of the financial cost. I also want to go into pre-med studies with psychology as being my major.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/images/UW_FreshmanExpectations.pdf[/url]”>http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/images/UW_FreshmanExpectations.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
[Freshmen</a> Admission Profile | Michigan State University Office of Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.msu.edu/admission/freshmen_profile.asp]Freshmen”>http://admissions.msu.edu/admission/freshmen_profile.asp)
[Office</a> of Undergraduate Admissions: About Michigan](<a href=“http://www.admissions.umich.edu/about/]Office”>Explore & Visit | University of Michigan Office of Undergraduate Admissions)
<a href=“http://www.pb.uillinois.edu/Documents/frprofile/profp1.pdf[/url]”>http://www.pb.uillinois.edu/Documents/frprofile/profp1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The above links give you and idea of your competition. I suggest visiting your other schools and searching for “freshman profile” to see who’s getting admitted where.</p>

<p>First the good news, a 33 ACT puts you at or near the 75th%-tile of many of your schools. Also, a top 15% rank with a 3.19 implies that your school has some rigor. I think you have fair to good chances at UIC, BU, Northeastern, Loyola and Marquette.</p>

<p>The bad news is of course the 3.19. that number is going to put you at or below the 25th%-tile at many of the schools on your list.</p>

<p>I think Michigan and MSU are "No"s since your OOS. The chart from Wisconsin implies that you have a 50-70% chance of a yes - but I don’t know how strong OOS fin aid is. Realistically it’s highly unlikely that you’ll get an acceptance at Northwestern.</p>

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<p>Alright thanks. Is there circumstances where essays can play a big role?</p>

4

<p>Public schools tend to be more numbers driven than private schools; this seems to have only gotten worse as the economy soured and applications jumped at some state schools. A great set of essays will help but they probably can’t overcome huge GPA/Test issues. Personally I think essays will help your chances at Loyola, BU and Marquette. I think your GPA is too low for Northwestern regardless.</p>

5

<p>Yeah. I know it was a long shot. Thanks for replying though</p>