<p>I am a junior in high school, and I have been inconsistent with extracurriculars. I did cheerleading and track and field freshman year, lacrosse sophomore year, and am doing track again this year, as well as volunteering at a hospital, and participating in a group that reads to preschool-aged children. My weighted GPA is a 3.9 and I have had a less than stellar year in Physics Honors and AP English Language, with C's in both. I haven't taken my SAT or ACT yet, but will take them in January and February, respectively. What can I do besides improve my grades that would greatly improve my chances of being accepted?</p>
<p>Based on what you have right now, you’re fine… though depending on the results of physics and english, that may change. Then again, the admissions office realizes that those are hard courses. Just be sure to do well on the SAT or ACT. Unfortunately you can’t go back and change your extracurriculars now to have been more consistent… were you especially involved in any of the extracurriculars, such that you bonded with a member of the faculty at your school? If so, be sure to keep up the relationship with that person so they can right you a stellar (yes I just said stellar) letter of recommendation.</p>
<p>As much as UM’s admissions process is extremely holistic, the most important things at nearly any university are GPA and SAT. If you do well on the SAT, the sky is the limit at this point.</p>
<p>I made the district team and was the most improved Field Athlete for track and field and received a varsity letter for it. My track and cheerleading coaches would definitely vouch for me, but my lacrosse coach ignored me so she wouldn’t have many things to say about me.</p>
<p>high gpa is def a must. so pull your grades up. and get good sats because stats will land you scholarship invites. I had 4.0 23xx SAT and virtually no EC and still got accepted with scholarship. do your best!</p>
<p>Shoot for a 1350+ M+CR on the SAT (maybe 1380+ if your GPA goes below 3.8), and you’re in; maybe with the 16,000 scholarship, too.</p>
<p>I plan to work really hard this semester and I take my SAT on the 28th. Wish me luck!</p>
<p>I’ve been told that I’m definitely in, and I have a lower GPA than you (~3.7). But my ACT scores are supposedly what gets me in (35). Just study hard, I recommend the online course, it really helped me. Some of my friends have used learning centers to take prep courses. Also, my college counselor told me colleges love to see congruency on your app - basically it looks better to have gone really deep into a couple of similar EC’s than to have dipped your feet in all over the board and never stuck with anything. For instance, I have a friend who wants to go pre-med - she volunteered at a hospital every summer, participated in a summer medical forum program, joined the future physicians club at school, etc. </p>
<p>I also recommend doing a summer program for something you love! Check out gobroadreach.com, they have some great ones that pertain to sailing, diving, language immersion, marine biology, wilderness medicine, etc. I did one last summer and it was amazing!</p>