What are my chances for the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts? I applied like october 21 and i still haven’t heard back so now i’m starting to stress:) here are my stats and extra fun stuff:
I am in IN-state (senior at mounds view high school in arden hills)
GPA
UW: 3.42
W: 3.47
ACT: 24
3 APs
AP English Lang and Comp
AP Psychology
AP US Gov and Politics
Extracurriculars:
Dance team: 9th-12th grade, captain senior year.
Mental health awareness club: 11th&12th grade
Leadership club: 11th&12th grade
I’ve worked at Caribou since May 2017
Extra stuff:
I wrote 3 essays (the 2 optional short answers on the common app and one common app essay)
3 letters of rec
I have an aunt who works at the U and I have 4+ legacy family members.
I know that they don’t look at just your stats, but I am a very average student and feel very inferior compared to all the 3.9. GPAs and 32+ ACT scores. Thanks for reading this! Honesty is appreciated.
They do review the entire application but they put the most emphasis on academic performance, course rigor, class rank, and test scores. Given your stats, CLA might be a reach, so it’s possible that your decision won’t be released until sometime in January.
What is your planned major?
I’m undecided, but leaning towards political science. My school doesn’t rank and I have heard things from other students that since my school is in the top 10 in MN they are more inclined to accept people from those particular schools.
@sas22001199 - did you happen to specify a backup major and college, such as something in CEHD?
No, I did not. I didn’t want to put down a college that I didn’t want to study in and then go through the transfer process. I really do not think that they are looking for an entire class of 30+ ACTs and 4.0’s. They are a university that actively seeks for diversity, whether that be academically, socially, or ethnically. CLA is relatively not as competitive in comparison with CBS, CSE, or Carlson.
^ Agree in all respects regarding CLA and you are correct that Admissions is very familiar with the area high schools and their curriculum. The following link might help you out since it provides percentiles for class rank and test scores.
https://www.oir.umn.edu/student/characteristics
Basically anything below the 25th percentile is generally considered a reach. I found it interesting that 75% of incoming students to CLA have a class rank in the top 25% of their class, and that 99% are in the top 50%. Because UMN knows your school so well, class rank will be very important information for them (if your district provides it - some don’t). Course rigor will be important as well. Less “important” but by no means ignored would be things like a first generation status, affiliation with the university through family, some characteristic or talent that contributes to the diversity of the community, etc. Your letters of rec. and essays will also help, even if not strictly required. Admissions states that they read every part of every application.
CEHD was mentioned as a backup in case your heart was set on the U for sure (selecting a less selective college will increase the chances for admission to the university). More importantly, your guidance counselor will have the best assessment of your chances so nothing here should substitute for that. Also, you can quickly look at the UMN scattergram on Naviance (if your school subscribes) and see whether your GPA/ACT combo is in the green territory. If it is, then you probably won’t have much to worry about.
Good luck to you!
^ Fantastic news! Congratulations!