Need more safeties/matches

<p>My dream school is umich, but due to the fact that they put so much emphasis on grades, I need more matches and safeties and some more realistic reaches.</p>

<p>Grades went from 3.1 freshman year to a 3.67 junior year for a 3.4ish UW cumulative. Michigan GPA is around a 3.3 UW. Took all AC and AP classes. Graduating with 9-10 AP's.</p>

<p>35 ACT
2310 SAT</p>

<p>I won't list all my EC's but lets just say that my ECs are the strongest part of my application. A couple international level EC's, several national level EC's and numerous state/regional level EC's. 4 president/VP positions. EC's show passion in business.</p>

<p>Excellent recs
connections with professors at michigan
instate at michigan
Low income (EFC = O)</p>

<p>Assume good SAT II scores and a 4.0 senior year (taking all AP classes, but most of them are blowoff AP classes for our school. (teachers))</p>

<p>Applying early as hell for michigan.</p>

<p>currently:</p>

<p>Indiana
Michigan
Michigan State
Emory
University of Chicago
Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>chances?
suggestions?</p>

<p>Wow..u have killer scores!!! i think Syracuse would def. take u. u might want to apply to Northwestern too. Umichigan should def. take someone like you with those scores..</p>

<p>Go to your dream school and have fun. Your in easy.</p>

<p>yea chill dog you should be fine.</p>

<p>that SAT helps you a whole lot</p>

<p>I really really REALLY don't anticipate umich rejecting you. If you're looking for merit scholarships from them, you might be disappointed, but if you only want to be accepted, I think you've got it in the bag.</p>

<p>you should be in at umich esp. if you apply early</p>

<p>you didnt say what you want in a school... if you're just talking about similar schools... wisconsin? indiana is an EXTREME safety. although at these OOS schools, they dont guarantee to meet need... that SAT should get you in</p>

<p>Yeah you should have abs. no problems getting into UMich but if you want other options i would also suggest SU.</p>

<p>You didn't mention whether you took the PSAT. Your SAT scores suggest that you could pole vault the Michigan cutoff (209-211?) in September. If you are a NM semifinalist, it will open many doors, as well as your AP schedule and rising grades. Your freshman grades while not inspiring, are a fact of life and many schools outside the Ivies actively recruit NMF/NMS (with $). Of course, some schools are so numbers oriented that they can't get their heads out, but that's a Darwin award to me anyway (if they are that asinine now...). Get the fall 4.0, you should see an attitude adjustment if anyone (good counselor) talks with them. If NMSF, see <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=200819%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=200819&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=74297&page=8&pp=15%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=74297&page=8&pp=15&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>For some second tier schools you could probably turn pro w/o NMF. i.e. one d got a big SAT score and finished calculus at 15 as a soph (blew PSAT tho'). Only applied to 4 LACs, but didn't want the (premed) stress of a real headknocker (top 20 U). Had repeated competitive merit f/a offers, one going over 20k/yr, last 3 "rebids" in the mailbox, noon May 1 (I admit to adding two of these schools for the $). She chose in part by f/a but not the highest, is shopping good med schools later this summer. </p>

<p>Outside the top 20 nat'l schools your 9-10 APs will get instant attention (another d blew SAT, no time for another try too many ECs etc, but Val + 11 APs opened a number of doors with few questions, EFC<1000, several kids in college at once), almost went music but goes to a top LAC. 6-7 AP-years is about average in much of the top 20. If a school reacts strongly positively at first blush, good odds on $ interest, a so-what attitude suggests future issues to me (the parent). YMMV.</p>

<p>With an EFC like that, look for schools that guarantee to meet 100% of your need, particularly schools that are need-blind. Do you care much about location? Indiana won't be able to meet your need 100% as I don't think you will qualify for one of their full ride scholarships. Also take Carnegie Mellon off, they are stingy with aid. Why is Chicago on there? They don't have UG business, and if I remember correctly, you wanted business? </p>

<p>Good B-Schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need: Michigan meets 100% of in-state applicants. State will too, but in PLUS loans. Virginia could be a MATCH for you. North Carolina is a REACH, but an attainable reach. Georgetown, Cornell, Washington USTL.</p>

<p>What was your UM GPA again? With a 3.4 and a 35, it's almost a safety. That 35 will open doors to a lot of those competitive schools.</p>

<p>SUGGESTED SCHOOLS:
Michigan
Michigan State
Virginia
North Carolina
Georgetown
Cornell
Washington U</p>

<p>Oh and a couple "dreams" to think about: Wharton and MIT</p>

<p>UMich is weird. A young man from our local high school (not a very highly-regarded school, BTW) got in with an 18 ACT. Apparently, the fact that he had a 4.0 somehow made his 18 okay. He is NOT a minority, nor did he take a difficult course load. Another young man at the same school had a much higher ACT score, but he had a couple B's in his school career. At the other high school in town, a couple students with far better credentials did not get accepted. Go figure.</p>

<p>
[quote]
UMich is weird.

[/quote]
I can agree with that. I don't understand how they make their admissions decisions, based on kids I know who have been accepted and rejected.</p>

<p>Also, for the suggested schools, here is how I would rank them...</p>

<p>REACH: Penn, Washington U
SLIGHT REACH: Georgetown, Cornell, Emory
MATCH: Michigan, Virginia, North Carolina, Boston College
SAFETY: Michigan State</p>

<p>I think I remember you saying "no" to MIT earlier, so I removed it. I forgot to say Emory on my last post, so they were added. Another post you had BC in it, they have a good business school and meet 100% of need. All these schools listed will meet 100% of your need meaning you don't pay anything for college with your EFC.</p>

<p>Why would you put WUSTL chances over Georgetown/Cornell. UVA instate is just as hard if not harder than Emory and UVA out of state is similar to Cornell/etc.</p>

<p>Going off the US News "Selectivity Rank", those colleges are on different tiers than one another. That's why they are grouped where they are.</p>

<p>UMich does NOT meet 100% need (unless you consider thousands of dollars in loans as meeting need). While they may be more generous to OOS admits, they are notoriously tight with financial aid for in-state. As a former college financial aid director, now high school substitute teacher, I often talk to seniors about their aid packages. My favorite story this year is the student who would have had to take out thousands in loans for UMich, but is going to Wesleyan (CT) with a very small EFC & less than $3000 Perkins loan. The LACs are by far the best for truly meeting need. While you are building a dream school list, make sure you look at more than reputation. I cannot stress enough the fact that college is a place to develop yourself as a person, not just a "name" to drop in the future. It is very important to stay on campus before you commit to a school. This will better enable you to decide if really want to spend arguably the most important 4 years of your life there. Look at different types of schools. Go to the library & read the college guides. Read comments on College Confidential, College *******, Princeton Review, etc. Open your mind to possibilites beyond the very few supposedly great schools. Your great might be different than someone else's great ... find it!</p>

<p>But if he wants to study business as an undergrad, then the LAC route wouldn't be one to take.</p>

<p>Hopefully, Badkarma89 is aware that a masters or professional degree is almost a must these days --- particularly if he wants to major in business. So, LAC is not really a "no go." Look at all options!</p>

<p>LACs are "no go"s. You don't want to spend 4 years at a place studying a topic you don't want to study. If they don't have business, and he wants a business degree, then he shouldn't go there.</p>

<p>Kelsmom: thanks, but LAC's are not a route I would want to go. As A2 said, although the schools themselves are amazing, I would not want to spend 4 years learning something that I have no interest in.</p>

<p>That said, If I can't get into UofM I need more safeties and matches, even if they don't have a good business program. Any good school that, provided I do well in, will "set me up" to get into a good grad school.</p>

<p>I was thinking Wisconsin. I got something in the mail from Pittsburgh too, but I don't know how good of a school it is.</p>

<p>ACT is actually a 34. I tried retaking to raise my ACT to a 35 but I got the same score again. I got a 12 on my essay though, if UM looks at essay scores. Will this hurt my chances? </p>

<p>I heard UM basically counts anything above 31 (middle 50%) as one "group," meaning it weighs a 33-35 as basically the same, then a 36 is the next level.</p>

<p>Is this true?</p>

<p>I don't suggest Wisconsin for you. I applied there and turned them down. I had a high financial need (not as drastic as yours, but high), and all they gave me was a $400 grant, and loans/WS. I would have had to pay their sticker price, which was more than 3X what my FAFSA EFC was. I also didn't think their business school was better for me than Indiana was, which ranks ahead of them in essentially every category, and overall. </p>

<p>Michigan's old application system which they used points actually assigned "tiers" and gives points for each tier. Now it's more holistically reviewed, with emphasis on GPA. Your ACT is well above even the 75% mark for UM, I wouldn't even worry about it. I think you'll get into UM because your ACT is so high.</p>