<p>I've really been looking at UM for a while now, for their marine biology program.
The tuition, however, is quite a problem, and I just want to get an idea, if anyone knows, what kind of scholarship I'd qualify for if I apply EA.
I'm a southern Californian senior, and this is the only out of state school I've considered.
But, without further ado,
My weighted GPA is 4.4ish (i'll find out tomorrow what it is exactly),
and unweighted is 3.8ish.
My SAT scores arent INCREDIBLY high, 1830 (590CR/590M/650W),but I'm retaking it.
my ACT score is 29.
Upon graduation, I'll have taken 8 AP classes, and am doing AP Lit independent study.
I've passed the 4 I've taken so far (I didnt take the AP French Test), and hopfefully I pass the four I'm taking in May.
I'm ranked 7 out of 585 students in my graduating class, which means im in the top 1% of my graduating class. </p>
<p>I'm a four-year varsity track athelete, and a second year tennis athlete.
I'm treasurer of the marine science club at my school, and am in the humanities club.
I have over 100 community service hours, mainly from doing work with an autism team once a month for the past two years. I've also helped coach the special olympics and campaigned with political parties.
Pretty much, the only way I could afford this school is with a 3/4-full tuition scholarship.
I'm torn between this one, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz though.
(: Thanks!!</p>
<p>My son goes to UM, had about the same GPA and higher test scores than you, and got nothing. From the links above, you will see that they require at least a 1350 SAT (they don’t look at the writing section) or 31 ACT. I gather they are very strict with those cutoffs. In fact, my son was initially deferred on an early action decision for admission because, according to his counselor, they had an initial cutoff on the SAT that was 40 points higher than he had (he was admitted 2 weeks later). So I doubt they will deviate from their criteria for a scholarship. The whole idea of these merit scholarships is to attract high scoring students who otherwise could and would go to a more “prestigious” college. That way UM can up their stats and rise in the US News rankings. I can tell you for sure that a better ranking is one of their main priorities; the President said as much in her orientation speech.</p>
<p>UM is a great school, my son loves it there, and I don’t mean to demean it or to burst your bubble. I’m just trying to give you an honest answer.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman in the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at Miami. There were only 100 students this year (in all majors) admitted to this school. At their seperate orientation session they were told that they had the highest GPAs and scores of all the colleges at the University. This program is also the most rigorous at the University.</p>
<p>They seem to be score sensitive at Miami, so I really do think you need to work hard to bring your test scores up. Other than that, you look very good.</p>
<p>That being said, my daughter absolutely LOVES Miami! She has a guaranteed transfer to Cornell for next year and after just 4 weeks at the school says that there is NO WAY she wants to leave and go to Cornell.</p>
<p>TIP to all readers: Miami gives out much more generous merit aid early action. My daughter got a Dean’s Scholarship ($16,000) early action and we heard of kids who had similar scores to hers who did not get merit scholarships in regular decision.</p>