<p>My nephew is an oos applicant who has wanted to go to Michigan his whole life. He's currently ranked 2nd in his class of 400 and has taken 10 AP classes. His SAT is 750M 780W and ....570CR. He thinks he messed up on the answer sheet because every practice test he has taken has had a much higher score. He's scheduled to take the SATs again in October, but since he wants to go to Michigan so badly and he knows that he needs to apply early...should he:</p>
<ol>
<li>send in his application without SATs indicating that he will be taking the SATs in October;</li>
<li>send in his application with his current SATs but also indicate that he's retaking; or </li>
<li>wait and send in everything in early November?<br></li>
</ol>
<p>This is his dream and he's worked so hard, I want to help him do what he can to maximize his chance of acceptance. He also has leadership roles and great extra-curriculars.</p>
<p>His SAT won’t keep him out; UMICH is all about GPA from soph and junior year and given his rank, I’m sure his unweighted UMich GPA is way over their requirements…I vote for #2; do not wait until November.</p>
<p>I would send in the application now. There is room on the application to indicate your nephew’s plan to retake the SAT but I don’t think he will need it. The 2100 composite SAT score should be sufficient with strong 10-11th grades and 10 AP classes. The retake may help if he is interested in the LSA honors college.</p>
<p>Send the completed application ASAP. His stats are high enough and there is no advantage, more likely a disadvantage, to sending the application later in the cycle.</p>
<p>Definitely do number 2. He’ll get in early anyways given his high stats and his first SAT score, but if for some crazy reason his SAT isn’t good enough, they’ll wait for the new score and admit him then.</p>
<p>Send in the application now. Note on the application that you plan on retaking the SAT. If, for some reason, he’s borderline, they will likely hold off on a final decision until they have the later score.</p>
<p>If he does better (and he does not get in by that point), send the updated SAT score to Michigan. Either the adcom has not come across his application, or they are waiting for the new score before a final judgment. In either case, the updated (hopefully higher) score cannot hurt.</p>
<p>Definitely get it before Nov. 1st. Michigan has rolling admissions after that. You wouldn’t want him not to get in simply on the account of applying a weeks later.</p>
<p>Should he apply asap or by November 1st? He could probably get everything together to apply within the next two weeks, but I’m not sure if that sense of urgency would help him or if NOvember 1st has the same effect.</p>
<p>In terms of getting accepted, I don’t think it matters if you apply now or November 1st. If you applied now, then you would most likely hear back sooner than if you applied November 1st though. Just make sure your nephew takes his time, makes sure everything is correct, and maybe has his counselor go over the app with him and after that, apply. There’s no need to super rush everything in, but I wouldn’t wait until the last day either.</p>
<p>I just happen to be leery of getting too close to deadlines, even early deadlines, because my kids attended a huge high school and sometimes paperwork that was intended to get sent in on time didn’t make it. Plenty of UM aspirants are actually submitting applications now, well before Nov. 1, so if your nephew can get the essays finished to his liking and have everything sent by late Sept or early Oct, it will create peace of mind to have it done and know that nothing got lost or misplaced at a time when it’s too late for the replacement to make the Nov. 1 deadline.</p>
<p>Sorry…one last question…does “applying early” mean before November 1? or do applications receive additional early consideration if the application is received in mid-September?</p>
<p>The applicants who submit applications in mid-September may get the responses before the applicants who wait until November 1. I think they try to respond before Christmasa to all the applications received by November 1.</p>
<p>No one ever receives additional consideration, but if you apply really late (like in January), then there may not be many spots left. Apply before November, and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>And yeah, Coolbrezze is right, although their decision could be a deferral in which case you have to wait until up to mid April.</p>
<p>Laurenthemom: Applying early also indicates his preference of U of Mich as first choice (which is helpful to mention, btw, in the comments section). By early, I mean WELL before Nov. 1st. In my experience, applying very early can also reduce stress in that (in our case) we had early notification of a scholarship that sealed the deal. There is no reason not to push for early app, eg. see his g.c. and get reccs right away, and have it all finished by the end of Sept. It is better than devoting time and attention when the workload gets heavier at school in Oct.</p>
<p>That said, he should clearly understand that while he will get some kind of response by Dec. 24th, it is possible to have the actual decision deferred until April. When that happens, the length of time can be agonizing for the student. Given his rank, I am guessing that is not likely in his case and his SATs are within the range without the rewrite so do not let that stop him. Another reason that earlier is better is that scholarship money tends to get very tight later in the application cycle (given the rolling nature of admissions), and OOS costs are substantial without extra assistance. The rest of his applications will also then be easier as the school year gets harder.
Good luck.
K</p>
<p>^ Indicating that UMich is your top college choice in the additional info section will help you? I always thought it would sound kinda desperate/needy to the admissions officer.</p>
<p>I would advise him to have his application in by mid-Oct. at the latest. It takes some time for the paperwork to be processed and it’s nice to see that the application is complete online before that 11/1 ER deadline (when everyone else is rushing last minute to submit theirs). </p>
<p>I also agree with the other posts, he should send in his application soon. His GPA, class rank, number of APs and otherwise strong scores should get him accepted. He can always update his application later with the scores from the next SAT tests.</p>
<p>Y - A sincere description of the “fit” – mutually beneficial, eg. what you will contribute to the community, what attracts you to MI etc. will only help you. That is not the same as sounding desperate or needy. When you want something in life, you have to “enroll” people to your way of thinking. Your app in its entirety is in essence no different than a job application – who are you, what is your character, what is your experience, what kind of contribution will you make to the enterprise, why do you want it, why is it a fit, are you capable, are you inspired?
You get the idea.
Best wishes.</p>