This Might Seem A Bit Arrogant

<p>Alright, so I've heard that large state flagships weight their admissions based on stats more than ec's. So I have alright stats (average cc wise lol): 2250 SAT, 3.85 UW GPA (5 B's, 13 A-'s, 18 A's and A+'s) freshman-junior year, top 8% (9/118), and a smattering of clubs and activities with 100-200 community service hours. I'm looking at safeties right now. Would Umich(@ Ann Arbor) be a safety for me or be close to one? I know for a fact that Michigan is an amazing college by all standards, so that's why I feel arrogant when asking this. My stats are not stunning or anything, but again, would Umich qualify as a safety for me or be close to being one?</p>

<p>Check their Common Data Set. It will tell you what it looks at in order of importance. If numbers really do rule (GPA, class rank, & scores) then it will tell you. Each state flagship is different. Some will place recommendations ‘not important’, others ‘very important’. It’s best to check so you know where you rate. You have good community service, but your EC’s described as ‘as smattering’ may be a problem if the school ranks that on the higher end. They want to see leadership positions and involvement over a few years in select activities you care about, as opposed to 5 clubs you show up and help at the bake sale.
Again, look at the Common Data Set. You will know where you stand.</p>

<p>UMich is going to an ED policy starting with HS class of 2011…
in my opinion, this will change the ball game in regard to admissions, especially for those who have always considered UMich a safety for EA…common data set may tell you where you stand from the past few years, but not sure you can “count on it” going forward…
just my two cents here…</p>

<p>scenario: if UMich can nab a certain # of OOS kids ED, it will be much more difficult to be admitted EA or RD…</p>

<p>Ah man. I guess I gotta check it out.</p>

<p>You’ll get in for sure</p>

<p>Re Post 3: That is interesting, rodney. I know a lot of very strong students (OOS) who used UMich engineering as a back-up. They wouldn’t have applied ED. I suspect UMich is tired of being used in such a fashion.</p>

<p>This is the info from UMich’s CDS. Rigor of schedule is most important, ECs are only considered. GPA, Scores, Essay and Recs are important.</p>

<p>Flagship Rigor Rank GPA Scores Essay Recs Intvw ECs Residence
Umich V C I I I I N C C</p>

<p>Edit: I love how the web S/W deletes the formatting.</p>

<p>^^agreed Midmo; ya know, i’m not really so sure how this is going to impact, to be honest…but it can’t be ignored…</p>

<p>if UMich wants to end up 70% OOS, it may not matter, but if it does actually have a limit (implied or otherwise) it could possibly have an impact…will be interesting to see</p>

<p>erin’s dad: cross posted with you; but don’t get me started (again) about how UMich didn’t accept a bunch of kids from our public NJ HS with all AP’s/honors and accepted those with none…because the kids with rigor had a few B’s on their transcripts while the kids with easier courseloads had A’s…they may “say” that rigor trumps GPA but they should put their $$ where their mouth is…and this happened consistently for about 5 years…</p>

<p>Good point I was not aware of! My S simply uses the stats on the common data set as a frame of reference knowing admissions can go any way on any given year. He has put his target SAT score at the 75 percentile of his most competitive target school. It doesn’t guarantee anything…but it’s certainly a safer # than the 25 percentile. It gives you an IDEA of what your reach, reasonable, and safety’s are.</p>

<p>Yeah, I just checked it out. My SAT score is 120 points above their 75th percent score. My UW gpa on an A=90-100=4, B=80-89=3… scale is a 3.85 (.1 above michigan’s 3.75). I’ve taken the hardest classes I could take, and will have 7-8 APs taken by graduation and 4 by application along with lots of honors and community college courses. Unfortunately I am going tohave 5 B’s, 13 A-'s, and 18 As and A+'s by application time. How do I look and how badly will those B’s hurt me?</p>

<p>The UMich Common Data Set responses are as valid as the admin who input the data…</p>

<p>The reality as evidenced by UMich internal policies and supported by a multitude of post on this website is that UMich puts the greatest weight… probably 60% at minimum (was 85% up through 2001), on GPA as a stand-alone stat (unrelated to course rigor) … then test scores as a distant second. This is consistent with the UC system in CA, with the exception of Berkeley and UCLA which instead employ a more time consuming holistic admissions process.</p>

<p>^ This is not an argumentative question at all. How did you come to the information that UMich puts 60% +/- weight on GPA, with test scores at very little importance. Again, I want to stress this is not an argument, but true fact finding. If schools are not being forthcoming with information on the Common Data Set, and you have been able to come up with statistics you feel reliable. I would like to be able to do the same for S’s target schools.</p>

<p>Dude stop worrying and don’t pay attention to the above posters, you’re a shoe-in at Michigan.</p>

<p>The game has changed. In the past, if you have high enough stats, you can apply to Michigan early and hope to get an early response, thus making Michigan your defacto safety. Michigan is changing to the common application with ED/EA next year. So you can’t “apply early” if you have another ED/SCEA choice.</p>

<p>Michigan is a good match but not a true safety for you if you apply in the regular round. I’ve seen several people with similar stats being put the waitlist 'cause they applied late.</p>

<p>If you are from Texas, you do have a safety in UT-Austin under the top 10% rule. So why do you need another safety?</p>

<p>^^go blue: is it true that they will be eliminating the EA option while instituting ED? that was the part I wasn’t sure about…</p>

<p>^That would be quite unfortunate, as I was going to use it as a safety next year (as instate). </p>

<p>From what I’ve seen GPA and course rigor are truly what they consider is most important, so if you have a difficult schedule with that GPA, you could probably consider it a “high” safety, if such a thing exists.</p>

<p>UT Austin is swell and all, but I just REALLY want out of Texas and this whole region in general. Also, if I apply ed to one school, am I really not going to be able to apply early for Umich?</p>

<p>^^^ED means early decision, which is generally considered a “binding” acceptance; i.e., you are agreeing to attend if you are accepted. As a consequence, you cannot apply to more than one school Early Decision, since you cannot attend both if you are accepted to both.</p>

<p>EA means early action, and is generally not binding; you do not have to attend if admitted. There are exceptions, but most schools do not object to a student applying to more than one EA school, or to an EA school simultaneous with an ED school.</p>

<p>Then there is SCEA (single choice early action), like Stanford, which does not bind you to your acceptance, but does not want you to apply early to any other school.</p>

<p>And of course, there are exceptions to all of these rules, which is why you must carefully read the web sites.</p>

<p>I don’t actually know what U Michigan is planning. It sounds like potentially a really important change, though.</p>

<p>

If they do this, they may well lose my application.</p>

<p>OP your stats are certainly above UMich and with public schools like UMich being in-state helps. I know a few students at my school admitted with much lower stats than yours, a graduated senior from my school ( currently attend NMU) told me about a student admitted with a ACT score of 19 during their graduating year. With UMich going to common application and from my understanding adapting ED or some sort… seeing the school as a safety is understandable. Though many schools have “tufts syndrome” ( popular term on cc).</p>