U of M Ann Arbor: What Are My Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
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I’m an upcoming high school senior, and for a while I’ve been planning on doing community college to start, but I’ve now had the confidence to shoot for a 4 year university right after high school. I’ve narrowed my list to two big options: either Michigan Tech, or UMich. But before I worry about choosing between one or the other, I want to check my chances first.

Here’s some stats:

-SAT: 1360 (660 Reading/Writing, 700 Math)
-Unweighted GPA: 3.9444
-Weighted GPA: 4.2074
-Class Rank: 10 out of 181

Classes Taken (Both Academic And Elective)

-9th Grade: 9th/10th Grade Choir, Civics (1 semester), Geometry, Biology, English 9, Intro Phys Fit (1 semester), Health (1 semester), Economics (1 semester)
-A’s in all classes except English 9, where I got a B

-10th Grade: 9th/10th Grade Choir, AP US History, Chemistry, Spanish 1, English 10, Algebra 3/4
-A’s in all classes

-11th Grade: Spanish 2, 11th/12th Grade Choir, AP World History, AP English Literature/Comp, Pre-Calculus, AP Physics I
-A’s in all classes

-Signed Up For 12th Grade: AP Psychology, 11th/12th Grade Choir, AP Calculus AB, AP English Language/Comp, AP Statistics, AP US Government

AP Test Scores
-US History: 3
-World History: 3
-Literature: 3
-Physics I: 4

Academic Awards
-Academic Varsity Letter (3.5+ GPA for 3 consecutive years)
-AP Scholar With Honor

Electives / Extracurriculars / Work Experience

-Choir: More of an elective than an extracurricular (we’ll still occasionally do stuff outside of school), but it’s the non academic activity I’ve shown the best length and depth of commitment to. I’m a far cry from the best singer, but I know theory very well, and I’ve consistently been a dependable source for helping my section learn songs and help clarify any misconceptions. I’d also like to get vocal lessons to improve myself, and perhaps become well acquainted with musicals as well, if only they weren’t so pricey and inaccessible in my area.

-SCUBA Diving: PADI certified summer of 2016, advanced certified fall of 2017. 16 cumulative dives to date, including places such as Key Largo and Grand Cayman. My diving instructors have always been impressed with my ability to stay on top of all of the information and procedures involved with diving, and remaining calm during dives.

-Bowling: JV in 10th and 11th grade. I’m averaging around 150 now and hoping to get into varsity in 12th grade. I won most improved average award in 11th grade. Besides the school team, I like to get involved in various leagues whenever I can.

-Part Time Job: I’ve had two part time jobs. The first was a dishwasing job from late June to late October of 2017 (4 months). I got in 20-25 hours per week in the summer and 8-12 during the school year. I left (with notice) due to the bowling season starting up, which was a mistake since I had much more free time than anticipated. When the season ended, I went looking for a new job, and eventually got another dishwashing job at a different place, which I’ve been at since early March of 2018 (5 months so far). I’ve been getting in 10-12 hours per week during the school year and 25-30 during the summer. I’m hoping to eventually move up to a front of house position. This time, I don’t plan on leaving for the bowling season, just cutting my hours to one day a week if I can.

Personal Info
-Race: White
-Gender: Male
-In State: Yes
-Family Income: around $200,000/yr
-First Generation: Not the first one in my family to attend or graduate college, but I believe the first to be looking at attending UMich.
-Intended Major: Either Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering (leaning towards electrical, but still not 100% sure)

I’m thinking I’ll definitely make it into Michigan Tech, but UMich seems a bit shaky. Overall, I’m feeling good about my academics (but I don’t think retaking the SAT would be a bad idea, so long as I can schedule in a retake with my work schedule, and they accept the higher of the two scores), but not so much for my extracurriculars. I know they say depth beats breadth, but I sort of feel lacking in both. At this rate, I think my best bet is to concentrate on keeping up my grades with my courseload and writing excellent essays.

Can anyone provide additional insight on how my chances stand now, how to increase them, and some tips on seeking scholarships, or other forms of financial aid? Any insight would be much appreciated!

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One more useful piece of info I left out, as far as my APs go, I have taken 9 in total, and our school offers 12 different AP classes, so I’ve taken 75% of the ones our school offers (the other 3 I didn’t take being AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Studio Art: Drawing)

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I think you have a realistic chance as an in state.

Michigan offers need base grant, so if your family makes less than 100k, it is very doable.

Good luck and go blue.

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For engineering you need a higher SAT. Retake it. Also look at maybe taking Calc bc instead of AB if you don’t have to do the AB after pre - Calc. Michigan is looking at Rigor. AP physics would be a good idea also since you had physics 1 already. AP stats is seen as an “lite” AP class.

Check out Michigan State and Kettering for other instate options.

Since you are instate apply Early Action

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I think you probably need to boost your 1360 SAT score 100 points to have a solid chance for M. If attending M is a priority, I suggest putting some time and effort into SAT prep/practice and consider cutting back on work hours. It’s doable, if it is important to you.

Alternatively, Michigan Tech and MSU both have high quality engineering programs and more modest admission requirements. You are likely to be admitted to both.

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Michigan State honors if you boost the SAT

https://admissions.msu.edu/academics/honors.aspx

Really a great program with very good merit aid and great opportunities built in like research.

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Do you have a track record of demonstrated interest with UofM?
What part of the state do you reside?

Your SAT scores are in the range for in-state LSA but light for CoE. Work on some solid letters of recommendation and essay concepts that include something unique - like your SCUBA background perhaps, and how the thrill of diving into unknown waters ignites your passion for exploration.

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@098123Student

I don’t think the essay will help because the ECs are not telling the story of a highly motivated future engineer.

M has a high bar for COE applicants. It looks like this student has ability and opportunity to make the effort needed to clear the bar, but is focused on other interests/priorities. That is fine, but just it doesn’t show the level of achievement, motivation, or interest in math, science, or engineering that M tends to look for.

This student clearly has the ability to become an outstanding engineer, but M is probably going to have candidates who have done a better job of conveying that. If this student doesn’t make an effort to bolster their application, they are likely to be rejected, and that could be a win/win. It is entirely possible that this applicant will be more successful where the competition is just slightly less accomplished and determined.

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@Much2learn I agree about CoE.

@turnthearon That is why I point out you may be a stronger candidate for UofM LSA. Your original post doesn’t really scream engineering other than something you are interested in studying. If you aren’t set on your major, you’ll be amazed at what you’ll discover about yourself along the way - at a place with resources in any direction you decide to turn. For most, college is a journey rather than a mapped destination.

So if you haven’t visited campus, get there and see how it makes you feel. If it inspires you, consider LSA and talk to them about what that path offers you in your areas of interest. If you still are leaning for hard-core engineering, it will likely be an uphill battle for admissions here.

Best of luck this year!

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While “demonstrated interest” is marked considered on UM’s CDS, it’s obviously not “important.”

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@098123Student “If it inspires you, consider LSA and talk to them about what that path offers you in your areas of interest. If you still are leaning for hard-core engineering, it will likely be an uphill battle for admissions here.”

@turnthearon
An additional option would be to apply to LSA and then take a freshman engineering schedule. If you do well, in calc, science, English, etc. it shouldn’t be difficult to transfer into COE. If you don’t do well, you won’t want to transfer into COE anyway.

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https://www.engin.umich.edu/admissions/undergrad/cross-campus-students/

Just read my mind. The first year engineering prerequisite are all taken with general population. So physics 1 is taken with all the medical, engineering and physics kids etc and so on. There is just one class you won’t get and it doesn’t matter. You will take a different first year English also. The basic courses are tough even for the most accomplish student. He will know after first semester if this is the correct avenue to pursue.

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Thank you guys for the advice. A few extra clarifications and questions.

@Knowsstuff I would have liked to take AP Calculus BC and perhaps AP Physics C as well, but my high school is very small and sadly does not offer those courses, only AP Calc AB and AP Physics I.

@098123Student You say I’d make a stronger candidate for the LSA school. Considering that, it does seem like a more attractive route, but I’d rather eventually end up in a STEM major, since that’s always where my academic strength and interest has lied, so could I go in as undecided until I can transfer?

As far as the vibe of not screaming engineering other than interest, at this point in time you’d be right, but our school does not offer much opportunities for engineering experience (there’s the robotics team, but I tried it freshman year and had a bad experience. basically the instructor had all of the veterans did all of the work and not bother to see if the newer members could keep up. I relentlessly asked the veterans for help, but they would get distracted very easily and not help at all, leaving me as not much of a contributing member.) There are new one semester engineering and computer science classes available, but I don’t want them to screw up my AP classes if I can’t get them in second hour to replace choir, and even if they are available second hour, they may be full already. If I try to do this and it doesn’t work out, can you recommend other ways to gain basic engineering related experience?

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@turnthearon Every LSA freshman comes in “undecided” regardless what they say in their application. You are not allowed to declare your major until you are a sophomore. That is actually the purpose of the LSA program - to give students the opportunity to explore before committing.

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LSA Majors & Minors:
https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/academics/majors-minors.html

…and making connections in CoE and professional student organizations once on campus may take you places you never considered. The dynamics of the alumni programs, the network you’ll build among peers, and the world-class resources available to you on campus are things high school students should not overlook when considering LSA.

Take @Much2learn 's advice: Find out about ways you can get into CoE after you are here in LSA.

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http://www.acementor.org/

See if they have this program in your area. My son did this. Will give you the idea of what engineering is about. Looks great on a resume.

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@098123Student what you are saying is so true. It’s why we are paying the big bucks for my son to be at Michigan. He has leveraged the Alumni, started a tech club. Won 2 grants through optimize and Barger. I will keep it short but all the opportunities are here for the taking. Michigan has been more then supportive in what he wants to achieve. Heh, we are paying a lot for tuition. Might as well use all their resources to your advantage… Best part… It’s all included in the cost of tuition :wink: