University of Miami Early Action / Early Decision for Fall 2024 Admission

This is the official thread for those applying EA/ED to University of Miami.

List your unweighted GPA, any SAT /ACT scores, and ECs. What majors are you going into?
Ask your questions, the CC community is here to help!

Trying to decide if our son applies ED or EA. We cannot afford the entire tuition. We know we won’t get any financial aide. According to the NPC on U Miami site our son would get merit assistance. That puts us closer, would be tight but we might be able to swing it. So now we don’t know if applying ED would increase the chances or would applying EA be the same chance. And then how accurate is the NPC calculator because if the merit amount is wrong then we are screwed. If the calculator is accurate then I would feel better going for it. But if it’s not then we do EA and hope the chances are still good.

Applying test optional 4.0 GPA (school doesn’t do weighted) and several AP and dual credit classes.

Usually ED gives higher chance of acceptance but if you have a strong student and looking for merit I would apply EA. You will be able to compare all the offers and decide before May 1. We are in the same boat. Definitely considering UM but only with merit. Will apply EA

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If my son got a full ride to any other college but got into U Miami with some merit scholarships he would choose U Miami just because he felt like that was where he really wanted to be. We will probably submit EA only because with our luck he applied ED and gets zero merit scholarships. I know ED is “binding” but I have heard you can break the ED contract if the financial scholarship/merit is not enough but then will be the issues for other schools that you have been admitted to.

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I’m a high school student and would like to attend UM fall semester, I have round a 3.5 gpa and doing the early admission program at my local community college and that I also have a 3.5 gpa for. I’ll be retaking my SAT soon and want to into architectural engineering. I’m just not confident that I’ll get in, and wanted to now if there’s any thing else I can do for a better chance of getting in and I do intend to apply for ED

I also think I might get a round a 1330 for my SAT.

Hi, my son (International student, British) has applied EA to Miami. A couple of his (predicted) A-level grades have improved slightly (A* from preivious A) in the past few weeks after filing the application and we are wondering if we should update his admission officer with the new grades. Also, would it need to come directly from his College Counsellor or is an email (where the ColCoun is copied in) be enough? Thanks for any help!

My son applied EA. Has a 3.9 weighted gpa. Not submitting SATs. Business major. Not requesting any financial aid. I heard they often defer EA and ask them to do binding ED2. Is that true? He really wants to attend so we’ve considered emailing to see if they’ll move his EA application to ED1. Any advice??

Switch to ed2 if it’s his first choice. 3.9 w will be tough EA. Probably too late to switch to ed1

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Common tactic at schools that offer ED/EA. Kids apply EA and they get deferred to RD and 2 days later get a “want to increase your chances, switch to EDII TODAY!”. They are trying to boost their yield and find out who the kids are that Miami is their #1 choice.

You need to differentiate Merit versus Assistance. Merit is something a kid gets without respect to the applicants finances. “They gave me $10K/year Merit” - which is $10K/year that the kid gets each year for the 4 years (likely with some provisions around maintaining full-time status and a GPA criteria).

If you’re doing the NPC and they’re suggesting a $X NPC (on an $80K list price) they’re suggesting that they’ll offer you Grant Aid - a component of which could include the expectation of loans. This grant aid will need to be re-applied for every year and will change based if your financial situation changes.

IME last year the NPC calculators were pretty accurate to the offers we ended up getting and most included the $5,500 student loan as part of the offer.

Well Miami is the first choice but money has a lot to do with it. If money was no next then would be a be a no brainer. He applied EA and we will see. He’s gotten into other schools already with money so st the end of the day it is what it is.

I hear ya - money is an issue for most of us. I was just clarifying what the NPC might be showing you versus what you might get or not Merit/Aid. There’s often confusion.

Hi! Wondering if anyone has any insight as to when students are notified if they have been invited to apply for a premier scholarship and if so, when they are due back by? Also, does applying ED decrease your chances of receiving a scholarship versus applying EA. Thanks.

Hi, I am a senior in High School who is 100% committed to attending U Miami. I applied ED1.
My GPA is a 3.57 weighted (out of 4) and I applied test optional. I also applied to for Spring (Jan. start) if not Fall.
I have done an internship this year, a member of 10 clubs, played 3 sports, job experience, high honor roll, and a good essay from what I have heard.
I have toured (not guided) and completed multiple virtual tours.
I know the average UW GPA was a 3.8 last year, and my GPA is not to that standard, but does anyone have any insight on my admission?
Thank you!

The most recently available admission dataset from Miami is from the freshman class of 2022-2023 (current sophomores). It’s hard to understate the ED advantage based on that data. In the 2022-2023 freshman class, the admission rate for ED was 56.7%. If UM is your top choice, ED is a massive boost, even after accounting for scholarship athletes and other guaranteed admits that tend to come in through the ED door. The general admit rate was only 18.9% and it’s reasonable to assume that the EA admission rate was in that 19% range.

But it has to be affordable for you in order to make the ED leap. I have found that UM’s net price calculator is quite accurate for both need based and merit aid if you have entered all of your information accurately. So it’s a good gauge, but not a perfect one, for what you can expect to receive.

Do you know when ED decisions will be posted? I know the school said Mid-December, I was hoping to get a specific date.

January 2024 or January 2025? It’s hard to say without knowing more context and specifics on the EC’s, but I would say it’s unlikely at best. Even with ED, they want students who will keep their graduation rate up and succeed academically. I’m not saying you don’t have the potential to do so, but they may not see it from your academic background. Walking around campus unguided probably has no impact on demonstrated interest. ED1 will give you a boost for sure. Good luck! Hoping for the best.

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It’s going to be impossible for someone to give you a credible assessment without seeing your file. But based on what you provided, your unweighted GPA is going to make things difficult. It’s well below the average GPA at UM. Hopefully you have had a very rigorous course load with lots of APs and/or IB courses (if your school offered them). A 3.6 with 8-12 APs is very different than a 3.6 with 0-2 APs. It also matters if your grades have been trending up over the last year versus trending down.

You say you participated in 10 clubs, but did you have leadership roles in any of them? UM typically likes to see deep and meaningful involvement in a handful of things rather than light participation in a bunch of things. Same for your sports. Were you team captain, all state, etc.? Your extracurriculars seem okay but they’re very common types of activities. The question is which, if any, make you stand out from the pack. Because you’re going to need something special to offset that below-average GPA.

The campus visit won’t help you unless you registered at the Admissions office prior to taking your self-guided tour. They need to have a record. But I wouldn’t worry about that. Applying ED is a much more important way to demonstrate your interest than a campus visit.