I’m currently going to be a junior in high school who is interested in the University of Michigan. I am out of state, so of course admission is going to be more difficult because of where I’m coming from. I have about a 4.2 weighted and I believe about a 3.9 unweighted, but I am yet to take the ACT (of course aiming for around a 35). Freshman year, I participated in National Charity League and had a communications position, took a class in leadership where community service was integrated into the course, took part in just a general club that most girls partake in during high school, and also was a member of a somewhat more selective volunteering club known as ASTRA. I won two volunteering awards with National Charity League and was the student my Algebra I teacher and World Geography Pre-AP teacher chose for a class award that year as well. Halfway through my sophomore year, I moved schools and there took place in student government, but it was somewhat hard to become more fully immersed in EC’s there as I did not spend long at that school. (I did make all A+'s for that semester, however.) This summer, I am attending the University of Michigan Math and Science Scholars program in Ann Arbor, and I will hopefully get to introduce myself to my admissions counselor while there. Next year, I am partaking in a program through a local community college where I will be taking college courses earning hours as I finish my high school experience. I plan to attend college after high school for four years to get the best education possible, but I mainly wanted to demonstrate to colleges that I could handle college level courses in a more diverse and mature environment. I would love to study Economics or Business Administration in college, so I plan to join clubs such as the economics club, entrepreneurship club, as well as many others that are offered, such as the college’s academic society. I plan to become involved in these groups not just for show, but I want to become fully immersed as this is my desired field of study, and I feel passionate about these topics. Additionally, this upcoming summer, I am volunteering at Children’s Medical Center because I love working with children and plan to continue volunteering there for the duration of my high school career and will join the Junior Board at the hospital. Because I admire Children’s, I plan to start a club at my new school where I will recruit students to spend there time working at the hospital or helping it in any way. I’m also interning with my SAT/ACT tutor this summer by helping dyslexic students as a test reader and helping with software such as excel, which is extremely important in the business world. Additionally, I plan to bring a lot of attention to my story as a student; I attended a school in a wealthy neighborhood in my state that is often looked down upon for its lack of acceptance towards others and generally for its shallow attitude. I decided that I wanted to take hold of my life and left the very negative environment and met students from all different backgrounds. Because the school I attended last semester was not as academically challenging as I preferred (shorter classes, less rigor, etc.), I decided to immerse myself in the college experience and also encounter more diversity that I would otherwise have never encountered at my original high school. Also, I plan to take the most rigorous course load possible beginning next year; so far, in freshman and sophomore year, AP classes have not been offered. Therefore, I will ensure my course load is academically rigorous as I know U-M enjoys seeing that on transcripts. Thank you!
I’m stressing so much, so any feedback at all would be awesome.
Keep your GPA high. Take reasonable good rigor of courses but do not overload yourself. Get good scores in test. Then you can come back for chancing next year. For business major, you need to apply for Ross pre-admit. They are migrating towards direct admit though. As you are from OOS, you should first check their NPC to see if it is affordable to you or not. The CoA is near $60k per year. Also, be prepare for the lower and lower admission rate. It is currently near 20% for OOS applicants.
Thank you! I am just worried I don’t have enough EC’s, but I am trying to show I am passionate in certain areas such as business, working with children (specifically related to medicine in this situation), etc. I have read so many people saying they are the president of everything and have many, many AP courses, and I feel I don’t stand a chance. However, I am hoping my story of growth as a student will help me (as it is 100% truthful that it greatly changed me) in essays as opposed to showing lack of consistency. I of course will become very involved next year in this new, more diverse environment.
Any other feedback would be great!
At UMich, EC is “considered” not bearing much weight. If admitted, strong EC may help your chance for certain scholarship though. Even they consider course rigor to be “most important”, it does not really need many AP courses to be qualified.
It’s too early to chance you. Com back next year with standardized test scores and a finalized GPA. In the mean time, continue to get good grades and participate in EC’s that you are interested in.
So far, I have only taken three Pre-AP courses freshman year, two Pre-AP sophomore year first semester (did not take World History AP because did not want to bring down GPA), and two honors classes second semester. I will focus on more rigor next semester, but I’m worried because I did not participate in the Talented and Gifted program. Is that an issue? I’m also worried they will see my switching schools as lack of consistency/commitment, when truly it was a situation where I wanted to get more out of my high school experience. I really am scared they will think I left an academically challenging environment for an easier one, as the school I attended last semester was truly only really half a day (I stayed from 8:30-1:30 with a break in between), but it was the only school I could afford at the time and needed to leave my toxic original high school. Hopefully, they will see me being challenged in a college environment- opinions? Am I short on impressive extracurriculars/leadership positions? Hopefully they will pick up next year, where I plan to fully immerse myself in the school’s community.
I am also not on fast track math and am not in a sport, but I plan to maybe get ahead in math next year; I’m waiting to talk to my academic advisor.
I’m going to be a freshman at Michigan in the fall, so I can speak from experience.
I’m from New Jersey, had a 3.9 weighted gpa, 31 ACT, was president of my french club, did a lot of community service and other smaller clubs, had taken only 2 AP classes when I applied (+5 APs after; my dad thinks they liked how hard I went senior year), wrote a really good essay (if I can brag) and still got into LSA EA.
I’m sure you don’t have to worry AT ALL. You sound way above their average, and even though you haven’t taken any standardized testing yet, with everything else you’ve done, I don’t think it will be that worrying. I’m still in shock that I managed to get in. For you, I wouldn’t even sweat it! Make sure to apply for Early Action though-- better chances anyway.
Good luck!!