URGENT QUESTION-- Please Help!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>My Question: Should I apply to University of Michigan since to give me an extra safety school that I may need?</p>

<p>I am having second thoughts about the colleges I'm applying to. I am concerned that I won't be accepted to many, thus not having much of a choice where I will end up going. I am considering applying to University of Michigan since it has a February 1st deadline that I could easily meet. </p>

<p>I am applying for engineering, but I am also considering schools that have excellent an economics major in case if I switch my mind. </p>

<hr>

<p>Colleges:
-CMU
-Cornell
-Duke
-JHU
-MIT
-Northwestern
-Princeton
-Stanford
-UPenn
-Yale</p>

<p>Backups:
-University of Illinois
-University of Minnesota
-CW </p>

<hr>

<p>Profile:
-White male
-Private School
-Income: 100k-150k</p>

<p>School:
-3.93 GPA unweighted
-Private school in the south</p>

<p>ACT:
-33.25 one-sitting (34E, 35M, 32R, 32S) - I hope that it helps that all subsections are 32> so I don't have many weakpoints aside from potentially my composite
-34 superscored (34E, 36M, 34R, 32S</p>

<p>SATII
-800 math II
-760 physics</p>

<p>Class Schedule:
-More than the most rigorous schedule offered at my school
-8 years of high school level+ math taken (Alg-Precalc, Calc I-III (honors college level), AP Stats)
-3 years of language taken (up to Spanish IV), but I have a Spanish translating EC that MAY make up for this</p>

<hr>

<p>Letter of Recommendation:
-Physics teacher: I took physics with seniors. I got 2 A-s but got the "Best in Science" award. Should be okay for ivy-league level.</p>

<p>-Math Teachers: A letter from a compilation of math professors who worked together to construct a letter of recommendation for me</p>

<p>-Engineering teacher: 3 year series of classes that end of competing in a college-level competition as the only high school team. A college with a <25% acceptance rate looks to it as a model for first year engineering students.</p>

<hr>

<p>ECS:
-Math research:
+Intending on submitting research to a journal
+Presenting at a regional math conference intended for undergraduate students
+Tried Siemens Competition (didn't make it)
+Came up with idea for research (not running samples, etc.)</p>

<p>-More than 100 hours of volunteer hours per year
+Baked thousands of cookies for charity
+Elementary school Engineering tutor
+Translated popular educational videos over internet to spanish
+Volunteered at mentally impaired housing</p>

<p>-Investment club
+Founder
+Around 20 members
+Winner of the year long investment club competition</p>

<p>-2 National Forensic League teams with leadership- I grew up with a speech impediment. I wrote my EC common app essay is about overcoming my speech impediment to being successful and passionate about National Forensic League teams. Big time commitment.</p>

<p>-Math League
+I make study guides for the team for every meet
+2-time state qualifier
+Varsity team member and lettered every year</p>

<p>In committee that school faculty appoints
+Communication between students and faculty
+Administers social media account that compliments students who are not recognized by community</p>

<p>OTHER: Math/Science tutor experience, soccer referee, NHS officer, state art award in ceramics, I play guitar for fun, nothing else worth mentioning...</p>

<p>**I couldn't take sports in high school due class scheduling. I did, however, ski competitively on a high school ski team 8th grade. I decided to write about this to give my application another dimension.</p>

<p>That's all, so what do you guys think? Is it worth the $75 application fee?</p>

2

<p>Michigan is not a safety school for an OOS student, regardless of testing and gpa. And it gives no financial aid to OOS students, so you are looking at full pay at private school tuition and costs. </p>

<p>Illinois for engineering is a match, probably (though my son was Arts and Letters, which is not as tough to get into at UIUC, so I am not sure about admissions at Illinois). </p>

<p>If you are looking for midwest public match/safeties – again, keeping in mind I do not know details about engineering admits – maybe Univ Wisconsin and Purdue. </p>

<p>Minnesota you should be fine, and OOS tuition is lower than other publics, though may be rising.</p>

3

<p>I guess my question is considering the chances of being admitted to the schools listed first, should I add University of Michigan?</p>

4

<p>I don’t think University of Michigan is a safety school for anyone…</p>

5

<p>Ok well I can’t edit my post. Do you think it would be worth applying to?</p>

6

<p>If you like the school yes it is worth applying, but you still need a safety (which you currently don’t have)…</p>

7

<p>I’ve already been accepted to the UMN and University of Illinois.</p>

8

<p>If you are admitted to UIUC College of Engineering, not sure the advantage of applying to Michigan, unless you think you are likely to leave engineering and want a strong College of Arts and Letters to move into. Again, I don’t have a STEM type kid, so I don’t know about the strength of Michigan vs. Illinois engineering. </p>

<p>UIUC is about $20k less per year than Michigan, and your identified income range puts you in the classic – not eligible for much financial aid, besides loans, so presumably cost matters to your family. Neither Illinois nor Michigan will give you much financial aid at all, and Michigan is $20k more per year in tuition. So I am just not seeing why Michigan is a consideration. If you want to spend the app fee, then go ahead. You may be admitted or you may be wait listed. </p>

<p>It sounds like you are looking at Michigan for reputation reasons – if you don’t get into the other privates. As a parent, that doesn’t sound like a good enough reason to go there, but with all the money that flies out the door for apps, another $75 plus fees for sending tests probably ok, if you have the money.</p>

9

<p>Thank you Midwest! Any other opinions on my chances?</p>

10

<p>Anyone else?</p>

11

<p>Being from south, UT Austin would make a better choice. I agree with Midwest regarding U of M. It is a great school & you will most likely be admitted. However, consider the total cost of attendance.</p>

12

<p>Do you guys think I’ll get into at least a couple schools on the first list though?</p>

13

<p>Wallrus – you have an excellent record, and will be a competitive candidate for admissions. We went through this last year, with my son, and I came to see this in terms of a lottery – your great record gets you a “lottery ticket” or, a place at the table, if you prefer that metaphor, where you will be seriously considered. Whether they need you, or someone with a different slice of accomplishments and interests and qualifications (geographic etc), is beyond our control and understanding. The good news is, you sure seem to be qualified. But I don’t think anyone can reasonably predict an outcome.</p>

<p>This is just a really tough year – excitement, worry, stress. Keep your chin up, enjoy your senior year, and finish strong!</p>

14

<p>Thank you! I appreciate it!</p>

15

<p>now i understand why you defend the act so much</p>

16

<p>If you feel like that you want to use the money and would def most likely choose that school as your main safety then i say yeah, but your other backup schools seem like they are enough…</p>

17

<p>I think you’re a very strong candidate for all the schools you’ve posted! Good luck on your results! :)</p>

18

<p>Your chances are like everyone else who is applying, nothing truly stands out</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

19

<p>wallrus is such a try hard omg. Nobody likes kids who have this many EC’s. You’re safety should be a “crap school” like Texas A&M</p>

20

<p>You shouldn’t apply to UMichigan since you missed the EA deadline. Although Michigan is fairly easy to get into for EA, it is extremely difficult to get into for RD. Here’s why: UMichigan’s admissions committee takes virtually everyone they want during the EA round; thus, there are very few seats left for those who applied RD. Despite your incredible app, you’ll still have a tough time being admitted to UMichigan. </p>

<p>I don’t think you should apply anywhere else. The deadlines have already passed for the best public engineering colleges (like UC Berkeley, UT Austin, UVA etc.). With your stats, you should get into to at least one of the other schools you applied to (assuming you showed interest and have good essays, of course).</p>

<p>Chances:
YPSM - Very high reach.
Duke, UPenn - Mid reach
Cornell - Slightly lower reach than Duke and UPenn
Johns Hopkins, Northwestern - Low reach
Carnegie Mellon - Depends on which college(s) at CMU you applied to (you should have applied to more than one college). SCS >> ECE > CIT (non-ECE) > MCS [where A>B means A is harder to get into than B]</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>