I am posting for my S - currently a junior. OOS (NY). His first choice by far is U of M- LSA. He is legacy - I went there, as well as my parents (so his grandparents) and my brother.
He will apply to LSA. I am not sure of his major - his interest is communications, sports, history
Stats:
ACT: 33C (36M, 34E, 32R, 31S and 10 writing). Retaking next month. I think he can get a 34C. Will definitely get a 34 superscored.
GPA: Estimated: 3.86 uw/4.24 w. Takes highest rigor possible
Goes to very competitive, rigorous public high school. Will be in top 5% of class.
Fr year: All As
So year: All As and one B+ in Honors Math
Jr year: As in AP Bio, AP Spanish, APUSH, Journalism, Probably B+ in Honors English, Honors Math
Slight downward trend in grades in that no Bs freshman year, one B+ Soph year and probably 2 B+ Junior year BUT rigor has increased each year. This year he is taking all Honors/AP classes.
Awards:
Model UN Award - Outstanding Country Research Paper
National Honor Society
Commended National Merit (just got PSATs back and we are in very high state and will miss finalist by one point)
Hoping for AP Scholar depending on how he does on AP tests
EC:
School Newspaper, sports editor
Model UN (3 years - won award one year)
Director of school club that tutors children in low-income area (4 years)
Teaches soccer to special needs kids (4 years)
Freelance journalist - writes sports feature articles for on-line town newspaper
Junior counselor at summer camp
Started two libraries in African country via fundraising/book drive
Teacher Recs:
I think he will get very strong recommendations from APUSH teacher and journalism teacher
Other:
Legacy as mentioned above
Visited this past fall on official tour. We have been to UofM fairly often for oos. He will be able to communicate his knowledge and love for UofM
Curious what you think chances are and what if anything can improve chances.
Just let him apply and see what happens, I don’t see anything wrong with his scores or achievements. I think those 3 majors he is interested, their departments will gladly want him in their programs. Good luck!
If he keeps 90% of his grades in A, his UMich GPA would be 3.9. Then his stat is around admission average. Multipke legacy also help slightly. UMich does not superscore. A higher test score will also increase his chance s bit. He should be able to learn more about UMich from family. His chance should be above average OOS applicants. It does not matter which major he declares in the future as he is applying to LSA only. Around half of the students graduates with a different major than they originally thought anyway.
Besides stats, make sure his application is “interesting”. Everyone here is a scholar. But they are also an “athlete” - skilled in competition; physical or intellectual.
Make sure he demonstrates the following 3 keys:
Leadership
Athleticism (doesn’t just mean varsity sports, but titles and awards in areas of specific interest)
Community Service with passion
It’s even better when a student resume features accomplishments that can wear more than one of those titles.
@billcsho - I think he will likely finish Fr-Jr year with all As and 3 B+s – has two very difficult teachers this year. In his AP courses he will get all As – it is the Honors courses which are dictated more by the difficult teacher vs. AP which is national standards. His high school is extremely rigorous. Hopefully, admissions will see that with all As and just 3 B+s taking the most rigorous schedule, he is in the top 5-7% of his class. I think I have recalculated unweighted GPA as UMich does to be a 3.86.
I am fairly certain he can get ACT to a 34.
And his essays should be very strong as to why Mich. He has several passions/interests that hopefully can come thru on essays and fit well for Michigan.
I did hear that from our high school this year, almost everyone has been deferred so I know it has become increasingly difficult to get into the school. Over the past two years, I looked at Naviance and about 19% of applicants were accepted. This year may be different.
Being OOS is the main disadvantage. They did defer more this year due to the increase in applicant pool and the trend may continue. Just try his best and keep the grades up. Good luck to your son.