Hello everyone. I’m trying to see about where I stand in terms of admissions chances and scholarship opportunities. Could anyone who was accepted and received scholarships or has a child who was within the past few years take a look at me? Thank you!
These are my stats:
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
State: Florida
Intended Major: Marine Science-Biology Double Major with a Pre-Vet Track
Class Rank: 83 of 1053
UW GPA: 3.92
W GPA: 4.76
SAT: 1420 (single sitting)
Essay: 19
ACT: 34 super-scored (33 single sitting)
Essay: 10
AP’s Taken and Scores: European History(4), US History(5), Lang and Comp(5), Psychology(5), Biology(4-with no teacher the entire year)
Currently Taking AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP US Government
Dual Enrolled Coursework: Calculus 1 & 2, General Chemistry 1 & 2, Macroeconomics, Literature, Mythology, Fundamentals of Speech
1 Clep Exam: College Algebra(72 out of 80)
EC’s: Varsity Speech and Debate(Two 3rd place wins and one 2nd place)
2 year National Honor Society Member
International Thespian Society
Drama Club
Several lead roles in shows
JV Soccer freshman year
Choir-Soprano Section Leader
Part time job going on two years
Pet Alliance animal shelter Volunteer
FSA Reading tutor for Elementary Schoolers
Student Athlete Math Tutor
I moved states between Freshman and Sophomore year so I have no clubs that I was apart of all four years. Would really appreciate any feedback though I realize this is all relative and not guaranteed. 
Senior also applying to Miami.
You have really good odds. 34 ACT is more than good enough, you are in-state, and AP classes+scores are all solid. Bio/med at Miami tends to be one of the more popular majors, but I don’t think that will seriously affect your chances.
Thanks, did you apply Early Action/Early Decision? I applied Early Action. Also, what are you planning to major in?
@Ella582 It has been mentioned more than once on this board that the []_[] is moving towards more need-based aid. While that is probably true, I do think you will be offered a scholarship of some sort! Applying EA/ED puts you in the running for some of the elite scholarships, too.
You may also be offered a Foote Fellowship. This has a lot of perks because you can skip the cognates and choose the classes you are interested in taking.
My daughter was awarded a President’s Scholarship and was invited to one of three scholarship weekends. She was the fortunate recipient of a Singer Scholarship. She had a 33 ACT, 4.17 GPA unweighted, and came from a rural state.
@sdteak - I am just wondering how your daughter can have an unweighted GPA of above 4.0- did her high school have a different scale than a A=4/ B=3/C=2/D=1 scale? Do you know how UM uses that information since their admissions info states that they use unweighted GPA?
Also, you mention that there are 3 different scholarship weekends- do you know what differentiates one weekend from another?
Thank you for any info- daughter is hoping for scholarship $$ for the U.
@Mom2NND Oh my, not only did I write the wrong GPA, but it was the wrong kid’s GPA! The daughter attending Miami had a 3.98 unweighted GPA.
She was accepted EA in January and invited to attend one of three weekends. What I recall is that the weekends were all the same except only kids attending the first weekend would be considered for the Stamps scholarships. Kids had to write a couple of short essays and submit them to confirm their spot. The Stamps weekend filled up REALLY fast, like less than a week after the notifications went out. She didn’t attend that weekend because she had a previously scheduled event. I don’t know how many spots are available for each weekend.
I’ve been scouring the internet trying to look at other peoples stats so I can kinda place myself among that and you have some of the best I’ve seen so far I think you are pretty much guaranteed admission and you have an excellent shot at scholarship money I applied early decision Miami is my dream school though so I was alright with the binding agreement part of that and I had a meeting with a UM admission lady she’s the person for my geographical area (Southeast Texas) and I wanted to meet with her because I really would like to go there but without any scholarship I can’t afford it and she basically said their mission is to have no student loans being taken out so like if money is why you can’t attend after being admitted you may have some wiggle room to negotiate some scholarship money. if you have looked at any other stats or info and can chance me that’d be great I have a thread for it. Anyway, Good Luck in your application process I hope everything works out !
I agree with the prior posters – I believe you will get in & get a lot of merit $. I am surprised that @sdteak mentions that they’ve seen that UM is moving from merit to FA, because I get the opposite impression. My son had lesser stats (3.7 uw & 1390 SAT) & received a $20,000 Pres scholarship & some smaller ones. I think that if they were going to give more FA vs merit, then he would have received FA rather than a scholarship. The amounts of the merit & the grants we got approximately equalled our FA offers at other schools. So maybe it’s a marketing strategy so kids can brag that they got a scholarship vs mere FA?
@Steglitz90 Just to clarify, I posted that it’s been mentioned on this board over the past year or so that the U is moving towards more financial aid rather than merit aid. I have no personal inside information, but it’s more of a cautionary statement than anything. I did a quick google search and found an article from the student newspaper that shows President Frenk is committed to improving need-based aid: http://www.themiamihurricane.com/2016/04/03/more-aid-needed-for-low-income-students/
@sdteak and @Steglitz90 , I’ve heard from several people I know who applied last year that sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to the aid amounts given out as they don’t give score and GPA ranges for the different Presidential Scholarship amounts or what you need to get invited to the Stamps/Singers Scholarship weekends. I got a new November SAT score which admissions said they accept for EA applicants of a 1500 single sitting (780 M 720 CRW). I really hope to be invited to the first scholarship weekend as the opportunity for a full ride is pretty incredible.
@Ella582 Congrats on an awesome SAT result! Good luck with Stamps/Singer Scholarship(s). From last year, I remember threads that detailed if you are invited for Stamps or Singer, and DON’T get it, you will receive the full Presidential scholarship amount ($28k?), plus any FA you need. My son has several friends at the U on various scholarships; there are especially good scholarships for minority or URM students (as he’s discovered), some on full rides who did not have as good stats as his. So, if you are a URM, you may qualify for other full ride scholarships besides Stamps or Singer.
@sdteak I agree that Pres Frenk is trying to improve need based aid, but I think the U is also trying to improve the quality of students by offering generous merit scholarships to students who may not get FA (or get a lot of FA) at higher ranked competitors. So, they may be getting top 25 level kids to come to the U if they give them $20k merit scholarships. That certainly entered into my son’s decision making, as the U ended up being cheaper than our state schools (UCLA/Cal, etc) & some other schools that gave FA only.
@Steglitz90 It also came into the decision making for my daughter last year. It makes a huge difference!
@Steglitz90 Hi! I have a 1390 on the SAT and also a 3.7 GPA (same stats as your son). UM is my dream school and I need a $20,000 scholarship to be able to go. I was wondering how long ago your son received the scholarship and if he had a lot of extracurriculars? I also do a lot of clubs and volunteer at a hospital (nursing major). Thank you!!
@sdteak The colleges that enjoy spots in the top 100 US News rankings are all absolutely obsessed with improving their rankings. Wity the exception of the elite schools, most of the privates do this by offering scholarships to attract the students with the best stats, not scholarships to the poorest students. A student from a low income family with great stats costs the university double what it would to lure in a student with the same stats from a more wealthy family. University presidents are basically politicians and have no problem with feigning interest in recruiting for economic and social diversity in order to keep university in the good graces of the media and surrounding areas.