With my less-than-stellar GPA what are my chances of getting into U-Michigan?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

Hello guys,
I am a current high school junior looking at colleges, and I absolutely love University of Michigan. My GPA is less than stellar however, in my current school B+s count a fair bit more than Bs and B-s, and not too much less than an A. At Michigan however, I hear All Bs count the same, as well as all As. As I have a few B+s, I’m afraid this will hurt me.

My Grades:

Freshman year:
German 1: A+
Honors English: A-
Honors Social Studies: A
Geometry Accelerated: A
Earth Systems Science: A-
Character and Game Design: A
CAD Engineering: A+
Band: A

Sophomore year:
Algebra 2: B+
Honors Biology: B+
Honors English: B+
Honors Social Studies: A+
German 2: A+

Junior Year
AP Physics: B+
AP European history: A+
Poetry: A
British literature: A+
Pre-Calc: A+
German 3: A+

Classes I have selected for Senior year
AP Calc AB
AP Gov
Politics and World Affairs
AP literature
German 4

I am planning on taking the AP exams for European history and Physics in around a month, and feel confident in my ability to get a 5 in both

Extra curricular activities:
I will have been on the Varsity football team for 4 years, and will have been a captain junior and senior year

I will have been on the Varsity indoor and outdoor track teams for 4 years, and will have been a captain junior and senior year

I participated in an exchange program and hosted a student from Germany for about a month, and then stayed in Germany for about a month

I have about 40 hours of community service

So my question is, with my less then optimal GPA, how well will I have to score on the SAT/ACT exams to have a decent change of getting accepted at U-Michigan?

Thank you so much in advance for your response and taking the time to read this!

2

your GPA is about 3.8 ish on the UMich scale. Not bad. Are you in state?

3

No, I’m not. I’m coming all the way from lil ol’ Vermont

4

Then you need about a 35 to be competitive I’m afraid.

5

is OOS that much harder than IS?

@HRSMom

6

I’m in the exact same boat as you - my UW is a 3.75 and I’m OOS applicant. My ACT is at 34 and I personally don’t think I’m that competitive. Your course rigor is good and your ECs are little but show commitment to sports - focus on test scores and getting the best recs/essays you can - advice from people at school who got into umich

chance back?: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1985653-chances-so-far-at-umich-some-other-schools-will-chance-back.html#latest

7

Yes, the rates of admission are much lower for OOS than IS. And they get multiples over the number of IS apps from OOS.

Combined IS and OOS, the avg GPA is 3.9 ish. What you need to do is look at this year’s seniors’ results from your school. Use Naviance or ask your counselor. Many ppl are shocked at how hard it is to get into Michigan.

8

Thanks for all your input guys. Aside from doing well on my ACT/SAT, is there anything else I can do to improve my chances? Maybe some more ECs? I am of Native American descent if that changes anything. Thank you in advance!

9

UMich is race-blind (no affirmative action), so being Native American won’t help. I’m an incoming University of Michigan freshman (OOS) as well, and some majors are going to be harder than others to get in. Show your interest in that major, and for the essays make sure you really express how much you want to come to UMich. Do an internship, and write about how that internship affected your career choice and why UMich and its specific programs will be the best for you. Especially for OOS, they want to keep their yield high. Let me know if you have any other questions!

10

There are around 4x of in state appliacants from OOS. The admission rate for OOS is around half of in state. Even they admit twice as many from OOS, the yield rate is around half of in state admitted students too. At the end, the enrolled freshmen are arounf half and half.

11

I’m an oos student with a 3.8 GPA and 29 act!!! not only did I get in EA first round, I got into LSA honors program too! I literally thought I had no chance and everyone on college confidential told me I shouldn’t get my hopes up, so don’t be discouraged!!! Make sure in your essays you write about things you’re passionate about and things unique to you! Good luck and don’t give up, anything could happen!

12

I do think the Native American thing may help. They don’t use AA, but it certainly is a different perspective they might like to see on campus. Just do your best on the ACT and see what happens! Good luck!

13

@HRSMom

Not all states are the same in competitiveness. Some students from some states mahy have an easier time getting admitted than in-state students.

I am not sure about Vermont, but going by a pure metrics standpoint, students from states like Oklahoma have it easier than in-state students since Michigan really wants geographic diversity in each class.

14

The absolute biggest advice I can give is this: when you write your essays, do two things. First, for your main common app essay, make sure you give examples of how you can use your experiences in the future to make the university you attend better. For instance, my common app essay revolved around an experience I had at a FIRST Robotics Competition event. I explained how we were having a problem with our winch mechanism that allowed our robot to climb last year and how we were lamenting that despite all the tools and materials around us (for those unaware, there’s practically any tool except like, a welder at our FRC events) we were probably not going to be able to fix this winch without taking our robot completely out of commission for a match or two, maybe more if a complication arose. I then explained how, figuring there had to be something to help us so we didn’t just have to abandon climbing, I felt a pencil in my pocket one of the other teams was giving out and had a crazy, but actually quite simple solution to our problem that just required looking at a problem from another angle. We used duct tape and pencils to make our winch wider, and within 5 minutes we had solved our problem. But more important than the actual story, I said how this taught me how looking at problems from various angles and perspectives can allow for solutions that no one would have thought about, and how I would bring that is what I’d bring to whatever college I ended up attending. Second, when you read over your “why Michigan” essay, be as clear as you possibly can as to why Michigan is the school for you. It’s cool that you’re a legacy or that you love their football program (random examples), but they know how great they are and don’t really want to hear about how Michigan was special to your parents. Show that you’ve done your research and reflected on it – prove that you belong at u of m (on that note though, don’t fall into the trap of “they have the #2 rank in my major so I want to go there”… instead say somebody of their specific programs and how that lends to your interests and how you learn.) For instance, I applied to Ross, so for part of my essay I mentioned how I think leadership is important and mentioned briefly how my experiences with being my robotics team’s business lead taught me how the ability to think on one’s feet makes one a good leader. I then connected that with the Leadership Crisis Challenge U-M and specifically Ross have. I also mentioned some of my study abroad trips and my love of the Spanish language and how Ross’s MERGE curriculum would as such lend to my interests and allow me to learn business from a global perspective and not just a small minded viewpoint. Basically, when you read back over your essay if you can more-or-less change the name of the university you’re applying to and reuse I for another university, you didn’t do it right if you want the best chance possible. ^ ^

You’ve got some pretty solid material to work with. Study hard and do well on your ACT/SAT, have strong first semester grades, and make sure your essays are as good as possible! Best of luck to you and Go Blue!