Worth it to apply to EA out of state? - Class of 2022 LSA hopeful

Hey, I’m a current 2nd semester junior and I’ve been pretty set on UMich for a while - it’s my absolute dream school. I’d like to go into a Communications and Psychology double major. I don’t know exactly how well my stats stack up though - my scores are good but my All Subject (school has all subject gpa and academic gpa - academic is the weighted one) GPA is a point or so below the OOS average and I don’t have a ton of APs yet - I’ll have 8 by the end of senior year.

GPA: 3.75 all subject, and 4.6 academic (all honors/APs all years)
ACT: 34
SAT: 1550

My ECs are pretty good in quality and quantity and I have leadership roles and honors in a handful.

  • In School/Club Volleyball (coach says i have a great chance at all-state and I’m team captain for school team next year)
  • In School Soccer (varsity since soph year)
    -Operation Snowball (participant all three years, leader past two years, and i’m a student director next year)
    -School Broadcasting/Production Team (I’ve had a radio show since sophomore year, have worked in the tv/radio areas, heading up radiothon this year, being a tech director for variety show, filming things for the school etc.
    -Choir and Selective Performance Groups (choir for all ears, in the two selective groups offered to male sophomores and older since sophomore year)
    -Theatre- (mainly supporting roles in school productions and combined school musical. member of the thespian troupe)
    -Student Board (i was recently elected to be one of four VPs on the executive board next year)
    -Variety Show - (vocal ensemble all three years as well as a tech director this year
    -Speech Team (some reigonal placements and i made it to nationals this year
    -DECA (same kind of stuff as speech)
    -World Languages Honor Society
    -Academic Resource Center Tutor
    -Tri-M Honor Society

So, would you say it’s worth it to apply EA? (likely outcome being a deferral and trying again RD round)

Why not? I don’t see how would it hurt your chance by applying EA as they do not reject applicants by just defer if not accepted. You may just have less time to write the essay. You do want to bring up you GPA in your first semester in senior year though.

bump?

I wouldn’t not risk applying regular decision. Since it’s clear that Umich is your number 1 choice, applying early action is worth it regardless of your GPA. I know people with similar gpa/score stats and they got accepted, though they are instate. You are applying for LSA which should be less competitive than engineering or Ross so I believe you have a high chance of getting in if your essays reflect your interests. Your ECs look good but just curious if you’ve done any more community service related activities. Anyways, when you do apply, early action is the way to go as regular decision definitely tends to have less acceptances especially for OOS.

Also what billcsho says is absolutely correct, there is no downside to applying earlier than raising your GPA or having time to write essays. You’ll be able to finish all of the essays in the summer if you start early and that will give you a lot of time to revise them as well.

Good luck when you apply this upcoming fall! Best of luck!

Also you should reweight your GPA based on the UMich grading scale of where As of any type are 4s and Bs of any type are 3s and so on. If this GPA is above your current unweighted GPA then you’ll be fine.

@an24776 My school weighs GPA the same as UMich, and thank you! Yes, I have a lot of volunteer hours - over the summer I’m a coach at a girl’s volleyball camp in the city. I volunteer for about six hours every weekday for a little over two months, and I’ve been doing it since freshman year.

Well seeing how you are definitely involved with your ECs and not just doing them haphazardly, I’d say that you have a good chance. Some may say it’d be more difficult due to your lower GPA, but IDK, I have a good feeling about how your application would go. Just show how passionate you are for the school and etc for the UMich specific essays. Hope to see you on college confidential in December, posting on the UMich Class of 2022 page with an “Accepted, yada yada.” If you got any questions in the future, feel free to DM me.

I had similar SAT, lower GPA, slightly more rigorous courseload, and about the same level of ECs. I got in two years ago after being deferred EA. (OOS New Jersey)

it doesn’t hurt to apply ea because umich defers, not rejects early action students. if you get deferred, send in your first semester grades and a letter of continued interest to your regional counselor.