RoyallyScrewed

Hey guys,

I am currently a Junior at a very competitive private school in Florida. I was just wondering as to if anybody could give me some input as to whether or not I have a legitimate shot? I appreciate any and all input! I know my grades are a bit low compared to the average U. Michigan applicant, but this is my dream school and I was just curious more than anything. I definitely plan on applying, though, that's for sure. I am hoping to go for Business/Management.

ACT - 29, and taking again in June. Hoping for a 31 or so.
SAT - Took the May SAT and am still waiting on those results. I think I did very well (1300+ hopefully!).

-Freshman Year GPA: 3.33 UW/3.33 W (No Honors/AP)
-Sophomore Year GPA: 3.40 UW/3.40 W (No Honors/AP)
-Junior Year GPA (so far): 3.18 UW/3.40ish W (3 Honors/No AP)
-Senior Year GPA: TBD (2 Honors/1 AP)

School does not release rankings.

Essays should be very good, being as I am a good writer. Recs also very good.


Extra Curricular Activities:
- Debate Team (3 years)
- Key Club (3 years)
- Young Democrats Club (1 year)
- Young Republicans Club (3 years... I joined BOTH my Sophomore year to see which one I preferred, before giving the nod to the Y.R.)
- Newspaper (1 year)
- 140 hours of community service
- Treasurer of 11th grade class
- Treasurer of the school for next year
- Internship at local stock brokerage firm

Other things:
-Attended a summer study at University of Colorado at Boulder in the summer before Junior Year.
-Come from a broken home -- Divorced parents. I've been told by a few people to play this card.
-National Society of High School Scholars
-Went on an Outward Bound excursion for a month the summer before my Freshman year.
-Dean’s List in Fall ’06, Fall ’07, and Spring ’07.
-I run a business online buying and selling baseball cards. I started with $500 in 2004 and am up to over $15,000 in inventory. I hope to make it to $20,000 and donate it for Cancer research, a subject very near and dear to me. I've had too many friends and relatives die of this disease.
-I am spending this summer in Tanzania, helping in a few villages with building schools, teaching the children, and helping out.

JR526

Hey I'm going to be applying next year too. Obviously I'm no pro, but here's my input:

As you know, GPA is a touch low, but I don't think it's so horrible that you don't have a shot. Most UMich apps will be almost all AP/Honors, so that could work against you, but maybe it was a better judgement call rather than stretching yourself into AP classes and doing poorly.

If you could get your ACT to a 31 that would be good, even better if you could get a 32+ to counterbalance your GPA a bit.

Your ECs are very good. I would really suggest not trying to "play the divorce card." TONS of applicants will have divorced parents (myself included). When I read "broken home" I was thinking single mother, poverty line, etc. Divorce isn't necessarily such a horrible experience for a child that it will gain tons of sympathy. Again, just my opinion, and I obviously don't know the specifics.

Really I just want to reemphasize that your ECs are really great. You have some truly unique sounding ones, especially the trip to Tanzania and the baseball card/cancer thing, and I think that will help you tons (especially if you do end up donating a lot to cancer research, that is sooo great). However, they won't make you a shoe-in so it's important to keep your grades where they are (and maybe bring them up?) and try to get at least a 30/31 ACT. Good luck and maybe (assuming ND doesn't happen for me so I go Michigan) we'll be classmates in 09!

RoyallyScrewed

JR526 - Good luck, man! Thanks for the input. I know the "broken home" was a bit of a stretch. I figured I'd put down anything I could potentially use to my advantage.

Again, good luck and thank you very much for the input!

mt522

i'll be applying next fall as well.

from what i heard, APPLY EARLY! teacher recs and essays are already on the website, counselor rec should come soon, so get those done before you leave for summer vacation... that way, you can apply in early september.

good luck!

blackpen2008

reach
low gpa, act doesn't make up for it.

Tsukasa36

I would also recommend applying early. I had 32 on ACT but had horrible 1300 on SATs. Had a decent GPA, but I applied early with good EC around November before early action deadline as a Regular Decision, and got my acceptance letter within 4weeks. I was actually amazed, but I heard many qualified people who were rejected applied late. So if you apply early with better GPA's and hopefully better standardized test scores, you have a shot.

Christine123

-I run a business online buying and selling baseball cards. I started with $500 in 2004 and am up to over $15,000 in inventory. I hope to make it to $20,000 and donate it for Cancer research, a subject very near and dear to me. I've had too many friends and relatives die of this disease.
-I am spending this summer in Tanzania, helping in a few villages with building schools, teaching the children, and helping out.

These are the things I would tell the University about. They're the type of things, beyond winning highly thought of national/international level academic awards and demographics, that make up for a low stat.
I'm also glad you're doing both of these things, the first has effected me too many times as well. If you do come to Michigan, you'll have lots of opportunity to participate in these types of service and also find new causes you're passionate about, so I wish you the best of luck!

jnpn

I guarantee you that if you play that card you will regret it. Colleges get flooded with the same old sob stories about divorced parents, deaths in the family, etc. It's prob one of the worst things you could write about. To put it in business terms, your application should be giving them selling points, not excuses.

Looking at your profile, what stands out to me is your EC's -- especially running your own business. Your stats aren't great, but with what you do outside the classroom you definitely have a shot.

RoyallyScrewed

Thanks a lot for the input -- a quick question though.

How would I go about proving my business to the college? For some reason, I cannot fathom that merely writing about what I am doing and why it is important to me will sway such a decision.

jnpn

If you have a website for it, that makes it easy. If not, talking about it in terms of how you started and how it works in an essay would be sufficient as far as proof.

It's not as simple as just saying what you do and why it's important to you. You use the things you do as examples for the person you are characterizing yourself as in your essays. But yeah, it wouldn't sway the decision if what you were doing was typical. However, most applicants don't run their own business.

Alexandre

Royally, the mid 50% unweighed GPA range of admitted students is 3.7-4.0. Your ACT is right around the Michigan mean. To make matters worse, you are from out of state. Statistically, Michigan is a reach.

This said, I like your ECs and those could really help you. As jnpn wisely advises, do not dwell on your personal family problems. And as Christine very aptly points out, your ECs are excellent. That is what you should focus on...along with improving your ACT/SAT as much as possible.

flong

yeah your exc are impressive definitely! however, your GPA is fairly low for Michigan esp as an OOS. I got in iwth a 3.4 UW but my act equivalent was like a 31/32. Make sure you get it up but I do think you have a chance just write good essays and be positive!!

liberate

I got in with a 3.1 GPA/2070 SAT because of my Internet business. Granted, it is a "bit" more substantial than yours, but clearly admissions values entrepreneurship.

rodney

Really dont want to burst anyone's bubble here, but I do have a unique situation which is the exact opposite of everyone's here......My D applied 10/15....3.6UM GPA, 1450 SAT/32 ACT...all AP's and honors....She has been running her own business since 8th grade and emphasized it on her app.....She was deferred in December and then withdrew her app in Jan; all of her peers with similar grades and stats were eventually waitlisted....

We are OOS.....My point is that while UMich "may" value entrepreneurship, NOTHING supercedes their obsession with GPA and favoring certain states in their admissions policy.....Yes, there will be isolated cases of those OOS who were accepted with lower GPA's, but for the most part, this is a reach for the OP......

liberate

rodney, I think it depends on the magnitude of the business. I run a true, registered LLC which has worked with Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and tens of other companies to bring in tens of thousands of dollars in profit. I'm OOS and I got in with much lesser grades than your daughter.