What can I do to get off the Waitlist?

Colleges & Universities University of Michigan
1

<p>So, I was wait listed from UofM and UofM is my dream school. What can I do to get off the wait list? I want to impress the Admissions Office but I don’t want to piss them off. HELP! </p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>ACT: 33
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.65
Senior Year Course Load: AP Government, AP Latin, Anatomy, Lit. I have a Reduced Schedule – I go to school for 4 hours and then I spend the rest of my day at UofM working in a lab. </p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Sports:
JV Tennis (9-11)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
ACTION (9-12) Captain (11)
Key Club (9-12)
Debate (9-12) Varsity Captain (11-12)
Science Olympiad (9-12)
NHS (12)
Quiz Bowl (9-11)</p>

<p>Volunteering:
ACTION
Key Club
NHS
Private Tutoring (Grades 5-12 & I also tutor some college students in Calculus)
Mentoring - Elementary Students (10-11)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Worked at my dad’s office and filed home health care papers for his company (9)</p>

<p>Research:
I am currently researching Spinocerebellar Ataxias with a professor at UofM. I have written a paper.</p>

<p>Awards:
Science Olympiad – Regionals and States Medals
Debate – JV States and Varsity States Finalists
AP Scholar
Magna Cum Laude on the National Latin Exam - Freshman Year (School never offered it after my freshman year)</p>

<p>Summers:
Freshman - Self-studied Bio, Chem, Geometry Honors, Precalc Honors. Worked at my dad’s office. Started reading literature about Neuroscience.
Sophomore - Tennis. Tutored a student with Autism. Continued my independent research on Neurodegeneration.
Junior - RESEARCH! Prepping for competitions. P90X. </p>

<p>Essays: People said that my essays were really good and that they were unique. My Common App essay was focused on my Sophomore year, the year my GPA went to hell and back. The Community essay was about Debate and my team specifically. The “Why Michigan?” essay focused on the CMB/BME program and the research being done at UofM. I mentioned the research I am currently conducting at UofM. </p>

<p>Teacher Recommendation: AP Biology (8/10), Latin Teacher (9/10)</p>

<p>Counselor Rec: Probably good. I’ve challenged the school system enough to leave a lasting impression haha. </p>

<p>Additional Rec: I originally submitted one from my Debate coach. He said that he wrote me a really good Rec. I’m going to get Recs from my Lab Professor and the Grad Student who I’ve been working with. </p>

<p>Other</p>

<p>State (if domestic applicant): MI
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large pretty competitive public
Race(s) (White, AA, AI/AN, Asian, NH/PI): Indian
Hispanic (Y/N): Nah
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nah</p>

<p>Reflection</p>

<p>Strengths: My Extrcurriculars. Essays
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I DON’T KNOW WHY I WAS WAITLISTED! Granted, I have a low GPA, but I thought the rest of my app would somewhat compensate for my one bad year…maybe not? I thought the fact that I’ve been conducting research at UofM since June 2013 would’ve helped my app significantly. I guess I need to impress them more…
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Harvard, UofChicago, Michigan State
Waitlisted: Yale, UofM
Rejected: Duke, Stanford, Johns Hopkins</p>

<p>General Comments: Going to try my best to impress the Admissions Office. I’m going to send them my Research Paper and Poster. I’m also going to send them additional Recs from my Lab Professor and Grad. Student. I’m also going to update them on Debate and show them my interest in their debate team. I never got the chance to really tell them about my experiences as a tutor, so I’m going to add that to my Letter of Interest. </p>

<p>Do you have any suggestions as to how I can get off the UofM waitlist? </p>

<p>Thank you for your suggestions! :D</p>

2

<p>I would contact admissions and ask if they will even accept further submissions. </p>

<p>Your GPA sticks out as an issue, at a quick glance. </p>

<p>Have you failed a class or gotten several Ds? C’s? </p>

<p>Congratulations on the Harvard and UChicago acceptance. You have excellent choices to explore! </p>

3

<p>The data from a couple of years ago is they they offered the wait list to over 14,000 students and ultimately admitted 42 of them. Getting off the wait list would appear to be much more difficult than being admitted in the first place. At this point you are probably better off using your energy to figure out a way to end up at Harvard or Chicago.</p>

4

<p>Unfortunately unweighted GPA is #1 in importance according to the UofM common data set . Its always surprising when Michigan let’s some of it’s best in-state kids leave. All you can really do is send an e-mail to your admissions counselor, tell them you will attend if accepted and who you will be turning down to do it. Perhaps have the prof you are doing research with send an e-mail to the same admission counselor as you noted…other than that unfortunately there’s not much you can do. </p>

5

<p>@Decorative22‌ My GPA declined my Sophomore year. I unknowingly plagiarized in my American Lit. class; I ended up with a D. I didn’t understand AP Physics and refused to ask for help; I ended up with 2 Cs. Other classes I was getting As and high Bs. I maintained high GPAs my Junior and Senior years. I wrote about my downfall in my Common App Essay. Hopefully the rest of my app can compensate for my GPA. </p>

<p>@sundaypunch‌ Where there’s a will, there’s a way!</p>

<p>@momofthreeboys That’s what I plan on doing. I was just wondering if there was anything else I can do. I’ll be sending them the research paper I wrote, along with the poster. I’ll also send them Recs from the Grad. student who I worked with and the Professor who runs the lab. </p>

<p>Thanks for you advice, everyone! I really appreciate it!</p>

6

<p>You have admissions to Harvard and Chicago? Is there an issue in matriculating at either one of them?</p>

7

<p>It’s not difficult to get off wait list if you follow the instruction offered by the admission office. Just convince someone admitted to Umich not to attend and a spot will be available for the waitlist. Just kidding. Take it easy and move on.</p>

8

<p>I wouldn’t be surprised if Alexandre made this thread to make UM seem more desirable than Harvard.</p>

9

<p>“I wouldn’t be surprised if Alexandre made this thread to make UM seem more desirable than Harvard.”</p>

<p>There are people who would rather attend UM than Harvard.</p>

10

<p>No there aren’t.</p>

11

<p>It will take a lot of people declining admission offer before they will take on from wait list. They have already estimated around 60% admitted students declining the offer. So if you convince one or even 10 students to decline admission, it still will not make room for one wait list until it go below their targeted yield rate.</p>

12

<p>“No there aren’t.”</p>

<p>Yes there are. There are people who would rather attend U-M over Harvard. It’s ridiculous to think that every single person on the face of the Earth would rather attend Harvard over U-M.</p>

<p>Shouldn’t an engineering student choose U-M over Harvard?</p>

13

<p>^ Very true for engineering.</p>

14

<p>To non-wealthy upper middle income families (family income over $250k but until $350k), I can see how Michigan at $25k per year would be more appealing than any university (including Harvard) at $65k per year. </p>

15

<p>^ That too.</p>

16

<p>Just some information from 2012, out of 9000 wait list, around 100 were offered admission at the end.
<a href=“University of Michigan shrinks freshman class but grows overall fall 2012 enrollment to 43,426”>http://www.annarbor.com/news/university-of-michigan-shrinks-freshman-class-but-grows-overall-student-body-to-more-than-43400/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

17

<p>If your professor really wants you to continue in his lab, ask him to call your admissions counselor (<a href=“http://www.admissions.umich.edu/drupal/undergraduate-admissions-team”>http://www.admissions.umich.edu/drupal/undergraduate-admissions-team&lt;/a&gt;) to state your case. Your admissions counselor will need ammunition to support your case in the committee.</p>

<p>It may be helpful to let your professor know that despite being admitted at Harvard and Chicago, your top choice is still Michigan CMB/BME.</p>

18

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Good idea. I would scan your acceptance letters to Harvard and Chicago and attach them in an enthusiastic email to your admissions person. There is probably not a better way to demonstrate interest than to tell them you are holding out for UoM over these schools.</p>

19

<p>@Trinity7‌ UM is much cheaper, it’s closer to home, I like the CMB/BME program there, and I want to continue researching there. </p>

<p>@flintstone‌ I’m not the Alexandre you speak of. </p>

<p>@777Blue77‌ Preach. </p>

<p>@flintstone Yes, there are people who prefer UM over Harvard. Exhibit A: Me. </p>

<p>@Alexandre Finances are the major issue in my preference</p>

<p>@GoBlue81 I will let him know! Thanks!</p>

<p>@sundaypunch I just might have to do that. Thanks for the advice!</p>