What do I need to go to a good university in U.S? What are my chances to go to U of M?

Question

My parents has a TN NAFTA work visa, I have a TD. This mean that my family is not a permanent resident of the U.S. (Hold Canadian Citizenship). However, I have been living in United State since the start of my 9th grade. I am going to apply for U of Michigan, Ann Arbor. However, I am obligated to apply as an International Student. The admission office require me to take the ACT or SAT. But it looks like I don't have to write the essay or get a letter of recommendation. Is that true? Also, I am worried that my "29" ACT score is not high enough. International Student are known to be very competitive. I have taken 5 AP classes as of now, and planning to take 3 more. My GPA should be 3.8333, without counting extra points from AP classes. My "real" class rank...I have no idea b/c my school rank anyone who has a Gpa of 4.00+ ( mine is 4.33) as rank 1. As a result, because of the honor point from AP classes, there are about 25 people (including me) tied for rank 1 in a group of 433 people.

Answer 1

You have a shot for the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; however, note that this years upcoming class is ridicuously large. That means there will be a greater number of applicants applying to colleges this upcoming year, which also means that it will be much more competitive. If I were you I would do the following:

-Keep my hopes up for U of M but not make that solely the only school, because there are other great universities in the US as well besides U of M

-Retake ACTs. That score it def not good enough. You are at the bottom of the average for U of M. I would shoot for AT LEAST a 31. If the ACT is not for you, then stick with the SAT. The SAT is less memorization but more apititude and your abilitiy of test taking, which some students find easier.

-GPA is fine, but keep it at that, DON'T let it drop.

-Take 2 subject tests even though it's not required because that could cover up your ACT/SAT score or offset it. Also, because your an international candidate you have a more competitive pool to fight against!

I know it's a lot and it may seem even impossible to achieve. But trust me, my friend took her second SAT in October of her senior year and she was a competitive cross country runner. October was DURING her cross country season, but she still got a 2200 (equivalent to 33 on ACT). However, when she took her SATs in June she only recieved a score of a 1950 (29 ACT). Also, her GPA slightly dropped, because she was taking so many SAT tests. Also, for her SAT subject tests she took: Math IIC, Chem, Bio and she got above 750 on EACH of them. She was MAD stress. I'm not going to lie, but she got through it and is now a happy student who is going to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

Answer 2

You seem to be totally confused - not a good start!

Answer 3

It is possible that you might not have to write an essay/get a letter; it all depends on the school so you should check on their website or on collegeboard.com. As for the 29 score, I think you could do better with your GPA, so I'd take it again for the sake of it.

Also, the international student section IS competitive. However, you have to remember it's not all about GPA/APs/ACT/SATs. You need to do well on your essay too. So blow them away with your essay, because that's the only thing that can set you apart from someone else with the same/similar grades.

That being said, you'll never know if you'll get in unless you try, so you might as well. And besides, your grades don't look bad at all, so again, you might as well.