CQA College Visit with University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

Twin Cities, Minnesota.

Interesting Facts:

· Campus ‘green space’ was designed after the mall in DC

· To help during the winter: there is an underground tunnel system linking 90% of campus and in downtown Minneapolis is connected by above-ground tunnels

· Its Mascot-Golden Gopher, Colors: Maroon and Gold

· Mottos: Driven to Discover and Come Curious

· #1 Rising Star College-Forbes

· 93% retention rate between freshmen and sophomore year.

· Close-knit community

Athletics:

· Division 1 athletics-23 sports teams

· Big Ten Division

· Only D1 football and basketball school in Minnesota

· Students pay for football, basketball, and hockey tickets, other sports are free.

Academics:

· There are 150 majors

· 135+ minors

· It is a close-knit college community

· Many programs are interdisciplinary and are something the university promotes regularly

· Student apply and are admitted directly into one of eight colleges

· Students can apply to a second-choice college on application

· Switching colleges within UMN is very competitive

· Students officially declare major during sophomore year

· 80% of classes have fewer than 50 students

· Large lecture classes include smaller discussion groups with 23-30 students

Eight Colleges:

College of Biological Science

· Houses pre-med students.

· First-year experience starts the summer before freshman year. Students participate in the Nature of Life program and work alongside other students and faculty to do research.

· Students bring their hands-on lab experiences/summer research to campus in fall to continue work in their classes

College of Education and Human Development

· Houses Special Ed, and all other education fields.

· All programs are 5-year program student earns BA and MA

· Kinesiology and Sports Management programs are popular programs in this college.

· Leadership minor is available in this college

College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resources

· Houses nutrition and food science, animal science program

· There is a veterinary school on St. Paul side of campus which is a 10-minute bus-ride

· The Honeycrisp apple was created here

College of Liberal Arts

· 60 majors including languages, social sciences, pre-law, fine arts programs, journalism

· Dual admissions process for dance and theatre as they are Audition-based

o Broadway test market for participants

Carlson School of Management

· Students participate in the ICore program first year where they have to take the introduction to Management, Marketing, Accounting, and Finance all in one semester

· Carlson students are required to participate in a study abroad to gain international experience

College of Science and Engineering

· All students enter college undecided and learn about all programs during their first year and take the general engineering first-year programs with career opportunities represented within that college

· Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science are some of the programs located here.

Exceptions-these two programs-direct admit for freshmen:

School of Nursing

· Direct admit to School of Nursing is freshmen year only and it is the only way to get into the program

· No transfers into the program

· Around 100 students and they do clinicals years three and four

o 90% pass rate on Board exams

College of Design

· Direct admit to College of Design for programs like Architecture, Interior Design, Apparel Design, Product Design, Landscape Design

· No portfolio to apply but students will build one while there

Notes on Academic Programs:

· All BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE students must participate in the Nature of Life program; however, it is a four-day trip that coincides with their orientation. Once they complete their orientation and Nature of Life, they return home until school begins, no further coursework is required until they are on campus.

· They can choose their time to participate either earlier in the summer (June/July) or wait until the orientation options right before move-in during August.

· https://cbs.umn.edu/academics/departments/btl/academics/nol-series

· Our APPAREL DESIGN students typically fall right into the middle 50th percentile for the College of Design, it is not significantly more challenging for admission than any other major in that college.

· No portfolio is required for admission. We help them create a portfolio throughout their first year.

· Middle 50 is 25-30 ACT, 1220- 1370 SAT and we typically see students in the top 25% of their class- A/B students more A’s than B’s, taking rigorous classes. Same admissions process- application, self-reported grades/test score. No portfolio required; we help them build it in their first year.

· THEATRE AND DANCE-BFA enrolls approximately 15 students each. They host their auditions on campus but work to have video auditions for those students with special circumstances.

· Students who are not part of the BFA programs can still participate in our on-campus productions!

· We offer a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and have many opportunities for students to dance outside of the major, including our nationally ranked Dance Team!

· EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES for the COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT and BUSINESS

applicants-UM will consider math heavily during the review for the business school.

· Any experience outside the classroom in leadership, working, internships or DECA are great secondary review factors that would help a student stand out for this college.

· ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM is typically our most competitive program within the College of Design. Students admitted are typically on the higher end of our middle 50 percentile for this college. We also pay special attention to course rigor and math.

Graduate Colleges:

· School of Dentistry

· Center for Allied Health Programs

· UMN Medical School

· UMN Graduate School

· UMN Law School

· School of Public Health

· College of Pharmacy

· Humphrey School of Public Affairs

· College of Veterinarian Medicine

Activities:

· 900+ student groups on campus

· There is a welcome week so students can navigate what is available

University Honors Program:

· Automatic considered and top 10% of the incoming class for each college is automatically considered for honor program

· Students take a multi interdisciplinary approach to their studies

· Research, study aboard, and other experiences are important

· There is an Honor’s Living Learning Community that students can choose to live in.

· There is not a specific scholarship that all honors students are awarded automatically, however since they are high achieving, our honors students are often recipients of some academic merit-based scholarships.

Study Abroad:

· One of the nation’s most comprehensive learning abroad programs

· 250+ programs

· 70+ countries

Student Support:

· Academic advising -starts freshmen year

· Career Services

· Mental Health Resources

· Office of Equity and Diversity

· Disability Resource Center

· Undergraduate research opportunities programs

Research, Student Life, etc.

· Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence

· Hear from current Gophers- Out of State Student Panel

· Spring Jam Highlight Reel- Spring semester

· UMN sponsored student celebration-University of Minnesota Homecoming

· Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program

· Let’s Talk- Student counseling services

· Listen to the Rec Well Story for information on recreation centers, classes, intramurals etc.

· For Undecided students, check out the Center for Academic Planning and Exploration

· Pre-Health Student Resource Center (for all students interested in healthcare careers)

Housing:

· Living Learning Communities encompass all types of subjects like academics and interests.

· At Home in Minnesota is an LLC for out-of-state students

o Around 30 students live all of the same floors and are introduced to the quintessential midwestern culture

· Check out all of our Living Learning Communities here: https://housing.umn.edu/living-learningcommunities

· Over 90% of our first-year students choose to live on campus.

· From there we often see students wanting to move off-campus. By off campus, that typically means across the street in one of the apartment complexes or houses in Dinkytown!

· Students are welcome to live on campus in years two, three, and four if they would like, but it is more popular for them to find some friends and an apartment in Dinkytown.

Greek Life:

· About 16% of our student body is involved in Greek life. With a student population of over 3,400, the UMN Greek Community is a fun and active community to participate in, but students certainly don’t need to go Greek to find a community.

· The University of Minnesota is home to chapters from all 4 councils, the National Pan-Hellenic Council, National Panhellenic Conference, Multicultural Greek Council, and Interfraternity Conference, providing a variety of opportunities for all students to explore Greek life at Minnesota.

Parent and Family Program:

· Family receives weekly emails with updates on campus

· Encouraged to attend parent orientation during fresh orientation

· Parents are encouraged to help with student move-in

· Parent and family weekend where they attend a football game

Gopher for Life:

· 500,000 alumni in UMN career network

· 19,000 companies founded by alumni

Location:

· 1 mile out of Minneapolis

· Direct flight into MSP – light rail drops you off right at the station on campus

· Top companies in the area: Target, 3M, Boston Scientific, Ecolab, Best Buy

· A train goes through campus to connect students to both cities

· Downtown St Paul is a 15 minutes cab ride from the airport

· Downton Minneapolis

· One of the Top U.S. Metro for Young Professional -Forbes

· There are all four seasons in Minneapolis

· It is known as the land of 10,000 lakes

· The Twin Cities offer Winter carnivals, pond hockey tourneys, etc.

· 2014-Huffington Post named Minneapolis and St Paul in the Top 10 American Cities

· Minneapolis named the Best City for Millennials, by Vox

· The Twin Cities is one of the ‘coolest community for young talent’-Next Generation Consulting

· The neighborhood the campus is in is a college town feel

· Dinkytown surrounds the area where there are all-night coffee shops and pizza available until 3 am

Admissions:

· One application for freshmen admission, and automatic consideration for the honors program and academic scholarships

· Available merit money: $2500-$15,000 each year for all four years

Reciprocity:

· UM shares reciprocity with Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. They are considered out-of-state students but receive in-state tuition.

· Wisconsin and Illinois are our two largest out of state populations followed by California.

Application:

· GPA

· ACT/SAT scores

· Self-reported academic record-Send transcripts and test scores once you sign the intent to register.

· Application fee

· 3 applications: UMN, Capp, Coalition

· Holistic approach

Primary factors Considered:

· GPA

· Course Rigor

· Test scores

· Class rank

Secondary factors:

· Extracurricular activities

· Essay

· Teacher recs are accepted

Required:

· Four years of English and math

· Three years of science and social studies (Physics is required for Engineering and some STEM programs)

· Two-year language

· 1 year visual or performing art

Profile of Admitted Student:

· Middle 50%

· Fall 2019 - Freshman class size, approx. 6000

· Middle 50th percentile

o ACT: 25-31

o SAT: 1299-1437

· High School Rank: 80-91

· However, for some colleges, the averages are different:

· Schools of Biological Sciences, Nursing, and Sciences and Engineering have higher averages.

Cost of Attendance:

· Out-of-state student tuition $33,534

· Room and board $10,358

· Tuition includes 13 credits – any credits over is FREE

Scholarships:

· UM has specific scholarships just for out-of-state students ranging from $2,500- 15,000 each year for all four years. These are typically larger than our in-state packages which often range from $1,000- 3,000. They are intended to help cut the cost of out-of-state tuition. The largest scholarship essentially brings the cost down to in-state. These are highly competitive and the number of students that receive it each year depends largely on the funding that we receive and the applicant pool.

· Note, all of our applicants are automatically reviewed for our freshman academic scholarships with their application for admission.

Student demographics:

· Due to UMN being the land-grant institution, 65% of students admitted are residents of MN-65% students from Minnesota

· 5% international students

· 35% out-of-state

· Lots of students from the west coast

· Lots of diversity on campus