By Kate Smigelski ’15 | Staff Writer

With 72 students accepted to the University of Michigan (U-M), the Class of 2014 is proving itself to be a strong, intelligent class, counselor Troy Glasser said.

According to the U-M website, they had an acceptance rate of 36.6 percent this year for all. South applicants alone had an acceptance rate of 53 percent, which is 16.6 percent higher than the overall rate.

“We have a large high school with a tough curriculum, and a lot of these students took very difficult classes,” said Glasser.

“They are smarter than other classes,” said Glasser. “Classes get identities and they have always been known to be strong.”

Test scores have always been very high for this class, Glasser said. From the MEAP up through the ACT, this graduating class has had higher scores than average.

“For the most part, students that are very strong academically, also have busy schedules,” said Glasser.

A study done for the Journal of Sports Administration and Supervision shows that 51.8 percent of students that participate in extracurriculars, such as athletics, reported having a GPA of above a 3.5, while only 39.8 percent on non-athletes reported the same.

“When you’re busy and trying to manage your schedule, you perform better,” said Glasser.

For Stuart Daudlin ‘14, attending U-M has always been the goal. Although he also applied and was accepted to Kalamazoo College and Michigan State University.

“I applied to Michigan’s engineering program,” said Daudlin. “I did not think my chances of getting in were good.”

The Admissions Department at U-M warns applicants to never write an application essay on a subject that they had previously written on, Daudlin was told while on a campus tour. However, even though this worried him, it did not affect his acceptance.

“I think extracurriculars are really helpful for applications, so staying involved and challenging yourself is good, as long as you don’t overload yourself,” said Daudlin.

Daudlin was on the varsity soccer team, part of the Solar Car Club, and a member of the Spanish Honors Society and Spanish Club, along with various volunteer opportunities, he said.

Even though she was accepted to U-M, Tenley Shield ‘14 said she is choosing to attend Princeton in New Jersey and play varsity golf there. She also plans to major in engineering.

“I thought my chances of being accepted were pretty good because I had so much support from my coach and the athletic department as a whole,” said Shield.

Along with golf, Shield was also captain of the varsity hockey team, a member of Link Crew, and participates in orchestra.

“Since everyone at challenging schools have high test scores and grades, it’s good to differentiate yourself a little, help yourself stand out,” said Shield.

Applying to college and hoping for that acceptance letter is stressful, Anna Nevison ‘14 said. When the letter is to a difficult school, such as U-M, it is even worse, she said.

“I thought my chances were really low,” said Nevison. “People kept telling me that they only accept a certain number of kids at South, and I did not think I would make it.”

Nevison applied to U-M, Michigan State, Purdue and Miami of Ohio, and was accepted into all of them, she said. U-M was her number one choice, and although she was deferred at first, she received her acceptance letter. She plans to major in pre-med.

Next year’s senior class should be preparing for the college application process, Glasser said. Junior meetings with their counselor are required to discuss future plans and college visits.

“Visiting a college campus is really influential when it comes time to make a decision,” said Nevison.

College decisions are stressful, Glasser said. Planning for many months to come is very helpful.

Although extracurriculars are seen as a big part of applications, most state schools focus mainly on GPA, test scores and what classes a student took, Glasser said. The Class of 2014 was strong in all of these aspects. The amount of acceptances from prestigious schools is based strongly off of their academics and the large amount of leadership they have and hopefully continue to have throughout their college years.