<p>Hello</p>
<p>This has probably been answered previously, but can you please tell me if Michigan </p>
<ol>
<li>Considers Freshman grades in the admission process</li>
<li>Weight the APs and Honors courses from High School</li>
<li>Should we be sending SAT2 scores, if available</li>
</ol>
<p>Regards</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Michigan recently started considering Freshman grades. Up until 2008 or 2009, Michigan only looked at 10th-11th grade transcripts. However, the University now looks at 9th grade as well. However, as with most universities, 9th grade transcripts are not nearly as important as 10th grade or 11th grade transcripts.</p></li>
<li><p>Michigan does not weigh AP or Honors courses. However, the University does scrutinize curriculum and expects all students to have challenged themselves as much as possible relative to the applicant’s high school offerings. </p></li>
<li><p>SAT 2 scores are not required. In fact, they are not even “recommended”. However, if an applicant has taken a couple of SAT subject tests and done well (over 700), submitting them cannot hurt.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I would only add that the unweighted GPA is very important at Michigan relative to all the other variables. Rigor and GPA are ranked Very Important on their common data set and standardized test scores are ranked Important. Everything else is ranked Considered.</p>
<p>Thx. One other question - do they just use the letter grade and ignore the + and -? As in a+ is the same as a-</p>
<p>Not any longer. Michigan use to weigh GPA its own way, but now, they also factor in - and +.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry one way or the other…the differences with plus and minus is almost insignificant since the bar is pretty high for UofM for the unweighted GPA. 70% of students attending had a uw GPA of 3.75 or higher.</p>
<p>someone wanting to go UOM with a UW GPA of 3.5 (till 11th grade) and WGA 3.85 ( +1 for AP or IB courses, seven of them so far AP Cal AB, BC, Stats, Bio, Chem and Euro History and IB Spanish) and SAT 2330 … rogorous course load so far … any chance at UOM Engineering? Decent extra curricular activities</p>
<p>I think many will tell you long reach due to the unweighted GPA. I would say a good chance due to outstanding SAT.</p>
<p>It really depends on the school parent62. Some high school are known for very harsh grading, and students from those schools can get into Michigan with 3.5 GPAs. The standard UW GPA for admitted students is over 3.8, but it really depends on the high school. Everything else seems to be in place; rigorous curriculum, good SAT, decent ECs etc… Your son should check how other students with similar GPAs from his high school did when they applied to Michigan.</p>
<p>…and similar SATs. Alexandre- how does one check for similar course rigor?</p>
<p>The Michigan Admissions Office will compare your grade with the grades of other top performing students in your school to determine what a “good gpa” for that high school is. This is the same method they use to determine whether or not you’re taking challenging classes and enough APs. It’s all relative to what school you go to.</p>
<p>Thanks Alexandre and SoccerWolfP.</p>
<p>Alexandre, One more question … If the school lists both UWGPA and WGPA in the transcript, does Michigan look at the Weighted GPA ? Is there a policy ? Thanks</p>
<p>Most likely they look at the list of weighted classes. But it’s fairly easy to calculate an unweighted GPA with eyeballs. A 4.0 is all As, etc. All As and a couple Bs is around a 3.8. Our highly regarded high school (in Michigan) does not weight but on the school profile they list the “rigorous” classes so an admissions person can quickly check if a student took all of some of the 8-10 classes classified as rigorous. Most transcripts call out the AP classes in the class titles so that’s not difficult to see either and the school profile should indicate if there are other classes that are difficult that aren’t branded or obvious by the title.</p>
<p>The AP and IB classes are weighted with the additional full point and the school lists both the GPA and weighted GPA.</p>
<p>^^If it lists both then everything is there for the admissions counselors. The guidance counselor at the high school may have more information about how students in previous years fared with their applications to UofM and which kids accepted admissions offers. That would be a good source of information.</p>
<p>But can any one answer if michigan looks at weighted gpa ? For, this accounts for the rigor of the classes.</p>
<p>What do you mean “looks at them”…if they are on the transcript they can see them? Some high schools weight, some don’t. They can “look” at the grades and see the names of the classes. Schools that weight do all kinds of crazy things and the schools are all different. Some schools have regular, honors, AP, IB…some have regular and AP, you get the picture. Apply if it’s a college the student is interested in and the family can afford. 3.5 is low but not unheard of. Your SAT scores are good. Michigan will tell you that for engineering they look closer at math and science grades and the math and science portion of the ACT (or equivalent portions of the SAT) and there’s essays and personal statements… The common data set tells you they place high importance on GPA, but it’s a holistic review. There’s really not much more anyone can tell you.</p>
<p>parent62 - Admissions definately looks at the rigor of the courses; this is an important factor.</p>