<p>Hi</p>
<p>I got a deferral letter last week from michigan. It's still my top choice and I want to have the best shot I can at getting in when they re-review my application.</p>
<p>I'm going to call them tomorrow and ask (first I want to see if my counselor has the number of an actual admissions officer; I called once before and the guy who answered just blew me off...sounded like a bored student working there)</p>
<p>So if anyone has any advice on what to do the improve my chances for next time, I would appreciate your insight. If anyone on here is a current freshman (attending UMich or not) who got deferred from michigan I'd really appreciate hearing your story/what you did after getting deferred.</p>
<p>I know grades for 7th semester are obviously a factor; I'm just looking for other ideas that may give me an edge.</p>
<p>10th-11th gr UM GPA: 3.4, ACT 33, instate
Current classes/grades:
AP Bio.................A-
AP Chem..............B
AP Calc BC...........C+ (i may be able to pull off a B- for semester grade, but prob. not)
Astronomy (lol..)...A
English.................A
Spanish 2.............A</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>oh also if my past hs stats would be helpful just say so and i'll post them. I just don't want to make this thread look all cluttered if it's not necessary.</p>
<p>I know!
I called them, and got a bored sounding student also!
Lol, we might have even got the same guy.</p>
<p>A C in Math, even though it is clearly a very challenging class, will hurt you. That would give you a 3.2 Michigan GPA, and that would probably lock you out. A B- in that Math class would keep you in the running.</p>
<p>I would have a serious talk with your Math teacher to see what you can do to ensure a B- grade for that class. Explain to him your dream of attending Michigan and that you will do what it takes to improve to a B-.</p>
<p>michigan doesnt count weighted gpa?</p>
<p>That is correct. Michigan recalculates GPAs its own way. Michigan will leave out all Freshman classes and will also leave out "non-academic" classes (such as PE, Psychology, Government, Home Economics etc...) you took Sophomore and Junior year. Of the classes left, Michigan assigns the following values:</p>
<p>4 points for all As (A+, A and A-)
3 points for all Bs (B+, B and B-)
2 points for all Cs (C+, C and C-)
1 point for all Ds
0 points for all Fs</p>
<p>Add all your points, devide by the number of classes and round to the nearest 10th (3.54 = 3.5 and 3.66 = 3.7).</p>
<p>Using this system, the mid 50% SAT range of admitted students is 3.7-4.0.</p>
<p>Thanks Alexandre</p>
<p>I got a B- for first quarter and as of now I have a 79.48%, so I think I could do it provided I do well on the midterm. Unfortunately I have a long history of doing poorly on math exams (hence my low grades now :( ).</p>
<p>I'll talk to him and try to work something out.</p>
<p>Is there anything I can do in addition to working on grades? Like would joining a load of extracurriculars help or does quality>quantity still apply?</p>
<p>alexandre... so you're saying that AP Government and AP Psychology aren't included in the UM GPA? What about art classes like ceramics? because we actually did stuff and had to write papers on the history and stuff.</p>
<p>yea I'm taking Ap Gov't to and deferred, I don't know why that wouldn't be included</p>
<p>Actually, that's incorrect. Government and Psychology are considered academic by umich. At least for my highschool. Umich can judge your highschool classes to be academic or not. For example, there is a class at my school called "Vocab Improvement". Whereas it is considered an English class, Umich does not count that class as academic. As a general rule of thumb though, all "art" classes (except theater arts), home ec, orchestra/band, computer (except computer science), PE, accounting/business, and life skills classes are not academic.</p>
<p>svtcobra: Joining clubs will most likely not help you now. Getting your grades up is definitely the best thing to do.</p>
<p>if I have a 3.4 Michigan GPA roughly and I get straight A's again this term with a 31 ACT and good EC would I have a good chance to get in LSA?</p>
<p>Does anyone know how UMich calculates where an A- is versus a B+? My son's school doesn't give letter grades, they give number grades, so when they recalculate I am wondering if they will credit him with an A- or a B+ for a 90 (for example). All his grades in core classes are 89s, 90s, and 91s.</p>
<p>He applied Nov 1 and hasn't heard yet.</p>
<p>Does the school provide universities with a conversion table? For example, does it inform universities where the A starts and ends etc...? If yes, Michigan will use that table. If not, I would guess Michigan will make a best guesstimate, going with 90+ as A, 80-89 as B and 70-79 as C.</p>
<p>If the school provides a table does the U of M recalculate the GPA? Our school gives an A- only at 93, B+ at 92, etc. Johns Hopkins uses these tables to recalculate the GPA. That would be fair.</p>
<p>If ALL your classes give a B for a 92, then I cannot say for sure. But if only certain classes do it, then umich will not recalculate those grades.</p>
<p>My son got a deferral letter yesterday also, and asked for first semester senior year grades. So far this semester, he is getting As in AP Physics and AP Calc BC, and A in Honors Stat but a C in Spanish.</p>
<p>Btw, here are the recalculated GPA ranges for first year studesnt fall term 2007 (From UMich brochure)</p>
<p>28% 4.0
53% 3.9 or higher
67% 3.8 or higher
85% 3.6 or higher</p>