<p>I don’t think diagnosing the OP with a disorder is going to give him any practical advice. The ACT score is only a part of the critieria used by U-M in admissions and based on the decisions made this year it is given only minor consideration. Most of the high test score low GPA candidates were deferred. All the OP can do is try his best to improve the test score, keep his grades up, get good recommendations, write good essays, apply to U-M and hope for the best. OP is a reach but admission is definitely possible. His guidance counselor may also be able to provide advice. Most Michigan high schools have good relationships with U-M admissions counselors.</p>
<p>Totally agree. A 27 would be nice with your GPA and it seems like if your heart is set on UofM you could look for an algebra review class and/or a geometry review class and see if you can’t tweak the math up abit. Your GPA is fine. Talk to your guidance counselor or one of the math teachers and see if there is any review classes or a tutor that can help with the math just to lower your anxiety levels and possibly raise that section.</p>
<p>Agree, “diagnosing” doesn’t help anything. The OP already knows math is not his/her strength. Focus on the math basics and see if you can’t get a couple more questions correct next time you take the ACT.</p>
<p>We might as well just say you have ADD too. W/e gives you the excuse</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone was diagnosing the OP with a disorder. I was just mentioning that /i/ had it (didn’t even suggest the possibility for OP) and took the exam with a middle school math level and still managed to do just well enough, and buffer my score well enough, to bring my score up to a 29-- so I would imagine OP is probably capable of bringing his score up as well, assuming most people who take the ACT probably have higher than a middle school math level. I think you’re misunderstanding.</p>
<p>MLD, one of these days you’re going to make the mistake of saying something like that out loud in front of the wrong person, and you’ll regret it one way or the other-- either they’ll make an ass out of you, or worse. Walking around taking pot shots at people with disabilities is about as low as you can go and it’s shameful that Michigan admitted someone who was not intelligent enough to find better ways to amuse themselves.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind depending on the other scores you may need to boost math by 6 or more points to realize a 2 point gain in your composite. My daughter scored a 19 in math the first time with a 26 composite. She retook it and scored a 25 in math but her science grade went down by 2 and her reading went up 2 so her composite ended up as a 27. I don’t know if it was worth retaking unless that math was looked at that closely (obviously she is not an engineering major).</p>
<p>No, I just see people all the time saying I have this learning disability or ADD or ADHD or w/e to make an excuse for why they are not doing well in school. They are overdiagnosed and I think it is a problem. When a parent can get a Dr. to tell them their kid has ADD and THAT is why he is doing poorly I think it is sad. That’s not to say all cases aren’t legit, but it’s definitely not 100%</p>
<p>And yet you take some sort of shot every time someone mentions an LD with no idea whether or not their case is legitimate. That’s ridiculous and you know it, you just don’t care if you’re offensive. And that’s your prerogative, but someday someone will put you in your place. I hope you find a better way to make yourself feel secure before then, for your sake.</p>
<p>You’re right, you’ve figured me out. Oh geez</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted with a 27 ACT this year, GPA 3.8 - however this does not include 13 classes she took off campus. Her essays were outstanding! Her Ec’s were focused on a few things that she is very passionate about. She only had 5 AP’s - and did not take the tests, But she took a couple of community colleges classes in things that she was interested in and received A’s. She took 4+ years of English, History, Math, Science, and 2 years language.</p>
<p>She has been accepted in almost every college she applied including UC Berkeley, and USC. She is a horrible test taker, and Math is a struggle for her.</p>
<p>I think when planning for college you have to make yourself stand out. You can be ASB President, 4 years on your school cheer team, and 200 hours community service, but how does that make you any different than the other top 10% of the kids applying?? You see many students padding their resume with tons of ec’s that are not even related.</p>
<p>Study for the ACT, find something you are passionate about, enjoy it, and pursuit ec’s that focus on your passion, and when you write your essays, share them, have other people look them over, and re-write them.</p>
<p>^Just a quick question if you don’t mind me asking, why did your daughter not take the AP exams? I mean, having taken a bunch of APs myself, the whole point was the test at the end of the year.</p>
<p>:) My oldest d to 12+ AP’s took the tests, received mostly 4’s and 5’s. She attends Brown University. Some of the AP’s allowed her skip pre-reqs, but did not give her “credits”, thus I paid for all the test prep, and tests, and she still is attending college for 4 years.</p>
<p>Also, a science professor explained to her that some courses (science) is taught in sequences (Physics A, Physics B, Physics C), If you come in having taken AP Physics and jump into Physics B at a college, there is great probability that you will have gaps in what is being taught at that school. </p>
<p>The college board makes a lot of money off of AP’s. Both in test prep, and the tests themselves. They are taught by HS teachers, not college professors, you can get an A in the class and a 2 on a test?? </p>
<p>So this changed my opinion about AP’s. </p>
<p>With my second d we used them as Advanced honor classes. They increase your GPA, keeping you competitive, and puts you in a peer group of college bound students.</p>
<p>Colleges look at the rigor of your coursework, and how you perform. The reason they look at the AP test scores is to see if they will give you college credit. </p>
<p>1 semester of a community college class = 1 year of an AP. By taking cc classes, you spend less time on a course, allowing you to take more courses(rigor), it is taught by a college professor, and it cost less money than the AP route. AND you are showing colleges that you can perform in college.</p>
<p>dte, at least your D had a choice. At my son’s school it is mandatory to take the AP test if you took the AP class. I know what you mean about the money though. I think it ended up costing me $292 for the four classes. I am hoping he will at least have 12-15 credits of classes that he won’t have to take so I can recoup some of that.;)</p>
<p>A few things in no particular order</p>
<p>1.) Your kids’ school gives higher credit for AP than honors? Nice</p>
<p>2.) The only physics course any real college gives credit for is the AP Physics C tests. No one counts B and I’ve never even heard of A.</p>
<p>3.) Test prep is expensive, I guess, but you don’t have to get it.</p>
<p>I guess the CC credit route worked for you, and that’s great. I just couldn’t see going through a whole year of an AP class and not getting college credit, or at least trying to.</p>
<p>^My son did the same thing in HS – we did not want holes, shortcuts or uneven application of ubiquitous (and revenue-generating) college board curriculum instead of the real live university-level courses once he went away to school – just the opportunity for him to challenge himself in his work in high school and take the most stimulating courses available. We found the external college credits just as valuable and his jr. and sr. years were spent pretty evenly among dual enrollment at a local university and in AP classes. </p>
<p>Back to the original topic:
</p>
<p>Actually, I am given to wonder if the OP DOES HAVE a legitimate case of dyscalculia or other processing issue that would entitle her/him to 150% time on the ACT – which might make a real difference in that math score.</p>
<p>So a DX actually <em>would</em> help in this case…and further, offers a cogent explanation of performance to the admissions committee. Given the poster’s obvious verbal IQ strength, assuming same was not applying say to COE or interested in pursuing calc, admissions would certainly not be as concerned about that Math performance on the ACT as they might otherwise be.</p>
<p>MLDWoody </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The last honors course they have at my daughters school is Honors Pre-Calc. If you want to increase your GPA and be challenged in 11th and 12th grade you have to take AP’s there is no other choice. </p></li>
<li><p>Physics A, B, C was an example, not the actual course names. My oldest d wanted to enroll in a UC Extension for a Physics course in 11th grade, rather than taking AP Physics at her school. She talked to the professor who was teaching the college class and that is what she told her.</p></li>
<li><p>True you don’t have to get test prep. And I applaud anyone who takes AP courses and the tests, we just decided to take a different route second time around 
and it has worked for my d.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Ok your school was set up the same as mine as far as AP/Honors. I just thought they were worth more than honors for a second.</p>
<p>My school gives more weight for APs than honors.</p>
<p>Hey Woody, you get 10 credits for a 5 in AP Physics B at U Mich, cash it in if you haven’t already.</p>
<p>[Office</a> of Undergraduate Admissions: AP Guidelines](<a href=“http://www.admissions.umich.edu/admitted/freshmen/adv_credit/ap_guidelines.php]Office”>AP, IB Credit | University of Michigan Office of Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>Engineers don’t</p>
<p>Okay, good news everybody: I just got my last test date back for the ACT, and I managed to raise it to a 30! Somehow, my math rose a ton too: it’s still not very good, but it is a 24! My Science was a 27, and my English and Readings scores were both 34. Do you think I have a good shot at admission now?</p>