Grand Valley State Univ Average Stats Super High

College Search & Selection
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<p>First of all, I hadn't even heard of this school until recently, when I came across it in a guide book on a certain major my daughter is considering. I have to admit everything I've found since makes it sound like it's a great school. The only problem is that they are reporting that the average freshman admit had a 3.6 GPA and a 24 on the ACT, and my D isn't even close. Univ of Michigan's stats can't be that much higher. Kids in our state with those stats can get into Ohio State. Does this seem realistic?</p>

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<p>UM’s ACT mid range is 27-31, much higher.</p>

<p>Grand Valley’s ACT mid range is 21-26.</p>

<p>OSU ACT mid range is 25-30.</p>

<p>You’re really comparing apples and oranges. UM would be a stretch compared to Grand Valley.</p>

<p>Be careful about looking at average ACT or SAT numbers. They honestly don’t tell you very much. The mid ranges will give you a much better picture of representative scores.</p>

3

<p>Grand Valley State was founded in 1960, so it’s still relatively new as far as colleges go. It’s quite popular here in Michigan, and is very pretty for a newer school. They really thought things out, and didn’t just throw up a bunch of glass-and-steel eyesores like so many other newer colleges did: <a href=“http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.clnurseries.com/GVSUGreenTreeAvePotsR40.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.clnurseries.com/Landscaping3.html&usg=__PtQoU-_GQ8_QiRszdP-cSVi8ym0=&h=472&w=713&sz=43&hl=en&start=20&um=1&tbnid=VVbGVtpMTTsFdM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=140&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgrand%2BValley%2BState%2BUniversity%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26rlz%3D1I7GGLL_en%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1[/url]”>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.clnurseries.com/GVSUGreenTreeAvePotsR40.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.clnurseries.com/Landscaping3.html&usg=__PtQoU-_GQ8_QiRszdP-cSVi8ym0=&h=472&w=713&sz=43&hl=en&start=20&um=1&tbnid=VVbGVtpMTTsFdM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=140&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgrand%2BValley%2BState%2BUniversity%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26rlz%3D1I7GGLL_en%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>One of my favorite teachers up here has a kid at GVSU. It has cheap OOS tuition, a nice campus, and somewhat more personal instruction than at many big schools.</p>

<p>I’m a bit unsure about your comments though. GVSU is nowhere close to U Michigan in terms of admissions stats - the top quarter at Grand Valley are at the very bottom of Michigan’s stats.</p>

5

<p>As reported by Grand Valley on their website:
Last Year’s Freshman Class had the following stats:
Middle 50% scored between 3.3 and 3.8 High School G.P.A.
21 and 26 Composite ACT
It’s growing very quickly but is still a good choice for the B student with average ACTs (21-23ish.) Kids from our district that are competitive for MSU (3.5 uw/25 ACT range) receive small scholarships. Ii have to assume their reported GPAs are unweighted as most Michigan public schools report unweighted GPAs (because UofM unweights)</p>

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<p>It’s actually a popular university at my high school, by teachers and students. Though this come to no surprise since I live in Michigan.</p>

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<p>Grand Valley is a real up-and-comer in Michigan, drawing increasingly more students from outside its home region of Western MI. It has also invested a lot in its athletic programs, and many of its teams do extremely well at the regional and national level. </p>

<p>That said, others are correct that it’s not really right to compare it to U-M.</p>

8

<p>Statistically speaking, GVSU is very comparable to Michigan State in the general profile of students accepted. Each would be considered a well known regional university, each with areas of strength. GVSU offers a nicely integrated liberal arts approach, a really interesting film program, phenomenal trumpet clinic, etc. etc. Your D. should check it out to see if she likes the environment. There were things my S. really liked about it when he took classes as dual-enrolled student during highschool, but he also wasn’t in love with its slightly isolated campus and in the end chose U of M for its integrated environment/town and specific program unique to the music conservatory.
University of Michigan, by comparison in your original reference, carries an international reputation and entering class statistics more comparable to the country’s top ranked schools…eg. 52% of incoming class had an unweighted, academic-only GPA of 3.9 or higher…So that’s basically the difference but it really depends on the program. No student would go lacking at GVSU, much to love : )</p>

9

<p>One more thing…GVSU, in addition to having a very attractive out-of-state resident tuition fee, also has a program for urban scholars with some generous incentives. If your daughter attends school in Toledo perhaps she’d be eligible for this scholarship in the event it is offered to out-of-state applicants. Definitely worth investigating :)</p>

<p>Here’s a reference from the GVSU Scholarship search on the web, which also has a list of eligible out-of-state schools:
Non-Michigan residents must also have a 3.3 cumulative grade point average and score a 990 on the SAT based on the critical math and science combined scores or have a 21 ACT composite score. Students must have a complete Admissions application submitted by December 31st for the following Fall semester.</p>

10

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<p>Now why would a state-funded university give scholoarships to out-of-state students with below average stats? If I were a Michigan resident, I’d be furious.</p>

11

<p>One of S2’s high school football coaches graduated from GVSU. He was a football player and spoke very highly of his time there according to S2.</p>

12

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<p>I doubt that they do. The policy is probably written to give them the maximum leeway to bring in a special student under unusual circumstances, but they have no reason to regularly dip lower for an OOS student.</p>

13

<p>old thread but in terms of the scholarship having super low stats at gvsu keep in mind it is mostly for minorities, but they can’t officially make it for minorities due to Michigan’s Proposal 2. Still, gv does have low OOS tuition and does have generous scholarships in order to get a student body that is from different areas and increased GVSU’s name recognition.</p>