<p>I was accepted by u of m just a few days ago. My scores are a bit below average (29 act and 3.74 uw gpa). I did not take the most challenging courses my school had to offer (2 honors and 1 ap in my four years), but my curriculum was still difficult as my high school is regarded as one of the top 50 catholic high schools in the nation. Also, I received straight A's for the past 3 semesters and developed a good work ethic and good study skills. In many of my classes I received higher grades than a great deal of students who had already been accepted to u of m. I'm just wondering how you think I'd do because I know Michigan will be a challenge. I know this isn't a whole lot of information, but any feedback will be much appreciated.</p>
<p>You sound a lot like my son, who is a freshman at U of M now. He had a 30 ACT and 3.78 GPA, and attended a prestigious Jesuit high school. He is doing very well at Michigan, but he’s working harder than he’s ever had to work. He says that all the students he knows are smart and motivated, unlike high school where you have a wide range of academic ability. The average GPA at Michigan is a 3.2. Son earned a 3.6 first semester, which he was hoping would be higher, but it’s very good for first semester. This semester is much harder, in terms of the classes he is taking. You don’t get as many grading oppportunities, so it’s hard to know how you are doing in your classes sometimes. But like everything in life, you get out of it what you put into it, so if you’re willing to work hard and spend time studying, you will be just fine at Michigan.</p>
<p>No, freshman do not have to live on North Campus, but many do. You get to request an area (North, Central or Hill), but it seems to be pretty much a lottery. People we met said it really wasn’t bad living on North Campus, especially because there are a lot of freshman there so you get to meet a lot of people.</p>
<p>On the housing application it gives you three options: Central/Hill, Bursley, or Baits. Everyone lists them in that order, so it’s basically a lottery unless you’re in a learning community. With south quad closed next year there’s probably a 65-70% chance a freshman will have to live on north unless they’re in a MLC on central.</p>
<p>Well, confidence and hard work and you’ll do fine, same as everyone else. On the first point, you might not get any feedback for quite a while and wonder how you’re doing. Like i have this class with no grade at all yet, and I won’t until after the midterm, so something like 10 weeks in. That certainly takes some getting used to, as does the amount of work involved.</p>