<p>Hey. I know that UMICH changes the grades to 4's and 3's and then calculates a GPA on a 4.0 scale. But do you know if they calculate a GPA for each term or is it for the entire year? Also, does UMICH care about GPA improvements?</p>
<p>They do it for each term.</p>
<p>GPA improvements do indeed help, showing you've made progress.</p>
<p>Michigan calculates GPAs a each semester at a time. And yes, grade improvements are always a plus. All things equal, a student who gets a 3.3 GPA sophomore year and a 3.9 GPA Junior year probably has a better chance of getting in than a student who got a 3.6 GPA both years.</p>
<p>Yes that's awesome! I have grade improvements =) I had 2.8 and 3.6 for sophmore year which is a 3.2 GPA and a 3.67 and 4.0 junior year which is a 3.8 GPA. My overall would be a 3.5 GPA. Is that good or bad? Also, only the 5 major subjects (math, science, for. lang, hist., eng.) are counted right?</p>
<p>3.5 isn't considered good for Michigan standards (25-75% range is 3.6-3.9), but the grade trend is great. It's definitely rising, and you only have one semester under a 3.6.</p>
<p>Yeah I'm out of state too.. But thanks!</p>
<p>That's a great trend Somagreen. Michigan will definitely forgive your first semester and be impressed with the last three semester. If you do well on your ACT/SAT, I'd say your chances are good. Michigan may defer you just to check on the first semester of your senior year, but if you continue to have a 3.7+ unweighed GPA, I'd say your chances are good. </p>
<p>And yes, only "academic" classes are counted. But they are not limited to just 5 classes. Obviously, PE would not count, but Economics for example would definitely count.</p>
<p>I know art isn't really "academic," but would AP Art History count? I got 660V, 700M, 740W which is 2100, but my math and verbal is just 1360. I think my 1st semester senior year grades will hover around the 3.5-3.6 GPA mark, but I'm taking 3 AP classes this year (and I've never had any AP's before) so do you think they'll take that into account for a slight dip in my GPA trend?</p>
<p>I don't know Somagreen. I took an Art History class at Michigan and I thought it was pretty darn academic! Busted my derriere to earn a decent grade. I'd say Art History is probably considered an academic class at the AP level, but you want to check with the university.</p>
<p>My only other comment is that I am not sure that students always accurately "recalculate" their GPA to Michigan's system. Of course, it may also be the case that when they post here, they also embellish their GPA.</p>
<p>Does UMich assign 5 points to AP classes? And is the GPA only figured for sophomore and junior year, or do they take a look at senior year too for GPA? And what about Directive Studies that are taken in core subjects? I am taking a Directive Study for bio and physics for the year and another for World History. How do they factor those?</p>
<p>The GPA is reconfigured to a 4.0-scale, only for academic classes in sophomore/junior years.</p>
<p>It's only core academics. For instance AP Computer Science doesn't count.</p>
<p>So AP Art History wouldn't be counted? Do they just ignore those classes then?</p>
<p>Yes, for the calculation of the Michigan GPA those grades are not included. They still review your course selection</p>
<p>So what about creative writing then...or spanish...just what defines a "core" academic anyway...is it anything that has to do with courses related to the various academic fields...or is it just the "straight" academic courses...like in my high school computer science is listed under the math department and is taught by our math dept head...does this make it an academic course...or is that only reserved for classes like trig/precalc etc...</p>
<p>Spanish is counted. Computer Science likely isn't counted. Math, English, Foreign Language, History/Social Studies, and Science are counted.</p>
<p>so... let's say (hypothetically) that my soph yr gpa is a 4 and my jr yr gpa is a 2. does umich avg the two together to get a final 3?</p>
<p>yes, but it won't look good at all.</p>
<p>hence the "hypothetically" ..lol. i was just wondering how they avg up both years.</p>