Question about class rigour

<p>I'm a junior right now that will by the end of this semester have a 3.7 GPA for my soph and junior years. I know some colleges that im looking into, such as michigan, look only at the gpa of your sophmore and junior years(which for me is a 3.50-3.55). However, the only reason i have this GPA is because i took 7-8 AP classes, along with some Post-AP classes, and other 5.0 classes. How do the colleges look upon a GPA like mine and factor in the fact that i challenged myself a lot in school and that affected my GPA? I mean, i could have taken 2-3 AP's and 5 honors classes which would have been easier. Do they consider this an important factor in admissions? specifically, i am interested in the university of michigan, so answers specific to that university would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>bump plz…</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>What classes were these?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-michigan-ann-arbor/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-michigan-ann-arbor/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In general, colleges would rather see a B in AP than an A in non-AP if your school offers AP. They’re quick to add that they’d rather see an A in AP. :wink: They want to see you challenging yourself, rather than taking the easier way out.</p>

<p>For a specific school, you can call or email admissions and ask them!</p>

<p>I took AP BIO, AP Chem, AP language, AP world history, AP US history, AP calculus AB, and AP calculus BC
I also took Post-AP DNA/Genetics and Post-AP Chemical Engineering classes. 4 of the 6 classes i got a B in which made my GPA around a 3.55-3.6 were AP ones.</p>

<p>I would recommend you take fewer classes, you can get over this.</p>

<p>Let me show you what you took in college terms:</p>

<p>Biology-4 hours
Chem-4 hours
Language-3 hours
World his-3 hours
US His-3 hours
Calc-4 hours
DNA/Genetics-3-4 hours</p>

<p>24-25 hours</p>

<p>Biology-4 hours
Chem-4 hours
Language-3 hours
World his-3 hours
US His-3 hours
Calc-4 hours
Chm engineering- 4 hours</p>

<p>25 hours </p>

<p>At most any school, you only need 12 hours to be a full time student, you took double that.</p>

<p>but will taking all these AP classes in my sophmore and junior years and getting B’s in some of them hurt my chances or help them. My unweighted GPA is lower because of those classes.</p>

<p>So will it look better do have a B in AP then an A in honors?</p>

<p>^ That seems to be the consensus, if your school offers AP. The issue is challenging yourself. But really, call or email the colleges and ask them; get their reaction to the question.</p>

<p>A 3.5 GPA means that you are getting mostly B+/A-. As long as your high school is somewhat challenging, you should have a good chance from OOS. From instate, you should have an even better shot. I got into UMich engineering OOS with an A- average sophomore and junior years. Most people with slightly lower grades also got in. Granted, my high school is one of the top publics in the state. So if you’re high school is one of the top public ones, you should be fine. </p>

<p>I also know someone who got into UMich OOS without a hook with straight As, not in AP classes, not in honors classes, but with the “average” classes for our high school. I bet this is very rare, though.</p>

<p>yea, i am OOS. I attend a pretty good public school for my state but i also was accepted and attend their magnet program which is one of the best if not the best magnet program in the state. The program is a highly competitive one and requires certain averages to stay in it.</p>