<p>How is the university GPA calculated? As in, do you only get a letter grade for your class after exams in December and April or are you given a letter grade (which contributes to your GPA) based on work you do in between these exams?</p>
<p>Also, if you use IB/AP credit in, say, Econ 101 and Econ 102, are you automatically given As for both classes and do you automatically start with a 4.0 GPA then?</p>
<p>You only get the official letter grade that will count toward your GPA after the final exam. This will be posted on Wolverine Access under the unofficial transcript section. However, almost all classes allow you to see your grades online on a ctools site or by other means. This will most likely be given as a percentage.</p>
<p>No, you do not start with a 4.0 by getting credit for them. You are able to skip out of Econ 101 and 102 if you score above a 5 in IB. However, with AP you still have to take it. For AP, it just gets added to what’s called departmental credit, which is credit hours added to the social science category (will count towards some gen ed requirements as well as the total credits you have). However, if you need them for pre-reqs (for AP), you will still have to take Econ 101 and 102 at Michigan, regardless of your scores.</p>
<p>So, over the course of the year, you can track how close you are to grade boundaries in each class? Then you officially find out what your GPA is at the end of the year after final exams (are these at the end of each semester (December/April) or at the end of the entire year?)?</p>
<p>^
maybe for some classes, but for most of them you cannot (unless you do it on your own)</p>
<p>Yes, you should be able to track your grades for the vast majority of classes in some way shape or form, or have at least a general idea of it. You’ll find out by each class individually at the end of each semester. Professors post grades for their classes individually, so it gets posted typically a few days after the finals (48 hours after the final of a class is supposedly the deadline, but I don’t think professors necessarily follow that).</p>
<p>One thing I should add, which I forgot earlier: For classes which are curved (which a lot of classes are), you won’t know what grade you get until the end of the semester. However, if you work with the averages you are given after midterms and such, you will usually be able to have a ballpark estimate of what your grade should be.</p>
<p>I see. One final question. In classes like Math, Econ and English, how hard is it, in terms of the curve, to get an A or A+ percentage wise or just generally?</p>
<p>For english, it really depends on your teacher. Some teachers hand out A’s, while for others it’s a little bit harder. If you are a good writer, however, then you won’t have much to worry about.</p>
<p>For econ, top 25% get A’s, next 33% get B’s, and below that are C’s, D’s, and F’s (at least in introductory courses since I believe that’s what you were referring to).</p>
<p>For math, it again depends (like in english) on how good you are at math. I’m not exactly sure what percentage there is, but math classes (calc 1,2,3,4) generally have really good curves like 60’s are rounded to B’s and A’s depending on the class (for finals). The trend for the math department is that the average be a B- for the class.</p>
<p>As a point to note, GPA wise, in LSA and Engineering, here is no difference between an A and an A+ (both 4.0). However an A- is a 3.7. In Ross, an A+ is better (a 4.4), but that only applies to people who are in Ross, not to people who are applying/taking classes there.</p>
<p>… stupid Ross people…</p>
<p>I should get a 4.4 for Physics 140, I doubt any of then uses that as a way to boost their grade…</p>
<p>Some classes you’ll know the cutoffs, some you won’t. Every class should be good about returning grades on assignments to you. Some are super secret about the final though. Like no average, no returning it, etc. Just a final grade on WA.</p>
<p>Its not too hard to get As in the first found if math and science classes, just don’t slack off on finals. I did the first semester and went from As to A-s in Engr 151, Math 285 and Chem 130.</p>
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<p>This is true, but the averages are way better for honors math classes. (On the other hand, those classes are a bit harder …)</p>