<p>What does Michigan consider most when making decisions? For example, would a 32 ACT with a 3.4 GPA favor say a 27 ACT with a 3.9? I think it would be ACT, because GPA depends on school, teachers, and other things in life, where ACT is equally scored. Or would a 4 year star athlete or someone with a ton of EC's have a better shot?</p>
<p>Michigan favors high gpa over test scores for the most part. A stellar athlete is another story of course.</p>
<p>Really? Comparing yourself to what I posted. I personally believe the ACT only measures how well you can actually take the test, not how intelligent you really are. Of course if you get a 34 or higher it’s a different story. Good grades measure how much work you are willing to put forth for that A or A-.</p>
<p>As novi said above, historically, they have been known to favor the high gpa.</p>
<p>They def favor higher gpa’s. I actually had a 3.4, 32 like your example and i was deferred. Other kids in my school got in right away with 25 ACT’s and 3.8 to 3.9 gpa’s. I got in eventually, but only after they saw my 3.9 gpa for fall semester. I felt like crap at first after being deferred cause 70 percent of the kids at my school get in, and i had one of the better ACT scores… So that there proves that GPA is way more important, unfortunately for people like me.</p>
<p>70% of your school gets in? Were’s this?</p>
<p>Oooo… that would make sense.</p>
<p>I have a 4.0uw with a 28 ACT. I was accepted.</p>
<p>But then again I’m a URM, sooo… I’m not reliable. :(</p>
<p>Trust me with a 28 and 4.0, your URM had little to do with it, Michigan loves the 27-28 and 4.0 students they eat them up for breakfast, they favor the 4.0 big time and a 28 is within range so you got in based off merit. With that said though I do agree that the 32 and 3.8 students need to be looked at more.</p>
<p>East Grand Rapids. It’s actually 73 percent this year, which is relatively high compared to other years i’ll admit. Apparently u of m loves our school though because of the success rate our students have had at the university. So i suppose the quality of school does have a little weight in the admissions process as well…</p>
<p>To confirm what everyone else said, they definitely like high GPA over high ACT. It shows them how well you did in your whole high school career versus how well you did in one sitting.</p>
<p>Samuelson777- what do you mean 70% of the kids at your school get in to UM, that seems hard to believe.</p>
<p>Definitely the GPA (and take out your freshman year and recalculate). And unweight any honors or AP your school may have weighted. Take out music, art and all those type of classes. </p>
<p>ACT shows potential, GPA shows accomplishment. High ACT with not a very high GPA shows you have not lived up to your potential.</p>
<p>Michigan residents fare better with admissions than OOS.</p>
<p>Fredmar, I don’t know about Samuelson’s data, but I will tell you that the high school to which he or she is referring is in fact exceptionally well-regarded by admissions folks at U of M, and for good reasons. They produce a stellar crop of thinkers. It is a comprehensive high school yet consistently scores like an IB or GT school in standardized and state testing. (Eg, up there with Bloomfield, etc.) Students from EGR are known to perform very well once at U of M as well. So I can at least corroborate that portion of the comment, if not the actual stats. Perhaps the poster meant “of those who applied.” My son’s school enjoys a similar ratio in terms of “those who applied” for many of the same reasons, and its rank in terms of standardized performance is similar to places like EGR and Bloomfield/International.
Cheers,
K</p>
<p>i’m sorry about the misunderstanding. kmccrindle is right, i was referring to those who applied there. By absolutely no means does 70 percent of the entire senior class go there, in fact its only about 40-50 kids who get in (Class size around 200). Generally 60-70 apply though.</p>
<p>About the athlete and a ton of extracurriculars part, being an athlete won’t give u that much weight unless they were recruiting you and/or you would be playing for a varsity team there. It certainly helps to have extracurriculars and participate in athletics, and they will certainly consider that, but it does not nearly have as much weight as GPA or ACT have. But again, if you were a recruitable athlete, GPA and ACT don’t really matter in admission. My school has plot charts of those admittied and denied, based on ACT and GPA so kids can have an idea what to expect, but you can see a few plot points that were accepted with 2.5 GPA’s and 18 ACT’s… so if you aren’t smart, be the starting runningback and win a few state championships and you’ll be all set for college.</p>
<p>What about 3.7-3.8 GPA and 33 ACT?</p>
<p>And i disagree, GPA shows how easy your school was. ACT shows what you know. Of course anything below a 3.5 isn’t that good regardless.</p>
<p>a 3.7 to 3.8 gpa and 33 ACT should get u in, at least that was the case for all the applicants at my school. I’m not sure what u mean by gpa shows how easy your school was, but i do think that there needs to be more standardization when it comes to gpa (weighting for harder classes and more competitive schools). U r right when u say that the ACT tests what u know, because as an achievement test, that is what it is supposed to measure, but it doesn’t necessarily predict the potential success of a student at the University. Work ethic is HIGHLY valued within Universities nowadays and a dedicated work ethic will often get a student farther than natural ability alone. So regardless of your opinion on gpa vs. act, universities will choose the student that has the drive to succeed and work rather than the one that has the ability to, but does not necessarily live up to that ability.</p>
<p>A high GPA and low score shows that you are smart and a hard worker but maybe not a great test taker
A high score and low GPA shows that you are smart but dont apply yourself enough at school</p>
<p>GPA isn’t equal in all schools. Last year my math class was a blowoff and i had an A+ without doing much work. This year, math is really hard and i struggle to get an A even with studying every night</p>
<p>GPA + class rank + the quality of the school is more important than ACT/SAT</p>