<p>Alexandre recently posted some stats on an excellent private high school, Hotchkiss, that caused me to reflect on my experience as a Michigan freshman thus far. I wanted to offer some words of warning and encouragement to incoming freshmen from low calibre high schools.</p>
<p>I went to a crummy public high school… one senior year AP Lit. course where only a couple of students received a 4 on the AP test. On the positive side, I got into Ross as a freshmen pre-admit. On the negative side, I was used to being first in everything academic and would be taking courses with others who had a far better education. I don’t know what the average AP courseload is for a UM freshman, but it seems like most people I study with have had at least 6 AP courses and went to private schools or high calibre big city suburban schools.</p>
<p>My first class at UM was Spanish and, not surprisingly, it was taught entirely in Spanish… but in an accent and at a speaking speed that I simply could not comprehend. I might as well have been in China. I also decided to take Honors Calculus since Math had always been a relative strength and I had already taken Calc in high school… but, once again, I found I was a couple of steps behind my peers… the professor assumed I knew things I didn’t.</p>
<p>My first thoughts were something like, and I paraphrase here, “Oh, %#@*, I thought I was smart… but I must be the most ignorant rube on campus.” However, after a moment of weakness and the phone in my hand to call my parents, I decided on a plan to work my butt off to catch up and use the resources available at UM… which should be labeled “especially for rubes.” I joined the Spanish club, listened to my favorite movies in Spanish, sought help at the Math lab and from peers, etc. Also, my other classes, with the help of Sweetland, went pretty well. And despite my rough start Spanish and Calc, I managed to salvage some decent grades.</p>
<p>And when I returned home for break, I advised my parents to send my younger sister to a small private school in the area that is of a much higher calibre than my high school. Of course, I’m a hippocrit because I never wanted to go to a private school… and, to be honest, I’m not sure I would have been accepted to Ross if I went to this particular private school.</p>
<p>I’m now in the last quarter of my freshman year and believe I have made up most of the “education deficit.” My advice to incoming freshmen from low calibre high schools is to either scale back on the number of hours and/or difficultly of courseload or be prepared for a rough ride out of the shoot. You’re not stupid and, if you’re reasonably smart, you will over the education deficit… but go into it with your eyes open. Also, UM has some excellent “help” resources… don’t wait to take advantage of them.</p>