Hello, I am currently a junior at the international academy, meaning I have had a rigorous schedule for the past three years and am currently participating in the International Baccalaureate. I do not play sports, but I do a lot of volunteer work. I volunteer at multiple places regularly and have shown commitment and passion through my work. My GPA is less than stellar at a 3.68 and I am not proud of it. I want to get into U of M Ann Arbor but I am afraid that with my GPA that will be hard.
What is your class rank? Where is your home state and what is your intended major? GPA 3.68 is low for UM standard, however, if your school gives tough grades and you are within the top 25%, there is still a chance.
That’s not a bad GPA for IA. Try calculating your UMich GPA. It might be higher than you think.
I got into U-M Coe oos with a 3.69. You can do it!
There is no standard scale in GPA. 3.69 at one school may worth a lot more than other schools. That’s why the school profile, course rigor, and class rank are considered when evaluating GPA. Nevertheless, the average admission GPA for CoE was 3.9 (3.85 for LSA). This year, 21% of enrolled freshmen have GPA 4.0 from high school.
@billcsho Unless it is a highly reputed school or underrepresented area- top 25% in most cases will almost certainly not cut it. To have a good chance, top 10% is probably necessary, with higher ranks being more preferably.
@yikesyikesyikes Yes, within top 10% would certainly give a much better chance and most admitted students are within the top 10%. However, there were 1-2% students admitted to CoE before last year at below 25% rank. Should be slightly more for LSA. Last year, there was 100% above the top 25% at CoE. So I am using the 25% as a cut off, not threshold for admission. There is a big difference between “still a chance” and “a good chance”.
@billcsho I see, my bad.
And to the OP, a “good chance” does NOT equate to “likely to be admitted”.
@yikesyikesyikes IA is a very highly ranked high school, at the state and national level. It’s not your average high school at all. 3.68 UW is a good GPA from there. It also depends on what the UMich GPA is. They recalculate it dropping the + and -. If the OP had a lot of A-s, their GPA for Michigan could be a whole lot higher than 3.68.
@96blue -Thank you for making me aware. If that is true, then the OP should be in good shape.
@mitokhandria As a parent of someone admitted to UMich CoE and also has a student completing the IB Program - let me first say congratulations on picking a very difficult course load. Not everyone understands the differences between an AP class and an IB Class. If you are going for your IB Diploma - you’ll graduate as an exceptionally well rounded individual and your writing skills from all those IB Papers/Research Papers will mean you are prepared to handle some of the toughest classes in college.
However not all schools recognize IB the same way. Make sure you take as many AP Exams as you can your junior year from your IB Classes. Take Harder HL classes and take those AP Exams senior year. Also take SAT Subject Tests junior year to show your mastery of the subject EVEN IF the college doesn’t require it. You have to stand out against others and show the school that your coursework is just as difficult as everyone else’s.
Remember to target schools that have Holistic Admissions and also give you credit for those IB classes. Don’t limit yourself on this as IB is not looked at the same way so you want to make sure you have choices.
Get that GPA in top 10% to be competitive for a variety of schools and make sure your class rank is high - this shows colleges how tough of a school you are in. A lot depends on your major. Best of Luck!!