<p>It’s true. Although I haven’t been able to find detailed stats, the average freshmen engineering GPA in college is 2.85 (sometimes reported as 2.9).</p>
<p>To graduate with honors (a system I think most accurately represents the GPA because it’s usually close to a percentile), for College of Engineering:
cum laude (3.200 - 3.499)
magna cum laude (3.500 - 3.749)
summa cum laude (3.750 - 4.000)</p>
<p>For LS&A (as of May 2005, <a href=“http://www.lsa.umich.edu/lsa/printversion/0,2062,1916*article*1803*UOM_Article,00.html):%5B/url%5D”>http://www.lsa.umich.edu/lsa/printversion/0,2062,1916*article*1803*UOM_Article,00.html):</a>
distinction (top 25%): 3.621 - 3.793
high distinction (top 10%): 3.794 - 3.916
highest distinction (top 3%): 3.917 - 4.000</p>
<p>Thus a GPA of 3.750 is good in either school, but it means you’re the very top of your class in engineering but only top quarter in LS&A.</p>