Michigan Engineering - Dilemma? Advice needed!

MichMom07
Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:14:52 +0000

My son also just finished his first year in UM engineering. It is a lot of work, but manageable. He too has an engineering scholarship that requires a 3.0 gpa, so I understand your feelings on that. We were told at orientation that the average gpa in engineering after the first semester is 2.9, so he went in with his eyes wide open and was determined to be “above average.” He was well above that point first semester, and while he just completed finals for 2nd semester, he thinks he did pretty well.

He also did not take honors or AP physics in high school and jumped right in with physics first semester due to AP credit for chemistry. I would not be concerned about taking only regular physics in high school. I would, however, make sure you have a decent calculus foundation before tackling physics at UM. My son did take Calc AB in high school and got a 5 on the AP exam, so he did start with calc 2 at UM. His found his AP calc class super easy, however (never had to study, got straight A’s), so we were very confident in his skipping calc 1. Calc 2 was no cake walk, but he did fine. Your math placement exam at UM will be helpful in determining where you should start.

I agree with Alexandre - if UM accepted you, they are confident that you have the tools to succeed there. If they had doubts about you they would have given your spot to one of the thousands of other kids wanting to get in!