<p>Is michigan as numbers driven as say, berkeley?</p>
<p>I’ve heard that UofM basically only looks at only gpa and factors little into test scores, EC’s, etc.</p>
<p>I’ve also read in the Ann Arbor news (years ago) about UofM’s “point system” that basically confirmed this. They even lumped sat scores into a range (ie: 1300-1400) and assigned points accordingly. I don’t know, however, if this system was retooled after affirmitive action.</p>
<p>Take a look at this stat from UofM’s site:</p>
<p>The following statistics on the admitted Freshmen class of 2005 may provide you with some helpful guidelines. Please note: due to the comprehensive review process that each application undergoes there is no guarantee of admission, even if these guidelines are met. </p>
<p>Information on High School Grade Point Averages (calculated using unweighted grades on a 4.0 scale, and only academic courses taken in grades 10th and 11th):</p>
<pre><code>* U of M freshmen with a 4.00: 22.1%
U of M freshmen with a 3.90 or higher: 44.4%
U of M freshmen with a 3.75 or higher: 59.5%
U of M freshmen with a 3.50 or higher: 85.2%
</code></pre>
<p>Does this mean people with a GPA of 3.5 or lower have little to no chance? Even with a very high SAT/ACT score?</p>
<p>(the remainding 15% i would think would be filled by URM/legacy/athlete students)</p>
<p>That would depend on the school and your course selection. A 3.4 student who took mainly AP classes at an elite school would have a chance of getting into Michigan if the test scores are high enough. Michigan is numbers driven…as are most elite universities. That’s why top universities have such high mean SAT scores and such a high %age of students with top 10% class rankings. But Michigan looks at the total package. They will reconfigure your GPA into a standard format, but they will then look closely at the classes you took, your AP exam results, your SAT/ACT scores and your ECs.</p>
<p>One thing I see with this number’s thing is that their GPA system is awkward to me. Let’s just say 2 people from the same exact school, same everything apply, but the only difference is their grades. One of them had B+'s in all their classes, while the other person had B-'s in all the same classes. By the numbers, they had the same exact application, but they shouldn’t. On the other side of it, same situation, but on person had all B+'s, and the other one had all A-'s. Their numbers show that the A- person had a full 1.0 better, but they aren’t really completely like that. I’m math oriented, so I think numbers are easier to compare than words and interpretation, but I don’t really think their method of recalculating the GPA is too fair to students at tougher, harder grading high schools. I personally think their numbers game that they play is just a way to say 22.1% of their freshman had a 4.0 GPA in high school, which is misleading.</p>
<p>Just an addition to my last post. At a school district in which I once lived, the person right at the top 20% class rank had a 3.8863 GPA, as published on the high school’s website. After 1st quarter gades at my current high school, I am at about the 20% mark with a 3.15 GPA. At some hgih schools, this 3.15 GPA would not be very good, but at my high school, that shows I’m doing better than about 80% of my peers. Using just the numbers, UM would look at the person with the 3.8863 at the grade padding school as higher. Again, I don’t think their numbers driven system as working too well.</p>
<p>NA1987, Michigan does not just look at the “Michigan GPA”. They actually looks at the individual classes and grades. That’s why some 3.4 students get in and some 3.8 students get turned down. Michigan will definitely consider course difficulty and +s and -s very seriously.</p>
<p>And by the way, I don’t think there is anything misleading about the way Michigan lists graduating GPA ranges for incoming Freshmen. You are assuming that there are many students who got only A-s in all 15+ core academic classes they took in high school. That is actually very rare. Most students who got straight As in high school got a good balance of A+s, As and A-s. What I find misleading is the way most universities use weighed GPA averages. UVA, William and Mary andthe UCs all do that. They all list the mean GPA of their entering students as 4.1 or 4.2.</p>
<p>I thought that, but the way the other posts were worded, it sounded like UM would just ignore everything but the grades and test scores, then give a number to the person, and if that number was high enough, they’re in. I thought and hoped they’d look at more, and you just put it in better perspective. I applied to the engineering school after taking the hardest possible courses in math and science at my school, but my english and history grades really dropped my GPA. That’s why I’m so concerned/scared of the number driven schools. As for my high school, nobody applied to UM last year, 2 years ago 1 person from my school got in but didn’t go. He really wanted to stay close to home, but I’m pretty sure his file was close to mine. Then 3 years ago, one person got in and went with a much, much better file than I had, and one person with a very bad file was denied. But what I’m now trying to say is that they haven’t seen too much of my school. My HS sends a school profile as I’m sure all HS’s do.</p>
<p>NA1987, Michigan’s admissions processis not automated. It is people driven. Each applicant is carefully evaluated by 2 experienced members of the adcom. If they do not come to the same conclusion, a third member of the adcom acts as the tie-breaker. Those members of the adcom look at the details, such as course difficulty, individual grades, APs, ECs and even the essays. So do not worry about Michigan’s admission’s process being too mechanical and unfeeling. It isn’t as individualized as much smaller LACs, but it is still remarkably personalized for a school its size.</p>
<p>Along this topic…I was just wondering if anyone has any anecdotes about someone with a high UM GPA + rigorous courseload + average essays, recs, EC’s (and all other “personal” stuff) being deffered or rejected?</p>
<p>I thought of all the prep schools where a 3.8 is a val. Which means the kids in michigans “range” would have a 3.4-4.5 (3.6, 3.7 on a 4.0 val. “scale”)</p>
<p>So would michigan be a reach for the kids in the lower 15%? Or would high test scores possibly make it a match?</p>
<p>Like I said, it depends on many things. If a 3.4 student took a bunch of AP classes and AP exams junior year and got 5s on those exams, couple with a high SAT score (over 700 on all sections of the SAT), I’d say that Michigan woud be a match.</p>
<p>U-M used to be fairly numbers-driven, but even with the Selection Index process you referred to, there were two other important factors that weighed into the academic part of the index: the reputation of your high school and the rigor of the curriculum you took given what was available. So even then, they tried to figure in some of the things you’re most concerned about.</p>
<p>Now that they have a different system, with multiple readers, they are even less numbers-driven. Grades and courses matter. A lot. But they consider other things.</p>
<p>Grades matter a lot, but that, again, is in referrence to the school, right? Like in a class of about 15, I was 1 of 3 to recieve an A first quarter of my AP Physics C class. There were 2 who had A-'s, and though they won’t see that, they’ll consider the value of an A at my school, right?</p>