Honestly, no. I’m sorry. Been following these threads since 2021, GPA is rarely below 3.85 for accepted kids. Even higher than that it’s still iffy. My DC1 was accepted for Class of ‘26 with 3.9/1510. Went somewhere else. GL to your DC though.
This site is just a microcosm of the “real” world.
6.4%have a 3.5 - 3.74
54.4%have a 3.75-3.99.
38%-have a 4.0. All unweighted
All estimates from around 2023 but should give you an idea
4 Likes
Remember many of those are athletes. Those low gpa most likely are athletes, and some not so popular majors
3 Likes
The Profile is linked below. The 25th percentile of enrolled first years is 3.9, but I guess they have their own gpa calculation.
Edit: Just to clarify, GPA is just one aspect of the application. Without considering rigor, gpa by itself is not a very useful metric. 3.9 being 25th percentile is common at many schools including ivies like Upenn.
1 Like
Yep. My information is from the Common Data Set for Michigan.
https://obp.umich.edu/campus-statistics/common-data-set/
Go to the “C” section.
1 Like
I believe there are that many kids with that gpa in Michigan, but just saying Michigan is a sport heavy and area that is rural and with the diverse race profile, and I do believe majority of those low gpa will fall into those categories.
1 Like
This is the only article that I could find on GPA calculation. They do not use +/- in the letter grades for their calculation.
It says they do not weight, hmm, that explains why past few years our high schools sent not high ranked kids to Michigan… only kids that are around 5-10% that is interesting
Michigan recalculates the weighted scores to get to a unweighted score. Yes, no plus or minus is used. 4.0=A,3.0=B and so on.
I think they do a holistic review using grades, rigor, essays and ecs. I think they calculate the gpa afterwards for statistical purposes, but I am not sure if it is a driving factor in admissions.
But I am still amazed that all these schools doing holistic admissions always end up with high unweighted gpa distributions. Maybe there is a correlation betweeen unweighted gpa and all these other factors considered in holistic admissions.
If you look at the CDS for Michigan. Rigor and grades are the top two areas they concentrate on. It’s always been this way. Nothing new.
By taking the weight out you even the playing field. Many schools weight differently is all I can say.
My kid went to an all honors /AP school. No regular classes at all. That would weight them much higher.
But saying that, that is why schools have an AO for Michigan and the “schools” report card. They know when evaluating schools which schools actually have more weight to them not the GPA scores. Which are more rigorous just due to having this type of classes /culture.
This is where it all gets even more complicated.
No question but as you stated in some rural areas getting a 3.6 in a school that GPA avg is 2.9 is amazing. That is why each student is judged by their own school /district.
Some kids have to come straight home after school to babysit their siblings so a parent can go to work. Or maybe the kid has to work to help provide their family more income. All schools look highly on students like that. Work is one of the best Ecs you can have. It’s not all about which club your active in. Each kids situation is different and it doesn’t mean they are not deserving of an education at a school like Michigan. Hence the holistic reviews.
1 Like
but with the number of the student applying. i highly doubt they “holistic review” every kid. my guess there is certain criteria that they screen students, maybe AI? so without weight, which is a way to consider rigorous. some kids might get cut right there… UC recal the GPA with weight, pretty standard, u get extra point for AP/DE
The CDS may not reflect the GPAs that are calculated in the admission process. This is not an uncommon occurrence. One needs to contact institutional reporting and ask how they calculate the CDS GPA to be sure.
Exactly. We know that many rural school districts tend to be underperforming, and that U Michigan has a responsibility and goal to admit students from these schools (in Michigan.) These students have a pref for in-state students (AFAIK they still want a minimum 50% in-state, and a much higher proportion of apps come from out-of-state/international.)
1 Like
The website does say every applicant receives a comprehensive review, so I take them at their word:
To ensure an accurate, comprehensive, and unbiased review process, each application is assessed by multiple evaluators in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions before a final admissions decision is rendered.
Just to take another example, UCLA gets far more apps than U Michigan and guarantees each app is read twice. Both schools can accomplish this because they hire many external readers during app season. Some schools do use AI in the app review process, such as CSUs (which have done that for a long time.)
1 Like
At an info session this year, I asked the admissions officer about the college board’s landscape product. He said that they do use it. He answered slowly and deliberately and I felt discouraged from asking further questions about how exactly they use it. So thats another data point in how they look at a student’s application in the context of their review. Another CC user shared this dataset about the landscape score and I learned a lot about the relative challenges of schools in my area that on the surface seem the same.
2 Likes
They do as stated. I don’t know if or how AI is used if at all. But you can go online somewhere and students can actually read their evaluations if they ask for them. I am sure it’s on You tube, Reddit etc. It states the process of how the evaluation is done. On the website they used to state the process also. It something like the AO makes recommendations. First read. Those go to a committee for review. Second read. I heard in the past the Aos then can defend certain students at another committee. Third read. Not sure if things have changed but they get read. I assume application that are so far below their norm maybe don’t but also lots of talented performers, athletes, etc with lower gpas etc.
Michigan also had like the most All American student athletes with some of the highest gpas. I think still 1/3 of the marching band are engineering student’s, so don’t rule them out. Lol. Baseball, I think also had lots of Ross and engineering students.
1 Like
That’s a really interesting page!
U of M gives each school a rating on their scale – just like they do for a student’s rigor, extracurriculars, and so on. That rating is probably determined in part by Collegeboard’s data, then.
1 Like
Keep in mind that every college is “building” a class. Every year their needs change. One year they might need more School of Information students and another year it could be Architecture and so on. Plus the scholarship sports, arts, performer kid’s it’s a wonder that anyone gets accepted. Lol. Most schools at Michigan seem to be 50:50 male :female (not all but a lot). 51%/49% instate /out of state or close enough.
Evey year someone from your school will get in with lessor GPA, ecs, etc than your child has. It’s the other stuff that counts also. They can only take so many 3.9/35 Act students. They want a mix also but also keeping their high standards.
With like 98,000 applications it’s a wonder to me. But after meeting students /families for year’s at Michigan, they seem to get it right.
2 Likes
Do you know if Michigan re-calculates grades from all classes or just core classes (math, science, English and social studies)?