The GPA Michigan Really Uses

By Barbara Connolly, JD, CEP

Founder, College Choice Counseling

When students apply to the University of Michigan, the GPA displayed on their high school transcript isn’t necessarily the GPA Michigan uses when evaluating their application.

That’s because the University of Michigan recalculates the GPAs of first-year applicants using its own methodology.

For students and parents trying to understand their chances of admission to Michigan, that distinction can be important.

Michigan Doesn’t Use Your High School’s Weighted GPA

High schools calculate GPAs in many different ways. Some use a traditional 4.0 scale. Others award additional points for Honors, Advanced Placement (AP), or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. At some schools, students can graduate with GPAs well above 4.0.

Michigan takes a different approach.

According to the University of Michigan Office of Undergraduate Admissions:

“We do not use a weighted GPA scale in our evaluation process.”

Instead, Michigan says it converts the GPAs of all first-year applicants to an unweighted 4.0 scale.

This gives Michigan a more consistent way to evaluate students coming from high schools with very different grading systems.

Michigan Uses Grades From 9th Through 11th Grade

Michigan states that its GPA recalculation uses all classes in grades 9 through 11.

That means the GPA Michigan calculates may differ, sometimes meaningfully, from the cumulative GPA appearing on a student’s transcript.

Michigan also says that it uses the “absolute value” of the grade in its recalculation.

The university provides one particularly interesting example:

A+, A, and A− are all treated as a 4.0.

For a student whose high school counts an A− as a 3.7, this can make a difference in Michigan’s recalculated GPA.

We should note that Michigan’s published guidance does not provide a complete conversion table for every possible letter grade. For that reason, we would not recommend trying to calculate an exact “Michigan GPA” using an unofficial conversion formula.

How Michigan's GPA Recalculation Can Magnify Grade Differences

Consider what happens to plus and minus grades under Michigan's system. In many traditional GPA systems, an A− and a B+ are separated by only a fraction of a grade point, for example, 3.7 versus 3.3. By contrast, Michigan's recalculation treats an A− as a 4.0 and a B+ as a 3.0, creating a full one-point difference.

At the same time, Michigan makes no distinction at all between an A+, an A, and an A−. Each is calculated as a 4.0.

The result is striking: under Michigan's recalculation method, the difference between an A− and a B+ is far greater than the difference between an A+ and an A−. In fact, the latter difference disappears entirely.

For a student applying to Michigan, then, moving a grade from a B+ to an A− can have a much greater effect on the recalculated GPA than moving from an A− to an A or A+.

What About AP, IB, and Honors Classes?

This is where Michigan’s methodology is sometimes misunderstood.

The fact that Michigan calculates an unweighted GPA does not mean that course rigor doesn’t matter.

Quite the opposite.

Michigan says it evaluates the number of demanding courses separately and considers the rigor of an applicant’s curriculum as part of its holistic admissions review.

Michigan’s admissions materials specifically explain that it considers the difficulty of the courses a student attempted, the student’s grade trends, and whether the curriculum appropriately prepared the student for the UMich school or college to which the student is applying.

Students generally benefit from taking Honors, AP, IB, or other advanced courses when those opportunities are available and when the student can succeed in them.

In other words, Michigan doesn’t need to add an extra point to an AP course to recognize that the course was more challenging.

GPA and course rigor are evaluated separately.

Which Courses Matter Most?

Michigan’s admissions materials also say that when recalculating an unweighted GPA, the university focuses on performance in traditional academic courses:

• English

• Mathematics

• Science

• Social studies

• Two years of the same world language

This is another reason families should be cautious about comparing the GPA printed on a high school transcript directly with Michigan admissions statistics.

Different high schools include different courses in their reported GPAs. Michigan is able to examine the transcript itself and evaluate the student’s academic performance in context.

So, What Does This Mean for Michigan Applicants?

There are several practical lessons.

First, don’t become overly focused on the weighted GPA appearing on the transcript. A 4.4 weighted GPA at one high school isn’t necessarily stronger than a 4.1 at another because the schools may be using completely different weighting systems.

Second, an A− may not hurt a student’s Michigan recalculated GPA in the way families sometimes assume. Michigan specifically states that A+, A, and A− are all treated as 4.0 in its recalculation.

Third, don’t interpret Michigan’s unweighted GPA calculation as a reason to avoid challenging courses. Michigan separately considers the rigor of the curriculum, including the advanced courses available at the student’s particular high school.

Finally, remember that GPA is only one part of Michigan’s admissions process.

Michigan describes its review as comprehensive, holistic, and individualized. Admissions officers consider the student’s academic record and educational environment along with essays, recommendations, extracurricular involvement, leadership, awards, and other factors.

The Bottom Line

The GPA on a student’s high school transcript doesn’t tell the entire story when applying to the University of Michigan.

Michigan recalculates applicants’ GPAs on an unweighted 4.0 scale and then separately evaluates the rigor of the student’s curriculum and the broader academic record.

For families trying to assess a student’s competitiveness for Michigan, the better question therefore isn’t simply:

“What’s your weighted GPA?”

It’s:

“What does your academic record look like when evaluated the way Michigan evaluates it?”

That distinction can provide a much more meaningful picture of a student’s academic profile, and a better starting point for developing an effective University of Michigan application strategy.

The team at College Choice Counseling® is expert at the ever-changing world of UMich admissions. Our understanding of the complexities and nuances of the UMich admissions process allows us to provide expert guidance to our students.

At College Choice Counseling®, our counselors and tutors are here to help you with college counseling, college essay and application help, test prep tutoring, and academic subject tutoring. Reach out … we’ll help you succeed!

Barbara Connolly is the Founder of College Choice Counseling®, a Certified Educational Planner (CEP), and Professional Member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA). She is a former University of Michigan Ross School of Business admissions reader with over 20 years of experience guiding students and families through highly competitive college admissions.