<p>Saw it in a couple of places - here's one from the Detroit Free Press. </p>
<p>"According to election rules, Proposal 2 becomes effective 45 days after the election, on Dec. 22 ...."</p>
<p>Mearcat, thanks for finding the article, I looked for that information, too. I knew I had read it, but it was hard to find again.</p>
<p>Thanks for that. </p>
<p>mearcat1 and fredmar Are you saying that the fact that the first and only (so far) batch of decisions - along with URM based scholarships- came out on election day was a mere coincidence?</p>
<p>If it only becomes effective 45 days after what was the big deal about getting decisions and scholarships out before the law was passed? What do you think?</p>
<p>fredmar, are you reading the scholarship thread?</p>
<p>Yes, I have now read the scholarship thread, and it does seem that the scholarships that are coming out are aimed at creating diversity. What we don't know is if the same type of scholarships went out at this time last year. It would make sense to send the offers to out of state kids and URM kids with the acceptance, to try to win them before they get accepted at regular decision schools. As to the acceptances coming out on election day, yes I do think that is a coincidence. The acceptances came out even earlier last year and were delayed this year due to the computer glitch, so they were going to come out sometime in late October, early November, whether there was an election or not. I think that UM will do its best to create the most diverse student body it can in the next 40 days, though, since it will take a whole lot to do it after the effective date</p>
<p>Well, besides all this diversity talk,</p>
<p>does anyone know if we have to submit the deposit right NOW or can it be later on, like in march or whatever? does it affect our standing at all?</p>
<p>"It would make sense to send the offers to out of state kids and URM kids with the acceptance, to try to win them before they get accepted at regular decision schools."</p>
<p>Why wouldn't that same logic apply to high-achieving kids who are eligible for scholarships which do not have the diversity component? You don't think kids with 2300 plus SAT's are being sought by other schools? Those kids got nothing in their admissions package.</p>
<p>FYI, the 45 day requirement is in Article 12, Section 2 of the Michigan Constitution. Thanks again to mearcat for pointing that out.</p>
<p>That's becuase they are not URMs</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm not saying that UM did anything wrong, I'm just saying that the substantial impact of Prop 2 is everywhere in the admissions process. I can just imagine the panic in the UM admissions office when the computer problems arose. "Oh no, not this year of all years. We HAVE to get some of these decisions, and all URM based scholarships, out by 11/7."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This was, indeed, a particularly terrible year for that glitch.</p>
<p>Yes, no one could argue that U-M didn't want to get as much work done as possible prior to 11/7. It's not just for underrepresented minorities (athough they are surely a priority under the circumstances) but also for other students. That's because timing is everything and you lose desirable students when you make them wait. Acceptances and scholarships from other schools come rolling in and U-M ends up dropping on some of these applicants' choice list. U-M is wise to get out as many decisions as it can--be they for students who are white, asian, black, hispanic, did not specify, or whatever--before having to change its process (which will, inevitably, slow things down for a time). </p>
<p>It's not possible that U-M planned/aimed to process "all" URM admissions or all URM scholarship offers by 11/7. Or even by December. Only a portion of the eventual pool has even applied yet, and the proportion with completed applications is smaller still. Would U-M have wanted to process as many as were ready to go? Sure. But not all--that wouldn't be possible.</p>
<p>SBDad, it's not that UM doesn't want to attract the 2300 SAT kid too, but they are probably not as focused on that right now as there is no deadline looming. Traditionally those scholarships based solely on merit have gone out beginning in December; I had never heard of the out of state scholarships before, so I don't know if that is a change from prior practice or not. Likewise with URMs, don't know prior practice, but I am willing to concede that it seems like they are coming out in order to beat the deadline, as I said before, it is clear that UM will be doing all it can to make this admissions class as diverse as possible given the upcoming changes. That is good with me, I'm just sorry they are now facing years of litigation, wasting my tax dollars because what I consider to be an uninformed and ill-advised electorate amended the Michigan Constitution. Call me old-fashioned but I prefer to leave complicated decision-making to professionals.</p>
<p>1) What was this "computer glitch" being discussed? When did it occur and what was affected?</p>
<p>2) Why are you referring to 2300 SAT kids? UM doesn't use the Writing score.</p>
<p>hoedown, always the voice of reason. thank you.</p>
<p>fredmar, My only point was that UM was making it a priority to get URM decisions out - which you appear now to agree with. This is different from prior years and is a result of Prop 2.</p>
<p>I also agree that taxpayer dollars are being wasted. UM will waste Michigan taxpayers' money suing the state. The state will waste taxpayers' money defending the will of the people against a state institution. It's pretty crazy.</p>
<p>Frankly I've spoken with a few UM alum's who have said, "I'm not donating this year so that they can waste my money suing the state."</p>
<p>And as for that darn electorate, you just can trust them, can you?!? Democracy is messy.</p>
<p>With regard to the SAT Writing (from the UM website):</p>
<p>"(If you are applying to be a freshman in the Summer 2006 semester or later, you will be required to submit the results from the new SAT with the writing section or the new ACT with writing test.)"</p>
<p>Here's something concerning the MSA scholarship from a poster accepted last year:</p>
<p>"The only light I can shed is I was offered acceptance to U of M and two weeks later I received a letter telling me I was awarded the Michigan Scholar Award for $20K (I'm out of state) I didn't apply for this. Application was in end of September, acceptance end of October, scholarship mid November."</p>
<p>So, MSA's may have been sped up somewhat this year due to Prop 2, but it appears that some were given out fairly early last year too. Remember this particular award is targeted towards increasing racial/ethnic and geographic diversity, so one would only expect to see URM's and OOSers getting it. I know that the Shipman scholars are announced much later, and I believe ones coming from the different colleges (eg. LSA Deans) tend to be later too.</p>
<p>I just heard from a colleague that his daughter, in state, not URM, perfect grades, not great test scores, great essays, got in and got a full tuition scholarship offer, too. So apparently they are doing things a little differently this year.</p>
<p>Do you know the name of the scholarship?</p>
<p>Also, where do they live in Michigan?</p>
<p>Test scores usually play a big part of scholarships, so it's pretty doubtful unless there is so other X factor.</p>
<p>fredmar said in-state. I agree with you eps, but it could be a very specialized scholarship - corporate, specific course of study, left handed red heads, etc. That's why I asked the name of the scholarship.</p>
<p>The information I gave is all I know about it, but it comes from an impeccable source. She did not apply to a strange program, is not left handed, or from a rural area. There is truly no reason other than her perfect grade point (in tough curriculum) and good essays. Not what I would have expected, but nice for my friend/colleague.</p>
<p>I agree fredmar, congratulations to them.</p>
<p>OK. I would assume that she is nothing less than a genius, because obviously there are some extremely well-qualified applicants that have not received any money yet. (Not me, but others on this forum)</p>
<p>I will talk to my buds at the IA and see if they got any money; they work a hell of a lot harder than I do :))</p>
<p>Ep, how would they know she was a genius? Her test scores don't show that. Based on this little evidence, I am jumping to the conclusion that they are trying to take a more holistic approach, so they can show that they are trying to build in all kinds of diversity. It's hard to figure it all out. I know of several girls with perfect grade points and better test scores that got in with no scholarship, so there must be some intangible they are looking at.</p>