Are they really only going to accept 10% of these 1000 students? That’s a very small portion to accept since the university was the one who yielded all of these now ambitious students. Why reach out to so many people then? I get that it was to create more diversity but then what separates these students from each other since obviously the university specifically chose each of them.
I guess my question is, what are they looking for in these students? I thought I was a viable candidate but since I was deferred, I’m wondering what the scholarship students who got admitted looked like application wise.
@Sam2443 That is only my wild guess. Note that 10% of 1000+ is already several times of the full tuition scholarships they offer per year.
@sam2443 Don’t wrongly view the deferral as a rejection because it isn’t. Continue to show interest and see what happens. They did reach out to you so that has to count for something
If I write a letter of intent should I include something about the scholarship? I want to thank them for reaching out to me and for considering me, but idk lol
Sam…here’s the reality as I understand it. U of M wants disadvantaged kids who meet its normal academic standards to apply…so the scholarship opportunity letters let them know that money isn’t an issue IF the student’s academic competencies are there. (very few kids live up to their expectations academically) That’s why they offer so many of these scholarships and honor only a fraction of them. The bottom line is that the kid has to have their level of competitive academic performance. The big question becomes…are your academic merits strong enough for U of M? That 26 ACT bothers me…and I’m guessing it’s bothering admissions, too. Please take that test over and try to bump your score. Your Calculus is also a huge concern. You say that you never took Calc AB, and that you’re currently getting a C- in BC. Admissions is wondering why you didn’t take AB…and what this says about your ability to research the classes you take, and judge whether or not you can handle what you bite off. I read your other post…and you say you got a C+ in Pre-Calculus in 11th grade. Why would you take BC instead of starting with AB with that weak grade? I’m guessing your poor calculus performance might be making the university nervous…when you’re asking to go into a major that requires you to complete Calculus 3 in good standing as a pre-req to the program. I’m also concerned about your lack of high school physics. While Human Physiology would be a great class for a medical or nursing student, it doesn’t really apply to a degree in Biochemistry…physics would have been a stronger choice for your ambitions. I definitely think it would be worth a try to send a letter of continued interest and retake your ACT. But realistically, I also want to mention that my daughter got a 4.0 in her AP Calculus class, got a 4 on the AP test…and still only managed to get a B- in Calculus One at U of M. The academics at this school are VERY brutally challenging. (She’s currently a Microbiology major) Definitely try…it’s an awesome school and you sound like a great student who had a crappy high school counselor (the Calculus mistake for someone interested in pursuing STEM was really unfortunate in my opinion…counseling should have taken better care of you) If you don’t get in this fall? Go to a community college, take Calculus and make A’s. Bump your ACT up. Take some other transferable courses…physics, organic chemistry. If they see you’ve resolved your Calculus issue, and can handle harder college work, you’ll have an excellent chance of getting in when you re-apply. Don’t give up! Good luck:)
Also wanted to add…my daughter lives in University Housing. Her neighbors are Asian, Middle Eastern, African American, and Hispanic… She’s the only white kid in her building. Just wanted to reassure you that kids from every ethnicity are welcome and common at U of M. It’s a wonderfully diverse place. But you really do have to have incredible grades and stubborn resolve.
One more thing to keep in mind? In the past 6 years…U of M has gone from getting about 30,000 applicants a year to about 50,000 applicants a year. More and more people are competing for the 6000 slots they have for freshman each year.
@MaryGJ Your daughter took AP Calculus in high school, got good grades, then took calc 1 at UMich but still only received a B-… That scares me because I was just accepted and will start with calc 1 with no prior calc experience 
@MaryGJ thank your for all that info! I’ll try to take the act again. I took BC instead of AB because teachers and counselors were telling me that it’s a great challenge and that the colleges will “appreciate” me taking harder courses. I originally wanted AB in my senior schedule but had to switch into BC last second because of scheduling conflicts and I didn’t want to resort to any of the “blow off” math classes since that was the only other option. I also didn’t want colleges to look down on me if I had done that. But now I’m really trying to bring that grade up because my BC teacher structured it to be more difficult than usual to “over prepare” us for the AP test. Idk if it’s my teacher but my friends that go to u of m now that had this teacher in high school were saying that calc at u of m isn’t as stressful as it was here. I was thinking about trying to switch into AB for second semester but is it worth it? The colleges will only see first semester which is almost done and won’t they look down on me for switching into the easier class?