<p>Yesterday I got the "good" deferral letter (I think). Here are my stats:</p>
<p>GPA: 3.33 UW 3.8 W (this is definitely what did it)
School: Top public school in NJ. Has grade deflation. Average accepted GPA for Michigan is ~3.6, and that's with a bunch of HYP-hopefuls with perfect stats who apply each year and use Michigan as a "safety"
SAT: 1540/2290
SAT II: 800 math iic 790 chem
AP scores: All 5s on chem, bio, calc ab, english language, and a 4 on music theory
AP classes: 8
ECs: IMO they're above average
Essays: My common app essay was amazing (my teachers' words not mine), and the rest should be decent</p>
<p>What now? Is there anything I can do to increase my chances? How good/bad are my chances anyway? </p>
<p>By the way, does Michigan care about course rigor at all? Some kid in my school (rich, white, non-athlete, no hooks) got in even though she took one AP class in total. My school offers 20+ AP classes. Plus, not to sound bitter or anything, but I don't think she had anything else going for her besides a high GPA in non-rigorous classes (which is why everyone was really surprised when she got in). It seems to me that Michigan cares more about raw GPA than course rigor. Is this true?</p>
<p>After multiple individualized and comprehensive evaluations of your application to the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts for Fall 2012, we believe that you have something uniquely valuable to contribute to our campus. However, our high application volume, coupled with the very strong credentials of our applicants in recent years, has contributed to an increasingly competitive admissions process. As a result, your application has been deferred for a final decision until a later date.</p>
<p>Your application will be re-evaluated, and a final decision will be made based on how your credentials and academic achievements contribute to the composition and quality of this year’s freshman applicant pool. All final admissions decisions of admit, deny, or waitlist will be made no later than mid-April, 2012.</p>
<p>Please refer to the website [Information</a> for Deferred Students | University of Michigan Office of Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.umich.edu/deferred]Information”>http://www.admissions.umich.edu/deferred) for FAQ’s about the admission process and what to do next. Strong fall semester or second trimester grades may enhance your status in the deferred pool of applicants. Therefore, please ask your high school counselor to forward your fall semester or second trimester grades when they become available.</p>
<p>If finances aren’t an issue and you will attend if you get accepted…tell them. If you’ve sent mid-year grades there isn’t much more you can do than tell them you will attend if you are accepted.</p>
<p>Smugness: if your high school is considered very rigorous/ highly ranked in Nj it is very possible a higher GPA kid will be accepted with lower rigor…UMich is all about UW GPA…</p>
<p>I have seen this happen every year, first hand…but I’m sure others will disagree…</p>
<p>I would also like someone, anywhere in The state of New Jersey, post that they have ever been accepted after being deferred either EA or RD…again, in my experience, have never seen it…</p>
<p>Not NJ, but OOS for Michigan. The stats for one of my kid’s highly competitive east coast prep schools is 22 accepted, 15 deferred (43 apps) in the past several years. None of the 15 were accepted after deferral.</p>
<p>3kidz2college: I just did some checking myself. At my kids OOS public school 149 applied, 60 were accepted (2005-2012). Only 3 deferred students were eventually accepted.</p>
<p>:( it seems like my chances are really slim. Kinda disappointing but oh well, Michigan isn’t my top choice. I’m just worried because my deferral might reflect my chances at my top choices. Do any of you have any comments about how much Michigan cares about raw UW GPA relative to everything else (course rigor, SATs, ECs, etc)?</p>