Disappointed to learn that Michigan does not take Common App

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Michigan
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<p>Ok, so this message will probably serve no purpose other than to let me let off a little steam - apologies in advance for this.</p>

<p>Senior Daughter and I just went to a National Portfolio Day yesterday, and talked to the University of Michigan rep who was reviewing D's portfolio. He seemed knowledgable and encouraging, and his description of the school made her want to learn more about it. (We had not even considered Michigan because it seems so far away and so cold, and because we figured if she wants to go to a huge state school, she can just go 5 miles down the road to Univ of Texas.) </p>

<p>But then we started researching Michigan's Art and Design school and it seems just great - fantasic actually. It sounds like it has a great curriculum, super facilities, and lots of internship and career opportunities. Also, the School of Art and Design viewbook has a quote from the NASAD accreditation agency saying "If there were an option to start over from scratch, this is the program that would be built. The School of Art and Design and the University of Michigan have created an opportunity to lead the academic conversation in art and design in this country."</p>

<p>And coincidentally, at that same NPD event yesterday, I talked to a mom-friend who is an alum of UM and its law school, and she was just extolling Michigan's virtues and raving about how wonderful Ann Arbor is, etc. </p>

<p>So then D was thinking... wow, this looks great - I should add Michigan to my list: rush the SAT scores out, get ready to send the portfolio, email the teacher recommenders and add Michigan, etc.</p>

<p>But further investigation revealed that Michigan does not take the Common App, and further, that she'd have to do 3 more essays. Aaargh! There's just no time to squeeze any more blood out of the turnip that is my senior daughter at this point!</p>

<p>Thanks for letting me vent. It was therapeutic and I hope not offensive. If anyone in admissions is out there listening, my input would be to seriously consider migrating to the Common App.</p>

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<p>lol yea, same here, I don’t really care about filling another application, but it’s the extra essays that get to me</p>

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<p>why not apply regular decision?</p>

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<p>Actually, there are four essays. 2 short 250 word essay and a 500 word essay for the main app, and then a 250 word essay for the art school. The topics are pretty generic though, and I bet your daughter can rewrite whatever she has already done to fit them. You should encourage her to do it; my daughter is applying and has been very impressed with Michigan Art & Design.</p>

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<p>the general short essay isn’t bad.. it just asks for how you’ll enrich the atmosphere (bring diversity).. those are always good BS-ing essays
the long essay isn’t too bad, either… and you can use your michigan essay for the common app (since there’s a topic of your choice option)… or if you’ve already done the common app, see which one you did.. 2 of the common app prompts fit the michigan one (the book one and the issue of local concern).. i did the book one, and it worked fantastically for both</p>

<p>^^^there should be only 3 essays (i had the general essay, the LSA essay, and the long essay)… one general short essay… the long 500 word essay, and the essay that pertains to the school to which you are applying.. unless the art and design has 2 of those essays</p>

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<p>Hey, thanks for replying. RD is not totally out of the question, although that still requires her to get new paperwork to her teachers and counselor for their recommendations (she’s already turned all that stuff in). Plus, she’d definitely have to do at least 4 essays since she’s interested in a dual degree. So for UMich app, she’d have to do:</p>

<ul>
<li>250-word diversity essay</li>
<li>250-word School of Art & Design essay</li>
<li>250-word College of LSA essay</li>
<li>500-word choice of setback, local issue or book essay</li>
</ul>

<p>Unfortunately, none of those overlap with the two essays she’s already done:</p>

<ul>
<li>Common App essay 2 = UT app essay A (someone who’s made an impact on you)</li>
<li>Common App essay 3 = UT app essay B (issue that’s important to you - she chose a personal issue, not a local issue)</li>
</ul>

<p>Her goal this fall was to get as much of the app process out of the way early on, so she could concentrate more on her portfolio through December. Anyway, I guess she’ll see how she feels in December but I’m not optimistic. It sure looks like a great art & design program, though…</p>

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<p>i don’t think she would have to do the LSA essay because she isn’t applying there, but rather to the school of art and design.</p>

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<p>yeah, the LSA essay is only for those applying for the college of literature, science, and the arts.. if she is applying to the school of art and design, she shouldn’t have an LSA essay to write since she’s not applying to that school</p>

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<p>Actually, she’s interested in a dual degree: a BFA (presumably from A&D) for some kind of art like illustration/graphic design/visual communication, her first love, and a BA (from LSA) for some liberal arts subject tbd. So she would need to write two essays in part 2, for a total of 4 essays, unfortunately.</p>

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<p>Not very many public schools take part in the common app system. Only 26 of the 346 schools that use the common app are public schools, and 9 of them come from the SUNY system, 3 from the U-Maine system, and 2 from the UMass system. University of Delaware, University of Maine, UMass Amherst, UNH, UVermont, and UVA are the only state flagship schools that take part in it.</p>

<p>I don’t see how the common application would save that much time. If a school wants essays with a certain focus, they’re going to require them in addition to the common app. Add in the fact that there would need to be a supplement for all the stuff that U of M wants to know and isn’t listed on the common app, and there’s really no point to it.</p>

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<p>why would a state public school take common app. Epic fail</p>

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<p>I can see more public universities converting to the common app, especially those competing for the top students. UVa just adopted the common app this year. More will follow.</p>

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<p>How does the common app help with getting better students? Anybody that would only apply because of the supposed ease of the common app and not otherwise probably doesn’t have much interest in coming here, and if they’re really a top student, odds are they’ll get accepted somewhere they like more.</p>

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<p>I don’t know … same reasons why Chicago, Brown and UVa picked up common app this year. For one thing, the number of applications will increase.</p>

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<p>“I don’t see how the common application would save that much time. If a school wants essays with a certain focus, they’re going to require them in addition to the common app. Add in the fact that there would need to be a supplement for all the stuff that U of M wants to know and isn’t listed on the common app, and there’s really no point to it.”</p>

<p>the common app saves time in all of that basic stuff - like senior year schedule, achool activities, awards, parent information, student information and all that.. the supplements just have an essay or two (depending on the college), and that’s it.. so the common app helps in that you only have to do that preliminary stuff (plus the overall essay) once… when you have 8 schools on common app (like me), common app saves a huge amount of time</p>

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<p>^^^^Interesting discussion from the past that I decided to bring up to the current board.</p>

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<p>lol, I was surprised to read my own reply.</p>

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<p>I don’t know if common app helps getting better students, but statistically, there would be more applicants if Michigan used common app. Therefore, if there is more people applying, there is a better chance that better students apply, and naturally more of “better” students will come. But for one thing, if Michigan adopts the common app, our acceptance rate should go down.</p>

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<p>['U&#039</a>; may switch to Common Application | The Michigan Daily](<a href=“http://www.michigandaily.com/content/u-may-switch-common-application]‘U’”>http://www.michigandaily.com/content/u-may-switch-common-application)</p>

<p>This was in Thursday’s paper, thought it was interesting. Good/bad?</p>