<p>I have a friend who has similar GPA, SAT score, classes, and AP scores as I do.
The only differences being, he did soccer when I took dance, he went to public school (his class: 500 studnets) all four years when I transferred to a small private catholic school (my class: 100 students) as a sophomore and am planning to attend this school until I graduate, AND HIS DAD & HIS GRANDPA went to UMich.</p>
<p>We both did EA for UMich, he got in but I got deferred. :(</p>
<p>I was just wondering if the whole family alum thing benefit in anyway...</p>
<p>The essays are a big component of the application too, as well as recommendations. I don’t think you can just chalk it up to alumni relation, although it probably did help him.</p>
<p>Heck, it may even be the public school ‘advantage’: By doing just as well at a school with 500 people as you did at a school with 100, maybe he demonstrated to the adcoms that he can succeed even without a more individualized and intimate setting.</p>
<p>Or I might be talking out of my ***.</p>
<p>Regardless, it’s hard to judge cases like this, where there appears to be a single testable variable where the other variables are held the same, but in reality there are many countervailing factors. </p>
<p>No, it doesn’t help. Freshmen admissions are highly random and when it comes to non-trivial choices (IE. the 4.0/35 will be admitted, the 3.0/25 will be rejected, 3.8/28 is not obvious) it’s more pure chance than anything else.</p>
<p>Of course legacy helps. Children of alums are more likely to respect Michigan than children of non-legacies…and therefore more likely to enroll. All universities favor legacies, regardless of their claims to the contrary. That said, Michigan does not weigh legacy status that heavily. It may tip the scale ever so slightly to one’s favor should the applicant be deserving.</p>
<p>At this stage, Michigan has become so selective that it will reject more than 50% of qualified applicants (students with GPAs and SAT/ACT scores above the Michigan mean). In the case of the OP’s friend, there are many reasons he may have been admitted and not her:</p>
<ol>
<li>Luck</li>
<li>Better essays</li>
<li>Seemingly more eager to attend</li>
<li>Legacy status</li>
<li>More than one of the above</li>
</ol>
<p>You all should stop comparing yourself to others. The fact of the matter is, you have not way of knowing whether a student is better, equal or worse than you simply by looking at grades and SAT scores. There are so many other factors that determine student potential.</p>
<p>I have heard that legacy is worth a point on the ACT…
I am sure you felt you were both almost equal candidates for admission, but obviously there are differences. That being said, a deferral DOES NOT mean you won’t get in. Perhaps admissions ran out of time and were overwhelmed by the number of applications and yours unfortunately did not get looked at. Lots of reasons for being deferred.
It is likely you will be admitted, but in the meantime I feel it is good to get excited about another school. Yes, Michigan is a fabulous school, but wherever you end up I’m sure you will be happy-that is just the way life is. No reason to be hanging your head over this deferral.</p>
<p>from what i’ve seen, alumni relations does play some role in the admissions process. i know someone who has rather average stats (27 act, few ECs, 1-2 AP classes) but her entire family attended UofM. she got in while others with 4.1 gpa and a 33 got deferred. but who really knows, this is all just speculation.</p>
<p>The difference in high school is a pretty significant difference given that you’re considered in the context of your high school. Even with essays and recommendations very similar in quality, this could make two applicants <em>massively</em> different.</p>
<p>One of the reasons that legacy probably isn’t all that helpful at U of M unless you’re related to people who have donated a lot of money is that U of M has such a high number of legacy applicants because it has such a high number of alumni. When legacy applicants are so common, it’s harder to make that a big boost.</p>
<p>At this point, there’s still hope that you’ll get in - good luck :)</p>