@momofthreeboys No, I plan on studying business at Ross, which is why I am choosing to apply to out state colleges since I don’t have any elite options here in GA for that. Michigan was the only elite institution I applied to early and I had expressed this in my letter to my admissions counselor. However, due to my deferral I have chosen to apply to ED2 to NYU Stern and regular to other schools like UT Austin bc I don’t want to take the risk of waiting it out for them to accept deferred kids even though Michigan is still my favorite school. So I don’t think I claim any longer that it is my number 1 school to the admissions reps there.
I’m just disappointed that I spent so much time visiting multiple times, having my internship professor write from GT writing a letter to Michigan and my stat teacher (a Michigan alum) recommend me, and sending multiple emails demonstrating my interest all to get deferred. At this point, I don’t think I can still treat Michigan as my one and only and have to apply to many other institutions in order to reduce my risk.
@sadavaya This site is not just intended for students. Note the different sub-forums. The most valuable inputs are actually from experienced parents. Unless you want wild guess or laughable advise.
I was accepted EA, and I’m also OOS with good stats. Michigan typically accepts 10 or so from my school every year, but other than that I have no connections to Michigan. I haven’t visited the campus and I don’t have any legacy… I know it’s getting tougher for OOS applicants at Michigan but I don’t know if I would go so far as to say it’s rigged and you need legacy to get in EA.
blprof, the problem we have here is based mainly on the underestimation of Michigan’s admissions standards.Tarun, and many other applicants, respects the university a great deal academically, but he is not aware of how difficult it has become to gain admission for OOS applicants. Those same students expect rejection from schools like Cornell, Northwestern and Penn, yet expect admission into Michigan. While that may have been reasonable 10 years ago, it is no longer the case now.
Unfortunately, as you point out, so many parents and students come here with their anecdotal evidence pertaining to their own school or community, and assume that it applies to the entire world. Just because a specific community or school has a large Michigan alumni network and connection with the University does not make it so across the board. Here are a few things the evidence I have seen on a global level seem to point to:
OOS applicants of all types are admitted, from the very high stat, non-URM, non-legacy, to the completely opposite (low state legacies). And they are being admitted in relatively equal measure. Michigan is not singling our OOS applicants with high stats that are non-legacies for deferral. It may seem so because so many are being deferred, but many are also being accepted EA.That's pretty standard for any university that receives applications from a mostly high-stat applicant pool and can only admit 15%-20% of them.
Michigan is a reach for the vast majority of OOS applicants. As some have pointed out, their schools have long standing relationships with Michigan and have very high admit rates into the University. But those are exceptions, not the norm. For the most part, Michigan will be a reach, even for walk-on-water type applicants. That was not the case a mere 3 or 4 years ago, but it is the case now.
To those who speculate that only applicants with UMich ties get in, I was accepted to CoE OOS from Illinois with no legacy or any family/friend connection with the University. There are likely many other factors at play.
@Alexandre I agree that there are many holistic factors at play. My daughter who was accepted has no legacy ties at all to Michigan and her high school has never had anyone admitted there! We did go visit the school this summer. Every applicant is unique and schools have all sorts of demographics and unique interests and backgrounds they are looking for to fill out their student body. The college admissions process is a mystery! Like I said earlier, she was deferred from Tulane, a school we expected her to get into. Sometimes you just get lucky with someone reading your application who connects with your essay or something you said. I do believe it all works out the way it is intended to. Congratulations to all who have been accepted and good luck to those who were deferred! You are still in the game so think positive!
For what it’s worth I was accepted into Engineering EA as an OOS:
34 ACT, 4.0 UW, 10 AP’s, Top 10%, 770 Math II, Good EC’s and essays
Asian Male
So I would consider myself fairly high-stat, and also at a slight disadvantage in a few aspects.
Michigan wasn’t even my first choice, and honestly was probably my 3rd. But I think that if you show enough passion and interest in your apps the admissions office will look past the “high-stat backup school” assumption that seems to be going on. (I’m just saying this off what I’ve skimmed over)
However, I especially elaborated and discussed this in my HAIL interview, I am actually from Michigan and I have many ties to Ann Arbor itself. I basically was in that area for almost a decade before moving. In turn, me and my interviewer were able to connect a lot on that level, and I really think that’s one of the things that got me admitted.
As far as having family ties, I have a family member who works there and a cousin who graduated there. I don’t really think those had any affect on my admission.
There’s my spew, maybe it will help you guys in your discussion, maybe not.