<p>Okay, so I can either send my University of Michigan app in now, with an "average" SAT and ACT score or wait until I get the September ACT score and October SAT score back, and THEN send in my application. </p>
<p>Here's the problem:
If the process is rolling, despite it's early action name, should I submit my application now with those lower test scores? I called Michigan and they said admissions is NOT rolling and won't provide any benefit to you to apply before the November 1st deadline. HOWEVER. Their website says this:</p>
<p>'We will begin reviewing completed applications in late September and we will begin releasing decisions in early November."</p>
<p>so, I'm kind of confused because the admissions rep said one thing and their website says another. HELP?!?!</p>
<p>Michigan is psuedo-rolling. First they have an early action program if you apply by Nov 1 and have all scores sent by that date. You will be notified of a decison, reject, admit, or deferred to later review. by mid-December. All that does is assure you will get one of those decisons by mid-December. It does not provide you any real advantage in admissions. For other applicants (and even early action applicants), you can actually start receiving decisons by about mid-late November because beginning then they are reviewed on a rolling basis. However, for all those outside of the early action group, there is no guarantee they will get any decision, even deferred for later review, before the end of the decision-making process about the end of February or early March. In other words, someone who applies Nov 5 might actually be admitted before anyone who applied early action by Nov 1, but then that person might also hear nothing back until end of February.</p>
<p>You can probably view it as follows. If you are a fairly easy admit or easy reject you will likely get a final decision earlier rather than later; if you are borderline you might not see a final decision before the end and many others will be decided in between those times. All that early action guarentees you is that you will be told something by December 15 but don’t be surprised by a deferral notice unless you are an easy reject or easy admit. </p>
<p>If you believe your score is not good enough wait. The risk of applying early action is that the early decison will be based on what you submit by Nov 1 and if that risks rejection don’t do it and wait for the new score before applying.</p>
<p>So should I submit my application NOW and then send my test scores as they come? or wait until the test scores all come in and THEn send my application?</p>
<p>As noted that depends on your grades and scores that exist by Nov 1. If they are good enough to get in, and you want to know something by mid-December, apply early action. If you fear your score could lead to rejection, wait because the early action decision will be based on the scores you have as of Nov 1.</p>
<p>I read the same thing and I’m not confused. Michigan has CLEARLY provided contradictory information in two different places on their web site. </p>
<p>As far as what you should do, what would you do if they have rolling admissions where the bar for admittance continuously gets higher as you wait, but your attractiveness as a candidate also gets higher as you wait. When is the optimal time to apply? It depends how much your stats will improve and how likely you are to get in anyway. </p>
<p>Sometimes in life, there is no easy call. I think that this is one of those times. If it were me, I think I would wait until you get your ACT results back, which should be soon, and then decide what to send, sending the SAT results in blindly (directly on the test day). I think if you send both SAT and ACT, they will use the higher of the two.</p>
<p>Yah, I was deathly ill on the day I took the SAT (i only took it once) so i did poorly. i got a 1960 and on practice tests i’d been getting 700+ in every section so I’m sure I’ll do better. As far as ACT, I took it twice and got a 28 then a 30 and I just took it again in September and I’m hoping to go up more. </p>
<p>As for my other stats, I 'have pretty amazing ECs, 4th in my class, 3.9 GPA, etc. </p>
<p>So you suggest I wait until I get the September ACT back, then send it and blindly send the SAT from October? Also, I got a 730 on one subject test but a 610 on the other. i plan on retaking the 610 for the november test date but for early action mich that won’t matter. should i just not bother sending in the subject tests scores at all? (i’m taking it again for schools like Dartmouth and Cornell who require subject tests)</p>
<p>This is the first year of the so-called Early Action program at Michigan so I think even they’re having trouble figuring it out. I can’t find the web page right now but as I understand it there is an early action deadline of Nov 1st whereby if you have everything in by that date you’ll get an answer by Christmas. After that date (11/1) the process goes back to rolling. At least that’s what the web page I remember reading said. If that’s the case, I would suggest waiting for your September test scores to come in and then submitting your app.</p>
<p>^ I agree with vinceh. If you think your September ACT score will be higher than your current score, wait a couple of weeks until that score is available, then send in your app with that score. You can still take the October SAT and send them your score when it’s available, but it may or may not get to them by the time they consider your application. </p>
<p>I’m not quite sure what the confusion is. Michigan gets tens of thousands of apps and, as their website says, they look at them as they come in, processing them in batches. All their early action program adds (and note it’s “early action,” not “early decision” or “early admission”) is to guarantee that if your app is in and complete by Nov 1, you’ll get a response by Dec 15; but that’s not inconsistent with the rest of their process. If you send in your app now, they may very well consider it soon with the info that’s available to them at the time they open up your file. But that’s in your control, because you can just wait a few weeks to send it in with the info you want. Sending it in later won’t hurt your chances, and it could help your chances if your file will be stronger at that time. </p>
<p>With your GPA, class rank, and ECs, your current ACT score of 30 might well be enough; their middle 50% ACT range is 27-31 (though I believe it’s higher for engineering and Ross pre-admit), and historically they’ve weighed grades and the difficulty of your HS curriculum more heavily than standardized test scores anyway. Your chances are especially good if you’re in-state. A higher ACT and it’s hard to see how they turn you down.</p>
<p>Michigan’s early action program doesn’t improve your chances of getting in. All it does, if you’re admitted, is to give you the assurance early on that you can go to a very good school, and you won’t need to settle for a less desirable “safety.” In other words, you’ll only need to complete applications to schools that you’d clearly prefer to Michigan.
And for many people that assurance worth quite a lot.</p>
<p>I don’t think this is Michigan’s first year with early action, by the way. I’m quite certain it was in place last year when my D was applying, though in the end she chose not to apply because she was looking for a smaller school.</p>
<p>“All applications are reviewed using the same guidelines – we will not be awarding additional consideration in the review of an application simply because it was completed in time for Early Action. However as our application volume continues to increase, the process may become more competitive as the application review season progresses.”</p>
<p>I think that if the September ACT is better than the SAT, send it. Send the Oct SAT regardless and trust that Michigan will use the best score. That’s what I’d recommend.</p>
I wanted to take a second to correct this impression for the benefit of future readers. I realize that Michigan can be ambiguous in conveying this impression, but this statement simply does not corroborate with reality. Michigan always has been, and I suspect increasingly will be, a school where the early applicants get the worm. By now, all you threadsters should have heard the story about the valedictorian who didn’t get in a few years ago because he didn’t apply until February, etc. etc. etc. I personally know victims of “late” application syndrome from a school that is very very highly ranked in Michigan’s eyes. No guidance counselor who knows anything about Michigan would ever tell a student to ‘wait’ in any real sense of the word. It’s one thing to wait a week and still be well in advance of Nov. 1, but do not cut it too close. With a 30 or above ACT and solid GPA and strong recs from a rigorous program, go ahead and just get the app in and update it as need be and time allows ;)</p>
<p>The early action program was adopted for the current year in connection with the use of the common application. When you read some of the information on the website concerning the program, it looks a lot like the early response program used in the past. I have heard that the change is a change in name only because of the constraints of the common application.</p>