Only the 145 million privileged Americans 
Just, kidding. A passport, for many, is just more convenient. A real-ID is more of a necessity as it will be required for travel. For both of our kids we have both. IMO, much better options than carrying around a birth certificate.
My math says that 45% of the US population.
I will bow out now.
fifty, No great loss. After touring the campus he lost interest in UofM. If he were to choose a large Big10 school, it would have been Purdue.
sfStem, Thanks. He is spoiled for choices.
And a passport is much harder to replace if lost.
It would be harder for us to replace a license than a passport for kids in school out of state. In any event, just have both.
Thank you! After applying to colleges all over the country, he has decided to stay close to home too 
Congrats to your son !! He has excellent options. I find it interesting that he got into CMU but not into UofM which is his state school, must be frustrating. My first kid going through this process and I still canāt say I have learned enough to help my second kid. Everything seems so random at times.
Best of luck to your kid, hope the visit to CMU will be productive. He canāt really go wrong with either choices.
Trying to decide between USC and Rice for economics and computer science major. Would appreciate any personal experiences with those colleges.
momsons2, We have a theory that his UofM essay was not what they were looking for. The supplemental essay question was āWith which group do you identify and how has that shaped you?ā or something like that. Our son wrote an essay about identifying with the cadre of STEM kids on his schoolās robotics team. It seemed like UofM was fishing for an identity politics manifesto, and J was not biting. Also, I donāt think his essay reflected much passion for UofM, which accurately reflected our sonās outlook on the school. I am sure they are used to reading āI bleed blue and maizeā essays.
In contrast, of all his application essays, J put the most time and thought into his āWhy CMU?ā essay. While he was not hot on CMU early in the process, during our tour of the campus he spoke with a junior ChemE who was working on a delivery system to precisely transport medicine to where it was needed in the body. The system was under review by the FDA and he was already published in academic journals. In contrast, during his visit to MSU, a professor told J, āGo to CMU to do cutting edge, but Michigan State will get you a job!ā J wrote an essay about going to CMU because they were on the leading edge, and if he wanted to be engineer #3,456 measuring body panel gaps at GM he could go to Kettering or MSU. He was passionate and earnest, and that was reflected in his essay.
CMUā¦Niceā¦ 
I am surprised that your son got into UCLA and Berkeley for engineering, but was waitlisted at UCSD. Could that be a case of UCSD considering him overqualified and unlikely to attend? I donāt understand how the admissions process works for CA state universities.
It is also odd that your son got into CMU and GA Tech, but was waitlisted by UofM.
He has great options. Let us know which school he chooses.
Two words: nerdā¦ farm
Which is the preferred mode of travel, if college is more than half a day drive away?
Hah, we had the same experience last year when DD22 went for permit.
I totally agree that essays do matter a lot. It seems to me that he actually might be a good fit for CMU.
Regarding UCs, even we donāt understand the admissions process! That was the main reason my son ended applying to so many colleges,because none of the UCs are safeties anymore.
Theres many kids who got rejections within days of each other.
Parents, please talk to your kids and cultivate a different internal monologue that isnt ruled by prestige.
I understand what you are saying about privilege. However, not all U.S. citizens have U.S. birth certificates. A U.S. passport gives naturalized minors evidence of citizenship. Obtaining a passport is in fact far cheaper and more useful than a applying for a certificate of citizenship. So there are reasons beyond travel for some students to have them.
Based on what evidence? Also, you have no idea if the supp essay was dispositive.
S22 was down to three schools: USCal, FSU and UGA. After new visits to UGA and FSU the last two weeks, FSU appears to have dropped out of contention because he wants to study cognitive science but FSUās closest major is neuroscience. Neuro at FSU is a popular pre-med major and heād have to take a lot of the pre-med weed out courses before he could take upper level neuro classes, which would be fine except he is not sure he wants to go to med school. USC and UGA have more flexible options to study what he wants, and then add the pre-med requirements later if he desires. Now he goes to USC this weekend to admitted students day and to be influenced by his older sis, a USC grad living in L.A. Heād be in UGA Honors, and I think he can get into great grad schools programs from either school. USC is about a $80,000 more than UGA will be, over all four years.