Same here, CoE kids come across and write differently from the kids pursuing Liberal Arts degree. And the colleges see those trends… computer gaming, lego’s, building stuff from electronic kits, nerdy courses and books. You will find v few activists or community builders among them. But colleges and their programs are good at finding their likes… some want well rounded kids while some look for academic advancement in a particular axis.
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I think they probably consider the major/interests but you don’t declare your major initially so not sure how much it really matters in the end tbh. He went in as a CS major and his essay was about CS. CS of course is also the most popular major so it’s also the most competitive. Sometimes if someone can find a niche major and actually write about that, they may have a better chance getting in because so few are interested. They are also starting a Robotics major there, and the new Robotics building is very cool. We were able to tour it during parent weekend. My son is not at all interested in Robotics which is a shame because you can now take Intro to Robotics (I think that’s the course) instead of one of the other required math courses. He said it is also supposed to be really easy, but since he’s not interested in Robotics, he’s not taking it.
@VedantSrivastava They come out end of January. Go off the UM website not niche.
@etlindy Your son has great numbers. I think it’s very good to talk about Professors there. It shows he’s not writing the same essay for every school and just recycling it. If you send me a pm I can tell you more about what my son wrote about. Mine had many academic extracurriculars and 4 years of a sport. He was never one to do an activity all for the “college application”. I remember suggesting he do something for his application at one point and he absolutely refused telling me “it’s not who he is” and that he wasn’t going to do something that wasn’t him. I also didn’t want him to apply to COE but LSA for CS and then transfer in, but he also refused. Stubborn sucker. Fortunately it worked out but it very well could’ve gone the other way. One of his extra essays for UM may have been about playing tennis now that I think about it. I am pretty sure one of my daughters wrote about the Cubs. So, they didn’t write about Engineering at UM. I think the Cubs was the community essay.
srparent15 - PM not working for you as your account is private.
My son is going CS (and very stubborn as well!). I also tried to get him to go the LSA route but he hated the idea of having to take more foreign language. Ive been a little worried about the overcrowding of the CS major at some of the schools to which he applied. Do I have it right that UMich has limited students to 2 CS courses per year? Also wondering if they are going to restrict declaration of CS as a major after Freshman year?
Here’s the 2-course CS restriction policy:
https://cse.engin.umich.edu/academics/for-current-students/advising/enrollment/
Course restrictions begin with 300+ upper division courses. And it’s by semester, not year.
And there are no restrictions on declaring your major as CS in LSA or CoE.
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CS is the most popular major everyhwere. My D is a CS major at Cornell and she’s had difficulty getting into some of her classes and they’re still huge (she’s a junior). It’s aggravating to say the least. A total different set up than Michigan, which actually offers a little more flexibility to some degree now that I’ve been able to hear my kids discuss things, but we’ll see how things shake out as my son progresses on. Cornell is also similar in that you’re admitted to COE and then don’t need to declare your major until you’ve taken certain courses and attained certain grades. I think Cornell should increase the minimum grade requirements though.
That said, what I love about UM criteria is that you only have 2 attemps in certain courses. If you can’t attain a certain grade (I think it’s a C) then you can’t declare the major and you’re out. If you drop the class I believe that’s considered an attempt at taking it (or, it may be if you withdraw the class - I can’t remember what my son told me). Regardless, they weed out a little better. My son is currently taking 2 EECS classes and (EECS 203 and EECS 280) so there is not a limit that you can only take 2 per year. He is taking 1 or 2 more next semester. In EECS 280 if you don’t have a certain avg on tests you can’t “pass” the class (you don’t get an F, but you don’t get to move on) likewise, if you don’t get a minimum avg on the projects you can’t move on. So, you can have 100% on exams, and a 0% on projects and even if your avg comes to that C you will not get a C because you didn’t meet the minimum criteria. I love that.
Mine too didn’t want to take foreign language anymore, lol. That was hell for him and it is hell at UM. He has actually felt that his friends in LSA work a lot harder than he has so far. I think it’s the way the classes are structured in that they have homework or something due at every lecture/discussion and for his engineering and math class he only had weekly assignments due. So he could space them out how he wanted. Also, for EECS if you don’t like your Professor you can go to any Professor’s lecture and they’re also recorded so you can watch them if you don’t go in person. So, when he didn’t want to go to North Campus, he went to one on Central. He also wanted a better Professor than he signed up for, so he went to a different section. The midterms are uniform so he loved that. That is something you can’t do at Cornell as there are not as many sections or different Professors teaching the same course.
As far as restrictions to the major after freshman year, like Cornell, haven’t heard any discussion of it at UM. They keep enlarging the program it seems, and with the addition of the Robotics major, there will be even more students entering the Engineering school I believe. My kid also had no trouble getting into his courses yet which I was really concerned about because beginning this year they got rid of using AP credit as far as granting priority in registration. So now it is based solely on the number of actual UM hours you have, transfer credits and dual credits. AP credits only count towards your overall class standing, certain courses and what you pay - once you hit junior status you pay more $ in tuition!! My kid is close to being a junior but registered on one of the last days with other freshmen but for more advanced classes. Still got everything he wanted, just not necessarily when he wanted. But again, with EECS he can go to any section so it’s fine.
One other thing. Advisors will tell freshman to not taket two Stem/math classes (EECS/Engr) in one semester. For some it’s a big adjustment. Many don’t listen to their advisors, but a kid that does their due diligence will have a sense of what is right for them. Many don’t know and struggle. There’s plenty of time to get all the classes in (although COE does have a higher hour requirement to graduate than LSA) so no hurry to move ahead. I do not want my kid to graduate early, so at some point he needs to slow down, do a Coop, or figure out if he’s going to minor, get his Masters, or do something else so that he is there a full 4 years. I want him to have fun in college while he can as opposed to rushing through for no reason.
I’ll pm you so that if you want to message back you can.
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When and how can you read your files?
Not sure why you are saying the acceptance rates are lower, the school announced the class of 2025 is the largest freshman class they have ever had.
https://record.umich.edu/articles/u-m-enrollment-this-fall-tops-50000-for-first-time/
Because when you divide the 16,071 acceptances by the total number of applications, which was 79,743, the acceptance rate is 20%. That’s the lowest acceptance rate since I’ve been watching this forum.
And that’s even with Michigan growing the class size from my D’s Class of 2022 in 2018 at 6,700 to now a class of 7,230 for the Class of 2025.
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Ahh percentage wise!
email oua.ferpa@umich.edu
Would you say that UMich is a popular school this year? Not a lot of people have been talking about it, I have mostly heard a lot for UVA.
Tons of kids from my D’s school are applying there this year.
Well, if the number of posts to the Michigan EA threads here on CC are any indication, then at the end of the day back on 12/17/2020 there were a total of 187 posts. Right now, mid-day 12/17/2021 we’re at post #233. 
Seriously, I have no idea how popular Michigan is this year compared to other schools. But the number of applications has been trending upwards:
Class of 2025 79,743
Class of 2024 65,021
Class of 2023 64,972
Class of 2022 64,917
Class of 2021 59,886
Class of 2020 55,504
And the USNWR’s ranking keeps getting better, passing UVA a couple years ago, IIRC. Not that applicants base their submissions on rankings. 
I will say that at our local public and private schools here in the Silicon Valley area, Michigan is always one of or the most popular OOS choice for HS grads. And at least in the past 4 years, no one here has decided to attend UVA. I’m sure that’s a regional/geographical thing.
One other thing, the UVA CC forum is WAY better for real admissions info, because one of the deans at UVA actually participates here on CC. Michigan leaves you speculating and waiting. But sometimes, some admissions insider does post or PM here, but it’s very rare and only around releases.
As a Umich alumni, its very hard not to run into other alumni any time you do any group activity in the bay area - whether its meetups or kids soccer games.
The bay area has always been a feeder for UMich, and with UCs becoming tougher UMich will get even more love.
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Since schools like the Ivy leagues are accepting less students this year because of gap your students and transfers do you think Michigan will be the same way and accept way less students than past years despite the high number of applicants?
UIUC and UMich are the 2 major artery feeders to bay area tech pool. Have not seen much from east coast schools though. Many are CA kids who go to those schools for 4 years and return back to live in their home state.
There are so many resources for help at Michigan. I never of heard of parents finding kids tutors. There are peer to peer tutors,.Math /science lab tutors, learning center, Professor hours, TA break out classes, study groups etc etc… My friends daughter is there now also thinking about data science but think she likes School of Information better right now…
Michigan is a tough school. Yes, some kids try to advance to quickly. The weed out classes are for real. Glad your son is having a good experience.
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The essay won’t sink a high stat kid from a feeder school. As long as it was written in a genuine tone he will be fine.
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My daughter, a current freshman at UM, has a roommate from LA and a lot of other girls on her floor all from California. Great kids. Stats from 2021 admissions was 83,029 applicants and a 18.2% AR.
I assume that info is from the website College Transitions?
I’m using Michigan’s website for the stats that I’ve quoted:
https://record.umich.edu/articles/u-m-enrollment-this-fall-tops-50000-for-first-time/
Although Michigan hasn’t published the 2021-2022 CDS, which may update those figures.