Agreed, @westchesterdad22 and @Serenity2
UMich is currently high on D’s list. But if she doesn’t hear in early March and has to wait until the presumed 2nd/only wave in early April it will definitely fall way down or even off her list as she’ll have heard from all her other schools by then.
I really hope there’s a March 4th wave!
Yep. Our D is upset with the process. If she’s kicked to notification with the RD crowd, I think (wrongly, probably, but we’re dealing with a young adult and her level of rationality lol) she’ll detach mentally. Applying to UM and Ross took a significant amount of her time and effort, and was completed adjacent to her other EA and an ED application. She knew before she applied she was overwhelmingly likely to be postponed (her GC told her she was close to 100% based on the last five years or so with UM and high stat kids from our HS), but did have an expectation that EA would mean something with respect to timing and notification. If UM simply punts EA and the massive amount of postponements to link up with RD crowd (who had months longer to prepare their apps as well as whatever other factors you can surmise from not submitting EA), then she’ll feel jilted.
Pretty certain UM doesn’t much care, but here’s hoping that future admin offices take into consideration the pressure and stress the applicants are under.
My S feels similarly. And you’re right, I didn’t think about how much more time RD applicants had to prepare their applications.
I am ok with one wave at end of March/early April. If there are waves, it will stress me and my daughter out more knowing others got in and she did not if that were to happen. Also, she will get other positive news before then and that will soften the blow if she doesn’t get the outcome she is praying for. Just another way to look at a singular D day.
You mean we won’t get to tailgate with y’all? DD22 changes from day to day.
My kid who applied EA to multiple schools is very disappointed in the one school that postponed, not UM. Even the single rejection was fine. Kids disengage from schools based on acceptance, postponements or waitlists. Some kids can do a long waitlist and hold out hope but not my kid. Not every kid or parent is willing to wait it out. Some will just go to the school that shows them love.
That’s a great point you raise @westchesterdad22!
UMich was one of the first applications my D submitted, right after her in-state safety. She was excited about UMich and wanted to apply EA (even though her GC told her clearly she would be deferred). She thought if she expressed her interest and fit well enough she might get through, so she worked hard on her essays spending a good amount of time on them. Of course, had she had 2 extra months to work on them, she’d have done even better.
But doesn’t your daughter feel like she has a leg up or advantage over RD applicants at UM? She showed her interest early and if there’s a choice of two equal candidates, UM is likely to think she has more interest, at least that’s what I think.
That’s what she hopes - and it’s what led her to apply early. But I don’t know if it’s true. UMich isn’t showing any love right now 
I wish that were true, but it’s really just one data point. People who don’t apply EA (and those who do) could demonstrate interest through campus visits, outreach to ACs, comments within essays, etc.
Even Michigan’s own words suggest that the postponed EA are considered alongside the RD applicants. “…your application will be moved into our regular decision pool for consideration…We will consider all applicants within the context of the larger applicant pool who apply by the Feb. 1 application deadline.”
So, given that there are multiple ways to demonstrate interest, it’s entirely possible than an RD applicant will be judged to have even more interest than an EA applicant.
Yes, I’d guess that given Covid there are tons of reasons why normal things like college visits aren’t happening. I personally think visits aren’t weighed heavily. My kid didn’t visit UM but was accepted and did visit another school and wrote about it and was rejected. Distance matters.
Honestly, I think EA supercedes an email or comments but that’s only one opinion. There are valid reasons why kids don’t apply early as well. Still, I wish my kid had applied everywhere EA to show the love 
Oh, I’m up for a Big House tailgate any day of the week- child or no child attending!
Yes, this. Other schools that defer into RD are very clear. Ours had that happen to her in UVA. But UVA doesn’t have the charade of postponing the overwhelming majority- they actually accept and deny a reasonable level of applicants in EA (and also have ED, but that’s a different story). Our D got into UNC, and they are even clearer on EA- accept, reject, or a smaller level of deferrals. In those instances, being compared to RD crowd is reasonable. You theortetically have a LITTLE leg up on the average applicant, as they consider you worthy of further looks.
But UM seems to not even look at many EA apps. Or…they look at them and don’t make a determination in any direction whether they are worthy of further consideration. They just punt the EA round for most kids. Heck, I’d MUCH rather they weed out and reject kids- even if it were mine. Because then the student has some information.
Anyway…rant over (hopefully, lol). There’s nothing really to say they won’t release in waves beginning in March, and if they do a lot of this will be moot.
Sliver lining for today: may be all that UCB news will push Umich to accept many of the CA postponed applicants. One can dream, right?
I was actually thinking the opposite. Will this make UM waitlist more people because they are waiting to see what happens at Cal? If the verdict stands, there are 3000 extra candidates who are looking for top schools. (Not exactly true as those 3000 might have had other first choices, but still….). Craziness right? There is a whole forum dedicated to that topic if anyone is interested to learn more about it.
Spreading the positivity.
If you ask me, I’ll bet most of you will get the news you want. Just requires patience.
UMich already has a lot of love for CA. Plenty of “Go Blue” at the local grocery store, gym, coffee places, on the street, license plates, rear window stickers, etc.
As for the Cal “refugees,” I’d assume many of them will take spots at another UC or CSU or go to CC and transfer to Cal.
I should not be laughing at “Cal Refugees”, being from Cali, but still, that was funny! And thank you for the pep talk!
I know that there’s a lot of consternation, but I think Michigan will deliver for you, probably not every single one of you, but a majority. I know there are a lot of accomplished applicants waiting, so I have “warm and fuzzy” feelings for ya.
That’s why I think one wave in early April is a dumb move by Michigan, if that’s truly what they’ve decided. They’ll lose too many great applicants.
But, I think a 3/4/22 wave is what I’m hoping for, or sooner.
You may be right and I may be crazy (thanks, Billy Joel).
I would sugget that because virtual information sessions are now commonplace, distance actually matters much less these days because “visiting” is easier than ever.
The yield conversation has been around who Michigan thinks is most likely to accept an offer of admission. I’m certainly no expert, but people spoke about algorithms and other predictive data points. I have no doubt that submitting an application early is one data point. And, that data point may (or may not) be more correllated with accepting an offer of admission more than another single data point.
But, if the RD applicant has 4-5 of those other data points (visit, legacy, met with their local AC, passionate and well-researched ‘why Michigan’ essay, attends a HS which is a strong feeder to UM, etc.)…well, I would think that the combination of those things is more correlated with acceptance than just submitting an application early.
But, that’s just one person’s opinion too. 