I was waiting on Ross official acceptance but now am trying to schedule a Zoom with a UM advisor to look at what a potential schedule would look like and what my high school credits would get me out of. My sibling was able to complete CS/BA dual-degree at USC in 3.5 years so it will definitely be a factor I consider. A friend of mine did it at Michigan in 4 years but also brought in a lot of outside credits - hoping I’d be able to do it in 4 too without sacrificing time for clubs/activities. Got invite for GT alumni scholarship interview today so my decision is definitely completely up in the air right now!
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The Stamps Scholarship website says:
What are some important dates regarding the Stamps Scholarship?
- November 1: Deadline for Early Action
- Late January: Nominees notified
- Early February: Nominees interviewed
- Mid-February: Recipients selected and notified
Since Early Action decision was moved to the end of January. How does it affect the Stamps Scholarship timeframe? When should we expect notifications?
Call Stamps and ask or the scholarship department at Michigan.
the Stamps website hasn’t been updated since the class of 2024 (high school co2020) and I think they actually didn’t even have Stamps last year, only Shipman. It’s unclear what will be offered this year but let me know what is said if you call the office
Just a friendly reminder that today is the due date for the LOCI if you were postponed. My son finally submitted it. 
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I saw on the UMich website under merit scholarships that they weren’t awarding the STAMPS scholarship this year.
So our D was planning on marching into her GCs office this morning and letting her know that she is cooling on UM a bit. Relevant because the college office at her school held a meeting with all of the seniors, asking them to “revisit” their applications and inform their GCs which schools are no longer realistic to attend. This is the first time they’ve ever done that, but as a parent I can understand.
There are 2-3 absolutely outrageous students in their graduatiing class. One has literally been the highest scoring student in every class she’s taken, has spoken to Congress on national television, and is amongst the school’s all-time leaders in field hockey goals. The other 2 aren’t far behind, lol. They each applied to close to 20 schools. So for other phenomenally gifted students…they’re being compared, in this year, to those three.
Anyway, UM is a very solid target for our particular school. Anywhere from 2-6 kids attend every year. Many as their first choice, the rest after an Ivy or similar ED. So in this auditorium, the GCs sort of alluded to schools like UM (and other Big Ten schools, too). If you aren’t serious about it, let us know.
D would seriously consider Ross, but she’s starting to really fall in love with options she already has if Ross doesn’t hit. She’s realistic about her chances at Ross- postponed seemingly lowers her chances of eventual acceptance, and even if it does come it’ll be quite late in the game.
Should students have to do this- effectively making sacrifices on their own options because the college system has broken itself? No. But we’re proud of how she cares about her fellow students- many of whom are not in a college they could get excited about yet.
So she’s not withdrawing, of course. In fact, I don’t think the GC is even going to mention her to the AO. BUT…what the GC will do is reach out to let the AO know which students are REALLY interested in UM as their first choice at this moment, and our D will not be in that list.
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where did you see that?
We feel the same way - DD22 has started withdrawing apps/acceptances. We are encouraging her as schools fall off her list to do this. Simply do not feel good sitting on top on applications or choices when others don’t have 1 school they are happy with.
This environment in which top students apply to 20 schools is not sustainable. I am curious to see what will happen to DD25.
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It’s on their merit scholarship website: Merit Scholarships | U-M LSA Scholarships
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On the UMich website, there is a page on LSA website regarding merit scholarships. It lists the STAMPS scholarship and it also states it is not being given this year.
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So is the idea to identify kids who absolutely want to attend Michigan, and weed out those like your D who don’t see it as their clear no.1?
Thanks! I was only looking at the Engineering website and they didn’t update it on there - super unfortunate that they aren’t offering it again
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The idea is to identify the students whose acceptance into UM would be one of a handful of viable options for that particular student, and likely not the top. They were clear that they were not asking students to “cross off” colleges that they were serious about. But, for example, there is one Harvard REA accepted student. He’s also hooked in a couple of ways, which will make him desirable to many schools. He isn’t looking for or eligible for fin aid. So…the HS sat him down and basically begged him to withdraw from a dozen or so schools (he didn’t apply to UM, but as an example of what the school is doing). His family is fighting this, saying that he has every right to apply wherever he wants. While true, most of us are appalled, since he is likely to gain acceptance to schools he has no desire to attend (WashU, Emory, and Northwestern being the main examples), and in effect block out other kids from our school that would be competitive. It’s an ego trip for him.
Most kids, however, they’re basically asking to cull their lists if finances are not relevant to the discussion. If they’re in multiple schools that trump another acceptance…withdraw the other acceptance. Not asking kids to limit their choices…merely cut the colleges where they are certain they won’t attend.
With respect to UM…it’s a bit more delicate. Her GC says that the UM AO is often keyed in on the kids who will actively attend, and for the students whose #1 right now is UM the GC is going to push them as hard as she can. She doesn’t believe it will “hurt” the other viable candidates, but is hoping it helps the ones who would enroll upon acceptance. Is it entirely fair to every student? No. GC’s have multiple responsibilities- not all of them tied to every student’s top wishes. But we’re supportive.
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So nice to read this @westchesterdad22 and @nyc10023. I’ve brought up this topic on other threads and it rubbed a few people the wrong way. I totally get it’s an individual choice whether to withdraw or (at least) not actively pursue a deferral but it’s definitely the kind thing to do when you already have a college locked in that you’re planning to go to instead of your deferred option and your classmates are still waiting to get into a college they love.
My D has withdrawn from one of her deferred colleges because she has a better choice locked in and she knows other kids who would really like to go there (and for whom their GC is going to reach out and battle for).
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Are the schools where Michigan AOs are reaching out to guidance counselors private schools? Do the AOs do this at public schools. We are at a large public school that sends a fair number of kids to Michigan every year, but I have never heard of this type of engagement about individual applications. If it is happening, I would like to know.
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I wish they would update this story. It is from 2010. So much has happened and changed since then
We have one such kid at my D’s school too. Has an REA acceptance at Princeton but sent in a LOCI to UMich and another deferred college, neither of which he plans to enroll at in place of Princeton (his words, not our speculation). I call such kids trophy hunters.
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That’s nice you have a GC/office that goes to bat for the kids. Ours barely know their names- we had to put a photo attached to the parent/student questionnaire that was filled out early in the year. I guess we are lucky in that our SoCal public high school is ranked in the top of the state and we have probably 7 kids attend UMich each year, but I wish we had some level of engagement. Or that they encouraged kids to cull their lists of schools they would never attend if better options appeared.
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Yes, this is happening at private schools. My S22 attends a private school and the conversations happening there, particularly in reference to Michigan, are strikingly similar to those mentioned by @westchesterdad22 . It was suggested to us that our son rank the remaining schools on his list and provide that information to his GC. The implied benefit is that the GC would push harder for students who the GC feels are “in line” with the schools that those same students rank toward the top of their “wish lists”, but the downside is that the GC admitted that this would also mean than they would potentially advocate more for other students at schools that appear lower down on the same lists.
Without the benefit of a crystal ball to see into the future and know what acceptances S22 may/may not get eventually, it is definitely a risk. But NOT providing any type of ranking and trying to force advocacy across all on S22’s list is also a risk, so we ultimately provided the list and can only hope that the gamble pays off. . . .
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