The in-state out-of-state process is very tricky. I don’t envy the admissions team at any school but Michigan must be a real challenge. This data is a bit stale but Michigan is 51% in-state so let’s call it 50/50.
Looking at fall 2020 data, Michigan disclosed
Applicants
In-state applicants = 10,606 or roughly 16% of the pool
Out of state applicants = 54,415 or 84% of the pool.
Michigan offered acceptances to over 5,000 in-state (48% rate or 2.3x OOS rate) students with a 70% yield or 3,542 students.
Out of states acceptances were just 11,941, 21% rate with 3,343 students.
I can’t fathom how they can whittle down almost 55k OOS kids down to ~12k. It is an impossible task made more difficult via test optional and the proliferation of Michigan alums in major metro cities outside of the state of Michigan.
I know this sucks but my son is in similar position. Keep your head held high!
My son -
1570 SAT (one sitting), 4.0/4.0 UW
Varsity athlete, accomplished musician, volunteer etc.
Deferred/waitlisted - U of M
Deferred/waitlisted - Nova (he turned it down)
Waitlisted Bowdoin
But accepted at several other great LACs and safeties. It sucks but having gone through this process before with a DD20, I am optimist. Kids are resilient. It works out.
I don’t think that I’m going out on a limb here. I could be mis-remembering, but I think it was the person who posts the GT admissions blog, or maybe it was another, I’m getting old, that said schools will be “shy” about acceptances and WL’ing more this cycle. Anecdotally, it seems to me that more applicants are choosing to apply to many more schools this cycle, so there’s much more uncertainty.
And then just seeing the tremendous amount of WL’ing at Michigan with only one large wave since EA (there was a small wave, seemed almost entirely in-state, but someone posted about a friend of a friend getting an OOS acceptance) in late March, my gut says the total WL’ed #'s will remain roughly constant, but admittance from the WL will increase. How much? I dunno.
As @CULSE mentioned above, maybe, Michigan is attempting to flush out all the Ivy acceptances and other Top 20’s, and their subsequent withdrawals from Michigan’s pool of WL’s and final RD wave by WL’ing and then accepting more this cycle? Total “yield management.”
Again, totally a gut feel, and my theories, aka speculative nonsense, have been wrong before (e.g., an EA release on a Thursday? 1x in 10 years? ).
Well I like the thought process and hope you’re right. Like many, my daughter has great alternatives with merit, some of which were top 2 choices, but now she doesn’t want to go out of state and wants to be with her sister. So, fingers crossed.
My sincere congrats to those who were accepted. Quite the accomplishment and opportunity.
To those rejected, I truly feel for you if Michigan was a top choice. It’s a gut-punch for sure. And I hope you have great opportunities elsewhere.
For those on the waitlist, decisions to be made. This can be in some ways more agony than an outright rejection.
My daughter was waitlisted after EA Postpone. 1460 SAT, 3.9/4.3, rigorous courses, EC leadership, solid essays. Dad is an alum.
She is not ready to give up on the dream she has had since childhood, but we will start digging into where she wants to accept from those that provided admissions offers (so far Wisconsin, Indiana, Washington, Illinois and Florida). She is leaning Washington, but not strongly. I am trying to stop focusing on ratings of the schools. All will serve her well on her eventual quest to become a surgeon.
For those admitted to UCs, congrats! As a Californian, I am admittedly fascinated by the number of out of state folks admitted to UCLA, Berkeley, UCSD and otherswith very similar qualifications than some in state folks that were rejected. I have one daughter at UCLA and a son at UCSD and both are happy. But the last two years have dramatically changed the landscape, particularly with board scores no longer considered. My daughter was waitlisted at Davis and USCD (despite the sibling there) and outright rejected by Berkeley and UCLA (despite the sibling there). Most in her very good high school are experiencing similar results, including those with parents as Alums.
Good luck to all no matter where you decide to go. All of these schools can provide great education and great life experiences!
I was denied yesterday, but just got a full ride to osu so i will most likely go there! Big congrats to everyone and thanks to y’all who have helped us all through this time of waiting!
I just want to say I know this classmate of my son’s personally, and with all the rejections that came out of our in-state school, this multi-talented student is the real deal and exactly who UM needed to accept, and they did. So kudos to her, and to the U for getting this one RIGHT.
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