My son was an EA applicant that was deferred, and then waitlisted. Yesterday, my son and I both got an email reminder to respond to the waitlist offer, and if he wasn’t going to accept, they requested an explanation.
Here are a few tips for UMich admissions (and applies to many other schools)…. There’s a point where you need to stop leading on your applicants, many of whom are feeling bad that they didn’t get in to their dream school, but have no idea why, given their very strong profiles. Remember that you are dealing with 17 and 18 year olds. Regardless of your reasons for doing so (trying to maximize your class profile stats, etc), you have some responsibility to be honest and transparent with these kids.
So, my son will be denying the UMich waitlist offer. And here is the feedback that he will be providing:
Thank you very much for the offer to be placed on the University of Michigan waitlist. Unfortunately, I will have to pass on consideration.
As to your request for feedback on why I am not accepting a place on the waitlist, I will provide as much specific detail as I was provided throughout this admissions process, which is none. Why? Michigan shared no specifics about why I was not offered admission, and so the school deserves no feedback from me. Was the decision for my application strictly based on academic achievement, or did predictive yield play a role, or something else? I have no idea in my case, but it’s public knowledge that many schools are using predictive models to maximize yield for the reasons for accepting or denying students, at the expense of these applicants. Instead of offering the strongest applicants, schools are making admission decisions partially based on predictive models to maximize their yields, despite not really understanding the true motivation of each applicant. Hypothetically, if I was to share that I have accepted an offer from a university with a stronger brand and greater selectivity that Michigan, you may use that in future years to influence the admission decision of an applicant of similar profile, even though this applicant may prefer Michigan.
Admissions has become an impersonal and cynical approach that harms 17 and 18 year olds. I encourage others to stop sharing feedback to colleges until they begin sharing specific admissions decision detail in return.
So your son thinks he was yield protected and is objecting that he wasn’t given a detailed explanation for not being accepted? Does any college provide tell applicants why they were deferred or waitlisted?
No idea why. That’s the point. No U.S. school shares their decision reasons (that I know of), but they all want the students to share why they don’t accept offers.
I have learnt this cycle the hard way that US admission system is a unannounced scam. Colleges are looking for yield protection to move up the US News ranking and introduction of ED1, ED2 are strongly for that reason. As such, they are not looking for the best students, but the most committed student.
I come from a third-world country’s education system where “only merit matters”. There is an entrance exam which ranks/scores the students. If I am ranked 1 (or 99.99 percentile), I get to make the choice (say Caltech) and, boom, I get it and am committed - one seat of Caltech is gone. The 2nd ranked students choice is UChicago and one more seat gone…
Many US colleges and universities have holistic admissions, which considers more than GPA and test scores. That said, many are what you seem to consider to be a meritocracy as they determine admission as well as merit scholarships based on those narrow lanes of achievement. Students whose goal is, as you describe, a meritocratic admission can apply to Alabama, the University of Arizona, and scores of other excellent colleges in the US that make decisions primarily on that basis.
I agree this process really sucks. Hope you son got into a great school he is excited about.
My son is in the same boat, 4.66 weighted GPA (1 class off from being valedictorian, his theater teacher in 9th grade gave him a B ) 1400 SAT, legacy, black belt, varsity track 3 years, part time job throughout high school, 6 years community service, 2 years volunteer tutor, 8 AP classes with 4 or 5 test scores and would 100% commit to UM as it’s his dream school.
He did accept the waitlist, and is also on the UCLA waitlist. If he doesn’t get off either he will attend UCSB and has been accepted into their honors program. Good luck to everyone and been very supportive and encouraging of the schools your kids eventually go to, our kids have worked so hard to get to this point.
This is discussed in the UMich RD forum. Sounds like a number were accepted a couple weeks ago, with a deadline of yesterday. Local school instagrams indicated waitlist acceptances as well.
My daughter was admitted off the waitlist to LSA on June 9, but the email went to her Junk folder. Only found out today when she received congratulations letter in the mail. OOS. She has until midnight on June 18 to decide.
My son and another classmate both got off the Michigan waiting list last Friday the 9th, out of state. My son accepted the spot, his classmate did not. Good luck to the rest of you on the wait list!
Her selected major was Data Science in LSA, she turned down Michigan after much agonizing this weekend. She chose UC San Diego instead, direct admit into their Data Science Institute.
) 1400 SAT, legacy, black belt, varsity track 3 years, part time job throughout high school, 6 years community service, 2 years volunteer tutor, 8 AP classes with 4 or 5 test scores and would 100% commit to UM as it’s his dream school.