Also got a rejection. that came way later than i thought it would, though!
Hi Nyo,
UofM and it’s lack of much OOS aid made it a very easy choice on our end. Disappointing yes maybe but very easy to move on.
We realized UofM is not very OOS friendly. They offered us zero need based aid {( except the federal $5,500 ) which is the government not UofM. } where other public and private schools offered us up to $30,000 plus in such aid. Either mostly need or a need merit combo or mostly merit.
Also learned UofM maybe only offers merit aid to like maybe the top 1% to 3% of OOS students.
So take comfort in knowing UofM plays a good game of getting people to apply. To create a low acceptance rate and to get a good yield of OOS students willing or able to pay a premium over other colleges both public and private that are going to offer you a very good college education and experience.
If you are instate UofM is a great option. OOS it’s overpriced and very cold and far from everywhere. Our OOS experience is UofM is not competitively priced to make it a worthwhile consideration.
So be happy with your options people in moving on from the UofM process. I would have my daughter go to the eighth school on her list of nine schools before I would have her overpay so much at the UofM.
Good Luck
It is well-known that UMich doesn’t grant much, if any, financial aid to OOS. It’s also well-known that the UC’s here in CA are the same.
For the Class of 2022, UMich received 44,000 OOS apps and 9,000 from International students. That’s about 80% of the 66,000 apps from last year. A little less than half of last year’s freshman class was OOS, roughly 3,000 students.
News flash, Ann Arbor is cold too. 
Funny Michigan offered many people I know about $24-30,000 OOS when their instate schools offered nothing. The system is a bit nutty. But yes Michigan is generally not known for great OOS aid. There is no surprise there.
J123D123,
Did the Net Price calculator indicate that you would qualify for merit and need-based aid? My daughter (OOS) is considering applying in the Fall and the calculator says she’d qualify for
Estimated Grant/Gift Aid
Institutional Grant $32,395
Institutional Scholarship $17,611
Total $50,006
But I’m wondering if that is a legitimate expectation…
Any input from other posters would be welcome as well. Thanks.
Hi Da Gator
I would say apply. Just underexpect. I would put U of M at the bottom of a list in expecting aid for OOS middle class applicants.
With only 1% to 3% getting any merit I wouldn’t hold my breath. With admissions telling me flat out they don’t offer much OOS need based aid.
D18 had a 5.plus GPA… 7 years straight A student, AP’s, great rec’s 1500 SAT many EC’s athletics and very good success with mock trial.
She received good Merit from many Merit based schools and good EFC need based aid from strictly need based schools.
You tell me. I wouldn’t put UofM at the top of my list of expectations as an OOS applicant Even the most promoting posters on this sight admit UofM lacks specifically in these two areas for OOS students in need.
I thought UVA was out of line but UofM trumped UVA by a mile plus in this area. Much better aid at UVA for OOS applicants. UVA was off but UofM is by far the worse on the list.
Zero Merit…
Zero Need…
I’m guessing UofM does offer packages to those with great need. I’m guessing if you are middle class $100,000 plus they get rather stingy.
Remember those calculator numbers are what they might offer and are not a promise. It’s a disclosure on their web sight.
Better to be realistic with the schools that don’t promise to meet full need based aid. There are many that do and you know you can expect them to get to your EFC. UofM does not promise to do this. So it’s a shell game.
Knowsstuff
Curious how do you know this. An odd thing to know. Seriously?
I mean you make it sound like you know a lot of different people from other states that got great aid.
What do they all have in common. Do you have a general profile of this group of people OOS who got these great packages.
Income?
Merit?
Seriously
For this discussion, you need to separate pure Merit Aid from Need Based Financial Aid. For Merit Aid, most highly selective, prestigious universities give either no merit aid at all or very little (small percent of applicants). Essentially, most accepted students are very strong so no need to give Merit Aid. Some schools have programs, but only tippy top people get them… schools seems to make the calls on who gets the limited Merit aid differently. Congrats to those who get them! For most, if you want a lot of Merit Aid, you will have to go to a school with less prestige.
Need Based Financial Aid is a joke for the middle class. What schools calculate as the expected student/parent contribution is not connected to the reality of what the middle class can afford. This is not a Michigan OOS problem, it’s a systemic problem with all elite schools. If you want to go to an elite school and not be buried in debt, you either need to be rich or poor.
Hi Michigan Dad
Just a few eliete schools that meet nearly 100% of need…
Also on the list I included schools that meet at least 93% of need for the majority of its students.
Amherst College (MA)
Austin College (TX) 95%
Babson College (MA) 98%
Barnard College (NY)
Bates College (ME)
Beloit College (WI) 95%
Bentley University (MA) 94%
Boston College (MA)
Boston University (MA) 93%
Brandeis University (MA) 95%
Brown University (RI)
Bryn Mawr College (PA)
Bowdoin College (ME
California Institute of Technology
Carleton College (MN)
Claremont McKenna College (CA)
Clark University (MA) 93%
Colby College (ME)
Colgate University (NY)
College of the Holy Cross (MA)
College of Wooster (OH) 95%
Colorado College (CO)
Columbia University (NY)
Connecticut College (CT)
Cornell University (NY)
Davidson College (NC)
Dickinson College (PA) 99%
Duke University (NC)
Dartmouth College (NH)
Emory University (GA)
Franklin and Marshall College (PA)
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (MA)
Georgetown University (DC)
Grinnell College (IA)
Hamilton College (NY)
Harvey Mudd College (CA)
Haverford College (PA)
Harvard University (MA)
Johns Hopkins University (MD)
Kalamazoo College (MI) 94%
Kenyon College (OH)
Lafayette College (PA)
Lawrence University (WI) 97%
Lehigh University (PA) 95%
Macalester College (MN)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
Middlebury College (VT)
Mount Holyoke College (MA)
Northwestern University (IL)
Oberlin College (OH)
Occidental College (CA)
Pitzer College (CA)
Pomona College (CA)
Princeton University (NJ)
Reed College (OR)
Rhodes College (TN) 93%
Rice University (TX)
Saint John’s College (NM) 93%
Saint Olaf College (MN) 99%
Scripps College (CA)
Smith College (MA)
Soka University of America (CA)
Stanford University (CA)
Swarthmore College (PA)
Syracuse University (NY) 96%
Thomas Aquinas College (CA)
Trinity College (CT)
Trinity University (TX) 98%
Tufts University (MA)
Tulane University (LA) 96%
Union College (NY)
University of Chicago (IL)
University of Notre Dame (IN)
University of Pennsylvania (PA)
University of Richmond (VA)
University of Rochester (NY) 97%
University of Southern California
University of Virginia
Vanderbilt University (TN)
Vassar College (NY)
Wabash College (IN) 93%
Wake Forest University (NC)
Washington and Lee University (VA)
Washington University, St. Louis, (MO)
Wellesley College (MA)
Wesleyan University (CT)
Whitman College (WA) 96%
Williams College (MA)
Yale University (CT)
So I disagree with the statement you made with respect that eliete schools don’t offer need based aid…
Notice the University of Michigan is not on that list…
So yes if you want to go to an eliete school that does not offer much need baised aid for OOS students then go to a UofM
100% agree @J123D123. I got “0” FA(except $5500 loan) from UofM. I received FA from Cornell, Darmouth, and U of Notre Dame, specially ND provided me a decent FA package. I have given up on UofM.
@J123D123 Hi, I don’t think you read my email closely. In nowhere in my message did I say “elite school don’t offer need based aid”. Of course, they all do to one extent another. I said they offer no/very little MERIT aid.
Back to need-based aid, elite schools offer it, but it’s the definition of who gets need that is the problem. There is not doubt that if a family income is less than say $70k, you will get a lot of need based financial aid. As income goes up, that need based financial aid phases out quickly. Sure, a school like Harvard may be more generous with need based financial aid, but they give zero Merit aid. All philosophies have trade offs. I have three cousin with kids in Ivys. They are not rich at all, but above the threshold that the Ivys considered need based. They will be paying $250k+ to get their kids an Ivy League bachelors degree. They’ll be broke.
My point is UofM does not meet need based aid like the eliete schools on the list which are close to 100%. Need based is typically tied in to EFC. That’s fixed by FAFSA.
The whole point is UofM does not satisfy need.
So you missed the point…
Hi what’s up…
Yes I was surprised with UofM. I researched most schools D18 applied to. She picked UofM on her own and I assumed they were generous enough. Talk about being surprised.
She has plenty of good eliete options with “both” merit and need based aid offers too so no need to pay the premium here.
Good Luck my Friend…
Curious game Indeed…
I’m pretty sure Michigan meets full need for an OOS student whose family makes 90,000 and under. The financial aid I got from Michigan was actually better than what my in state (UIUC) is giving me. I also did the net price calculator before applying and the award notice I received was almost exactly what the calculator said I would get. So yes, Michigan aid isn’t great, but I don’t think it should be generalized as being bad, because the lower class and a good amount of the middle class gets need met with the 90,000 guarantee.
@J123D123. Yes, I know a good amount of people at Michigan the last few years. When someone says “my kid got $30,000 scholarship I know it’s not merit. That would be a very rare occurance. Yes people talk about the” grants "they got for at least comparison to other schools. Also on this site it is stated what people got. Michigan does a great job with the Michigan grant. My son got that and nothing from UIUC (our home town), nothing from Purdue, nothing from Wisconsin engineering. He had many half scholarships from his safeties.
I am sorry it didn’t work out for your child. It’s frustrating. I couldn’t send my daughter to her first choice for the same reason but her second choice with merit worked out just fine. Good Luck.
I would suggest if anyone wants to lodge any further complaints about UMich, then this thread below may the most appropriate, not the EA thread.
There is no defense for the fact that UofM does not look to meet 100% for OOS EFC need based aid across the board. No one ever said they haven’t given aid to anyone in particular. Sure they gave and give some need based aid. However they do not compare to a long list of elite schools that look to give 100% of EFC need based aid.
I just find the interest in defending against this point is rather desperate.
Why.
It’s just a fact. They don’t.
PS: notice this is not a complaint it’s a fact. It’s just as important to discuss it as any matter of fact for anyone sitting back who applied EA to UofM and found this to be a disappointment in their decisions to attend or not attend UofM.
It’s more of a fact than the hype of waves of admission notices and disappearing tabs
Curious whatsupu
Which school did you decide on…
Unfortunately D18 was waitlisted at Notre Dame. Yes they have a very good reputation for aid. Was it both Merit and need based? Notre Dame seems to look for Notre Dame obsessed types or maybe it’s contagious ?. Not too sure which comes first.
You have some very good options. Can’t go wrong…
CC isn’t a debate society. Your point has been made. Time to move on to your daughter’s choice, which obviously isn’t Michigan.