Deaston is right - I am dealing with a student with 36 ACT, great extra curricular activities and an excellent writer. His HS is one of the best in the country and every single student that applied this year from his class was deferred. His first choice is Michigan, it is not his “back up” school! I’ll say it again, those of you who think the large amount of deferrals is not frustrating is only saying that because their student received a decision. Have a little empathy for those who worked very hard throughout HS and on their college applications. The waiting is not easy. Even if it’s a “no”, they’d like to know, that is why they applied EA.
@Deaston you make a good point but in reality it is what it is. Many kids accepted to Michigan were rejected by Vanderbilt and Northwestern and Wash u. But again many were accepted to both and Ivy’s also. If you put all the applicants in 5 piles and just arbitrarily started to pick and make up a class, you would have a great high stat class of freshman. After the university pulls kids they need to make up the schools programs I think a great application and a lot of luck go into this process.
Blizzard 1… My son’s school(number one school in our state, all honors and AP) like every other year gets hot and cold with Michigan for some reason. There was a kid with a 36 and perfect grade point and great ecc etc but was rejected to like everywhere because the schools thought he was going to go to a competitors school. It’s a shame. His counselor had to get involved and pull some strings /connections to let his high choice school know he really wanted to commit there.
I just can’t believe the fact that Michigan ruined the concept of early action. At least give some freaking rejections…
I wonder how can one tell other’s essay is lacking or not without seeing it. One may have a great essay for Harvard but not for UMich. Just think about the difference between the students admitted EA with high stat and those did not. I have seen way too many essays sent to me by PM to review that were lacking even from those that have put UMich as top choice mentally.
If their essay was not sufficient, send them a rejection. No one is saying that all our kids should receive an acceptance. We are saying that their feelings of frustration are valid. They applied EA for a reason. You need to be empathetic to both sides. I am thrilled for the kids who got in but I understand what it feels like to watch your student just “wait” for a response and put their decision on hold.
Why would they change their practice simply for those impatient ones? In any case, only admission counts. If one is not interested in RD admission, one can always withdraw their application. One apply for EA for a reason, but also not admitted for a reason. I just don’t understand why people are still thinking about EA when it is long over and their admission were not granted. Get over it and focus on the RD application at UM or other schools. Everyone are waiting for the RD responses.
https://umich.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2080/related/1
Michigan makes their policy of EA and deferred very clear on their website. On the other side, We went through this with Georgia Tech last year. No fun being deferred then put on the wait list of death) :. The way we looked at it was at least he made it that far… Lol. He also lost interest once accepted to Michigan and other schools.
On the other hand, deferred students have the opportunity to submit new scores and improved GPA. Why would one rather like to be rejected upfront? Doing nothing but just waiting would be a waste of the second opportunity.
Not here for an argument. Michigan does make
it’s deferral policy very clear. I’m just saying that it’s tough to watch a bunch of kids wait for a decision from their dream school! Clearly you don’t agree and that’s ok - but that’s how I feel!
Deferral basically mean EA admission has been denied but moved to RD application process without additional fee and submission. EA is done. If one can wait for other RD result from other school, why not to the RD at UMich? My D also applied to several schools by RD and we are also desperately waiting for the result, but there should not be any complaints.
@Blizzard1. I actually 100% agree with you. Been through this with two kids. Why would Cornell give an interview if they had no intention taking our student? Should we fly out there after his great interview, that went longer then other people’s…? She told him he would be a great fit. Emotions are crazy this time of year. But I think what we did as parents and really his school emphasised to the senior class was not to have a dream school. Have several schools that you would be happy to attend. His school is a highly selective school and the lead school in our state. Yes, he never really let on to us what his number 1 school was but he is also not that type of kid. We made him also apply to several tiers of schools. My logic was I wanted him to have some safeties but also have several acceptances before this long torturous period started. I think some kids need a lot of support during this time.
My S will be fine. He applied to and got into all of his other choices. All great schools with top notch programs. All I said was the wait was frustrating for him and for me to watch
Blizzard1. Congrats to your son on his many acceptances. He’s going somewhere next year 
We had a small party when he got accepted to Michigan and also sorta a party when he got rejected to some schools. Like great got rejected from Cornell… Let’s go get some pizza. Gotta have some fun with this.
Honestly, my son has a healthy approach to this process. He never checks - rather he prefers to wait until he gets an email or letter. (He actually listened to my advice!) The students all knew what the timelines could be when they applied. That being said, I’m sure he would prefer to know sooner. But no amount of worrying will speed this up.
So agree. My son and his friends like never checked. They just waited for the results since they had no control over it. So much less pressure.
I think most of the frustration is because of the feeling of false hope for many. The majority are bound to get rejected, and yes that is what we all signed up for and knew that there would be a strong possibility that we would have to wait until RD when applying EA. Nevertheless, the feeling of uncertainty causes the lengthy wait to be that much more agonizing. Nothing can be done except to wait and it’s rather depressing. However, I think being understanding and patient to Michigan is what is needed right now. Many parents are irritated as are my own, but getting angry with the admissions process and sending in emails and calls of impatience will only hurt chances of acceptance and the student’s feeling about the whole situation as well. I myself am not particularly happy with waiting so long, but if it means that I can get a finalized fully reviewed application I will wait as long as I have to. Ultimately, it really comes down to those who want it bad enough. If this school isn’t your top choice then I would suggest that you do rescind your application instead of spending the extra grief over something you don’t even want that badly. It’s other kids’ long life dream, so it’s unfair to lessen their chances if it’s too hard for you to wait.
That’s the the right way and the way the adcom expects one to do. That’s why they would not tell you when they would have the next batch.
Happily withdrew the application yesterday - go Sagehens!
@brownsie000 I agree… Better late than never… I don’t understand the folks who’d rather have a rejection today than wait for a possible acceptance in a few weeks. Will I like for the results to be positive and today? Of course. But, hoping for that and getting disappointed is not going to help anything