I might have received the “good” letter be because my high school, personally, has 4 terms and my counselor submitted my grades for Term 1 so they have some grades for me for senior year while other schools have not necessarily have submitted any senior grades at all.
I could be completely wrong though!
Makes complete sense. I wish I had sent mine in.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
I am not going to remove posts simply because they speculate. I would have to then delete all of the “Chance Me” threads, as well as the “What date/time are admissions released” posts. Although some might argue that I should delete those as well. 
What I will say though is, as a mod who has done this for several admissions cycles, I am of the opinion that there is no difference between the 2 letters, i.e. there is no “good” and “bad.” Several other posters who have been around for a while think the same thing. You can choose to believe, or you can ignore. That’s up to you.
What I will also say as the moderator, is that you cannot post the emails. That is clearly spelled out in Terms of Service as not being allowed for legal reasons.
My high school (which is extremely underfunded and has limited opportunities) did not send grades because our “quarter” grades are not final and our teachers don’t publish them, and I received the so-called good letter (34 ACT, 4.2 GPA, ranked 4/500, OOS), on both my portal and via email. I understand the argument that proposes that there are no good or bad deferrals, but it does leave me wondering one thing: why would Michigan waste their time drafting two letters if receiving one or the other means nothing? If all things were equal, why write two letters?
I’m heartbroken about getting deferred and supposedly receiving the “bad letter” that I previously viewed as being good. I am very worried about my decision because UM is my number one and I just want to get in and not have to wait until April to know where I’m going! At my school, many of the top students got deferred, but I believe it is because most of them applied to CoE instead of LSA. I applied to nursing, and my stats were in state, 30 ACT, 3.75 UW GPA (not great, but after this semester it will go up to a 3.8 which is at least a little higher for my 7th semester reported grades), many EC’s and a few awards, and essays that I believed to be strong but now I am not sure. I have legacy as my mom attended umich, and my sister even got in EA this year! I am a triplet, and two out of the three of us got deferred. I have the lowest stats out of them which makes me even more worried about whether or not I will get in, but I also know many people who got in with much lower stats than me which is confusing. I think my current grades are good, I’m in 3 AP classes and have all A’s in my 7 classes except for a B in one of my AP’s. I know I’ll be freaking out from now until April, so I’m crossing my fingers that they may release decisions early like I heard they began doing last year! I know its impossible to tell, but does anyone here see a chance in me getting in regular decision?
A lot of people are in your shoes im sure.
@Bella2018
They are not seeking your grades because its evident that they have enough information on them. Put yourself in their shoes. You applied to their university with top of the class (4/500 - top 1%) grades. What valuable information are they going to get out of your senior grades. Just more of the same, which is evidently really good. They are not putting a focus on seeing the rest of your grades because its not valuable information. Maybe a kid who took a fairly easy schedule took a huge leap filled with college prep courses, this leap may give his/her senior grades more relevancy. The same proficiency in the classroom that you have showed from day one may be what they’re trying to find in a kid who has not been as consistent.
you seem qualified so it may not be what’s holding you back (maybe its an essay, ECs, or maybe nothing at all and you are just unlucky), but a senior transcript may be what makes or breaks someone else. So the fact that the university has shown a particular interest in it should be encouraging for students. This is because the university is searching for a reason to accept you.
Just saying as well. If you want to disect the language in the “bad” letter, it didn’t seem discouraging to me. It did not mention the word “defer” once. It really did seem like the college wanted the student, but just needed to find whatever they were looking for on that transcript.
@tripgirl You are in state and a legacy to boot, which is an advantage in and of itself. In my opinion, you definitely still have a chance. Take a deep breath and drink some hot cocoa with a candy cane in it. You’re going to be fine (:
@firetoddbowles That makes sense. I mainly object to the idea that receiving one or the other is meaningless, but I don’t necessarily think that one is “good” and its counterpart “bad”.
@Bella2018 Just took your advice and made hot chocolate with a candy cane! I know its not good to stress about my decision, especially for the next 4 months! Hopefully we can get accepted and join victors2022, that would be the best gift ever!
absolutely. Both can signal different things to many people. I think there’s a good or bad outlook on each, so it should not be looked into too far. I just feel that the fact that the good one is the more common option has created a majority that has labeled the word “good” on their deferral decision to make themselves feel more hopeful.
Also BTW, most people using the words “good” or “bad” (including me) at this point are just giving those names so that the reader can easily identify the letter not because they believe in the meaning of these words. NEITHER ARE GOOD OR BAD, IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR INDIVIDUAL SITUATION.
For example, a great applicant who unfortunately got rejected may receive the “good” letter because they probably have a strong and consistent academic performance. And through continued interest a review of their app can surely work in their favor because maybe they were really close and continued interest is all it would take.
On the other hand, an applicant who maybe brought up questions pertaining to their academic efforts or proficiency can appease these concerns through their sought after transcript. Even if this applicant starts the review process on a weaker note, the fact that the applicant has strengthened (or weakened) their application since the last time may provide hope (or helplessness) as well.
The reasons for these requests are all speculative at this point. But clearly both letters can be good depending on the applicant. Neither are bad/good relative to the other
I got in last year from the waitlist and I wrote 1 LOCI while i was deferred and 2 while I was on the waitlist
There are actually 3 deferral letters. One saying grades are critical, one saying we are pleased with your achievements and says we are confident we have all the information to make a decision, and one like the good letter but an added part about having ties with the university, which was sent to legacy applicants.
Another deferral here. SAT - 1560, ACT - 35, GPA - 3.75. I also got the so called “good” letter saying it would be good if I submit my senior year grades. I have also wondered whether I was deferred since I submitted both ACT and SAT scores since the email clearly said “successful candidates only submit what is requested”. Anyways I think anyone with high stats who got deferred and has admission from an equally good school may not follow up and submit the senior year grades and that could show who are really interested in attending if admitted boosting the yield. I am not going to send an LOCI since sending my senior year grades also shows my interest in attending if admitted
I feel for everyone else who got deferred with me but people who’re commenting saying this was their safety school are making me laugh. In what way is a school with an average ACT of 32-34 a safety school for anyone lol
Ahhh, we’re up to three letters. The plot thickens like proverbial figgy pudding.
I, and others, are of the opinion that the reason Michigan sent out multiple deferral letters is not Bc one is good and one is bad. It’s more based on what Michigan wants to see from you. The grades might suggest you took harder classes this year and they want to make sure you are handling it. The one that says they have everything they need might be that they either simple just want to compare you too other RD applicants or that they are more worried about you committing to Michigan and it’s high price tag. Again all of this is speculation, but I believe that the reason there are multiple deferral letters is for good reason and design for each individual. Good luck to everyone
Also, side note, everyone is saying that you’ll have to wait till April, that is not necessarily true. Michigan releases RD decisions on a rolling basis and some of us might hear back as early as mid February.
@randdog29 there is no way there’s a legacy specific letter- I have too many relatives to count who went to umich and didn’t get a “legacy” deferral
Defers with UMich is tough business. My D went thru this game two years ago. D had SAT 2280, multiple SAT IIs in 750+, gpa ~3.9 uw, >4,3 w - applied to CoE for BME - and boom - got deferred. Mom is from UMich, oldest sister just grad from UMich 2 yrs earlier - so single legacy plus sibling - so shocked! That was one black x’mas in our house. We wait and wait - thinking gee, maybe her application wasn’t reviewed during the cycle and could hear back from the committee in early spring - nope. We sent in the mid-term grades, had GC called, sent in LOCI - but seriously, how can you improve a top 1-3% school rank kid at that stage - no more awards, no new ECs could do the magic. Our worst fear came true, she was waitlisted during the RD round of announcement. Of cuz, being waitlisted by UMich is pretty much a darn rejection and better off to just move on. Luckily, we put that x’mas to work and she sent in a couple of last minute applications to top engineering schools. She got into two of the five new applications sent during the holidays. She is now a soph. at CMU and very happy with the outcome. The moral of the story here is - if your grades AND SAT are already top-notch, don’t wishful thinking about the application wasn’t being reviewed on time… or to speculate the good, bad or ugly defer letter. Just assume the worst, allow yourself to get upset/angry/depress for 24 hrs - then move on… you have only a few days left if you need to put a new application together. Aim some schools at same level as Umich and some lower. Then wait. There isn’t much you can do beyond that stage. I don’t understand these schools doing defers, if they are practically deferring everyone, might just as well to make a hard call, a hard cut, let the kids lose and not to wishful think there is a miracle at the end of the rainbow. Umich is getting incredibly diffocult to get in, esp. in the hot majors over CoE. I don’t think the quality of education changes that much to warrant this kind of insane competition, I suppose it is driving by the ease of application through common app. and everyone is chasing the same small group of brand-name schools. Good luck to everyone who got the defer today.