University of Michigan EA class of 2020 thread

UMich freshman here who was initially deferred EA. Please don’t get discouraged if you’re deferred EA, it’s disappointing for sure but I sent in my grades after my 1st semester (which were my best ever) and got accepted 2 weeks later. Don’t lose hope! Wishing the best for all of you next Friday!

Thanks collegestressin!

It’s just scary to think that in a week I’ll either be the king of the world or an ugly, crying mess in the corner of my room.

I spent a lot of time on my essays but on the Why Umich one I liked talked more about myself and I’m afraid they’re going to think Umich isn’t a top choice but it’s my only CommonApp school! I’m so nervous!

@smartypants57 , how does Michigan treat applicants with outstanding stats who are legacies and in state? It seems to me they would be very likely to accept and are exactly who Michigan wants.

@TooOld4School I know you directed this at smartypants, but I think they wild most likely accept you if you show sincere interest. Most admission counsellors have read thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, papers, so they know true interest from “I’m applying because I think this is my safety”. Like a said, UMich is sick and tired of being treated like a safety, and it really cannot be for anyone anymore. Higher stat students are not destined to be rejected, it’s just that many come off like they are destined for Harvard and Yale and treat U of M like a second tier school (I’m not accusing everyone or the majority of this, just that some of my friends even think that UMich is a borderline low-quality school that will certainly accept them and have thus showed very little interest like never going on tours despite living literally 30 min away, writing essays that make it seem like UM would be lucky if they chose to attend, and saying things like "I’m applying to UMich in case I don’t get into [insert ivy school here]).

Oh god that message is plagued by autocorrect.

I totally agree with @woah16.
@TooOld4School my understanding is that those factors help show that you would be interested in U Mich, but if you really want to improve your admissions chances, you have to show interest (such as going on tours if you live close enough, and showing that you really did some research on the school before applying). Being a legacy and in-state helps implicitly demonstrate interest, but make it explicit. They know that these people aiming for Ivies and pseudo-Ivies will almost certainly not actually attend, which decreases their yield. By rejecting these people, they also spread the word (indirectly, through these rejected people) that they know they are a selective school, and deserve to be treated like one.

Also @woah16 you know you can edit posts within 15 minutes right?

@smartypants57 well now I’m embarrassed :)) :))

Anybody know when decisions are going to be released? I know it’s by the 24th, but any concrete date? I’ve heard the 18th?

@ComputerAge The 18th is our best guess based on previous years. There isn’t any “official” confirmation, but it is very likely that this is when EA decisions will start to come out.

the guy who said he lived in a dorm away from everything and had to take buses to class when it was cold said his girlfriend lived on north campus and he never saw her said he heard back right before christmas?

@ComputerAge decisions have come out on the Friday before the 24th for the past 2 or 3 years and we believe it’s to avoid (annoying) phone calls from upset students and parents until after the weekend when they have accepted that they’ve been deferred and there’s nothing they can do but wait. So the majority of us think it’ll be the 18th, though there has not been any official statement (I think a poster awhile back said his/her friend went to a presentation where they told him the 18th at 4 PM but I have not heard that from anyone personally). But I guess we won’t find out until they release decisions by the 24th.

I didn’t mentioned that I’ve toured U of M twice in my application… was this a huge mistake? So nervous for decisions!!!

@ComputerAge They’ll start releasing decisions on the 18th at 4 PM EST. Most of them will get sent out on the 18th, and the rest will be on the 24th. That’s my understanding at least. I don’t think this has been officially confirmed, but it’s been informally confirmed by several people, which I think is enough evidence.

Last year, there were people with good stats, wrote UMICH was their #1 school, visited several times, AND still didn’t get accepted. None of this matters. Each admission officer has a quota for your high school. Some of. the admissions officers are new college grads from colleges with no connection to Michigan & know nothing about Michigan, so some content in your essays is meaningless to them. You’re competing with your HS classmates & you’re hoping to grab attention of the reader. Essays should be written as if the admissions officer has no connection to the school because most do not. Be practical. Note: there were a great number 2019 EA applicants who were deferred until April of last year and most were denied at that point. If you read their threads, you’ll see some ended up at Harvard, Duke, UCLA, Mich State (and are freakin’ happy), Cal, NYU, Notre Dame…so have a psychological back up plan because things happen for a reason. So much HYPE and too many PARENTS on this thread…

@calraterboi I will be the first to say that I agree, but what smartypants and I meant with showing interest is still valid. If you’re competing against 50 students from your high school and you all have around the same stats but you have never visited not shown any other type of interest despite being able to, then your chances of admissions is not as strong as theirs. However, I fully agree that UMich rejects TONS of applicants ranging from mediocre to ivy-league material for various reasons, one of which is simply not wanting to accept someone. In the end, my point that it’s not a safety for anyone still stands, and I think you agree with me. I also agree that too many parents are on this thread and have caused some parents and students feel too anxious.

New to CC & idk how this works tbh but I just wanted to chance my admission since the decision is so close:
I live in Asia, international applicant, paying full, SAT 1 2210 (710M, 720CR, 780W), SAT II 780 (Math lvl 2), good recs, straight As. Do I have a fair chance?

@calraterboi I would think that even if the admissions officers don’t have any connection to the school, which I agree is fairly common, it would be part of their job to know a lot about it, so that they know what the applicants are talking about. I’ve talked to admissions officers for other schools who have come to visit my HS, and even if they didn’t attend the school they’re representing, they still know pretty much everything about it and at least act like they love it.
Because UMich uses holistic admissions, sometimes they reject people for reasons that we don’t understand. But good stats and interest aren’t all they look for, so perhaps there was more to the story to some of those people who were rejected. I definitely agree that even people who think they’re guaranteed admissions in UMich (especially them) need a psychological backup plan.