The rejection letter reads:
Thank you for your application to the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at The University of Michigan.
Unfortunately, we are unable to offer you admission. In reaching our decision…
When I was working on my essays, this is what my mom kept telling me: Everyone will have great grades, high test scores, tons of ECs, leadership roles… but what makes you different? What makes you special? That’s what they want to hear about. I still haven’t heard on my EA, really hoping for the best. Three of my friends have heard… 1 acceptance and 2 deferrals. Reallly wish they’d get to us all. This waiting is killing me.
I have not heard
For those suggesting that “mediocre” students are getting accepted and superior ones deferred, just go look a the EA Results thread and you will see some truly impressive students who were accepted.
Another point to consider is that Michigan is not so much concerned with “yield” (which counts for little in most rankings) but more so with enrollment management. They get 50,000+ applications a year and can only have a class of 6,000; it must be truly difficult to figure out how many to accept and not end up with overenrollment. With the increased competitiveness at top universities, Michigan has no idea how many are applying as a back up to other top universities. And as a state University, it is unlikely Michigan will ever go to Early Decision. Look at the other top colleges who did have Early Decision and you will see that most of them are also deferring a huge number of their ED applicants. The Common App and increased desire for the top schools not just domestically but internationally has made admissions a truly difficult process.
@ialias Just ignore these guys who’re flying off the handle man - if they can’t take a joke, it’s their business. I think your joke letter is hilarious, and it’s one of the few things that made me smile after my deferral yesterday :’)
v
got deferred and got the bad letter. Don’t think the difference in letters means much at all though so feeling optimistic.
Any idea when the next set of decisions are coming out?
No ‘view decision’ link on Wolverine access and no email yet. I know that means that I’ve been deffered, but the no email thing is throwing me off. Are the emails just taking awhile before it’ll arrive or was my decision delayed until somewhere before the 25th?
I think that’s just a rumor. The decisions come out in waves. I’m not assuming anything until I get an email. HIGH HOPES FOR THOSE WHO HAVENT HEARD ANYTHING YET!!
I was accepted yesterday to the College of Engineering. Super excited! 
Good luck to everyone still waiting for their decision!
What is bad letter vs a good one?
What’s the bad letter?!
@blprof
Thank you for you insight. Can I ask why does being a state school affect whether the school can have ED or not? Also, our school guidance counselor said that the Michigan admissions rep specifically asked “whether our top students would attend Michigan if accepted”. The rep was sensitive to the fact that over the years many apply, get accepted then don’t attend. Thus, she had “yield” concerns and whether they were related to admissions management or U.S. News College rankings like Northwestern was idk. I agree that managing 50,000+ applications must be incredibly difficult. I believe ED would enhance the Michigan community by ensuring that a larger % of accepted applicants chose Michigan first. Other top schools that defer ED applications mainly do so because the applicants did not meet their initial holistic and diversity requirements, but, by definition, not because the school was sensitive that it wasn’t the students first choice.
Every year there is a debate over whether there is a “good” letter and a “bad” letter. Based on prior years, to my knowledge a correlation has never been found between the acceptance rate and which letter you received. So I would not waste energy trying to figure out whether one is better than the other.
Hey, your post made me feel a lot better about getting deferred. Do they start releasing admissions decisions as early as February? I thought we’d need to wait until April until ours, and I thought the letter of continued interest wasn’t unless you got put on a wait list.
@Keynes87 My understanding is that state schools usually don’t use ED because ED helps the wealthy while hurting the not-so-wealthy. ED does not allow you to “shop around” for better financial aid packages, so for those students for whom financial aid is very important, ED can be a big risk. The opposite is true for students who can afford to go anywhere. Since state schools are funded by all the taxpayers in the state, the feeling is that ED would impact poorer students disproportionately.
Many of the students deferred at other top schools do in fact meet the standards/needs of the University, but they can’t/won’t accept their whole class in the ED round. They may well be accepted later. That is why they are deferred, not rejected. So while Michigan has as an issue of enrollment management, and it is EA, not ED, there is still the issue of too many qualified students for too few spots.
@AnnArborite Yes, based on prior years batches of acceptances begin sometimes as early as late January and will continue all the way up until April 1. From prior years it seems like the letter of continued interest can be helpful. It probably couldn’t hurt!
EA announcement is not finished yet. Those that have not received the email or WA not updated does not mean one is deferred. Just be patient.