Yes! this is what they are asking about. Focus on why this schools and their values appeal to you. With this essay the are trying to find out couple of things:
Ya I didn’t like Madison. Too cramped and dense for my style. If you want a lake, then there are plenty of them in the State of Michigan. My D went with one of her roommates to her parent’s house (MI) on a lake and it was gorgeous.
Thank you for the insight!
You are welcome and good luck!
Honors is great if you want it. My son’s in engineering and didn’t do it. He didn’t feel he needed it and was correct. There are amazing opportunities at Michigan if your kid takes initiative. I would talk with them to find out more.
The MSU honors program is excellent and yes my son got the great package, with money and research and study abroad money. It’s impressive. If he went there he would of done it… Hmmm. Why you ask.?
Hope this doesn’t sound horrible but at Michigan the whole school basically is their avg. LSA students have 3.9 unweighted with 32-35 Act. That alone is better then most colleges engineering Departments… Engineering is slightly higher. He wanted to be with kids that challenge you to be better. So he picked Michigan.
But watch what you wish for… Michigan is a very tough school. It’s not said enough. Every Saturday night (back when we were able to) the library is packed.
I just really recommend being specific. Mention programs/classes/clubs and etc. Do not be vague. They just want to be sure that you really did the research. So, do it.
A 68% increase at a public school like UMich would be unprecedented. Another UMich insider (StrogMedicine) here stated a 16% increase (6,400), which would be more inline with what the UC’s received as an increase here in CA.
Deferred
Applied as Biology major
OOS
GPA: 4.25 W / 3.95 UW
No SAT/ACT
215+ Volunteer hours
Many extracurriculars
VP of student government
@jshep2003 No difference. Postponement = Deferral
That was my feeling also about the built in level of intensity. His current school is hellish so I don’t think he needs to heap it on. But I liked the idea of an extra community sense. I went to a very large and green school…found my own way to the top without honors or money. I don’t think it’s necessary generally. I love your insight, thank you!
I agree that is a huge increase, but the source of this information is extremely trustworthy and has been reading applications for U-M for years. I can’t verify or not, just sharing the information from what I believe to be a completely trusted source.
She shared this with me when I had asked if she had any insights on the announcement date; as an explanation of why they needed the entire month for every app to be read three times,
She typically has time off over the holidays but had no time off this year due to the volume.
As a Michigan resident, I’ve heard many families whose kids may have otherwise gone out-of-state that applied to be closer to home. And many kids who see M as a major reach who applied without test scores hoping.
Again, could be wrong but I trust her 100%.
Great insight!!! I try telling people everything you just said and they don’t believe me.
The only thing I would add to future people for next year is to have 1 letter of interest before the results go out like at least a month ago. Nothing phony and a question you can’t find the answer just by checking the website… Interest definitely counts
Think there is an honors residential living community also. My point was that everyone is at mostly the same level at Michigan. Some kids want the extra so they do honors. My son said it’s hard enough without it… Lol… Your kid will be in the same classes with every other school great academic kids. It’s amazing what they can achieve. My sons high school was also a grind but… He likes to be challenged. Michigan again is a very tough school. My son’s in engineering and he tells me the easy classes are hard… Lol…
But he’s graduating, has a job offer, and worked since freshman year, started an student org, played intermural sports (flag football at 10:30 pm), etc. Time management is key. These stellar kids “never” really studied in high school. . They will at Michigan 
any one know when financial aid comes out
I get the feeling Honors at Michigan isn’t like it is at, say, MSU or ASU Barrett.
At the time when we were contemplating applying for honors back in 2017-2018, the pluses were advanced registration, 5th floor at South Quad (or East Quad), your own honors lounge and an Honors advisor.
While there are honors classes most of the classes can be made into honors by discussing it with your professor, since there’s extra work involved. However, I’ll have to warn you, as Knowsstuff mentions above, just the regular classes are crazy hard. My D is a STEM major and minor and she’s working day and night to get good grades. Somehow UMich spreads the curve so that all those A students in HS are now are receiving A’s, B’s, C’s, etc.
My D has great access to her advisors (major and minor) without being honors and I’m not sure either of us “got” the separate lounge thing since you want to make friends beyond just the honors crowd. At least my D did.
But everyone is different.
Technically they are different. Not trying to be cute here…
They use the term deferral once your accepted and you want to defer a semester. They use the term postpone like this… https://umich.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2080/~/faqs-for-postponed-applicants
I looked it up and honestly never knew that… Lol…
Carry on… 
Maybe their lounge couch is nicer or cleaner… 
…
But agree 100 %… One of the best things my son did was to go out of his box and met kids from like Ross. They started a club, registered it with the university and it took off. Different kids have different skill sets. Mix and mingle with everyone not just one type. Some might have different experiences.
Hey, I just got accepted to College of Engineering as an in-state student, and it is obviously a dream come true. Just wanted to see if anyone has some words of advice for a future Michigan Engineer. I would really appreciate it.
Lol…
Get ready!!! Whatever you did in high school won’t compare to Michigan. It’s a really tough school. Don’t overload your first semester like my kid did. He took 18 credits with 2 sciences and labs, etc. Also don’t take 2 weed out classes at the same time if you don’t have to.
Get ready to get your first C and to be Happy 
that you got that since… That was considered a “good” grade for that class…
Congrats. Go to Pizza Bob’s and get a Hot Fudge Chocolate chip shake… You’ll deserve it…
Also do you mind stating your unweighted GPA and stats so we can have it for the record… Thx