OP, I’m not sure about Michigan but UVA is an EA school so you can apply there and still apply to an ED school.
@TR250Tom ,if you are still around, are you in NOVA? There’s a theory that it’s really hard to get into UVA from there. I’m shocked that a kid with stats high enough for U Michigan didn’t get in. It seems really unfair.
UVA has said time and again that they don’t count interest so I doubt that’s the interest. Your son is better off in engineering in Michigan anyway.
OspreyCV, universities often say things they do not mean. ED universities claim that there is no advantage to applying ED. All universities try to establish interest.
Prezbucky, the 33 on the ACT would not have been an issue had the admissions office genuinely believed the applicant were truly interested in attending. And I am not sure why you would assume Virginia residents interested in Engineering would only leave the state for private universities. I would not be surprised if many Virginia residents interested in Engineering chose schools like Cal, Georgia Tech, Michigan and UIUC over UVa. It is likely after many years that UVa has grown accustomed to in-state students turning them down in favor of stronger engineering programs, private or public.
When my son was deferred from EA at UVA, his deferral letter had a very unusual clause in it: The Admissions Office stated that his chances would be much better as an applicant to Arts and Sciences and that he was free to switch his application out of Engineering for the regular round. I read on CC that this was a common provision offered to in-state Engineering applicants, as well as applicants to some of the other smaller programs at UVA. He never seriously considered doing it, but the way the letter read it seemed to imply that he would be in if he switched. Perhaps we read too much into it.
FWIW, I really don’t think my son’s application to UVA was any less enthusiastic and thorough than the other 12 (!) apps he submitted. My general cynicism is somewhat elevated though by the fact that he got into three OOS flagship-caliber schools (as well as three private schools) but was rejected by our own in-state university. It’s a small sample size, and good schools are a crapshoot as we have all learned, but it reinforces the impression that it’s “all about the Benjamins.” I just wrote my 3rd quarter estimated tax check to the State of Virginia with even less enthusiasm than before.
@OspreyCV22: Yes, we’re in NOVA. BTW, were you an aviator? I flew EA-6B’s.
“I just wrote my 3rd quarter estimated tax check to the State of Virginia with even less enthusiasm than before.”
I never understood why public universities were funded by the individual states. It would have made more sense if public universities were federally funded.
“It is likely after many years that UVa has grown accustomed to in-state students turning them down in favor of stronger engineering programs, private or public.”
Virginia Tech, an instate option, is ranked higher for engineering than UVA. Also Virginia has a large population with two flagship schools (UVA and W&M) combined that still matriculate fewer undergraduates than Michigan alone.