<p>I've been keeping track of everyone's decisions, and looking at stats of those who were accepted. I was deferred, so, of course, I'm trying to break down what I might have done wrong or could have done better. As I'm looking though, I see some who had lower test scores and gpa with less leadership, fewer EC's, etc. than me who got in OOS (like I am). I'm not saying this is the only reason I got deferred by any means, but would the fact that I am a white female put me in a different category than others who are of a different ethnicity? It makes me think that Michigan is potentially looking for greater diversity this year or something, so would that be a big factor in decisions? Thanks for any input/advice on how to improve my chances as a deferred student! :)</p>
<p>I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure affirmative action is banned at all public universities in Michigan.</p>
<p>^I believe that Mich does do A.A</p>
<p>I live in Central FL and am Puerto Rican and I got deferred with great stats and such. So you did not get deferred because you are white.</p>
<p>AA was banned by a ballot proposal in Michigan 6 years ago. The proposal passed, and the proposal is now in our state’s Constitution. About a month ago, the U.S court of Appeals ruled the ban on AA is unconstitutional. Michigan’s Attorney General has since appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>No, Michigan does not practice affirmative action. A couple of weeks ago, the ballot proposal was challenged in court and the judge declared that it was unconstitutional. However, that is already being appealed, and most likely, will be overturned. Michigan knows that the ruling is still in a state of flux and they have not since changed their policy. [Mary</a> Sue Coleman: Michigan will ‘wait and see’ how affirmative action fares in federal courts before changing policy](<a href=“http://www.annarbor.com/news/mary-sue-coleman-michigan-will-wait-and-see-how-affirmative-action-fares-in-federal-courts-before-ch/]Mary”>Mary Sue Coleman: Michigan will 'wait and see' how affirmative action fares in federal courts before changing policy)</p>
<p>Considering Michigan is one of the few major universities that is has more males than females, I highly doubt the fact that you are female had any impact at all.</p>
<p>This cannot be used as an excuse. </p>
<p>I took my son to two UofM admissions events & they made it clear that affirmative action wasnt a factor.</p>
<p>I’m sure they can’t say it but yeah I’m sure it would help being a female or a minority applying to engineering for example. I doubt there are quotas PR anything but Michigan pimps diversity enough on campus that I would think it would matter some in the application process </p>
<p>I doubt you were deferred though because you are a white female. Most people got deferred. Get over it.</p>
<p>I definitely know it wasn’t a major part of why I got deferred at all, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m using it as an excuse (even though it is tempting to blame my deferral on something other than my application). Haha. I’m just curious because some universities value having minorities on campus more than others. I wasn’t trying to get at the affirmative action debate, just asking (like the person above said about females in engineering) if it could have given me a boost in any way. Thanks for all of the replies though!</p>
<p>If it’s not diversity, then what is the rationale for admitting students who were clearly not as qualified as others who were deferred?</p>
<p>So Michigan does not admit the strongest academic applicants. There is no other conclusion. And perhaps those that are strong who were deferred should simply take their talents elsewhere rather than play the game. There are plenty of other stellar schools.</p>
<p>Bye Bye Michigan.</p>
<p>*If it’s not diversity, then what is the rationale for admitting students who were clearly not as qualified as others who were deferred?</p>
<p>So Michigan does not admit the strongest academic applicants. There is no other conclusion. And perhaps those that are strong who were deferred should simply take their talents elsewhere rather than play the game. There are plenty of other stellar schools.</p>
<p>Bye Bye Michigan.*</p>
<p>@tinalouise </p>
<p>Michigan engages in a holistic review of each and every applicant. Just because you think that someone was unqualified doesn’t mean they are. Their essays could have been extremely relevant and very well written, or maybe they received an outstanding recommendation written by a teacher who obviously knows the student very well and believes in them. They might have already shown leadership or a large amount of experience in the field they were entering or perhaps they showed their ability to overcome some of life’s most difficult challenges. You don’t have the information that admissions had, so please don’t pretend that you are magically able to ascertain the quality of a student on a small amount of data, because you can’t.</p>
<p>@Kronomega</p>
<p>Many kids with stellar scores, grades, etc. also had stellar EC’s, rec’s and essays. Those things tend to go together.</p>
<p>Why does Michigan ask for family income? That was an interesting question, and one most other schools didn’t ask.</p>
<p>As I said, the stellar kids who were deferred have other options.</p>
<p>@tinalouise </p>
<p>Of course some stellar kids will be deferred. Michigan has received an unprecedented amount of applications. It is estimated that approximately 45,000 students will be applying this year for a class size of less than 6,000. My problem is not with you claiming the there were some qualified applicants deferred, we all know that. My problem is with you calling some of the admitted students unqualified. You don’t know that, and it is very telling of YOU, not them, that you need to claim such things.</p>
<p>Family income is used for institutional records. Every year, Michigan releases data on the income distribution of UofM families and this is then used to gauge certain budgets (such as the financial aid budget) within the university. It is also used to insure that international students have the ability to afford Michigan, since they won’t have the luxury of federal financial aid. No need for conspiracy theories.</p>
<p>@KronOmega,</p>
<p>Clearly, the stats posted by accepted and deferred applicants show that some students with lower grades and scores were admitted over some students with higher scores and grades.</p>
<p>YOUR defensive posture is telling. Given how many clearly strong (stronger than some admitted students) were deferred, it’s a fair question to ask what other factors were used.</p>
<p>As I said before, many very talented kids will move on. It’s all rather interesting - and instructive.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>For OOS admissions, higher income will lead to more likely admissions since the university wants to make sure it’s applicants’ families can pay tuition.</p>
<p>And yes, it’s also used in reports.</p>
<p>@tinalouise</p>
<p>I think the fundamental disagreement here is that you seem to be advocating that an applicant should be judged on his GPA and SAT or ACT alone. Michigan, along with nearly all top colleges, [disagree[/url</a>]. They consider personal circumstances, grading practices, extracurricular activities, leadership, community activism, course rigor, recommendations, as well as many other factors in their [url=<a href=“http://www.admissions.umich.edu/applying/Template_Rating_Sheet-REV2009-10.pdf]holistic”>http://www.admissions.umich.edu/applying/Template_Rating_Sheet-REV2009-10.pdf]holistic</a> evaluation](<a href=“http://www.admissions.umich.edu/drupal/overview]disagree[/url”>http://www.admissions.umich.edu/drupal/overview). It doesn’t matter if you have a higher GPA or ACT score than an admitted student, that doesn’t make them unqualified, and it doesn’t make you qualified as GPA and test scores are just 2 factors of many.</p>
<p>So if you are going to claim that admissions should be done with GPA and ACT or SAT alone, fine. You can believe that and we will disagree. However, if you are going to say that these extra factors should be take into consideration, then don’t try to argue against me by only pointing out GPA and test scores. Again I will point out that the information in a single post here on CC is not even close to the information that the admissions committees see, so don’t pretend you know who is qualified and who isn’t and they don’t. </p>
<p>@Vladenschlutte</p>
<p>That is not true. While socioeconomic status is considered in the holistic review of the applicants, ability to pay is not considered. <a href=“https://umich.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/447/kw/[/url]”>https://umich.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/447/kw/</a></p>
<p>I completely agree with @kronomega. Why would michigan accept someone with a 4.7 gpa and a 2300 sat but crappy, generic essays over someone with slightly less stellar stats but genuine, well-written essays? SATs and GPA aren’t everything. They’re merely two parts of a holistic application.</p>
<p>Well said KronOmega.</p>
<p>@Kronomega</p>
<p>You seem to be saying that kids with very high GPA’s and ACT/SAT scores who were deferred had poor essays, recs, and EC’s.</p>
<p>We know that isn’t the truth. The best and the brightest tend to have it all going on. And I’m sure many who were deferred had outstanding essays, recs and EC’s. While many schools use holistic guidelines, they tend to admit those with the highest objective stats.</p>
<p>It is a fact that Michigan took some students with lower grades and scores and deferred some students with higher scores and grades.</p>
<p>And CLEARLY, that is a sensitive subject for some.</p>
<p>The question I would have if I was a highly qualified deferred candidate is, why continue down this path? Would other admission decisions (to programs, study abroad, etc.) be “holisitc” (which could mean anything). Would kids ever be judged strictly on their performance? Or is there a “behind the scenes” set of criteria that they don’t have to be accountable for?</p>
<p>There are plenty of other schools that don’t work this way.</p>
<p>Tina Louise: My dd had high stats, and good essays; our income is high and we are considered AA candidates-Mexican. Are you saying that those of our children with “diversity” labels aren’t rejected and that our kids automatically are accepted? My female engineering dd was rejected with higher stats than some accepted students. How does that work for your theory.</p>