aj16

I dont get it. there could be SEVERAL possible reasons why a person would not submit his applications a little earlier..

I stil refuse to believe that a slacker who submits early should get an unfair advantage over a serious, hard-working student who might actually care more about going to UMich bcuz the serious one got caught up in something or may just have spent a some more time editing and re-writing his essay

senioritus

In all honesty, most people don't look at Michigan as a safety school and certainly don't see Michigan as a school that sufferes from Tufts Syndrome. The reason all of these qualified kids are getting waitlisted is simply because Michigan accepts a HUGE amount of kids early on in the admissions process, starting as early as September. Many of these students are less qualified (sometimes significantly less qualified) than the ones who apply later on and get waitlisted, and Michigan just doesn't have the space to take everyone deserving of admission. So their pool of admitted students isn't based as much on the most deserving students, or even the ones who want to go there the most, as it is at most other schools of its caliber. To an extent, it's understandable given the school's large size, which makes it harder to predict numbers of who will attend and who won't. But the reality is that there is going to be a lot of ill-will towards Michigan because many qualified students who had it as a first choice won't get accepted while some less qualifed than them will, a phenomenon that you won't see as much at other top 25 universities.

Getting into Michigan is as much based on luck and timing as it is being a qualified student. It's sad, but true, and it's the reason why I am forced to attend Emory next year instead of Michigan.

elizabethh

For my D -
Waitlisted
3.71 uw 3.85 w
27 ACT

Going to BU

CCRunner123

Senioritis (I corrected your spelling), we'll see when the admission statistics come out if there are really many 'significantly less qualified' students, as you say. I sincerely doubt it.

Moreover, the people who apply early are the people who genuinely want to goto the University of Michigan. The school wants people who want to attend their school, not a bunch of people who got rejected from the ivies and ended up at Michigan as a last resort.

kokeefe

I agree with senioritus. When initially applying to Michigan (it wasn't my safety school, and it was my first choice) I almost did the early response where you hear back super early , but the website said there is no acceptance advantage to it, so I just figured I would spend more time on the essay and turn it in for the normal early decision. Obviously this isn't the case, because it seems that many of the people who applied later than that were deferred and then waitlisted.

I really do think that general acceptance statistics as given out by the princeton review are skewed a bit, thus making them misleading. It needs to be separated by in-state and out of state, because I know many in-staters who got in without a problem. If in-staters do, in fact, get in with more ease, that would explain the average gpa of 3.75, and the average sat of 580-690 for reading and 630-730 for math. These are just my thoughts, though.

senioritus

I respectfully disagree with you on both counts CCRunner.

First of all, I did not say that there would be many "significantly less qualified" students, just some that were clearly not as qualified as these kids with 4.0 GPAs and SAT scores above 2100 who are getting waitlisted. And the admissions statistics will not be able to help anyone in this agument because they do not break them down by the date of application. However, from personal experience I can tell you that students in my school got in who applied early response with lower SAT scores and equal GPAs than those who got waitlisted.

I also disagree with your notion that the people who want to go to Michigan the most are the people who got the application in the earliest. Keep in mind that an applicant's date of submission is very much dependent on outside factors such as how quickly a guidance department sends in transcripts and recommendations. Personally, my first choice was Michigan and my application was submitted in the second half of November (about 2-3 weeks after early response ended), and had better numbers than students I know who applied in August and were accepted in September. Not every student is going to apply early, even if it's their first choice, if the school comes out and says that early response will not give you an admissions advantage. For many people such as myself, it's just not always practical. While I understand that admission is not just about statistics, some of my teachers and peers have had stunned reactions when I have told them the names of some of the students who were accpeted over me early on.

My main beef with Michigan is that they lied to sudents by claiming they do not change admissions standards for students who do not apply early response. They have every right to change the standards later in the process if they so choose, however they do not have the right to lie and be misleading about it. I have lost a considerable amount of respect for the school due to the way the admissions office has handled their decisions this year, particularly in regard to their notification process (or lack thereof) for deferred (and apparently rejected) students. The mid-April release date also makes no sense to me, considering every other school releases by around April 1, and that it only leaves 2 weeks for students to make a final decision.

I realize I sound bitter, and I guess maybe I am. I really just need to vent. I had considered Michigan my top choice school since sophomore year when I spent 4 weeks on campus, and have been a longtime Wolverines football fan. Getting waitlisted by this school really hurts, and while I know the college admissions process will never be fair, I honestly feel like I got jobbed and probably will never look at the school the same way again.

concretejungle

33 ACT
3.99 unweighted GPA
750 math IIC, 750 chem

OOS, applied really late

rodney

None of these posts explains the preponderance of OOS EA deferrals late in December with kids who had above 3.7 GPA's and stellar ACT/SAT...It couldn't be explained back then, and now that they were all waitlisted, it can't be explained now....These were kids who had their apps in by the Oct. deadline....This will be my last post on a UMich thread; nothing made sense then and nothing makes sense now.....Good Luck to all who were accepted!

dollybee10

We are all very well qualified (some of us are overqualified!) for UMich...it's because they do the whole rolling admissions crap that we got screwed.

Alexandre

There is no such thing as "overqualified" for Michigan. But I agree that many of you are qualified. And that's the problem. There was a time when almost all qualified applicants would get accepted by Michigan. Pople have gotten used to it. Whether applicants admit it or not, many truly felt that Michigan was a very safe bet. Those days are slipping away. Michigan's acceptance rate has dropped from 60% a few years ago to roughly 40% today. The acceptance rate should continue dropping. More and more people are applying to Michigan each year, and Michigan isn't resorting to any gimmick or marketing tool to attract those applicants. In other words, Michigan's applicant pool growth is natural...it is made up of applicants who are typically qualified and genuinely interested in the University of Michigan.Don't be too surprised if Michigan's admit rate drops to 35% next year and top well under 30% in the next 3-4 years. Gradually, qualified applicants are going to be turned away at a far greater rate then they will be admitted.

summerinthecity

AH! This thread scares me so much. I'm applying next fall and Michigan is my top choice. But my UM GPA is much lower than most of yours...3.3-3.5ish (will rise after this semester, but still). And next year is supposed to be even harder for admissions...gah

GoBlue81

Michigan's mid-50% of the admitted class 2007:
Unweighted high school GPA of 3.7-4.0
- 28% with a 4.0 GPA
- 53% with 3.9 or higher GPA

How do you figure that 3.7+ GPA willl make you a sure-in? There are plenty of OOS applicants with 3.9 or above GPA.

Beejay

Should've declined the waitlist offer:P I got into MSU honors with 32,000$ merit scholarship

laimbeer08

Heck, I'm instate with a 3.96GPA and 30ACt and I'm on the waitlist.

university1

OOS applied by 10/31 although my record reads 11/5 materials received
ACT 30
SAT 1970
GPA 4.0 wt