asking gc to call college?

ChoatieMom
Tue, 08 Nov 2016 14:23:52 +0000

I asked my D’s gc if she had a sense why u mich’s acceptance rate from our school fell from 50% to 8% over the last two years. Not only did she not have an answer, she wasn’t aware of the downward trend.

A bit off topic, but the main answer is how increasingly competitive Michigan is and how significant yield is to U-M. Our son’s top tier high school is well known to U-M and presents quality candidates but, too often, those applicants are using Michigan as a backstop for other schools and Michigan won’t play that game. Naviance for 2008-2014 looked like this:

Class Apply Admit Enroll

2014 40 16 3
2013 29 4 0
2012 17 4 1
2011 25 5 0
2010 26 14 3
2009 17 8 3
2008 21 11 0

There have been too many zero/low-enrollment years. In 2014, Michigan was generous with Admits, but got burned on enrollments; this history made it tough for our son’s class of 2015. His GC told him that there is no love lost between U-M and his HS and that if he really wanted to attend, he’d have to commit to the First Choice list (Mich doesn’t do ED) and write a burning letter of desire to the U-M reader for his school indicating that if he were accepted, he would definitely attend. If he could convince his GC that Michigan really was his first choice, she would go to bat for him; otherwise, he shouldn’t even apply.

Just thought I’d share that anecdote. Carry on.