<p>Back in the fall when I was choosing my colleges, I was thrilled about the prospect of going to Michigan. I decided to apply Early Response, and everything in my application was sent to the school by 10/30.</p>
<p>During the first week of December, I received an email from Michigan saying that they were missing my teacher rec, which had definitely been sent on time. My GC immediately sent another copy, which was received on 12/10. The admissions officer said that this would probably delay my response time, but I figured it wouldn’t be too long, since they had collected all but one of my materials on time.</p>
<p>The regular ER response time, 12/21, passed. Many more weeks passed. About 2 weeks ago, I went to my GC and asked that she call Michigan to find out if I would be receiving a decision soon. The person with whom she spoke told her that they were still reviewing my app, had received my fall sem grades (which were 4 As and 1 B in APs), and expected to release my decision in a couple of weeks. Today, I received my letter of deferral. But that’s not what makes me angry.</p>
<p>The letter they sent me was dated 2/21, but was written as if they never updated it when they sent deferrals for ER back in Dec. A portion of the letter reads, “If a final decision has not been made on your application before the completion of your fall semester, please ask your GC to forward your semester grades when they are available.” Which my GC did and Michigan acknowledged personally. It continues, “Strong fall semester grades may enhance your status in the deferred pool.” They got my grades, which were VERY strong, and yet I don’t have a final decision! They refused to consider me an ER applicant back when I wanted a decision in Dec, yet now, to their enormous convenience, they are treating me like an ER applicant by sending me this letter. I guess it was too burdensome to show me a shred of respect by at least making my letter accurate for my circumstances. I would not have minded at all if I were deferred back in Dec, since I would have been notified fairly.</p>
<p>My case might not be common, but the fact that it happened makes me think that the Michigan adcom has no problem with cutting corners and ignoring its basic duties to accomodate a massive number of applications that it obviously isn’t competent enough to handle. I’m not trying to ruin your excitement if you’ve been accepted or decided to go to Michigan, because I believe it is a great school in many ways. I just wonder that if Michigan can let you fall through the cracks before you’re even enrolled as a student, then what exactly do they let slide once you get there?</p>