<p>Michigan has not released EA figures so we can only guess. I hope that they do give out the numbers as other school of their status do. I think that they did the right thing with their deferral this year, given their overenrollment in earlier years As a state school, they do have an obligation to serve their residents first and what’s left should go to the OOSers. </p>
<p>For years UMich was a standby school for high stat OOSers (as well as instaters, I’m sure) when applying ED or SCEA in some cases. As a state school, it often was a loop hole for restrictive EA schools. It would take the sting out of an ED, EA rejection or deferral to get accepted to a school like Michigan By waitlisting a number of those students who are applying ED in particular, they will be able to help their yield and get some more clarity on their applicant numbers. Those accepted ED should be notifying UMich that they are pulling their apps as required by ED contract. This will cut the pool down of deferred UMich candidates. </p>
<p>Will they lose some of the students that they defer? Yeah, probably. My son was so done with his early apps that had he not been accepted to his ED school, he had decided that some EA choices would do him just fine, rather than stepping up to spruce up his applications for the RD round and finish up the RD process that he at least started. He was just done, and he liked the EA schools enough to pick one of them Had Michigan been in the bunch, it could have been his first choice but then written off by a deferral. That is an advantage of EA–some kids just decide to call it a season for apps, and pick a school that accepts them EA and that’s it. I see it happen a lot. But when it comes to the numbers like what UMich has, I don’t think it’s a huge loss. </p>
<p>My guess is that the top contenders in the deferral stack will get accepted to UMich. Maybe some will even get some merit. A $10K award with the $10K differential from most top private colleges in cost, can make UMich a very attractive deal to students looking at the spread in April to make their final choices. For instaters, the financial choice is often a no brainer with that cost differential. </p>
<p>I’m sorry for those students who had hoped that an accept from UMich would have been a bit of salve on any other early deferral or denial, instead of salt, but I think this is to UMich’s benefit. They should get some control on forecasting yield so they do not continue to over enroll. How they made the decision as to who to defer and who to accept is their own business. I think it wasn’t a bad idea at all, to hold off on OOS top kids that fit past profiles of applying and going to more selective schools early, using UMich as a back up. Heck, i’d do the same Smart enrollment and stats management. </p>