University of Michigan Ann Arbor Early Action Fall 2025

Congratulations!!!

For those getting grants /financial aid etc. There is nothing saying you can’t ask for more help. Everyone’s situation is different. Have some light conversations with them in a couple weeks. They will help if they can. Don’t assume they won’t.

Does anyone know if Michigan sends anything in the mail or is it just the portal announcement?

You’ll get a letter, a flag and Engineering got a T-Shirt, don’t know about other schools

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Last year (my son is now a freshman at LSA, living in West Quad) we got a big envelope in the mail about a week after portal acceptance notice, with a formal letter and other pamphlets. And stickers!

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Just a Michigan Ross flag

Well evidently engineering is the winner with all three. Getting free swag is key. I can’t tell you how many t-shirts etc my son got in 4 years of engineering.

Join a club and get swag :rofl::tshirt:

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If I applied test optional EA and got deferred is it possible for me to mention my SAT score in my ECI and it have an impact? My score is well above my school and county’s average and even higher than someone that got in EA from my school.

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Yep and sorta the point of the ECI. Tell them some new things and updates to your record. Good luck. Being above, is fantastic.

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It’s absurd that kids with a strong test scores have to second guess whether to submit their test scores. Colleges have made a mockery of admission process through test-optional practices. Either be test-expected or test-blind. Or at least say that don’t submit a test score below 1550…lol

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It isn’t colleges fault that the professional and amateur ‘advisory’ world has given piss poor advice on when to submit SAT scores… It isn’t the only piss poor advice they give though, but you don’t here as much whining its colleges fault that people look for passion projects or non-profits to start…

It’s the fault of TO colleges that don’t give guidance on when to submit test scores and/or aren’t transparent about their admissions processes and the role of test scores within that process.

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Agreed, but just as a counterpoint, many colleges do give a guidance that submit a test score if you believe it will make your application stronger (or some variation of this)—but it’s all very subjective, and ambiguous for some to decide.

I also agree with @AlanApar that this fear of not submitting a strong score is perhaps perpetuated by the so called expert admission advisors. Since we didn’t have any advisors at our disposal, we ended up submitting our scores to all colleges, regardless of it being close to 75% or heck even if less than 25% in some competitive schools.

Net of it is, it’s very confusing to decide, especially if you have a strong but not very strong score. And I for one don’t know what a “strong” score really is.

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we submitted a 1480 score. Not sure if it helped. But have admissions in 7 schools, deferred at UMich and Waitlisted at UNC. waiting on 3 RD schools.

Collegevine recommended to submit the score, when we were chancing.

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Scores /grades are all related to how your school’s avg is. Are you higher than that? Also major dependant. If engineering then math scores or subsets should be higher. Lots of engineering students have lower English /written scores etc.

I really don’t know but I think the pandemic brought about “if” scores were truly an indication of success and know there are studies out there. Colleges do track these student’s. If they’re doing well than maybe it’s just not that important.

But from a psychological aspect, I don’t know how you unsee a 34 Act or the above 1480 (33).

It also has to sorta match your current grades. It would be rare for someone with a 3.2 unweighted to score a 34 Act without a tutor (yes, I am sure it can happen). I think schools also realize that many use tutors and this can throw this whole thing sideways.

My son used one for more or less timing. Act is a fast test for some.

But, I wouldn’t want to be an AO or committe person going through this process. Could be an interesting mini series watching their process though.:thinking:

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I think most folks would submit a 1480 SAT. But in CA, where our state schools do not take SAT/ACTs, the focus then turns to how one does on AP exams (need 4s and 5s). Either way, should your child get into UofM, they offer (At least with my DD24 last year) in their freshman year the opportunity to meet with those who graded their application. You get a pretty detailed explanation of what data points are of most value to UofM at that time.

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I mean idk. I think it’s like anything else in the process which feels like a mystery half the time. There are decisions one has to make at every turn: what do I write about, what programs do I highlight, how to use the additional info section, do I send all my AP scores. And then there are things that are just plain unfair and we have to accept it. Legacy, preference for athletes, geographical location, other institutional priorities, does your school rank, do they weight, do they limit APs or offer DE? It’s all so much. I wish there was an easier way to navigate the testing. Brutal. I have one with a 1250 and spend $$$ on prep. And one with a 1550 with zero prep. It’s very frustrating but it’s like anything else in this process. Schools don’t care. You don’t have to apply to a school that practices TO if you don’t want to.

Overall we are seeing a push to submit if it complements or enhances the application even if below the median. Boston College for instance is really pushing this message.

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Yes, this.

As per usual @momof4kid this is such an amazing perspective. Thank you. It’s such a pleasure to read your inputs and learn from you.