<p>The two students I know who were admitted to Michigan EA from Dubai had the following stats:</p>
<p>Applicant A:
40/42 predicted IB (taking 4 High Level subjects)
35 on the ACT
800 on SAT 2 Math 2, 790 SAT 2 Physics</p>
<p>Applicant B:
A perfect 42/42 predicted IB
SAT 770 CR, 700 M </p>
<p>Applicant B was also accepted ED to Northwestern, so he will be sending Michigan a thanks-but-no-thanks message shortly. </p>
<p>@ss124081 Well I live 20 mins away from U-M, so I expect that the time for your packet to arrive might be a bit longer. To give you an idea, I recieved my packet on December 24.</p>
<p>Objective: LSA ACCEPTED
SAT I (breakdown): 1980 (CR:620 M:700 W:660)
SAT II: Math IIC 680 / Bio E 650
GPA: 4.57 (3.86 uw)
ACT: 29
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH 4 / Calc AB 4/ bio 3/ euro 3/ lit 3
Senior Year Course Load: Heavy / 5 AP Courses (ap calc BC, ap physics b, ap lit, ap Spanish Lang, ap us gov, prob and stats, religion)
Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Some minor accademic awards at school </p>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Leaderships: varsity field hockey captain, founder of the Investment club, math club vp </p>
<p>Job/Work Experience: worked since sophomore year at local family show store / babysitting
Volunteer/Community service: volunteer trip to Dominican republic that I paid for using money from job
Summer Activities: camp counselor at parish
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9(maybe 10) / Wrote about Job and paying for service trip
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 10 only had one teacher rec but she said that she writes great recs and that “if they don’t accept you, they’re idiots” (her words, not mine)</p>
<p>Teacher Rec #1:Good
Teacher Rec #2:none
Counselor Rec:?
Additional Rec:
Interview:None</p>
<p>Other</p>
<p>Country (if international applicant):
School Type:Small all girl Private (100 students in class)
Ethnicity:Mexican
Gender: female </p>
<p>Reflection</p>
<p>Strengths: recs, cirriculum
Weaknesses: scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: my recs and essay </p>
<p>General Comments:</p>
<p>@Musktard are you sure you’re into Ross? I think you have a bit of a mix up. Admission into LSA does not also guarantee an admission into Ross. The pre-admit rate into Ross is about 15% if I remember correctly, which is also the most competitive rate of any of the schools! To my knowledge, those who applied to Ross with preferred admission will receive a letter in the spring (April?) notifying them if they are qualified for pre-admission. I’m hoping for the best, expecting the worst. Good luck :’) </p>
<p>@missalyssaxox yeah you’re right. Sorry about the confusion. :(</p>
<p>Anyone admitted to U of M receive a post card inviting them to the “Top Scholars weekend event”? (for COE) I’ve just been looking for information regarding this event. There is little out there and it appears they only accept the first 50 who respond. </p>
<p>@humnation With all due respect, Michigan is not looking for the same type of student as is Harvard. Many students get into Harvard but not Princeton, Georgetown but not Stanford; Penn but not Yale. My godson was accepted to Stanford and all of the ivies except Yale. He now happily attends Harvard. The admissions reps know which kids they think fit at Michigan (or any school), and that’s who they admit. The fact they are not a fit for UM AND a fit for Harvard should not be shocking at all. You can say it’s about yield and to some extent it probably is. More importantly, it’s about retention and graduation rate, which is exponentially higher when candidates meet and do not grossly under or over perform for certain non-academic criteria that only the admissions staff knows. And frankly, there are posters on this site now who have stellar ACT/SATs and GPAs, and their essays completely suck. The essay is so much more important than most people realize. You can be a genius and write a poor essay, which is the readers’ main window into your uniqueness. Blow the essay, and your stats almost don’t matter. So one could quite feasibly blow the essay or supplement at one school and kill it at another with different prompts. </p>
<p>Lastly, let’s all keep in mind we’re still talking deferral here, not rejection. It stinks for those who have to wait (I know-my oldest son was deferred EA from his first choice and it was a LONG semester!). But it’s way better than the alternative no. Good luck to all deferred. </p>
<p>anxious00 - I am pontificating about holistic admissions? Not at all. I am simply pointing out the obvious. There are loads of people on this site complaining about how they were deferred with “stellar” grades and scores, while an equally large number of students are stating they have been accepted with less than stellar scores. It would seem to me, therefore, that test scores aren’t everything. Merely an obversation of a verifiable fact. I was also merely pointing out that Michigan has been stating that they look at more than scores for years.</p>
<p>UMich definitely deferred many overqualified students. There’s no denying that. You’re going to tell me that my school’s valedictorian, who also happened to achieve perfect scores on both the SAT and ACT, who was just accepted to Harvard, yay for him!, was deferred from UMiCh? The same applies for many other members of my school, most of whom had 3.9+ gpa’s and 2300 SAT’s. So many OOS kids here, with sub[par stats were accepted. And don’t say it was based on their essays, there’s no way that the majority of the kids with subpar gpa’s and scores wrote better essays than the overqualified kids. I too was deferred, but maybe that’s because I was under qualified (3.7 uw gpa, 2270 SAT, 35 ACT, plus pretty good EC’s.)</p>
<p>Can we stop being so salty? Decisions are made and best of luck to you for RD. All you’re doing right now, is making all these “sub[par” students who were accepted, feel like shit. Like they didn’t really “deserve” to get in. So lets take all this michigan drama to another thread (make one yourself?) and let those who made it, a chance to be content, without being made out to be “less qualified”. Thanks, and I wish you the best.</p>
<p>sgballsta, Michigan has very limited spots open at the EA stage and will admit most students in the February to early April period. And while Michigan deferred many candidates like your school valedictorian, it admitted as many students with similar credentials. I know of three students who applied to Michigan EA with similar credentials (40/42, 42/42 and 42/42 predicted IB, 35, 2360 and 2270 on the ACT/SAT respectively), and two of them were admitted, while the third was deferred. All the other students who applied EA were more “normal” (3.8-40 GPAs, but SAT under 2100 and ACT under 30) and they were all deferred. But admitting only students of your valedictorian’s caliber at the EA stage would be counterproductive for universities. HYPSM and elite universities with ED may do so because the yield will be high. But for universities will EA that are not HYPSM, it would be pointless. Many such students, like your valedictorian, will not go. </p>
<p>But a deferral at this time is not a rejection, although the University will end up rejecting a large number of stellar candidates. At this point in time, Michigan is one of the 10-15 most selective universities (not including LACs) in the nation for OOS and international students. In other words, it is a reach, regardless of your credentials. </p>
<p>@alexandre I understand your point, as Umich has to ensure a competitive acceptance rate in order to maintain its rankings and accepting kids who probably won’t attend the school (valedictorians, Siemens finalists, 2400 SAT scorers), but to say that UMich is a reach for them is absurd, especially considering the credentials of many of the accepted kids. I understand the school is going to wait until January/February to accept many of these kids in order to see who was denied from their ED’s/SCEA schools. but the school owes it to these kids to inform them of their decision on a earlier basis, instead of deferring them in order to boost their standings, prestige, and rankings. And I apologize for referring to some of the accepted students as subpar, that was inconsiderate and demeaning of me. </p>
<p>sgballsta,</p>
<p>I do not believe that Michigan, or any other school, owes any applicant anything. They have two obligations, as I see it: (1) an obligation is to provide the best educational experience possible to the students who are admitted and attending, and (2) an obligation to their alumni to ensure that the value of the degree is perpetuated.</p>
<p>While I truly feel for all of today’s kids, applying to any college, it is simply a new world when it comes to college applications. There are no guarantees to anybody, regardless of their seemingly perfect scores or credentials. Schools are looking for very specific things, and schools of Michigan’s caliber have the luxury of being pickier than most. I personally believe that Michigan has indeed become a reach for any applicant, just as UC Berkeley and UCLA have been for years now. </p>
<p>Note that UMich does not intend to keep the admission rate low to raise the ranking. It is the number of applicants vs the available spots (after the yield rate) that makes the admission rate low.</p>
<p>UMich is not a reach for any applicant. It isn’t quite on the level of the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Uchicago, The top LAC’s. Those schools are reaches for everyone. UMich isn’t on that level, not yet. However, it’s quickly rising through the ranks. However, them accepting many more kids with subpar scores and subpar ec’s over valedictorians, who for the most part, would have better ec’s, essays, etc. can be construed as being fishy. They’re deferring these kids because they aren’t sure if these kids are going to attend yet. It would’ve been better if the school would’ve made their decision immediately instead of putting kids, who are probably going to be accepted nyways, on a waitlist and wasting their time. They’re doing it to keep their acceptance rates low. </p>
<p>“fishy”? This isn’t politics. A University should be able to accept whoever they want without considered being “fishy”. Okay, maybe if they were accepting all white people and no other race, we can start calling that “fishy” and look into it. But if they are deferring some “overqualified” students, are we really going to called that “fishy”. Should we get someone to look into it, and see whose behind this? It’s not even that University of Michigan is deferring all “overqualified” students. Like Alexandre said, there are many “overqualified” students who are getting accepted too. If UM wanted to lower their acceptance rate, shouldn’t they be deferring all the “overqualified” students instead of just a few of them? Maybe, I know this may sound wild, UMich is basing their decision on more than just numbers! Think on it. </p>
<p>sgballsta,</p>
<p>I am amused that you believe yourself to be privy to the qualifications of all of the applicants Michigan accepted early vs. deferred this year. How do you know who all was accepted vs. deferred? Do you have the statistics in hand? Or are you making presumptions based on anecdotal, anonymous reporting on this website? </p>
<p>The only applicants who I truly, personally, know who were accepted early were two applicants of the highest possible caliber - perfect grades, nearly perfect test scores, and outrageously interesting ECs. They will have other options no doubt, yet both are strongly interested in Michigan and were ecstatic at their early acceptances, as they believed the school to be a reach. A third applicant we know, with somewhat lower qualifications (from the same HS) was deferred, along with dozens of other students at this high school.</p>
<p>Of course, this is purely anecdotal and anonymous information to you. You can choose to believe it or not! </p>
<p>I suggest that all applicants, to all schools, take nothing for granted and focus on a range of schools that they are sincerely interested in attending. If you were deferred and are not interested in Michigan, move on. If your credentials are as “overqualified” as you think, you will surely have other options to consider.</p>
<p>“I understand your point, as Umich has to ensure a competitive acceptance rate in order to maintain its rankings and accepting kids who probably won’t attend the school (valedictorians, Siemens finalists, 2400 SAT scorers), but to say that UMich is a reach for them is absurd, especially considering the credentials of many of the accepted kids.”</p>
<p>You are quite right. Michigan will not be a reach for Valedictorians at good schools, Siemens finalists and 2400/36 scorers. Then again, neither with many top universities such as Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Penn (not including Wharton) etc…I realize that it is conventional wisdom that some schools are reaches for everyone, but that is often a cautionary tale for the great applicants, but not for exceptional geniuses. Only HYPSM, Caltech, Chicago and Columbia are reaches for such students. But even such applicants will be rejected in high numbers from schools like Cornell and Michigan, while many students with seemingly “normal” credentials will be admitted. At Cornell last year, 25% of students who enrolled had SAT/ACT scores under 2000/30. Those figures will no be different for OOS freshmen at Michigan. So clearly, Michigan is not the only top university that admit many “standard” students while rejecting many truly excellent applicants. No university, other than a handful, can enroll a class of exclusively brilliant intellects. Well, they can, but their acceptance rate would have to rise from the 15% range to the 30% in a hurry!</p>
<p>“UMich is not a reach for any applicant. It isn’t quite on the level of the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Uchicago, The top LAC’s.”</p>
<p>sgballsta, that may have been the case in the past, but not last year and certainly not this year. Michigan is now about as selective as some of the Ivies (certainly Cornell and Penn not including Wharton), Northwestern, Berkeley and most top LACs for OOS applicants. Obviously, HYPSM, Caltech, Chicago, Columbia are more selective. Last year, Michigan received 40,000 OOS applicants and admitted 8,000. With those types of numbers, Michigan is a reach for virtually all OOS applicants. How many of those 40,000 are 3.8-4.0 students with SATs over 2200 and/or ACTs over 32? 10,000? How many of those do you think Michigan will admit? 4,000? Technically, even those students are facing pretty tough odds. Michigan will likely receive 45,000 OOS applications this year, and will probably still only admit 8,000 of them, so the odds are getting worse.</p>
<p>“They’re deferring these kids because they aren’t sure if these kids are going to attend yet.”</p>
<p>That is the reality that most universities face today. Even some of the Ivies and other elite universities, like Michigan, have sub 40% yield rates for their non-ED applicants, so they try to gauge their level of interest. </p>
<p>@sgballsta It depends on how you define reach schools. UMich as a whole still has an admission rate at least double of most Ivies. However, for Ross and CoE, the admission rate is very close to Iower Ivies, Northwestern, Rice, etc particularly for OOS students.</p>
<p>let’s agree that universities can choose to admit anyone they want.
Let’s also agree that all of universities, except may be HYPS, play the numbers game to look better in USNWR rankings.
Some of the better ones do that by increasing EDs. The yield on EDs is 100%, allowing to reduce RD and the overall admissions rates.
A step lower is the UM strategy of having EA, which increases the number of applicants compared to ED, but trying to increase the yield by waiting until applicants for whom UM is a second, third, or fourth choice, withdraw or do not follow up.
Another step lower is the strategy of accepting fewer freshmen and many transfers. Transfers don’t count in USNWR numbers.</p>
<p>People can lament such behaviors but that’s the education marketplace today. If applicants base their decisions on USNWR rankings then schools respond to that by taking steps to improve how they look in those rankings.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it creates too much noise and makes the market less efficient.</p>
<p>Also, because of such efforts on the part of universities, except for those at the very top, the selectivity numbers are not real, they are manufactured and misleading.</p>
<p>Unless you know the quality of the applicant pools, you can’t compare the admission rates across universities.</p>
<p>I would venture to guess that regardless of numbers UM is nowhere close to Ivies.
A very big majority would choose say Cornell over UM if given the choice.</p>