My son received a message from the regional AO also! I thought that was nice and unexpected from a large school. Mentioned his major and that he belongs at Michigan.
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So take these notes as a major hint… they want your kids. They’re building a class and might be targeting certain student’s…… or not. Small Lacs tend to do this.
BTW _Michigan is a large school but if done right can feel downright small.
That’s what we felt and it said nice things about her application and that they couldn’t wait for her to join. Didn’t expect that from a large school like Michigan and since she is still deciding it does give a very positive vibe.
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My son received a letter from his AO on Friday. He thought it was a really nice touch. He’s still undecided on his final choice. We are attempting Campus Day on 2/13 so hopefully that will help give him a little more info and feel for the school (even though we’ve been there many times).
It basically comes down to if he feels the OOS tuition is worth it compared to our home state flagship school. The reality is that it’s not (and I say this as my husband and I are both alums). But it’s up to him to decide where he wants to go and how he wants to spend his college fund (knowing he wants med school in the future).
What states are you all from that are getting more personalized notes? That is interesting to me.
It’s interesting. We were in the same situation and my wife is an alumni. But because the cost difference in 2017 was just around $20-25,000/year we felt it was worth it on many levels for him. But in engineering and not medicine. Medicine these day’s is tricky as you know. We have kid’s working in our office that go to no name undergrad schools and have a good record of getting into medical school or allied depending on their goals. But yea. The cost of medical school these days it would be a hard choice unless the parent’s could afford it cleanly. Which is very difficult these day’s regardless what you make. Congratulations and good luck to your son.
California!
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A 17-18 year old may not understand the significance of overall expenditure vs what you set aside - i.e. future debt.
Each family is different, of course, but I’d be sure he truly understands.
Well I’d have set a budget so he couldn’t make that decision if that would hamper his post grad dreams.
Some kids simply will not be able to go to med school based on finances.
Hopefully he’s not in that position.
Congrats to him.
Florida
We are in Minnesota.
Interesting so the letters were not just from one region.
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Massachusetts
UMich has always been disorganized/frustrating wrt its decision making process. In 2016, my son was rejected. Not surprised necessarily, although he did end up transferring to Umich and graduated with an engineering degree (transferring is easy). My daughter, who graduated in 2018, was also rejected. She had an amazing application. They strung her out until April. It was very frustrating. No matter… She is currently finishing up medical school so it didn’t stop her from getting what she wanted. My last child, son, graduated in 2023 and got in right away. He had a 3.85 uw, 1490, seven APs, in state, and very diversified interests (championship pianist, varsity fb and wrestling, leadership award from the archdiocese, Boy Scout, certified scuba, diver, jobs, and lots of volunteer hours.) and amazing essays. It was a learning process for us parents… You really have to know your audience and what to write in those essays. My 3 kids in total have applied to 78 schools, including graduate schools.
My niece is graduating from high school so I took it upon myself to help her with her college applications. Her parents did not attend a 4 year university. Besides applying to Michigan, she also applied to Northwestern and Vanderbilt and lots of other in-state Michigan schools. She has a 3.85 UW and a 4.5 W, did not submit her SAT scores because she only got 1450 on them, 11 APs, varsity golfer, and had a few other activities, but somewhat lacking in that area. She is not from an affluent district, but from a class of 1250 and her class rank is 12. She spent hours writing her essays and came up with some amazing original ideas. Her essays were all very captivating from the very first sentence. She did get accepted into Michigan on January 24. I have no idea what makes some qualified kids get in and some don’t. But from experience, I truly believe it is the essays. I write this to future parents… Focus on the essays. Everyone applying to Michigan has amazing grades and amazing scores, lots of AP classes and anyone can ramp up an activity list to make you look like a rockstar. Essays matter. My opinion only!
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This is an important point for anyone who doesn’t get into Michigan (or any school) and feels like their lives are over (they aren’t)…..so a lot of drama for no reason. If someone doesn’t love you, find one that will. The outcome can be the same.
Thanks for sharing your admission stories.
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Your post is right on. Essays do matter. My son was 2017-21 and didn’t think the process was an issue. The website says you will find out in April regardless when you apply. No stringing along. You “might “find out earlier. But April is when you will find out. All of this is voluntary to stay in the process. Trust me. I get the frustrations.
But yes, Essays matter in a true holistic evaluation. My son’s app was good but his essay was next level. I help reading essays on here and two students that applied to Michigan that I helped got in. Both had really good essays. We don’t talk about the rest of their app.
You are only compared to students at your school or region. Some kids get in with less. But no one has seen the rest of their app.
But yes, essays matter. Again for future student’s we have an essay reading service here, just meant for an extra set of eyes. Honestly what I have seen the last few year’s is the essays are pretty good. Just minor tweaking. Students pretty much always think their essays aren’t good enough. We went through this with our son. He had 3 topics and everyone but him thought the topic he picked was the one. Lol. I personally like them to be somewhat personal, unique and interesting or 2/3… I am not a pro but I can easily see the AOs reading the same type of essays over and over and it must get boring. Once you read one that is different it really stands out. Not sure how to explain this.
Thanks for bringing this up.
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Does anyone know whether UMich automatically requests mid-year transcript for postponed (deferred) students from their high school counselors? The ECI does not have any links for the student to upload their transcript themselves.
I think (but am not certain) that counselors need to send them electronically.
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Postponed Applicants FAQ | University of Michigan Office of Undergraduate Admissions https://share.google/Yv32iPbgTSZzRAxdd
Follow the information here.
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Is the general opinion that AP Calc BC is needed to gain admission to Michigan? Or is AP Calc AB sufficient with an otherwise strong application? Thanks!
Likely major dependent but Calc AB is enough to get into any school in the country and Michigan will have kids that never even took Calc. Does rigor help you? Likely.
But this from their website should help you overall. WIth math, strain but not too far - in other words, if BC will be too difficult, stick with AB. Your teachers should guide you to the right one.
Good luck.
