University of Michigan Early Action / Early Decision Class of 2030 Official Thread

Colleges & Universities University of Michigan
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642

So any Calc is great for the majority of schools BUT… and it’s a but. You want to evaluate your classes and exceed the basic requirements which Calc does. Most schools want you to start college at Calc. But even that has some leeway. But then it comes down to rigor. Michigan wants you to challenge and yourself and do well in that class. Michigan loves rigor and GPA. But as stated above you don’t want to ruin your GPA if you can’t honestly handle the class.

Michigan is also a very difficult school. I don’t think that gets said enough. Their math there might look very different from the math you’re taking in high school. Even in something like Calc they tend to go deeper. But you want to be challenged in college also.

If you give stats, GPA, intended major, classes you have taken etc we could help you further. Good luck.

643

These things are not absolute in holistic admissions. They are relative to your context, too.

The context of your HS matters ..as does major choice.…if the 30-40% of your HS is taking at least Calc 3 as seniors? Then BC might not even be enough…as you are now not even close to being a top student at your HS. Now that obviously is an extreme example, but is actually the case at one of my kids’ private schools and STEM magnet schools etc.…many kids take Calc in 9/10th (or earlier - some classmates took BC in middle school). At my other kids (regular public) public school, about 50% take at least AB senior year. AB would be pretty average; you would need BC to be competitive at a MI level school IME. Now, someone in AB may get in if applying for Spanish or something completely not math-related. But for engineering? extremely unlikely. Major choice matters too. At many schools, AB would be the top students and at many schools calc isn’t even offered. This context matters, those kids still can get into MI if they are top of their class.. .

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644

Good point but also not always. My son had Calc 3 in high school and some from his school only Calc 1. 1 only pre Calc. That were accepted to Michigan. Like you said the other parts of the applications counts as well.

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645

I should have hedged more in my example. Agree there is never “always” …just take Calc 3 is never a guarantee, and only having pre-call could be enough in some rarer cases (in-state OOS may also play a bigger factor here?). Though you are reinforcing that there is no “absolute” answer in holistic admissions. I would wager they weren’t engineering/business majors if only in pre-calc…

Also, all anyone can say is likelihood, anyway. It isn’t a pure formula when essays and ECs are in play. Not a pure formula/checkbox…

646

There will be kids at UMIch engineering and business just taking calc in college for the first time.

Forgetting a school name, any student should take the class appropriate for them, as guided by the teacher/school - and not step up above their ability level, in hopes of chasing a name that might not happen anyway.

If a student is not ready for BC, they shouldn’t take BC - period, end of story.

In this case, we don’t know the student’s intended major. But they should take the proper curriculum - and they’ll see how things play out.

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647

I agree. Michigan looks besides holistically at GPA and rigor. They want you to take the highest class in that subject that is appropriate for the student is another way to put it.. Many students will take AP Statistics. But then don’t take pre Calc or Calc 1. That is being evaluated for that student. Michigan will look at the schools math sequence in this case. The student is always compared to their own school /district. Yes. Major matters. Depending on the high school, taking more than the requirements for Michigan in the CDS is another way to show rigor. The saying goes if a student should take a certain AP course. Yes, if you think you can also get a good score in it. No school wants to see students take AP classes than get a C in them. AP is a way to challenge yourself but it’s not appropriate for each student.

648

My current senior is in calc 3, not a stem major, 1590 sat, 4.0, AP physics C etc. Currently deferred at Michigan with at least one acceptance so far to a higher ranked school. There such an unpredictability with highly selective schools….

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649

Yes. Absolutely. We see this every year.

But being deferred doesn’t mean not accepted at this point. Congratulations on the acceptance to the other school. Remember schools are making up a class. They need so many of this and that. It’s not about the highest scores or most APs. Good luck to your child

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650

My son and 10 of his friends have been tracking the Michigan acceptances at his SE Mich HS. Per his guidance counselor, the school typically gets 20-23 kids admitted to Michigan. Per his count, 20 kids have already been accepted. Is it reasonable to assume that there are 6-8 more slots at his school or are they down to 2-3 slots?

Son’s Stats

In state (deferred ED)

Male – Asian, middle class

LSA

4.1 weighted gpa (recalculated to 3.7 based on UM’s core classes): showed upward trend in GPA. Frosh year had the worst grades.

1420 SAT (720 english/ 700 math)

11 APs (school only offers 16 APs)

ECs – DECA received medals at states/ regional for this year & last, co-founder of charity club, basketball, volunteer work for camps, tutoring, translation

Essays – were considered great by his peers and English teacher & counselor. It was unique and in line with his background and aspirations were the reviewed comments.

Note, my son did submit his LOCI in early Feb. In addition, his guidance counselor sent an advocacy email on his behalf to AO. It was indicated that he was the only student to make this request to the counselor.

Of the 20 kids that got admitted, 13 were for LSA. UM is big on diversity and showed LSA distribution between (5) whites, (4) blacks, (2) Asians, (2) Hispanic. 5/13 were girls. He said of the 13 that got admitted to LSA 8 kids clearly were better than him and 3 were clearly below him. His evaluation was based on GPA, SAT score, class rigor, ECs.

Btw, his best friend got in as ED on Jan. 5 with similar stats. Core GPA was higher but only had 6 APs. My son’s ECs were better b/c of DECA involvement and more volunteer work and co-founded club. Same social status Asian male, middle class. In addition, my son helped him re write his essays b/c of the critiques from their English teacher. So, it was a surprise when he got in but not my son.

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651

Of course no one really knows, but I imagine the in-state yield rate among students who, by definition, have not been accepted ED elsewhere is extraordinarily high. The universities always claim that they don’t have quotas or limits per high school, but to your point, the patterns tend to be pretty similar. I would guess that it’s a function of how your kid’s stats stack against the rest of the class, the rest of Michigan’s applicants and how many of the his classmates got in ED versus EA. Long winded way of saying that it’s probably on the lower end of your estimates. SAT and GPA are both great, but SAT is below the 50th percentile and average GPA of admitted students is 3.9UW.

Being in-state should help but who knows…good luck and we’ll know soon enough (but not really soon enough to be honest!)

652

No one here will be able to answer your question regarding how many more students from your kid’s HS will be accepted in RD.

Did he apply to LSA? Does he have any activities that support the areas of interest that he selected?

Big picture, I hope your S has some affordable acceptances at this point, and would focus on helping him get excited about those. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst with regard to a Michigan acceptance.

IMO the counselor shouldn’t say things like ‘some kids were clearly below him’. Perhaps their profile and/or activities align perfectly with the applicant’s goals and with Michigan’s institutional priorities, just to take one example.

Similarly you have no idea what your kid’s best friend’s LoRs said, nor how their ECs might have aligned with his goals/majors of interest/Michigan’s priorities.

Just to be clear, this doesn’t mean the counselor didn’t send an advocacy email on behalf of the other deferred students.

For others who will read this thread, don’t share essays with peers. Students will copy ideas, structure, even entire sentences/paragraphs/essays. I would also hesitate to ‘help’ peers with their essays/edits for the same reason.

Good luck to your son, I hope an RD admit comes thru.

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653

Read what @Mwfan1921 wrote. They wrote it perfectly.

I would just stop the comparing. I know it’s hard not to. Why did this person get in but not this person? Even at the same school there are lots of variables. But no you can think that they will take the similar amount of students. They will evaluate the students they have taken from your school and track their performance over the year’s. Sounds like your school does well within the metrics of Michigan. But no one knows what they actually need to complete their upcoming class. No one has read the other students applications and essays. I am sure they’re all capable students. Just congratulate all that get in and hope for the best. Have safeties and other schools your child would love to attend. Good luck.

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654

At what point do school specific merit scholarships start going out? My understanding is that EA admits are considered first for these. I also know there isn’t a lot of merit money for OOS but still hoping for some!

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655

Upon the EA decision merit probably has been awarded. March 1 is the deadline for financial aid First-year Application Plans | University of Michigan Office of Undergraduate Admissions https://share.google/5iEPyNX68JeyGD7Yg

Michigan does give financial aid for OOS but doesn’t meet need. But many get enough to make it affordable for their families to attend. I have heard of families getting around $30-35,000/year. But of course everyone’s situation is different.

There really isn’t much oos merit. Few get it. Call the scholarship office and maybe they have an update.

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656

Four-Year Renewable Scholarships | U-M LSA Scholarships https://share.google/abTfqMvq89qom5rzL

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657

New Undergraduates | Financial Aid | University of Michigan https://share.google/SrFHFAk7oRgYPNDUo

There are many reddit and such about OOS students getting aid,merit and grants. Money is money regardless where it comes from. Many oos student’s who thought they weren’t being considered for money ended up getting aid.

So… talk to the financial aid department and let them guide you. I know many people living in nice neighborhoods and driving nice car’s that ended up getting money to attend. Everyone’s situation is different.

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658

After my kid’s admission, he got an email from Michigan encouraging him to apply for merit scholarships. Required two essays. So I assume some is awarded later?

Edited to add this from your link above:

Application Timeline

The annual deadline to apply is April 10, 11:59 pm EST. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Applying early increases your chances of being matched with a scholarship. All scholarship notices are sent by April 17. The LSA enrollment deadline is May 1.

How do I apply?

The Four-Year Renewable Scholarship application for the 2026-27 academic year is now open. LSA students are eligible to apply once they have been admitted. Login access will become available after students receive their admission letters.

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659

There was a young man from Alabama a year or two ago on here, we all said wouldn’t be affordable and yep, they made it affordable. He went for engineering I believe.

660

There are quite a few scholarships for LSA but fewer in Kinesiology (my son’s school) since it is so much smaller. Many of them are for very specific groups (geography, etc) and there is nothing that he can submit an additional app for. He will be visiting next week and can talk in more detail with the school I hope about other options. Already spoke to financial aid but no luck there. He has applied to a few outside scholarships so hoping some of those will come through.

661

Check out the Alumni association in your state. It won’t be large but everything helps.