As a parent of an admitted student I have to say I find it highly annoying that Michigan seems to feel the need to keep so much information a closely guarded secret. Other universities have no problem telling people the date on which they will release admission decisions. By “mid April” seems to be to be annoyingly vague but since my child was admitted already that doesn’t affect me directly.
However what does affect me is that Michigan refuses to say it when their move in date is. I know that they must know. But when a student asked today in the Twitter chat they just said " right before Labor Day weekend. More details to follow."
Come on Michigan you know when the excepted a move in date is! People like me need that info in order to schedule things. I have to let my work know exactly when I will be off because of a major project happening in early September. Is the move in On the Friday before Labor Day or earlier in the week? . I find the refusal to say to be really obnoxious on their part
To Michigan’s defense, the school is extremely large, and housing is only guaranteed to freshmen. First, they would need to figure out the number of accepted students (which is not possible until April), calculate the yield rate, and then start the relocation plan for the current students & move-in for the incoming freshmen.
I understand the frustration, but at this point, directed complaints would be a moot effort. Although, I must say based on my experience, Michigan very carefully fences in all the scholarship & program details for some reason.
Remember you are adking for something 6 months down the road. The move in process spread over 2-3 days and it is different for international students. They cannot tell you now as it has not been finalized.
Generally with my experience it’s that as you go up the bureaucracy at umich, it becomes more and more incompetent. I worked with a program that helped the admissions office, and if they can’t offer more information, alot of times it’s because they simply don’t know. However, as you go down the bureaucracy the organization and management gets pretty sweet. Most of the programs and departments at umich are on top of their game with this stuff.
@YellowWolverine. I’m not sure if it’s incompetency or what I suspect which is that the culture of Michigan as a business organization is one of secrecy. Some organizations develop for whatever reason a culture where it seems natural to give as little information to as few people as possible for as long as possible. This can be frustrating to those both insure the organization as well as those outside of it. But it becomes hard to shake.
Oh and northwestern, Ohio state, penn state, Maryland, as well as U of Illinois and Wisconsin which I Mentioned before ( just to name a few other Big Ten schools) have all already announced dates for fall 2015 move in. The idea that it’s just too hard for a school to have announced this yet is not true.
I agree that Michigan could do a better job with communication, planning and precision around dates for admit decisions, housing and alike. However, I’m always amazed (and I’m not saying you and your child will make a decision this way maya54) when students/parents reject a university over annoying items with short term impacts such as these, a tour guide they didn’t like, one receptionist they didn’t like, a dorm they didn’t like (one year in dorms), etc.
The student will be impacted by the University for the rest of their life, yet some make decisions so short sighted. Michigan does have shortcomings, but no one should make a decision based on any shortcomings that won’t have a lasting effect on them.
By the way, move in will likely be the Wednesday or Thursday before Labor Day (depending on the dorm).
Actually it’s not that hard to figure out. Classes start Tuesday Sept. 8 so staggered move should be Weds/Thur
Sept 2 and 3rd. This will depend on what dorm and floor your room assignment is so that not everyone is moving at the same time on the same day. Trust me this is helpful. Until room assignments get done, you won’t know which day you get assigned. However, if you need to plan in advance just use Friday September 4th. Starting this day and through the weekend is open move in for everyone. (Note this is all based on not needing to be on campus earlier for a special reason such as athletes, move-in makers, international orientation, etc.)
@JBsmom1. Great info. My issue is still why Michigan can’t come out and say this. Again to me this is an indication of a place with an institutional bias against transparency. I see this all the time with certain clients. There is a reluctance to let go off information which often serves both the institution and it’s customers/ vendors poorly. I’m going to hope this is just a problem with admissions and not the University as a whole.
In any event @wayneandgarth my daughter is committing to Michigan and I’ll just be content to vent my annoyance here. Lol.
You’re right. They should have been able to tell you what I told you. I can tell you though that for us the school has always been helpful when we’ve needed information so hopefully this is a one time hiccup for you and in the future you’re able to get the information you need.
Sorry for your frustration. Hang in there, it is such a great school, try not to read too much into this. In case it helps, my son will be a sophomore and his contract says he can move in on or after Sunday, Sept. 6, so freshman will move in before then. It actually is very organized with everyone choosing a time on line so that all cars are not unloading at the same time. I felt it Michigan did a very good job with move in organization.
When I went there, I met a senior who gets free housing as part of her scholarship. She was still living in a dorm. So unless the university subsidizes housing costs, I would think only a handful voluntarily chooses to live in dorms.
On housing.umich.edu, they show on their calendar Sept 4 and 5 for undergraduate move-in. Just check the event calendar. It is subject to change though as some will have earlier move in date. You may move in later too.
Thanks for finding that billcsho. I didn’t see on general calendar. Perhaps it was there all along under events even though a bit hidden. Makes perfect sense since upperclassman can move in on Sept. 6. For anyone in freshmen honors beware last year they moved in the day before (equivalent to Sept. 3 here); that was a first and may not be repeated. But it did require us to change our plane reservations (Southwest so no cost).
Re: secretive approach to move in dates…In fainess to Umich, their historic model of rolling admissions combined with the necessity of housing lottery makes it difficult to predict final housing, then associated move-in dates, this far out. At this stage, they won’t know yet if your son/daughter is a part of one of the research communities that dictate residence location, whether they’ll sign up to help as move-in makers, etc.
As suggested by other responses, internationals, musicians, band members, athletes etc. also have different move in schedules.
So while it might be frustrating that their general answers are vague, I think its more likely a function of having a lot of variables than secrecy as a corporate policy
Out-of-state families I’ve known either book a hotel for a few days to be covered and make a bit of a vacation of it, or in some cases, the student flies in solo.
As someone who always drove to move-in, I was grateful for the staggered dates. Its really quite amazing how smoothly it goes considering
Also, just a tip…closer to the date, once your daughter has her roommate assignment, if you decide to purchase furniture (eg fridge, futon couch/chair, etc) housing has approximate floor plans online and you can ship stuff to the residence – that’s way easier than running around Ann Arbor trying to find a fridge during move-in!
