Michigan Early Decision - Any Early Anecdotes?

[Anonymous]

Michigan loves the top scores. That is true. They also want the kids with leadership and real dedication to their intended career path. I know this b/c my kid was admitted EA and looked at their admissions file. The 2 raters mentioned academic rigor, score, leadership and longevity to a certain EC, ECs that showed genuine interest in their field and a lot (A LOT) of emphasis was put on their why Michigan essay. They were rated by both reviewers and DC scored very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Michigan loves the top scores. That is true. They also want the kids with leadership and real dedication to their intended career path. I know this b/c my kid was admitted EA and looked at their admissions file. The 2 raters mentioned academic rigor, score, leadership and longevity to a certain EC, ECs that showed genuine interest in their field and a lot (A LOT) of emphasis was put on their why Michigan essay. They were rated by both reviewers and DC scored very well.

They also love the legacies, even though they say they don’t consider it. High scoring legacies are golden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They also love the legacies, even though they say they don’t consider it. High scoring legacies are golden.

How high score? Oos nmsf 1510 sat, 34 act and 3.9 EA to LSA (same as parent that attended).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They also love the legacies, even though they say they don’t consider it. High scoring legacies are golden.

How high score? Oos nmsf 1510 sat, 34 act and 3.9 EA to LSA (same as parent that attended).

plenty high enough

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They also love the legacies, even though they say they don’t consider it. High scoring legacies are golden.

How high score? Oos nmsf 1510 sat, 34 act and 3.9 EA to LSA (same as parent that attended).

That should get you in ED

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of the kids at my DC’s school applying ED to Michigan have stats that are slightly under what the “average” EA acceptance would have been at our school last year. They are hoping ED gives them a boost. The really top stats kids are not applying ED. One I know applying ED is even applying test optional—not a good idea out of state.

Also, PP is correct. Michigan totally favors legacy kids.

Michigan favors legacy kids, but I wonder if there will be as much of a difference now that ED is an option. Their OOS yield is pretty low and admitting legacies were a way to boost it (more likely to attend). Now OOS kids can clearly demonstrate strong interest.

I think the above is true. However, legacy kids may also be well-placed to answer "Why Michigan" effectively.

People on DCUM endlessly debate small, socially elite, and personalized vs. large, T20-30, and make your own way in the world schools. Michigan legacy families know the school and understand the strengths and weaknesses.

Michigan and MoCo have aligned wealthy and liberal psychographics. And with the difficulty of getting into UMD for engineering and comp sci, Michigan looks like a logical fit on a list of schools.

As an overall observation, DMV kids are not really the demographic force at Michigan that California, NYC metro, and Chicago kids are. It's my guess this is why there are unusual situations with the waitlist at DMV schools. They probably indeed can't predict yield very well for DMV. ED will definitely help.

Good luck to the applicants. I am excited for ED to strengthen the pool of attendees. The best case situation is to have more students who are truly happy to be at their ED school.

[Anonymous]

Any ideas how Michigan balances the various pools between different schools? Ross v Engineering v LSA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any ideas how Michigan balances the various pools between different schools? Ross v Engineering v LSA?

Ross is really transparent. 51% instate and 49% OOS. 48% female and 52% male. 13,019 applicants, 924 admitted to get to a class of 500 direct admit. Sophomore year they add 125 from internal transfers and Michigan community colleges. They said at the info session we attended that they are pretty much stopping internal transfers from LSA going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any ideas how Michigan balances the various pools between different schools? Ross v Engineering v LSA?

Major matters for LSA.

[Anonymous]

Why would anyone use their ED card at Michigan instead of northwestern or Cornell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone use their ED card at Michigan instead of northwestern or Cornell?

For the 100th time, because of vibe and social culture. Go tour Cornell and Northwestern. They are currently full of quirky kids and grinders.

[Anonymous]

So strange Michigan placed a full page ad in today’s print Wash Post. I know it wasn’t bc they didn’t get enough applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone use their ED card at Michigan instead of northwestern or Cornell?

Because they prefer a bigger school with more spirit than Northwestern or Cornell. The three schools certainly draw from a similar applicant pool, but face it, Ithaca and the Ivy League is not the same as Ann Arbor and the B1G. I visited all three when I went through the process as did one of my two kids, they are different places with different vibes, and Northwestern is on the quarter system which can be a good or bad thing, depending on the kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone use their ED card at Michigan instead of northwestern or Cornell?

My kid didn’t play ED as a “card.” He decided whether he had a first choice school and applied ED there. In this case, Michigan. And, yes, he chose it over a higher ranked school because he wanted Michigan’s particular combination of academics, big sports, and fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone use their ED card at Michigan instead of northwestern or Cornell?

Because they prefer a bigger school with more spirit than Northwestern or Cornell. The three schools certainly draw from a similar applicant pool, but face it, Ithaca and the Ivy League is not the same as Ann Arbor and the B1G. I visited all three when I went through the process as did one of my two kids, they are different places with different vibes, and Northwestern is on the quarter system which can be a good or bad thing, depending on the kid.

PP. I'm from a Michigan and Cornell family. The schools have a lot in common, including a historical exchange of administrators and egalitarian core values. If you are thinking about academics (what you can study at a deep level), the schools indeed have a lot in common. Hat tip to Cornell for having a higher scoring student body, but it's also completely fair to say Cornell is grindier. Michigan suits a Midwest vibe and Cornell has more than a dash of NYC attitude. For those who don't care about sports, Michigan has plenty of fun things to do, just like Cornell. And it's far less expensive for in-state students.

I took my son to see Cornell and he pronounced Ithaca "Ann Arbor in a gorge". That's when I realized the Ivy legacy situation wasn't going to be a strong pull.