Michigan Early Decision - Any Early Anecdotes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend has a child at Yorktown and they were told that there are 70+ kids who have ED'd to Michigan.

In Virginia,...... what?

If these Yorktown kids have the stats to get into Michigan, they could get into UVA. Hard to believe there are 70 kids that would pay $80,000 a year for Michigan knowing they could very likely go in state to UVA for half the cost.

There are reasons students would chose one over the other. While they attract similiar kids, some want to leave VA and some want to stay instate. Some programs are stronger at one or the other. Some want a bigger school in a strong college town, some want a smaller, more intimate feel. I would suspect that 70 is the number of apps in. You can see that on Naviance, but it does not show what admissions path they chose.

I get all the reasons. My Virginia kid applied ED to Michigan. The idea that 70 public school kids are willing to be locked into Michigan’s very high tuition (they give basically no aid OOS) is what is surprising.

I think families don't realize that Michigan doesn't meet need, because nearly all of their peer schools at this level do. So you have folks who make $250k and would be on the hook for $40k-$50k at an Ivy or WashU with financial aid, but will be responsible for the full $85k oos at Michigan... and the parents haven't realized that yet.

To assume that families haven’t considered whether a school meets need, is need aware, etc is really one of the more pretentious comments I’ve seen on this board. Do they also not know how to shop for rates when looking for a mortgage? I know people have their axes to grind about ED generally, and god forbid a VA resident consider an out of state school, but it’s really none of your business. Plenty of reasons why a family would choose Michigan OOS over Wash U if they could handle it. It’s wild how so many are concerned about other people’s finances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend has a child at Yorktown and they were told that there are 70+ kids who have ED'd to Michigan.

In Virginia,...... what?

If these Yorktown kids have the stats to get into Michigan, they could get into UVA. Hard to believe there are 70 kids that would pay $80,000 a year for Michigan knowing they could very likely go in state to UVA for half the cost.

There are reasons students would chose one over the other. While they attract similiar kids, some want to leave VA and some want to stay instate. Some programs are stronger at one or the other. Some want a bigger school in a strong college town, some want a smaller, more intimate feel. I would suspect that 70 is the number of apps in. You can see that on Naviance, but it does not show what admissions path they chose.

I get all the reasons. My Virginia kid applied ED to Michigan. The idea that 70 public school kids are willing to be locked into Michigan’s very high tuition (they give basically no aid OOS) is what is surprising.

I think families don't realize that Michigan doesn't meet need, because nearly all of their peer schools at this level do. So you have folks who make $250k and would be on the hook for $40k-$50k at an Ivy or WashU with financial aid, but will be responsible for the full $85k oos at Michigan... and the parents haven't realized that yet.

Yes, this 1000%.
I had a 2025 grad and spent an inordinate amount of time on Reddit as my kid was applying to top20 schools and getting off waitlists.
Michigan by far had the most kids from across the US who were surprised by their financial aid packages (or lack thereof). They are not generous and most kids who were getting $50K from Cornell, NU, and even in many cases UVA got nothing or close to nothing from Michigan. And this is part of why the waitlist at Michigan moves so much. There are tons and tons of kids of smart kids who drop out once they get their aid. Remember, outside of DCUM most kids do not have $85K/year for college.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in ED. Hopefully everyone ran their net price calculators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s basically a guarantee that the true top kids shooting for HYPSM will continue to apply EA, not ED. But in the current environment, where so many kids want a big school experience, it’s plausible to me that Michigan will steal ED market share from schools like Penn, Cornell, Northwestern, and Duke. To parents prepared to pay those private-school prices, Michigan would look like a bargain. And those kids often come from private schools or affluent neighborhoods where they are under pretty intense pressure to “play their ED card” somewhere. Now they can apply ED to Michigan.

Make sure you talk to current students. I know a lot of unhappy, freshman (academically) with very large classes with lack of access to their advisors. Everyone says it gets better by junior and senior year but that’s a long time away. And socially, much more competitive than people expected

[Anonymous]

You can still break ED for inadequate FA, even if it matches the NPC. They can’t force you to enroll and bill your parents, lol! The penalty is that you’ve wasted your ED card, nothing more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend has a child at Yorktown and they were told that there are 70+ kids who have ED'd to Michigan.

In Virginia,...... what?

If these Yorktown kids have the stats to get into Michigan, they could get into UVA. Hard to believe there are 70 kids that would pay $80,000 a year for Michigan knowing they could very likely go in state to UVA for half the cost.

There are reasons students would chose one over the other. While they attract similiar kids, some want to leave VA and some want to stay instate. Some programs are stronger at one or the other. Some want a bigger school in a strong college town, some want a smaller, more intimate feel. I would suspect that 70 is the number of apps in. You can see that on Naviance, but it does not show what admissions path they chose.

I get all the reasons. My Virginia kid applied ED to Michigan. The idea that 70 public school kids are willing to be locked into Michigan’s very high tuition (they give basically no aid OOS) is what is surprising.

I think families don't realize that Michigan doesn't meet need, because nearly all of their peer schools at this level do. So you have folks who make $250k and would be on the hook for $40k-$50k at an Ivy or WashU with financial aid, but will be responsible for the full $85k oos at Michigan... and the parents haven't realized that yet.

To assume that families haven’t considered whether a school meets need, is need aware, etc is really one of the more pretentious comments I’ve seen on this board. Do they also not know how to shop for rates when looking for a mortgage? I know people have their axes to grind about ED generally, and god forbid a VA resident consider an out of state school, but it’s really none of your business. Plenty of reasons why a family would choose Michigan OOS over Wash U if they could handle it. It’s wild how so many are concerned about other people’s finances.

You are so off the mark, there's almost no point responding, but I will try. I have no issues with ED. I myself went to Penn because of ED and came from a working class family, who had no idea what ED was at the time in the 90s, so I KNOW that many families do not look closely at this because they don't have the prior experience or time to look into the details. My own parents didn't understand the process or financial implications, and they were not stupid. Financial aid office at Penn was painful to deal with, and it was a fight to afford the school every year. Unlike Penn, Michigan does not attempt to meet need for OOS students, and there are many families who will be surprised by this. That is a fact.

I do not live in Virginia and couldn't care less about instate VA schools. Check your own assumptions before you start spouting off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s basically a guarantee that the true top kids shooting for HYPSM will continue to apply EA, not ED. But in the current environment, where so many kids want a big school experience, it’s plausible to me that Michigan will steal ED market share from schools like Penn, Cornell, Northwestern, and Duke. To parents prepared to pay those private-school prices, Michigan would look like a bargain. And those kids often come from private schools or affluent neighborhoods where they are under pretty intense pressure to “play their ED card” somewhere. Now they can apply ED to Michigan.

Make sure you talk to current students. I know a lot of unhappy, freshman (academically) with very large classes with lack of access to their advisors. Everyone says it gets better by junior and senior year but that’s a long time away. And socially, much more competitive than people expected

Yes, I could have written this. My child's friends at Michigan are in massive classes (300-500+) and could not get any class remotely of their choosing for the fall. And the social scene is rough--lots of money and snobbery from NJ and NY and hard to find your people if you don't luck out by who is on your dorm hall. My daughter's friends who are struggling the most socially of any college are both at Michigan. You can't tell from their Instagrams (they all depict them in super happy friend groups at football games) but both are really lonely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s basically a guarantee that the true top kids shooting for HYPSM will continue to apply EA, not ED. But in the current environment, where so many kids want a big school experience, it’s plausible to me that Michigan will steal ED market share from schools like Penn, Cornell, Northwestern, and Duke. To parents prepared to pay those private-school prices, Michigan would look like a bargain. And those kids often come from private schools or affluent neighborhoods where they are under pretty intense pressure to “play their ED card” somewhere. Now they can apply ED to Michigan.

Make sure you talk to current students. I know a lot of unhappy, freshman (academically) with very large classes with lack of access to their advisors. Everyone says it gets better by junior and senior year but that’s a long time away. And socially, much more competitive than people expected

I went to a competitive large state school. Many fresh/soph year classes don’t need to be intimate. It teaches students how to seek access to TA’s and others if needed. Students are still being taught by top profs - there is just less hand-holding. It’s not for everyone but I think great lessons are learned that prepare students for the real world

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s basically a guarantee that the true top kids shooting for HYPSM will continue to apply EA, not ED. But in the current environment, where so many kids want a big school experience, it’s plausible to me that Michigan will steal ED market share from schools like Penn, Cornell, Northwestern, and Duke. To parents prepared to pay those private-school prices, Michigan would look like a bargain. And those kids often come from private schools or affluent neighborhoods where they are under pretty intense pressure to “play their ED card” somewhere. Now they can apply ED to Michigan.

Make sure you talk to current students. I know a lot of unhappy, freshman (academically) with very large classes with lack of access to their advisors. Everyone says it gets better by junior and senior year but that’s a long time away. And socially, much more competitive than people expected

Yes, I could have written this. My child's friends at Michigan are in massive classes (300-500+) and could not get any class remotely of their choosing for the fall. And the social scene is rough--lots of money and snobbery from NJ and NY and hard to find your people if you don't luck out by who is on your dorm hall. My daughter's friends who are struggling the most socially of any college are both at Michigan. You can't tell from their Instagrams (they all depict them in super happy friend groups at football games) but both are really lonely.

I couldn’t agree with this more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s basically a guarantee that the true top kids shooting for HYPSM will continue to apply EA, not ED. But in the current environment, where so many kids want a big school experience, it’s plausible to me that Michigan will steal ED market share from schools like Penn, Cornell, Northwestern, and Duke. To parents prepared to pay those private-school prices, Michigan would look like a bargain. And those kids often come from private schools or affluent neighborhoods where they are under pretty intense pressure to “play their ED card” somewhere. Now they can apply ED to Michigan.

Make sure you talk to current students. I know a lot of unhappy, freshman (academically) with very large classes with lack of access to their advisors. Everyone says it gets better by junior and senior year but that’s a long time away. And socially, much more competitive than people expected

I went to a competitive large state school. Many fresh/soph year classes don’t need to be intimate. It teaches students how to seek access to TA’s and others if needed. Students are still being taught by top profs - there is just less hand-holding. It’s not for everyone but I think great lessons are learned that prepare students for the real world

There’s just no attempt to try and get your kid into classes that are relevant for their interests or their major.

I compare that to a private T10 that my kid chose over Michigan where the advisor checks in individually with my kid every few weeks. By email. Also sends new program ideas their way along with interesting new opportunities to access professors (whether through official programming, small group dinners or otherwise). It is night and day difference.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a fan of ED, but I understand why Michigan is instituting it. From our NYC private, at least 30 students apply EA to Michigan. For most, it is the only public they apply to, along their ED/REA/SCEA. Generally several are accepted (the ones who visited, worked hard on their supps, and made the admissions team think they might actually come), more are rejected, the majority are deferred. For the ones who get the acceptance, great they have a good backup if their ED/REA/SCEA doesn't work out while they are waiting for RD responses. For the deferred, they might get in later, more likely they are waitlisted but they can work the WL if it's looking like their best option. Every year 1-2 students actually go. So Michigan is getting a terrible yield from our school. This year, I know two kids who are EDing Michigan - if they get in, Mich already has the normal number of kids they get from us, plus the same number of EAs. They will accept fewer of the EAs, reject more and defer more into the RD round. It makes their admissions process from our school at least, much more efficient. They can spend way less time trying to read tea leaves when reading essays trying to figure out which applicants really love the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hearing from a lot of parents in the MoCo area of students doing ED to Michigan, which is surprising to me but maybe not to others? Since this is the first year of ED it's hard to know what will happen, but if Michigan ends up taking a lot of high stats ED kids that will basically screw over the rest during EA/RD. Thoughts......?

ED obviously makes EA/RD harder, I think. As my kid said when she heard they were adding ED: “oh well.” Disappointing, but not disappointing enough to forego the opportunity to apply broadly. She applied EA.

I expect the student body will become somewhat richer and somewhat lower scoring. That’s the basic trade off of the ED process.

Richer, maybe, but I doubt lower scoring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s basically a guarantee that the true top kids shooting for HYPSM will continue to apply EA, not ED. But in the current environment, where so many kids want a big school experience, it’s plausible to me that Michigan will steal ED market share from schools like Penn, Cornell, Northwestern, and Duke. To parents prepared to pay those private-school prices, Michigan would look like a bargain. And those kids often come from private schools or affluent neighborhoods where they are under pretty intense pressure to “play their ED card” somewhere. Now they can apply ED to Michigan.

Make sure you talk to current students. I know a lot of unhappy, freshman (academically) with very large classes with lack of access to their advisors. Everyone says it gets better by junior and senior year but that’s a long time away. And socially, much more competitive than people expected

I have a kid who graduated from UM a couple of years ago, and their experience was similar to mine at a different state flagship (30 years ago) - and it is pretty universal. I would like to think kids applying ED to a state flagship would understand how they work. Being upset about alrge classes at a state flagship is silly. Being upset about not being able to get in to first choice classes when registering at the end of the line is also silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a fan of ED, but I understand why Michigan is instituting it. From our NYC private, at least 30 students apply EA to Michigan. For most, it is the only public they apply to, along their ED/REA/SCEA. Generally several are accepted (the ones who visited, worked hard on their supps, and made the admissions team think they might actually come), more are rejected, the majority are deferred. For the ones who get the acceptance, great they have a good backup if their ED/REA/SCEA doesn't work out while they are waiting for RD responses. For the deferred, they might get in later, more likely they are waitlisted but they can work the WL if it's looking like their best option. Every year 1-2 students actually go. So Michigan is getting a terrible yield from our school. This year, I know two kids who are EDing Michigan - if they get in, Mich already has the normal number of kids they get from us, plus the same number of EAs. They will accept fewer of the EAs, reject more and defer more into the RD round. It makes their admissions process from our school at least, much more efficient. They can spend way less time trying to read tea leaves when reading essays trying to figure out which applicants really love the school.

100% agree with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s basically a guarantee that the true top kids shooting for HYPSM will continue to apply EA, not ED. But in the current environment, where so many kids want a big school experience, it’s plausible to me that Michigan will steal ED market share from schools like Penn, Cornell, Northwestern, and Duke. To parents prepared to pay those private-school prices, Michigan would look like a bargain. And those kids often come from private schools or affluent neighborhoods where they are under pretty intense pressure to “play their ED card” somewhere. Now they can apply ED to Michigan.

Make sure you talk to current students. I know a lot of unhappy, freshman (academically) with very large classes with lack of access to their advisors. Everyone says it gets better by junior and senior year but that’s a long time away. And socially, much more competitive than people expected

I went to a competitive large state school. Many fresh/soph year classes don’t need to be intimate. It teaches students how to seek access to TA’s and others if needed. Students are still being taught by top profs - there is just less hand-holding. It’s not for everyone but I think great lessons are learned that prepare students for the real world

There’s just no attempt to try and get your kid into classes that are relevant for their interests or their major.

I compare that to a private T10 that my kid chose over Michigan where the advisor checks in individually with my kid every few weeks. By email. Also sends new program ideas their way along with interesting new opportunities to access professors (whether through official programming, small group dinners or otherwise). It is night and day difference.

Yes, if you go to a small private school, then you get a more curated experience. That is what the PP was saying, hence the "no hand holding" comment. The state schools force kids to sink or swim and advocate for themselves. It is more of a real world experience than the curated experience. It doesn't make it better or worse, just different. But for a lot of students, particularly those coming from small private schools, that big school experience is what they want, and Michigan (in addition to a few others) are unique in being top academically and with a cult-like school spirit.

[Anonymous]

Since Michigan admits a huge percentage of its student body with low SAT scores- almost half of all students have an SAT score below 1350. This is from their common data set which shows the 25% at 1360.
https://obp.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/pubdata/cds/CDS_2024-25_UMAA.pdf

But since UMichigan is test optional, only half submit an SAT score. Obviously if you score higher than 1400 you would submit.

So any ED candidate with an SAT above 1400 is pretty much an auto admit.