Anonymous wrote:OP here - kid is a hard hitting, yet somewhat undersized, safety. Have spoken to both coaching staffs and there is some level of interest, want to see how senior season plays out. They both said they can provide support but does not mean guarantee

so since I answered the doubters, let’s pretend the sport doesn’t exist - and let me rephrase question “does vandy/mich offer a sibling admission boost”

queue up sports comment lol

The sibling preference pales in comparison to what you just said for football…not sure why you are asking about a sibling preference that may tip the scales less than 1% when you have a football coach presence that probably tips the scales by 50% or more.

Vandy has historically only given a sibling preference for ED1. Not sure if that’s still true.

From the Michigan website (the "selection process" page)

Legacy Applicants
Legacy status is not considered as part of U-M’s undergraduate admissions holistic review process.

Anonymous wrote:I feel last year's U of M cycle was very disrupted by the surge in apps and the nationwide FAFSA situation. Our in-state h.s. outperformed on admits. We had some get off wait lists very late as mentioned above.

Athletic reasons are probably kind of generic for U of M. I would focus on leadership of any sort, intellectual interests, Why Michigan.

Michigan no. They don't even give any bump to legacy. The website is quite clear about this.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - kid is a hard hitting, yet somewhat undersized, safety. Have spoken to both coaching staffs and there is some level of interest, want to see how senior season plays out. They both said they can provide support but does not mean guarantee

so since I answered the doubters, let’s pretend the sport doesn’t exist - and let me rephrase question “does vandy/mich offer a sibling admission boost”

queue up sports comment lol

PP. Gave my advice already...look at example of legacy at Princeton. They calculated it to be a tiebreaker in only tens of cases a year.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nj.com/education/2024/03/princeton-u-will-keep-its-legacy-admissions-policy-giving-a-boost-to-children-of-alumni.html%3foutputType=amp

Can't see how sibling preference (not acknowledged to be a factor) could impact much at U of M.

I think, as reco'd above, there are ways to demonstrate deeper, more sincere knowledge to strengthen app.

lol if you mention anything about sports or recruiting hook on this forum the vultures will descend on your comment like it’s a carcass in the road

OP here - kid is a hard hitting, yet somewhat undersized, safety. Have spoken to both coaching staffs and there is some level of interest, want to see how senior season plays out. They both said they can provide support but does not mean guarantee

so since I answered the doubters, let’s pretend the sport doesn’t exist - and let me rephrase question “does vandy/mich offer a sibling admission boost”

queue up sports comment lol

I feel last year's U of M cycle was very disrupted by the surge in apps and the nationwide FAFSA situation. Our in-state h.s. outperformed on admits. We had some get off wait lists very late as mentioned above.

Athletic reasons are probably kind of generic for U of M. I would focus on leadership of any sort, intellectual interests, Why Michigan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:many posts on this topic when I searched - but more interested in this past cycle as landscape is ever evolving - specifically asking about Michigan and Vanderbilt (where my two oldest go!) - third kid not the same applicant, but in the ballpark and has a sports / walk-on level semi-hook

walk on to SEC or Big10 should be a recruit at an Ivy or even ACC like Duke/UNC/UVA

That’s silly…a Big10 baseball or basketball player probably couldn’t even make the team at Duke/UNC/UVA.

You seem to be referring to football exclusively.

Anonymous wrote:many posts on this topic when I searched - but more interested in this past cycle as landscape is ever evolving - specifically asking about Michigan and Vanderbilt (where my two oldest go!) - third kid not the same applicant, but in the ballpark and has a sports / walk-on level semi-hook

If you have a walk-on level hook then the coach should know your kid and provide a tip for admissions.

If you think your kid is good enough to walk on but hasn’t spoken to the coach…there isn’t a hook there.

Not sure the sport, but changes to roster sizes taking effect in 2025 is killing any chance of walk-on for many sports.

PP. And do apply early to U of M. I bet the early apps get more of a look. But also deferred then waitlisted to judge commitment as super-high-stats OOS kids hear back from preferred options.

Most MI siblings we know did not get in this past year notwithstanding competitive stats.

Sending first one to U of M this week.

They do ask the question.

My guess is it has some mild relevance to yield likelihood/waitlist management but you would likely find it nearly impossible to prove this even if you had perfect knowledge to scrutinize the app processing.

You should ask your kid to leverage sibling connections and campus visit experiences so they can be referenced in the "Why Michigan" essay. How about referencing contacts with existing students, maybe sitting in on a class, etc. The point is to convey "why" at a deep level. Raw legacy is not differentiating.

Don't give up on the wait list either. We know someone in-state who got into Engineering in mid-May.

Anonymous wrote:many posts on this topic when I searched - but more interested in this past cycle as landscape is ever evolving - specifically asking about Michigan and Vanderbilt (where my two oldest go!) - third kid not the same applicant, but in the ballpark and has a sports / walk-on level semi-hook

walk on to SEC or Big10 should be a recruit at an Ivy or even ACC like Duke/UNC/UVA

many posts on this topic when I searched - but more interested in this past cycle as landscape is ever evolving - specifically asking about Michigan and Vanderbilt (where my two oldest go!) - third kid not the same applicant, but in the ballpark and has a sports / walk-on level semi-hook