OT(?) UofM Admissions
Summer is here, and that also means the class of 2013 seniors are going to be applying for colleges come fall.
There are a lot of high school students and current uofm students/alumni on this board, so while the offseason gets us down, I was wondering if you guys could share tips/insight on applying to michigan, or share your own experiences?
First of all, I would not call this topic OT. This is definitely legit board material.
As for those applying this year, my best advice is to apply early. It's different now than it was when admission was straight rolling, but hitting the early action deadline is the best thing you can do to give yourself a boost.
As for your actual applicaiton, the only thing you can really change at this point is your essays. So put your effort in here: have someone review them and turn in really polished, direct essays.
Best of luck to everyone applying.
At the end though, when you only have limited spots left and a rush of new aps...it's just going to be harder to get one of those limited spots.
Also turning it in early gives you time to do it the right way instead of just focusing on finishing before a deadline.
Anyone have some connections/suggestions for an out-of-stater?
I waited until the last possible moment to send in my application. Don’t do that. I got in, but man was all the nagging I received from my parents/teachers/friends annoying. Good luck to you/ the person you're asking for (whichever the case may be).
The common app is very practical resource to help you compete the application process. You may be able I start on it now, or in the near future.
Load all your achievements, community service, sports, and awards. My wife did a great job of keeping track of all of those things from my son HS career.
Apply early application if Michigan is indeed your first choice. You cannot apply early application for another school if you go this route for UofM.
Good luck.
"Apply early application if Michigan is indeed your first choice. You cannot apply early application for another school if you go this route for UofM."
That's actually not true. I applied EA to 4 schools I think last year. Michigan is not early decision, so you don't have to go if you get in EA, nor is it restrictive EA, meaning you can apply EA to Michigan and other schools.
Hopefully that clarifies my post.
I'm an incoming freshman in the Fall of 2012 to Michigan, so I just went through this process.
I'm from out of state, so obviously it's much harder to get it. Now Michigan no longer does rolling, instead they do Early Action. Last year, as long as you applied by Novemeber first, you'd hear back before Christmas. If I remember correctly, they started giving back decisions on December 16th, which was a Friday, and everyone heard back by the end of the weekend for the most part.
I got in EA so I don't really remember the proces after that, but I do remember that people who applied after the November 1st EA deadline heard back before many of the defered EA applicants.
This past year was the largest applicant pool ever for Michigan, and it could increase even more this year, so it's going to be harder to get in most likely.
My advice is similar the the poster above's. If Michigan is your top school, apply EA, and get the proces started early. Michigan uses the Common App now, and that's available August 1st, so start that ASAP. Then spend some time on your essays to make sure they're well written and not just BS.
Also make sure you do well 1st quarter senior year, if you do well, you can send those grades in which will help a ton.
Most of the leg work is already done at this point, so there's not much else to say. Just apply and hope for the best.
I’ve heard conflicting statements regarding the relative difficulty of applying as an out of state student. I’ve been told it’s more difficult, that it’s roughly the same, and on one occasion that it’s easier. As an out of state student myself, I’m curious what the actual statistics on this are. My bet is that there probably isn’t all that big a difference.
I applied from out of state but this was when the point system was in play. I (think I) received bonus points for being out of state since Alabama was considered an "under represented state" to say the least. Plus out of state tuition is way more so I think that would be a bonus also.
As far as what to do at this point. Per above, the essay. Just explain your goals and how you plan on being a scholar, a team member, and future leader. I had the military thing going on to help out, but my grades from HS were not what one would expect from a Michigan applicant. And show enthusiasm and how excited UM will be and how it will help you be a future leader (and best).
Good luck. And as always, GO BLUE!
According to college express, 32% of students at Michigan are out of state. So unless the 68% in-state are just that much more qualified than all other applicants, which I don't think all are, I would say it's easier to get in in-state.
http://www.collegexpress.com/lists/list/percentage-of-out-of-state-stud…
This is fairly anecdotal, but I was talking to some in-state kids at orientation recently, and one told me of his 330 kid graduating class, 100 are going to Michigan. So 1/3 of his school is going to Michigan, and who knows how many more got in.
My HS has a 500 kid graduating class, out of state, and we're only sending 2 kids. And it's not like we're a crappy school, we have about 15 or so kids going to Ivies this year.
What out of state state you are matters as well. I know states like NJ, NY, and OH send a ton of kids to Michigan every year, so a kid from there might have a harder time getting in than a kid from Alabama, like the previous poster below said.
I don’t know that you can conclude that it’s harder to get in out of state because there are more in state students. You would expect that, simply because there are likely more in state applicants to begin with. My high school only sent one in my graduating class. I also happen to have been the only one to apply. You would have to look at things like median/mean test scores for four groups: in state accepted, in state denied, out of state accepted, out of state denied. Unless you had those kind of numbers, it’d be a difficult question to answer convincingly. Back to your numbers though, 32% is really high for a public school. Comparable public schools in the south are closer to 5%, which leads me to believe that Michigan is very OOS friendly for as good a school as it is.
I wouldn't be surprised if out of state tuition helps keep down the total number of out of state applicants. I remember during freshman orientation the faux bragging that Michigan had the highest out of state tuition of any public university in the country. I don't know if that's still true, but when I last checked Michigan's out of state tuition was on par with tuition to Stanford.
I also heard from some that it was harder for out-of-state students, but that seemed to only be coming from out-of-state students who treated UM as a secondary/safety school. When I was at the school in the late 90's/early 00's, the system in place did reward you for being an in-state student, but not much and treated people from a variety of other states equally. I do think that UM has a large percentage of in-state students because it is a public state school and, thus, has mandates to admit a good portion of the tax-paying public of Michigan.
That said, the overall admissions policy for UM never struck me as overly critical of out-of-state students. I was from MI and my wife was from MA, and we were comparable applicants and both of us got in without too much delay. There were actually more students from her HS than mine admitted to UM (I think 4:2), and her school seemingly sends the top 15% to Ivies/Stanford/elite schools. She knew of a decent number of students who applied to UM, but many decided to go to other schools or balked at the tuition. My guess is that is what keeps out-of-state students out more than anything else - the cost of the education is simply too steep given the wealth of local options they probably enjoy.
But I find it really hard to believe that 100 out of a 330 person graduating class is going to Michigan.
Forget about the 65% requirement and the fact that M loves diversity (lacrosse from N. Dakota anyone?), the out \-of-state applicants have far better “resumes” than in-state kids. When I was an undergrad, if you didn’t get into M and were from Michigan, you were a scrub. Period.
"When you applied" is a key point. Pre-common app the competition for admissions spots was much lower. I'm going to be a sophmore so I went through this only a few years ago (and on the first year of the common app). I saw kids who didn't apply early not get in that I considered to be far from scrubs. Things like 32 ACT scores ending up flat out denied. And I was in-state.
My brother applied pre-common app with a 31, captain of track team, high GPA, and a job and was denied. I'm not questioning your experience, but anecdotal evidence tends to point to a couple of outliers, not the norm.
Good to know that your completely scientific and well-research opinion that "you were a scrub" if you didn't get into UM trumps the knowledge of someone who actually worked in the admissions.
Off Topic, or anything that might be considered beyond the normal scope of the board. The OT Rule is more strictly enforced during the season. To provide an idea of what is OT, anything related directly to the University Of Michigan is not OT.
As for applying to Michigan, I did it as early as possible, fulfilled all requirements of the application to the literal interpretation save for the essay, where you really can set yourself apart. I would definitely recommend finding a clever and thoughtful way to talk about your achievements to date and some of your aspirations and perhaps tie these together when you apply.
I obviously don't attend Michigan, but I applied and was accepted, and either way, there are some tips to get in a good position.
1. I used the summer before my senior year to pile up volunteer opportunities: Local public schools, a museum, youth sports teams, Metro Parks. An applicant instantly stands out with diverse experiences.
2. To reiterate what everyone else has said, apply as early as you can. Not only does it help with getting in/waitlist, it makes it easier to get a full picture of your college options.
3. Take the ACT/SAT until you're completely satisfied, most schools have a financial aid scale that could add up to 1000 dollars for every few ACT/SAT score levels.
4. Perhaps most importantly: Don't write clichéd or common essays. Sometimes it's a holistic process that comes down to the strength of essay, and yes, make sure it's proofread by an English teacher or the like, but more importantly, make sure it's unique, and integrates your reasons why you would be a useful addition to their academic community.
you applied and were accepted at Michigan and attended Ohio instead? Rational?
I don't go to Ohio, actually, but that's beside the point.
Being a resident of Ohio, not Michigan, and looking for a comparable education considering with a looming grad program, undergrad really isn't valued as highly as it may seem, I made the correct choice.
If the money would've made sense, I wouldn't be at either school.
It sounds like if money weren't an issue, he would have gone to a more expensive school, i.e. an Ivy.
Also, I applied to State, even though I had no intention of going there. Need to keep options open, and Michigan is a great option to have.
Yeah that's pretty much it. Worked really hard for two years so I could have choices, and so when I went to make my decision, I looked at the results of my work, and decided that since undergrad isn't as consequential as law school will be, I'd skip the big debt and go instate.
That was my guess, but I was wondering the logic of applying to a school you never would have attended that was out of state. Yeah, I applied to State and got in because it was there, but I didn't apply to NW or NYU because I didn't ever intend to attend those institutions given the cost issue.
And while I hear people say money is always an issue with the Ivies, virtually all have financing and grant money for financially "weaker" candidates that typically extends well into household incomes of $200k. In fact, a couple of friends who did attend the Ivies (Harvard and Columbia) reported that it was cheaper to go to those schools than some in-state options.
Apply AS EARLY AS YOU CAN. To this day I know I would not have gotten in if I had not applied as early as I did (and made sure they knew in my essays "If I get accepted, THIS IS WHERE I'M GOING TO GO"). I believe I sent my application in early October or so.
apply early action. I'm assuming you have a high GPA with challenging classes, otherwise you probably wouldn't be applying. Make sure you've done very well on the ACT and/or SAT and make sure you've volunteered and participated in many extracurricular activities. The essays are very important. Write them, proofread them, re-write them, have someone else proofread them, rewrite them and repeat. I did all of these things as an out of stater, and I got in. Now, I don't go to Michigan, but that's a story for another day.
P.S. Don't forget how lucky you are that you get to use the Common App. I had to wrtie separate essays and applications for Michigan and then all the other schools I applied to. That was not fun.
My school was fortunate enough to have admissions people come from UoM and read our essays. The lady read mine and said it was perfect (even though it was like three pages long instead of one). The Common App would have been nice too. I applied to four schools when I was a senior in HS and only one used the Common App...
I waited till around Thanksgiving and I'm lucky to have gotten in. I knew several people who had already applied before the first day of our senior year. Do that
1. apply early
2. apply early
3. write an essay about yourself and what you would bring to campus
ps. if u dont get in, trust me, its not the end of the world, u can always go to a local school for a semester or a yr and still transfer and have an awesome time
I'm an incoming out of state freshman, and applied early action. I got in, but then my friend who applied January (Michigan wasn't his first choice) got waitlisted. I was top 10 in my class and he was like 14th or so. So it's not like there was a large difference in how smart we are. Applying early definitely helps.
As a corollary to applying early, your references may be inundated with requests for recommendation letters once school starts in the fall. Contact them now and ask them for recommendation letters while they have time over the summer to write them.
If your HS counselor has to fill out school information on your application, put in your request for that ASAP as well. If you wait until school starts in the fall, your counselor will be dealing with beginning of the school year issues which could delay the submission of your application.
It can be very annoying to spend your summer completing your part of the application, only to be at the mercy of others before it can be submitted.
Apply early and many dittos to what has already been posted.
Once you get in, make sure your selection of a major has a reasonable chance of getting you employed. or into a graduate program with employment potential (assuming, of course, you have a clue as to what you want to do for a career when you "grow up").
Good luck and Go Blue!
I can't agree more with your point about focusing your major on employment. The job market is really tough, even for graduates of top universities. My advice would be to major in something practical (business, economics, etc) and then find a way to weave your passions into your life or profession. There are a lot of people who love history and art, but there just aren't many jobs out there for people without exceptional talents in those fields. There are a lot of unemployed / severely underemployed PhDs out there.
Can anyone elaborate on transferring (undergrad) or grad school admissions? Very interesting / helpful to see opinions from a UM community. Any chance of an automatic denial if I'm a Columbus native? If so, I'm moving to Ann Arbor, attending the nearest CC for a year (in-state tuition at this point I hope), and reapplying. Go Blue.
There are plenty of Columbus natives at UM.
It's not where you come from that matters, it's where you go!
I transfered into the architecture program as an undergrad in 2010 after finishing my transfer program/A.S. degree at Kalamzoo Valley C.C. in 2009. I transfered with a GPA of 3.86. They also wanted my SAT scores and high school transcripts even though I graduated from high school back in 1998. I had a decent admissions portfolio.
After talking with a few professors about admissions, the one thing that UM loves to see/hear about in applicants is what the student will offer the school in the way of diversity. So when you get to the required diversity essay, try to think of something more than typical cliche . . . I wrote about the lack of diversity in Michigan compared to the SF Bay Area where I grew up and the culture shock I experienced after moving to Michigan.
Plan ahead! Make damn well sure the classes you take at the C.C. level are transferable to UM. There's no point in taking uselss classes that won't transfer or won't cover as prerequisites. Some people transfer in earlier than their third year . . . I personally don't see a plus to this, as the C.C. route gets the gen-ed requirements out of the way for a whole lot less money than taking them at UM - they're also a whole lot easier at the C.C. level!
I graduated with my B.S. in 2012 and applied for Grad school at UM in December 2011. About a quarter of the people in my class (~25 out of 109 grads) submitted grad applications to UM for architecture; only 3 or 4 were initially accepted and the rest of us were waitlisted (most, if not all, were in-state applicants). I was the first person in my class accepted off the waitlist (I think everyone one was eventually accepted). I finished with a GPA of 3.78 and had an appalling GRE score that I won't even bother advertising - I did have, once again, a decent admissions portfolio. I also received letters of recommendation from three of my professors making sure they focused on different areas and strengths so I didn't present as too one-dimensional as a student.
One of my former professors was on the college's admissions commitee and her biggest gripe about grad apps was the lack of a clear explaination as to why a student was applying to UM for grad school in their Statement of Purpose. What is it about a particular program that makes a student want to come to Michigan? What is it about Michigan's program that makes it desirable to you as a student and inidividual? She also said all of your required letters of recommendation should come from people in academia who know what the hell to put in a letter of rec. She told me that adding in one or two additional letters of rec from people outside academia are OK, but that she gave letters from academics much much more weight than say, a former boss, etc.
And as has been rehashed over and over in the responses above . . . start early and get your application in as soon as you can muster. Request transcripts be sent to admissions as soon as you start your application. They'll start a file for you even if you haven't finished your application . . .
As for in-state tuition at UM, you probably won't be eligable. UM has some of the strictest eligibilty rules for in-state tuition I've ever had to face off against. I worked full-time for three years prior to applying for undergrad - just the amount of time needed to quilify as an in-state applicant. If your parents live in Michigan or a spouse works full-time in Michigan, there are ways to establish in-state status.Additionally, I received in-state status for KVCC the minute I received a Michigan drivers license.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8129495/arkansas-coach-john-l-smith-facing-bankruptcy
Current Arkansas and former Michigan State coach John L. Smith to declare bankruptcy as a result of "several land developments gone bust in Kentucky".
Keep in mind that Smith is set to make $850,000 this year as coach of Arkansas.
Feel free to post as its own thread, obviously. I don't have quite enough points to post.
My two biggest pieces of advice:
1. Get it done early. It makes your life so much easier once they are done.
2. Make sure your teachers who are sending in your letters of recommendation have sent them in. I forgot to check with the teacher who was sending in my Michigan recommendation, and after waiting more than two months longer to hear back from Michigan than most of my friends, I decided to ask him if he had sent it in (on December 10th, a month or two after the letters were do for the early applications) and he told me that he had forgotten. Needless to say, I regret not checking in with him earlier. Luckily once the letter got in I was accepted, and the rest is history.