UM releases new class admission statistics, overall acceptance rate down to 23.5%

Submitted by SAMgO on

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2018/06/university_of_michigan_receive_8.html

Key figures from the article:

Overall - 65,684 applications, 15,468 accepted, overall acceptance rate of 23.5%. 10.6% increase in applications from last year.

In-State - 12,521 applications, 5,141 accepted, acceptance rate of 41.1%. 8.9% increase in in-state applications from last year.

Out-of-State - 44.014 applications, 10,327 accepted, acceptance rate of 19.4%. 23% (!!) increase in out-of-state applications from last year.

Doesn't look like there is any GPA or test score data out yet.

SAMgO

June 13th, 2018 at 3:57 PM ^

Just realized I omitted international applicants - it says that 9,149 applied, up 4.4% from last year, but does not give a number accepted. Has to be quite low.

bronxblue

June 13th, 2018 at 4:27 PM ^

That application number must have been goosed by the common application form.  It's been nearly two decades since I applied to Michigan, but I remember it being made crystal clear that you had to use their own forms to apply.  

BlueMan80

June 13th, 2018 at 5:30 PM ^

I do HAIL interviews for the Engineering school and all of my students got skunked this year.  No one accepted, most got the wait list.  Now I see why.

taut

June 13th, 2018 at 9:39 PM ^

No way in hell I would get into UM Engineering today. Absolutely no way.

3.1 GPA in HS. No AP classes. Senior year of HS I took three classes -- Creative Writing (the easiest English class), Computer Math (the easiest math) and a 2-hour Auto Shop class. SAT high 13XX obviously helped, but compared to kids today? No way. I probably wouldn't get into MSU today either.

Ended up getting a better GPA in Engineering that I did in HS. Worked a lot harder too.

MichiganTeacher

June 14th, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^

What year did you graduate? 

It's very hard to compare, but if you got 1300+ on the old SAT, frankly you could sleep harder than Michael Jackson and still come out of HS today with a GPA way higher than 3.1.

If you somehow did have a 3.1 GPA today, yeah, you wouldn't get into UM, especially engineering.

But these days for that same effort you'd much more likely be around 3.75, and that combined with a near 1500 SAT (my guess if you got in the 1300s thirty years ago) would probably get you in UM.

Ghost of Fritz…

June 13th, 2018 at 11:32 PM ^

I guess the percent of OOS students is high, but....

1.  Undergrad acceptance rate for OOS applicants in much lower than for in-state applicants.

2.  The fact that Michigan has so many graduate students really boosts the overall campus-wide percentage of OOS students (though the percent of even undergrad OOS students is not low). 

RGard

June 14th, 2018 at 12:10 PM ^

This is 3 years old, but my son was accepted for the freshman 2016/2017 LSA class.  He had a 4.38 GPA, 2275 SAT and 35 ACT and attended the science & math academy HS in our county.

We couldn't afford out of state tuition (we live in VA) and couldn't see him being .25 million dollars in debt after 4 years, but there was a scholarship offered to residents of VA, IL and I think the UP.  I bugged him to apply for it as it would have reduced the price to what we would pay in VA with instate tuition.  He blew off applying for the scholarship as he wanted to attend William and Mary.

Well, at least we got to see the Hoke revenge game against App State right after the UofM tour we did when we were looking at schools for him.

Alumnus93

June 13th, 2018 at 7:53 PM ^

thank you for this...

I've heard from 17 (SEVENTEEN) nephews and nieces, most of which went to MSU, tell me that its "so much harder to get into Michigan now" from the time I went in 1988.   Data shows 41% instate acceptance rate... well when I applied, it was easily a 1 to 4 acceptance rate (thus 25%) from all the kids who applied from my high school Birmingham Seaholm, and these were a lot of smart kids.

4yearsofhoke

June 13th, 2018 at 9:06 PM ^

I went to a school of about 1000 in SW Michigan. Graduated in 2011. My class had IIRC 6 got to UM. Mlive posted an article about where hs students are going to college in MI. I think my school's 2017 grad class had 1-2 go to UM. Really shocking how much harder it is these days.

chuck bass

June 13th, 2018 at 9:17 PM ^

From what I've seen, kids know that unless they're in the very top of their class, it's not worth the time or $75 fee to even try. Four years of all A's, hard classes, documented leadership and volunteering, and at least a 90-percentile SAT score. And half of them are still rejected!

taut

June 13th, 2018 at 9:48 PM ^

It's tough. My daughter applied this year and got waitlisted. She's heading off to State (kill me) with hopes of transferring after Freshman year.

3.7 (weighted, so not great), 99% verbal but 70% math. 10 AP classes. Lots of extra-curriculars, leadership, NHS, 4-year varsity swimmer.

Her math grades and test scores killed her. She's just not a math person. Total opposite of me.

Wendyk5

June 13th, 2018 at 9:27 PM ^

I know two kids who got into Michigan out of state. One was wait listed. GPA's were 4.0-ish (on a 5 scale), their ACT's were in the 31-33 range. One was a two sport kid, the other a one sport kid. The one sport kid was a team leader (kind of like a captain). Both had a lot of community service. Really solid, well-rounded kids. 

MichiganTeacher

June 13th, 2018 at 9:42 PM ^

I had one student apply and get in last year. Great kid, good not amazing test scores, slight chance of making Olympics one day.

Had another apply this year and not get in, which was probably the right decision - however she did get into UNC (seemed about right to me).

It's really, really hard to compare college and college admissions now to when I went to UM (early 90s). Just one example: the SAT math sections are very different. Used to be a slow ramp up in difficulty throughout the sections. Now every question but the last one or two are very easy. I mean very easy compared to what used to be there. But the last one or two are hard. So, it's tough to compare. My gut feeling is that a) the 'harder to get the test scores necessary' is mostly shenanigans, as in my judgment the 1250-level student from the 90s seems to be pushing 1400 now and the 1300-levels from 1995 are definitely in the upper 1400s or 1500s; but also b) it's just harder for kids to learn how to study and to have time to focus on schoolwork now with SO. MUCH. STUFF. going on in their lives. My two cents as a teacher since 95 and SAT tutor since before that.

skwogler

June 14th, 2018 at 12:22 AM ^

There are lies, damn lies and statistics.

Stacked data due to common application form usage boosting sum total of applications and thereby reducing the acceptance rate.

That said, I'd guess UM remains among the most selective public universities in the USA.

HHW

June 14th, 2018 at 7:17 AM ^

My two cents having recently done the tour and official visit.

There is A LOT more that goes into their decision than gpa and test scores.  The routinely turn down 4.0s and 1500+ SAT scores.  The "Why Michigan" essay is extremely important, especially for high achieving students.  They know you're going to have your choice of schools and they want to know why M over Ivy league, Stanford, NW, etc.  They don't want to be a backup school.  I would highly recommend a visit for your kid if they are close.  It is eye opening.

MichiganTeacher

June 14th, 2018 at 8:50 AM ^

Not buying it.

Routinely turn down 4.0s, sure.

Routinely turn down 1500s+, no way. I have never had a student score in the 1500s who didn't get into UM if she applied. Would be a shock if that happened. 

JFW

June 14th, 2018 at 8:36 AM ^

My kids won’t go. But just because we can’t afford it unless they get a ton of grants. It’s nit worth being an assload in debt with a BS anymore, imho.

WeimyWoodson

June 14th, 2018 at 1:45 PM ^

I would have loved to go to UM, and was really considering it back in high school.  I knew I was most likely going to be an education major and be a teacher (I am, love it, and it was a career I'm made for) and figured it didn't make sense as an out of state kid to go 200K+ in debt to be an education and history major.

GregBrown

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