Record Applicants to UM = Frazzled Alum/Parent/MGoBlogger

Submitted by 1989 UM GRAD on December 11th, 2018 at 5:47 PM

As an alum (and married to an alum) parent of a current 12th grader, I've been working quite hard to manage my stress regarding the wait to hear from Michigan.

Well, the stress-control dam just broke wide open.  Alumni parents of applicants for Fall 2019 just received an email from the University.  The tl;dr version is that a record number of Early Action applications were received.  As a result, a "decision may not reach your student until spring."

Ugh!  Someone, please hold me.

FauxMo

December 11th, 2018 at 5:56 PM ^

This probably won't help, but there are lots of good schools out there. And while UM is better than most, it's not like your kid will end up in the gutter if they go somewhere else. Plus, you might save $100,000 in the process! 

Brodie

December 12th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^

Michigan State is one of the top 100 universities in the world according to the same ranking that U of M continually touts because it places us in the top 10. 

I mean I get that nobody wants to hear it, but any of the top 100 universities in the US News & World Report rankings and even some in the top 150 are essentially the same if you aren't going into a field like law where prestige is everything... and even then undergrad doesn't matter at all.

 Over the past few years I have been slowly working on an online graduate degree from the University of Iowa. I'm doing it all very part-time because my work is paying for it, but I have made a couple of trips to Iowa City just to get the lay of the land. Each time it strikes me that, in both form and function, the school is incredibly similar to Michigan. I've also felt that way while traveling in Madison and visiting friends who now live in Berkeley. There are plenty of good schools in this country and you don't need to be obsessed with one of them at the exclusion of the others.

Brodie

December 15th, 2018 at 2:49 PM ^

This assumes there is any meaning to university rankings in the first place, especially for undergraduate education. Which is a deeply dubious assumption to make. The reason that schools like Michigan cling to the Times is because it (arguably) overvalues American public universities while most American publications have been consistently ranking them lower and lower each year (which is why USNWR thinks there are ~30 better universities than Michigan). I will take all the downvotes you guys want to give me, but UM has more in common with MSU as than it does with Harvard, which is why we selectively highlight university rankings that don't think being like Harvard is the coolest beans. That alone should tell you what a joke the entire concept is.  

The top 100 universities in the country are functionally identical in terms of resources, which is what really makes them different to lower ranked institutions. Michigan has money and ties to industry, but so does (say) Minnesota. It might be instructive to consider your views on other schools in the Big Ten that are ranked around MSU (Indiana, Iowa) and whether or not you view them as similarly poor... if not, your views on Michigan State may not be entirely rational. The real gap is not between Michigan and MSU, it's between Michigan/MSU and, like, CMU/GVSU.  As the old saying goes, they don't teach you different facts... the difference is in rockstar faculty, research budgets, and the caliber of internships available. Michigan isn't outrageously better than the rest of the B1G at any of those, so it is perhaps not worth quiblbling over which B1G school your child attends. 

James Burrill Angell

December 11th, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^

Usually. This letter was ultra confusing. Not sure if it meant they were pushing back the EA deadline or just setting up the alums with kids who applied for deferral process. It’s very unclear and considering the amount of stress right now knowing the usual notice date is about two weeks away, kind of badly timed. I would have waited until the day that they send out the EA notices or sent something a little more clear. 

PM

December 11th, 2018 at 6:01 PM ^

Good luck. Having been through this twice, most recently one year ago, you have my sympathy. Once the application is submitted there's not much you can do but wait and hope. It may be difficult to keep perspective, but worse case your kid doesn't get accepted... they will be ok. It's more about what you do once you get there. If they really, really have their heart set on UM, they can always transfer in if they take care of business at whatever school they ultimately land at. Even MSU.

Having said that, my daughter gained a new appreciation of UM after visiting friends at state for a football game this year. She really wanted to leave town for school (we live in the A2) but you can't beat the education for the $$.  

Smegmatic Blue

December 11th, 2018 at 6:05 PM ^

The level of education you can get at MSU is probably nearly as good as UofM in many cases, but the culture and level of class at MSU seems quite a bit lower. And it becomes pretty obvious when you spend time at the campuses consecutively.

jblaze

December 11th, 2018 at 6:47 PM ^

Every large school has its share of everything. 

My sister-in-law went to PSU and studied so much, she never watched a PSU sporting event (I don’t mean attend). She had her clique of “nerds” that legit studied as much as possible (not the I’m anti jock attitude). Graduated in 3 years and is a Dr. 

TrueBlue2003

December 12th, 2018 at 12:24 AM ^

There are smart, nerdy kids at MSU and he'll probably find them, he'll just have to look harder than he would at Michigan (where everyone is a nerd to some degree). He may get frustrated with all the bros that will outnumber the nerds while he's looking, but placing into the right classes and getting involved with the right extracurriculars will speed the process.

 

Smegmatic Blue

December 11th, 2018 at 6:02 PM ^

As a person who owns a few student rental properties in Ann Arbor, this is pleasing to me.

Keep those applications flowing in baby! Daddy needs a couple more pairs of shoes....