My son was admitted to Michigan!

Submitted by RGard on

We got back from seeing Star Wars and my son read his email and found out he was admitted to UofM, LSA!  We wants to be a microbiologist.

I'm thrilled, if he decides to go to Michigan he will be the 4th generation in our family to go there.  

We're out of state (VA) so paying for this will be problematic, but he is applying for scholarships.

I suspect he would rather attend William and Mary or UVA, but hopefully he'll...

GO BLUE!

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sadeto

December 19th, 2015 at 6:59 PM ^

"Best in the world" should be taken with a big grain of salt when you spend your first 1-2 years essentially being taught by grad students most of the time (like me). Those 2 schools provide excellent undergraduate education and send many of their grads to UM grad programs. I had a roommate who went to UVa undergrad before joining our doctoral program at UM. He hated Ann Arbor and wasn't too crazy about our program either (grad school can suck a lot of the time). I had another friend from W&M who got her PhD in a different program than mine at UM and liked AA and is now a relatively well known scholar. All depends on what you want to get out of it. His son can get a world class education at any of the 3 schools. Football is another story. ..

Joined: 01/17/2014

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ghostofhoke

December 19th, 2015 at 7:26 PM ^

Maybe football isn't the end all be all for everyone when making a college decision. The valedictorian at my high school didn't get accepted to Virginia, I got into Michigan (and was not valedictorian). It's a world class education, there are many schools that provide a world class education and yes the point about being taught by GA's vs professors is a huge one if you care about your education and what your goals are. It's obnoxious because it makes you sound a) ignorant and b) completely pompous which is not a good look. Questioning someone's decision making process when they choose something other than Michigan is really a terrible look--whether it's Bama for football or Michigan State for football or basketball. Michigan was a great fit for you, and for me, awesome. Lucky us. There were plenty of people I knew in college who didn't have the same opinion. Both W&M and Virginia as schools have just as much or arguably more tradition and prestige as Michigan does. There is no reason to disrespect that. Virginia is probably the best in state tuition value in the country. And maybe his kid is a soccer or lax fan, if that's the case then both schools are way better choices than Michigan.



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TheHarbaughEffect

December 19th, 2015 at 5:59 PM ^

I am in HS (and live in Ohio) and my dream school is Michigan. I have only gotten A's since I've been in school and also play football, basketball, and baseball, and sing in the men's chorus. I am also in the student council at my school and am planning on doing volunteer work fro a local organization soon. Do you guys have any thoughts/suggestions for me?

Joined: 10/19/2015

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4yearsofhoke

December 19th, 2015 at 6:15 PM ^

Agree with everybody saying UVA in-state is an option better than or equal to UM. I had a similar dilemma while applying to undergrad. Got into UM, but got a guarenteed transfer offer (with some lax standards) to an Ivy my dad went to (Legacy). At that point I was pretty bummed, but my experience at Michigan could not have been any better. Had in-state tuition and saved ~100k for 4 years.  And I can guarantee that an education at UVA, Michigan, or about any Ivy is essentially equal for undergrad.

One thing you won't get at most Ivy's though or some other options is a town like Ann Arbor to go to college in. You'll appreciate it when you graduate. The bar scene is 10/10, safety (around campus and essentially the entire town) is 10/10, and if you like food the food is 10/10. I don't like the cold too much so weather is probably a 6/10. And, there's literally no comparison sport wise to UMich. I had 4 years of Hoke (2 were pretty good), but still sports were amazing including bball.

To the applicants with ?s. Best way to get in IMO (I think I was admitted during the first surge of applicants due to the Common App) is to 1. Be in-state. and 2. Apply as early as possible.

Joined: 12/19/2015

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notYOURmom

December 19th, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^

As far as I know there is no "guaranteed transfer" into any Ivy school. Princeton doesn't accept. Harvard's you could count on your fingers and toes. Yale takes 2 % some years less others.

All of these are conditioned not only on outstanding academics but on a really narrow and focused curricular reason for the transfer ("I want to study Linear B with Professor SoandSo"), the likes of which could not be predicted on behalf of a high school senior.

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4yearsofhoke

December 20th, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^

I think you should Google "guaranteed transfer" and Ivy League before you make assumptions (you'll find out the school). It definately does happen and I'm not talking about Yale, Princeton, or H. I'm now in a pretty damn good grad school after getting a degree from UM.

They obviously screen your application when you apply initially (from HS) and it's essentially a deferal to yield protect, but it happens every year.

Regular transfers (aka you didn't apply in the first place to the Ivy out of HS) I've heard are very rare.

Joined: 12/19/2015

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bigike

December 19th, 2015 at 6:39 PM ^

My daughter was deferred admission. Admissions would like her first semester transcripts before their decision. She is a 4.0 student with a 27 ACT. She is loaded with extra curriculars. Varsity sports, music, Deca, NHS. Her class load is very tough with many AP classes. My question is,was anyone deferred and what was their outcome?

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KBGoBlue

December 19th, 2015 at 9:44 PM ^

Deferrals are very, very common these days. It's hard to know why someone was deferred, since many students who could be successful at UM are not admitted every year. The acceptance rate has plumetted in the last ten years.

Along with her transcript, it doesn't hurt to send *one* letter conveying her maintained interest, and stating that UM would be her top choice if she were admitted. (If that is true.)

Also, if time permits, a new ACT score (or a SAT score) could help. Has she taken the exam more than once? 

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The Mad Hatter

December 19th, 2015 at 7:03 PM ^

This must be one of the proudest days of your life. I hope to be making a similar post this time next year when my little girl applies. Luckily for my wallet we're in state. I wish your boy all the luck and happiness life can provide, no matter where he chooses to go to college.

Joined: 02/17/2015

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MGoStretch

December 19th, 2015 at 9:10 PM ^

Congratulations, that's fantastic.  FWIW, microbiology at Michigan is pretty great (or at least it was a dozen years ago when that was my major.  The final exam for the intro micro course was bascially a choose your own adventure story where the exam taker was the doctor on a cruise ship. Each question advanced the story and would have things like, "the ships' chef Frank has twice been suspended for health code violations but the boat's owners are too cheap to fire him.  In the past 3 hours, 14 guests have come to your office with crampy abdominal pain and 15 others have been sighted barfing over the side of the boat.  A gram stain of the left over stew from last night reveals gram positive cocci, what is the most likely toxin causing their symptoms".  If I remember, there were a couple of  dramatic love triangles involving related infectious complications as well. Sorry for the nerd-tangent, but congrats again.

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Zoltanrules

December 19th, 2015 at 9:33 PM ^

My oldest got in last year. Tonight she went to the YSU hoops game and next week will go to the Citrus Bowl. UM hockey jersey for Xmas. And she had good grades for the first semester! Just very proud and happy she is having a great time soaking in the UM experience. Hope your kids have similar experiences wherever they wind up!

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LSAClassOf2000

December 19th, 2015 at 9:39 PM ^

I know there was something that was dressed as a general thread for this earlier today, but it is nice to see the individual reactions from our proud MGoParents as well. Congratulations to your son, RGard, and from the MGoCommunity, do welcome him to the Michigan family!

Joined: 01/07/2011

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Mr. Elbel

December 19th, 2015 at 10:26 PM ^

Kinda funny... I never had the grades to have a hope of getting into UM so I went to school in VA after growing up in Michigan. Hope your son gets to experience the opposite there!

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JWGroomes

December 20th, 2015 at 12:33 AM ^

You should be so proud of your son. Not only is he going to one of the GREATEST UNIVERSITY's in the country for academics, but he's going to be there when MICHIGAN wins it's first National Championship since 1997. GO BLUE

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M-Dog2020

December 20th, 2015 at 1:45 AM ^

Got two out of state tuition kids ... but totally worth it. Duke and Cornell are like $69k per annum - Michigan is a deal in comparison. And IMO ... way better. Who has it better than us? NOBODY !

Joined: 05/21/2015

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2timeloozer

December 20th, 2015 at 9:00 AM ^

My kid is a junior at Brother Rice and would be 3rd gen on both sides of the family!  Wants Aero Engineering. I know he'll knockdown a 32-34 in the ACT, but to keep it interesting, he's consistently pulling just a 3.5.....It's going to be MIchigan, RPI, or Purdue.  For once my heart and wallet are in the same place.

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RGard

December 21st, 2015 at 7:12 AM ^

Thanks for the wonderful responses.  I read a bunch of them to my wife and son.  

It is so great being part of this community.

Go Blue!

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