Record Applicants to UM = Frazzled Alum/Parent/MGoBlogger
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.
December 11th, 2018 at 7:48 PM ^
it usually is by Christmas which is what this year’s applicants were told but what the OP is referring to is a bizarre email that was sent only (pursuant to the language of the email) to alums (not the kids) who had kids applying for Early Action this cycle. It was an extremely poorly worded letter that when I saw it made me think it was somehow softening the blow of an impending rejection. That said, nobody gets rejected in Early Action. It’s really poorly timed and poorly worded. My kid isn’t applying. I just know people who got this email and sent it to me to decipher. I do work with the Alumni Student Recruiter corps and I’ve never heard of this letter. It must be new.
December 12th, 2018 at 7:00 AM ^
It freaked me out. I assumed they were already telling me my kid was rejected. He's worked really hard and I hope it's enough- Michigan resident, 35 ACT, top 2 in class (they release rankings in Jan.). Of course, I can't help but think it was a note saying my kid is already wait listed. Happy to hear everyone got it. Fingers crossed.
December 11th, 2018 at 7:51 PM ^
If you're an out-of-stater like I was, you should at least get an update from admissions before they leave for their Christmas break, which is usually the last Friday before the holiday (so the 21st this year).
Also heavily encourage your son or daughter to send a letter (email) of continued interest to their admissions counselor. If UM is their top choice, I'd even recommend saying that directly.
Other than that, I sadly have no updates or advice. I'm a current senior from out-of-state who applied early action and got deferred in December, before they emailed me randomly in late February/early March with an acceptance. The admissions team is slow but steady, so hopefully your child hears back sooner rather than later. Good luck!
December 11th, 2018 at 7:52 PM ^
Lots of great schools in Michigan and he/she could always transfer in.
December 11th, 2018 at 7:53 PM ^
Hang in there my friend. I felt your stress 2 times over. Fortunately it worked out for mine and I'm sure it will for your child as well. One of my buddies has a son that didn't get in so he went to GVSU for a year, and then got into UM as a transfer student. He graduated, and now is in a masters program at UM. Anything can happen. Stay positive and patient.
December 11th, 2018 at 7:53 PM ^
I love how this is about the OP’s stress level, while never once mentioning whether their child was actually concerned about this...
December 11th, 2018 at 8:17 PM ^
Well, it was my post. So thus the focus on my feelings.
December 11th, 2018 at 8:00 PM ^
The spotlight has been shined on certain demographics recently. It is crowding EA at selective schools for safety now according to a well-placed "friend." It may resolve well depending on your demographic. Consider the chart and keep in mind CalTech is the benchmark for pure merit whereas Harvard and Yale are predominately nepotism and prep schools. Best of good luck to the kiddo.
December 11th, 2018 at 8:29 PM ^
Source of chart?
December 11th, 2018 at 8:47 PM ^
The Harvard diversity lawsuit.
December 11th, 2018 at 11:23 PM ^
The chart is odd and misleading. What is up with "unknown race"? I.e., how is it possible that a full 12% of the Harvard class is of "unknown race"? And why is that a column in this chart? And why is there no column for African American or Latino? Wouldn't those columns have more relevance to diversity of enrollment across these schools than a column for "unknown race"?
December 11th, 2018 at 8:39 PM ^
CalTech is an engineering school with essentially no other offerings. Not much of a benchmark.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:09 PM ^
It's a benchmark if your kid is STEM like me through grad degree. It's a benchmark for selection based strictly on demonstrable objective aptitude. You cannot buy your way into CalTech. You can buy your way into Brown, Columbia, Harvard and Yale. And Northwestern. And Michigan.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:57 PM ^
Caltech is an amazing school with only 948 undergrad students. Computer Science is now the #1 degree program but most kids get double majors involving two STEM areas. Stem research and demonstrated STEM passion are valued.
Being good at sports doesn't help you get in (like it can at MIT, Princeton or some other top school that have some competitive teams). Being a legacy child or giving money doesn't appear to help like it does at the Ivies and ,yes even U of M. They really don't care about race. Having top test scores is a given but they don't have to be perfect. It is a total meritocracy.
December 11th, 2018 at 10:00 PM ^
Your original post made it seem as if CalTech was a benchmark for merit relative to HUG and others. Now you’re backtracking. CalTech is a totally different beast than 99.9% of schools world wide and isn’t a benchmark for much of anything.
December 11th, 2018 at 11:43 PM ^
Caltech has a humanities department and social sciences, just not arts. So, it has the L and S parts of LS&A.
December 12th, 2018 at 12:19 AM ^
How many English majors is CalTech pumping out on an annual basis?
December 12th, 2018 at 4:24 AM ^
When I was there for grad school, I think it was about 1999 out of 2000 students.
No, of course, science/engineering-heavy schools (like Caltech and MIT) don't produce a lot of English majors; and liberal arts colleges (like Amherst, Wellesley, and Grinnel) don't produce a lot of engineers (some of them don't have engineering).
So? When places do rankings and when there are compendiums of schools, comparing them to each other, the large (like Michigan) and small (like Caltech) are all put into the mix.
December 12th, 2018 at 10:39 AM ^
Rankings like recruiting are self serving and what you make of them.
Btw, my son is taking a Poli Sci final today at Caltech, (but considers it worthless lol). Doing STEM research, working at JPL or working for a Google spin off like Niantic (pokemon Go) in silicon valley seem to be what the undergrads study for.
Pasadena is just awesome, except when the Buckeyes are there. Go Huskies!
December 12th, 2018 at 10:48 PM ^
Congratulations to your son!
Yep, poli sci is not king at caltech.
If you haven,t gone yet, i recommend zankou chicken tarna plate, roscoe,s chicken n waffles, and golden lion mongolian bbq.
December 13th, 2018 at 12:33 AM ^
Thanks for the recs. Will definitely try them on my next visit. My swim/w.polo son loves chicken and has a Michael Phelps diet said he's been to two of those fine establishments.
What did you study and how did you become a UM fan?
December 13th, 2018 at 9:16 PM ^
BSE in nuclear engineering from Michigan, back when Jim Harbaugh was our quarterback. :) Then MS in applied physics from Caltech and Ph.D. in computation and neural systems from Caltech.
Oh, I remember another dish I love from Pasadena: spicy Szechuan wonton soup from Yang Chow. Mmmmm!
December 13th, 2018 at 11:57 PM ^
Chem E. during the Leach, Wangler, Smith era. Took the easier route afterwards and got a masters at Ross (before it was Ross). Went to the 83 Rose Bowl and thought I was in heaven. My son hasn't been in an indoor pool since he left Michigan and has played IM football in the Rose Bowl. Very proud and envious, but glad I don't have to do problem sets.
BTW your posts make me hungry.
December 14th, 2018 at 3:44 AM ^
We were there together for some years then! I am class of '85.
Caltech is quite interesting in sports. Despite such a small number of students, it has a large assortment of sports for students to participate in. I played on the hockey team when I was there. We played UCLA, UC Irvine, etc. back when they didn't have big programs, just club programs. We played MIT once and got annihilated, 10-1 or some atrocious score like that, but we had fun.
Well, it's an interesting place in a lot of ways.
One of the reasons I went there is that, when I was thinking of grad schools, I talked to Duderstadt, who was a nuclear engineering professor and dean of engineering at the time, and he was from Caltech.
What does you son study at Caltech?
December 14th, 2018 at 2:13 PM ^
Duderstadt was a great Dean. I wish I had networked more but once I got into B school I checked out. Maybe I burned out?
He son is a sophomore and started out thinking he would be a ME but is now a ,Polysci and English major lol .... no, a CS major and possibly a second major in Math. He plays polo and swims for Caltech. Sort of like Northwestern back in our day. Last year they won their first SCIAC polo match in 16 years! The swim team is better and he just missed out on NCAA's last year. Still it is all about school first and getting a good internship now.
Have you seen the movie Quantum Hoops narrated by David Duchovny? Perhaps the greatest basketball coach ever at any level , Gregg Popovich, said his worst loss ever was to Caltech when he was at Pomona.
December 14th, 2018 at 9:49 PM ^
Sweet! CS major from Caltech is like gold, and even better with a math minor. I'd think he'd have a good choice of places for internships. Google, Microsoft, etc. are good choices, of course. If he has any interest in quantitative finance, maybe also Goldman Sachs or other big investment banks, or smaller highly quantitative ones, like D. E. Shaw.
I haven't seen Quantum Hoops, but I will check it out.
December 12th, 2018 at 5:19 AM ^
You and your son should not let a mistake from Undergrad admissions sour your taste for Michigan and Michigan Engineering. After all, the Engineering School and its faculty were not involved in the oversight. Yes, there are other very good Engineering Schools , but Michigan has a top 10 program with a very progressive Dean in Dr. Alec Gallimore.
Wait for the decision process to be finished and make your decision. I wish your son well !
ASR
December 11th, 2018 at 8:25 PM ^
I got this email today, too. It is not saying "because of the high volume of applications we've received this year, we are no longer likely to get responses to you by Dec 24." It is simply saying "we get a lot of applications year after year and so your student may not receive a final decision until spring." It is just them reaching out and letting people know that a deferral now is not necessarily a rejection.
December 11th, 2018 at 8:31 PM ^
My son applied to Michigan and was waiting for a reply. I remember it being in April and hadn't heard anything. Son wanted to visit campus so made a trip to AA. Tour was over by about noon and I said let's go by the admissions office and see where your application stands.
Was one guy in the office who looked up son's status. Answer came back he was wait listed. Lost my cool told the guy they had better have a good story because you have wait listed a national merit scholar and the last I heard even Michigan didn't wait list them.
Guy went into his office to "check on something." Came back out of his office looking as if he had seen a ghost and said we would have an acceptance letter tomorrow. I think I know what the problem was but sometimes it pays to do a little on site visit.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:13 PM ^
eault, I love you. I wish my parents had bothered 1/100,000th as much. Fortunately I test well. Thank you for the anecdote and illuminating information.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:20 PM ^
So what was the problem?
December 12th, 2018 at 10:44 AM ^
I know two (not kidding) kids who were delayed in getting into U of M because they didn't hit the final "send" button on their application unitl after the EA deadline. Now they have portals to check all this stuff including if they are accepted via EA. Guessing on the 21st this year there will be some really happy/depressed kids?
December 11th, 2018 at 8:32 PM ^
My son had Michigan as his first, second and third choice for college. Both my father, wife and me are alumni. Alumni status really does not matter. My son was deferred and ended up not getting accepted. His grades and scores were above the Michigan average but his high school was not much of a Michigan feeder.
He went to GVSU, applied to Michigan after with one term and was accepted into Michigan. So he ended up with bachelor and master degrees from Michigan.
btw he was accepted at Illinois and Case Western out of high school, so yes I am still bitter that family alumni status really means nothing when it comes to getting accepted.
So he was unhappy with the initial decision but all turned out fine, so do not give up hope for acceptance now or later.
December 11th, 2018 at 8:46 PM ^
FWIW, I am told they track the consistency of, not amounts of, donations in helping with the "legacy" calculus.
December 11th, 2018 at 11:13 PM ^
Sort of like developing a credit score. Year's ago, I was told by a successful real estate developer to get no fee credit cards at a young age, buy a pair socks or something like that every month and pay it off. The credit bureaus each month scored you as a: "0" not active, "1" purchased something/owed money, or "X" bought something/ paid off. You wanted tons of "X" s and no outstanding payments due. It has nothing to do with how much you spent. Anyway it worked.
The size of the donations is tracked at the Office of Development. For a state school, U of M has a very sophisticated tracking database/program to court future donors. They know pretty much everything about you...
Parents who say they are alums but don't contribute and/or have kids that don't go to UM academic and athletic camps, take campus and college tours even before their senior year (that is tracked) and basically show a real passion for UM (admissions people don't care if you go to football games and can sing the Victors) do not seem to have much of an advantage.
The Admission Officers are looking at 60,000 applications and make very quick decisions. You have to stand out and show passion and a commitment to taking the hardest curriculum your school offers. GPA by itself means practically nothing and IB/AP courses are essential for the harder colleges.
December 11th, 2018 at 8:41 PM ^
Are they interesting in engineering? If so, relax, there are many better departments: https://eng.ua.edu/
December 11th, 2018 at 8:42 PM ^
Our 9 year old grandson has his heart set on going to Michigan. He is a very intelligent, global thinking kid who is in advanced everything-though he is the youngest in his class. I thought we had him settled on doing his undergrad at my alma mater but he keeps suggesting that he go straight to Michigan for everything-through his PhD. We have discussed what it takes to get into Michigan...in fact, just a couple days ago-again. But we are stuck out here in the middle of rural Kansas...so, out of state and no legacy. The kid is a doer...we will certainly encourage him-not stand in his way...more power to him.
December 11th, 2018 at 8:45 PM ^
Your location is going to be a big help. They want geographic diversity to the extent possible. Not a ton of Kansans. Michigan out of state is dominated by the northern Chicago burbs, NYC, southern California, Long Island, Ohio, Texas and Florida.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:17 PM ^
You should augment your grandson's education if you want to avoid heartbreak. This means math camp in the summer and the like as well as home supplementation. No matter how smart the kid cannot get into a Michigan today from the background you describe. Help him. Actively. Now please if you really mean to actualize him.
December 11th, 2018 at 10:03 PM ^
Some of these schools do take people other than robots bro. There’s more to life.
“No matter how smart, the kid cannot get into Michigan today from the background you describe.” This is total BS and wildly innacurate.
December 12th, 2018 at 5:36 AM ^
How do you possibly know that he couldn't get in ?? Last year, there were 37 students accepted from Kansas, which was more than almost two dozen other states
December 11th, 2018 at 11:21 PM ^
He's 9 and he knows already where he wants to go?
continue to encourage and support, sounds like this is a kid who will chart his own path
December 12th, 2018 at 10:47 AM ^
At that age even the smartest kid doesn't have the ability to comprehend the material concerns that will impact where they end up going to college.
December 12th, 2018 at 10:47 AM ^
At that age even the smartest kid doesn't have the ability to comprehend the material concerns that will impact where they end up going to college.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:12 PM ^
I got same email. Called admissions office and they said it was poorly worded - that nothing had changed. That should still expect to hear by 12/24 or so.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:25 PM ^
The cost of college is unsustainable and I am surprised it hasn’t reached a tipping point. It has to be coming soon. Trade schools or other careers really need to be emphasized in high schools. Plumbers, HVAC, etc can make a nice living and not be saddled with an insane amount of debt that will ruin your life.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:35 PM ^
In Michigan, trade school and apprenticed professionals can make a whole lot more than university grads from elite schools.
My BIL worked his way up to director of welding at a Michigan nuke plant and then invented his own role as specialty maker of tools unique to the plant. He lives in a low-rent district, owns multiple rental properties, hasn't been indebted after age 25 and earns $450k/year plus bennies. He's retiring age 55 and will consult to various industries with reasonable expectation of fully paid up lifestyle at second location, and nearly a million USD per annum plus the ability to reap the rewards from the patents his company would sit on but he will apply for (through me as a patent lawyer) and spin off.
College is a nice tradition if you can afford that. It's only a requirement if your future profession demands it, and few fields truly require the knowledge gained as a top graduate student. 0.02
December 12th, 2018 at 12:15 AM ^
(It is 1965)
December 12th, 2018 at 7:23 AM ^
Plumbing Has Its Advantages
After a long day in court and a late night at his office, a friend of mine who's a partner at a prestigious Manhattan law firm goes home and finds that his basement has been flooded due to a frozen pipe that burst. He calls a plumber who advertises that he’s available 24 hours a day for emergency calls.
The plumber arrives, checks the basement and tells my friend that it looks bad, but he thinks he can deal with it. He just needs to get some special tools, a wet vac and a fan from his truck.
My friend waits as the plumber goes into the basement and starts to work. About 45 minutes later, the plumber goes upstairs and tells my friend that he’s almost done. He just needs to get another tool from his truck, write up the bill and finish up.
After the plumber finishes the work, he asks my friend to come downstairs to check the work. My friend sees that the water is gone, the pipe has been fixed and the plumber set up a fan and air freshener. The plumber then hands my friend a bill for $1,000.
My friend says, “This is great. I’m impressed. But $1,000? You were here for only about an hour. I’m considered one of the top litigators in New York City. I’ve represented lots of important people. I don’t even charge that much for an hour of work.”
The plumber says, “Neither did I when I was a lawyer.”
December 11th, 2018 at 9:38 PM ^
Damn we are waiting to hear for our daughter too but didn't get that notice yet. She's already in at MSU.....