UMich has long been a popular — and competitive — college because it has the best of both worlds. On the one hand, you’ve got tons of Wolverine school spirit, Division I teams to cheer on, and infamous tailgates. But it isn’t a party school; according to the QS World University Rankings, Michigan has been the #1 public university in the U.S. since 2019 and is #2 in leading research universities by volume.
If you’re here, though, the odds are that you already know all this. Yes, Michigan is a relatively large school, so they’re letting in more first-year undergrads than somewhere as tiny as Kalamazoo, for example. But they also get a landslide of applications. For the 2022-2023 school year, nearly 85,000 prospective first-year students applied; about 15,000 were admitted. That’s an acceptance rate of 18%. Beyond that, though, nearly 25% of applicants were neither let in nor rejected but offered a spot on the waitlist. Of those 21,078 waitlisted students, 15,076 — or 72% — accepted their spot on the waitlist.
Ultimately, Michigan offered admission to 77 students off the waitlist last year (yes, you’re reading that correctly — from those who accepted their spot on the waitlist, only half a percent had the chance to go). For the last 4 years, acceptance off the waitlist has fluctuated some, between 13 and .5%.
These are daunting odds, and we know that. But we’re here to help you craft the best strategy and make the most productive decisions for yourself at this stage, so read our tips below if you’re hoping to get into Michigan after being waitlisted.
GET ON THE WAITLIST
This point sounds obvious, but it’s the first step. You’re not actually on the waitlist until you accept your spot on it. You’ll do that through Enrollment Connect, where you’ll find the option to “Reply to Waitlist Offer” under the “Action Items” menu.
Of course, you don’t want to accept your spot unless you’re interested in UMich seriously enough that you are willing to play the waiting game. What we mean by this is that, however unlikely it is, the best case scenario is that you get off the waitlist, and at that point you’ll lose your deposit at whatever school you have already committed to. Sometimes, students decline their spot on the waitlist because they got into schools they’re equally (or even more) excited about and know where they will go, having no need to join the waitlist. Sometimes, students who had considered Michigan their top choice still decline the waiting list spot because, well, they just want to be done with the whole process. It’s hard for people to imagine their future while holding out hope to hear from somewhere else, especially considering that if they did hear from that place they’d have to rearrange all their plans with short notice or entirely at the last minute.
LINE UP A BACKUP
On that note, this part isn’t fun to hear, but as college counselors we want our students to be fully informed and prepared to make the choice best for them. The vast majority of waitlisted students will not get off the waitlist, so you’ve got to establish alternate plans. That might not appeal to you if your heart is set on Michigan, but it means that if you don’t get in later on you’ll have a great school to attend in the fall.
Spots open up to the waitlist because accepted students declined their offer of admission. That means you cannot avoid making a decision hoping the waitlist will start moving before the commitment deadline; that doesn’t happen. Students don’t get admitted off the waitlist until May at the earliest, so you’re not able to put off choosing a school to commit to until after you know about Michigan for sure.
With that decision made, you are ready to do the things within your control to maximize your chances of getting into Michigan. You have another path set up, so you can relax knowing you are going to college, start getting excited about that school, and proceed confidently in updating Michigan and putting your best foot forward.
REINFORCE YOUR INTEREST
The last step here is to update Michigan. Some schools recommend sending letters of continued interest through their portal, but Michigan doesn’t instruct students to do this. In fact, many students feel uncertain about what to do because UM specifically states that it does not accept additional supporting documents.
However, you’ll want to get in touch with admissions — by emailing their general email address or contacting your admissions rep if you have one — to send an informal but professional message affirming your commitment to Michigan and letting them know about accomplishments or news you’ve received since turning in your application. This should have four parts and ideally be less than 400 words. Remember, you don’t want to seem insistent or disrespectful of the fact that they don’t have the capacity to review copious addenda to your application. This is only to tell them information they don’t yet know that would help them re-evaluate your application in the event that they have spots to offer to the waitlist.
Formal Opening
Keep this simple! “Dear Michigan Office of Undergraduate Admissions” or “Dear [Name of your Admissions Counselor here].”
Reinforce Interest
This part of your email is akin to the “Why Us” essay of your original application. You want to reassure admissions that UMich is still your first choice and write 1-2 sentences reintroducing yourself, stating specifically why Michigan is the best place for you to pursue your goals.
Short Update
Michigan’s waitlist is unranked, so they don’t have an automatic admission process once they have spots to re-allocate. In other words, if they have ten spots, they don’t just let in names #1-10 on the waitlist.
That is why these updates matter. Don’t forget — if you’re on the waitlist at all, Michigan has determined that you’re qualified to attend should the opportunity become available. If you have anything noteworthy to report, let them know. They’ll consider this when looking through the waitlist later on and determining who to extend offers to. If you’ve undertaken an individual project, received an honor or award, been elected to a leadership position, or seen a big improvement in a course grade, you should make sure the office of admissions has that information. If you’re having trouble composing this part of the email correctly, reach out to us for more guidance.
Professional Closing
End your letter politely and briefly. Write a sentence thanking admissions for their time and restating your hope and specific reason for wanting to attend. Then, sign off with a “sincerely” or “respectfully,” and you’re done!
FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS
Plan to submit your letter in early April. At this point, hold tight — make peace with the fact that you’re playing the waiting game and only take steps that the university invites you to take. In other words, don’t spam the office or follow up asking for updates before they have released further decisions — there’s not much further you can do at this point, and you don’t want to risk their admissions office remembering you for bad reasons (making something think to themselves, “oh yeah! That’s the kid who somehow found my home phone number” is anything but helpful).
BE PATIENT
You won’t hear from Michigan until May, and they may not give you an answer until as late as July. Rest assured that you’ve done all you could — you gave it your best effort, and you will have a wonderful, exciting future, whether that’s at UMich or somewhere else.
If you’ve been waitlisted and need additional support completing this final step on your college journey, we’re here to help.