The University of Michigan is regularly ranked in the top 5 public universities in the United States. The undergraduate program offers top-tier academic programs alongside an iconic on-campus culture. Mich has always been popular within the state of Michigan, with a little over 50% of first-years coming from the state, but it has also become extremely popular for out-of-state applicants. This has driven the acceptance rate down to 15.6%. However, if an applicant is not living in Michigan the acceptance rate is still misleading. Because the in-state acceptance rate can be assumed to be much higher than that for out-of-state students (they don’t actually report it), it skews the average. In reality, getting into Mich from outside of Michigan is like getting into an Ivy League university.
For children of Mich alums, the question is: will my legacy status help my application, especially if applying from out of state?
Mich does not have a policy of giving legacies preference. And, as a rule, they say that they do not practice legacy admissions. UMich President Santa Ono even recently stated that, “we do not have legacy admission here at the University of Michigan.” They are very open and clear about this. “Legacy status,” they say, “is not considered as part of U-M’s undergraduate admissions holistic review process.”
However, if you are a legacy applicant, this isn’t a moment to close the metaphorical book and move forward as if you’re not a legacy. We know from experience that, while legacies are not given additional consideration due to their legacy status, it is noticed. The admissions office, and the development or fundraising office, do know when a legacy has applied. So, while a legacy applicant may not be given additional consideration by Mich, the applicant themselves (which is to say, you) need to know that they are looking. In this post, we’ll break down what legacy applicants must do to maximize on their status even if Mich doesn’t proactively offer a legacy advantage.
With shifting policies, navigating elite college admissions can be tricky. We guide our students through so their experience is seamless.
First, let’s look a little deeper into the role (or lack thereof) of legacy admissions at Mich.
What’s going on with Legacy Admissions at Mich?
Legacy admissions preference is fairly standard among schools on the caliber of Mich, but the practice has been under fire for years for giving preferential treatment to those who already have access to top schools.
About a decade ago, back in 2013, admissions officials at Mich defended legacy preferences and explicitly stated that “application reviewers take into consideration applicants who have a direct relationship, or stepfamily relationship, with someone who has attended the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor as a degree-seeking student.”
Now, the webpages that said as much are no longer up on the Mich website. However, the fact that giving legacies preference used to be the policy, and many of the admissions officials who were in the office at the time are still there, means that changing the website doesn’t mean the culture has been completely shaken up.
And there is a contradiction baked into the Mich policy. They say that they don’t consider it when making admissions decisions, but they do when projecting enrollment. Legacy applicants who are admitted choose to enroll at a higher rate than non-legacy applicants, so Mich factors this into their math when deciding how many to admit. This underlines that they do see legacy status, even if they are working to reduce how much that matters.
What Should You Do?
A legacy applicant at Mich may not have any advantage — but they also might. The application readers may not even know that an applicant is a legacy — or it’ll be considered when deciding who (and how many) to offer a seat to. It might not matter at all, or maybe it will.
So, we challenge our students to move forward as if legacy could help them. However, that doesn’t actually change any of the expectations. Students have to be exceptional regardless, and this is how to do that.
For the Applicant:
Grades
If you want to get into Mich, especially as an out-of-state applicant, you must have exceptional grades. A strong Mich GPA is nearly perfect, 3.9-4.0. This is not negotiable if you want to get into Mich, whether you are in-state or not. If an applicant has low grades on their transcript, they need to be followed by a come-back story. A low score in a course sophomore year should be followed by an upwards trajectory junior year and senior fall.
Mich also has required course distributions to be eligible for admission, including a foreign language requirement. Before selecting courses for senior year, students must confirm that they will be meeting or exceeding the Mich requirements if they want to even be considered for admission.
Scores
Mich is currently test optional, but they say that they “will review the policy on an ongoing basis.” This means that submitting SAT or ACT results may be required in the future, but for legacy applicants we venture to suggest that it has always been required.
A strong SAT score for Mich is above 730 on each of the two sections. A strong ACT is above a 33. These are not cut-offs, as Mich doesn’t have minimum scores and hasn’t required scores in recent years anyway.
While Mich doesn’t formally give legacies advantage, they do notice when someone is a legacy — and they don’t give those applicants a pass or lower the bar. They expect exceptionalism across the board, and showing really strong scores communicates that an applicant is operating at the level Mich expects.
Activities
When it comes to activities, Mich sets it up like this: “reviewers have the opportunity and responsibility to consider a comprehensive range of factors in evaluating applications and to admit applicants who are both academically qualified and have demonstrated their potential to contribute to, and be successful students at, the University of Michigan.” They even rate application in five areas, with a score for each:
Secondary School Academic Performance
Educational Environment
Counselor and Teacher Recommendation
Essays
Awards/honors, involvement, leadership, and service (or, more concisely, activities)
Each section can be rated as one of four ‘scores,’ Below Average/Poor, Average/Fair, Good, Excellent, or Outstanding.
So, if an applicant has the grades and emphasizes their college readiness with their scores, if they clearly communicate their passion for Mich and help the application readers envision them on campus, if they have outstanding recommendations and exceptional essays, the final metric that the application readers will turn to is how the applicant spends their time when they aren’t in pursuit of a grade.
When picking what to actually do to make a strong impression, passion is crucial. Activities, whether they are clubs, internships, jobs, or volunteering, need to feel authentic to the applicant and their interests. Phoning things in doesn’t play well. Ultimately, impressive doesn’t matter if you don’t truly care.
Apply Early
Mich offers Early Action for applicants, and we strongly recommend that legacy students take advantage of it. If there is ever a moment that Mich will notice that an applicant is a legacy, it is in the Early Action pool.
If you want Mich, the best way to emphasize your intense focus and commitment is to apply early.
For the Family Member: As Mich minimizes the impact of being a legacy applicant in their admissions process, there isn’t as much for the family member who attended Mich to do (compared to when applying to schools that openly practice legacy preference). However, if there is an opportunity to engage with the university in a way that the family member hasn’t in recent years, such as attending events or donating, it doesn’t hurt.
The Michigan application has been changing a lot in recent years, from deprioritizing legacy to not requiring standardized tests. They’ve also been changing up the options applicants have for charting their future at Mich. Mich now allows students to apply to the Ross School of Business directly as a senior in high school, rather than having to apply to a different first-year admitting school and then, separately, for Preferred Admission to Ross.
Given the frequency at which Mich has been shaking things up, we highly recommend checking in regularly with the admissions website and, if possible, bringing an expert onto your team.
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