Rejection #2

The Michigan rejection came in the mail today, and like the Washington University rejection, this one is very kind, very gracious. A snippet: "Please know that our decision is meant to negate neither your talent nor your prospects -- it is simply our collective judgment that others have first claim on our attention at present... We wish you every success in pursuing further study." I know a rejection by any other name is still a rejection, but I am nonetheless incredibly grateful for the supportive and kind words, even if they are in stock letter form.

Also interesting, the letter quoted that "this was among the most impressive group of applicants in the program's history, and also the most numerous," accepting fewer than "5% of our applicants." I'm sure they say that every year is among their "most impressive group of applicants," but in terms of pure numbers, I had heard that Michigan had received more than 700 applications this year, which, of course, goes hand in hand with plummeting acceptance rates. With application numbers being quoted as being up across the board anywhere from 50-100%, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone how competitive this year is and will continue to be in comparison to years past.

At any rate, it's good to finally know about Michigan. That brings my batting average to one out of three, which I fully expect to get much worse in the coming days:

University of Illinois - accepted
University of Michigan - rejected
Washington University - rejected


Schools that I expect rejections from, based on news/already notified acceptances/general pessimism:

University of Iowa
Ohio State University
Indiana University
Purdue University
John Hopkins


And the rest (schools that have had little to no acceptance news as of yet):

University of Notre Dame
Syracuse University
Western Michigan University
Columbia College (Chicago)
Roosevelt University (Chicago)