Don’t Believe Everything You Hear: What You Really Need to Know About Our Decision Releases This Year
Our process takes time and we are very intentional about it. Do not overthink the release dates -- and do not let others stress you out with potential inaccurate information!
After reading the various social media threads over the weekend (College Confidential, Reddit, etc.), I wanted to clear up a few details about our Michigan Ross BBA decision release process. And yes, I do sometimes read these threads.
I know that the college admissions process is stressful and can create anxieties that applicants may not have felt before, especially during this extraordinary year. To help ease that anxiety, many of you use social media to connect with each other and post comforting responses to questions posed on these platforms, and I very much appreciate the empathy I see there. Despite this peer-to-peer support, having your questions answered directly from the source is important.
So, to be transparent and clear up any misinformation you may have read, here are a few thoughts on our admissions process in this unique year.
Changes to decision releases
The February 19 and March 19 Michigan Ross BBA decision releases had both offers of admission and notices of denial. This is different from previous years, as we often only release admits on the first release (which is typically late January/early February). In addition, we have pared down to three release dates instead of four due to the University of Michigan’s extended Early Action deadline in November. Going from four release dates to three also required us to send denial decisions in our first release date so that applicants could start considering all of their college options. Here is a previous blog post with a bit more insight into the admissions process this year.
Why have I not heard yet?
As you would expect, the extended Early Action timeline and three release date schedule has also shifted our BBA application review process. We have a larger volume of applications to review than we normally would this time of year. Not to mention new admits from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions that will be in our review load soon.
The April 16 decision release will include offers of admission and denial. Contrary to what I have read online, the last release is not all notices of denial and never has been. Remember that we are thorough with our holistic review process. This requires time to evaluate each applicant, so that we can assemble the best class possible to enhance the student experience over the next four years. Please check out this blog post for “waiting game” strategies.
Will there be a waitlist?
Yes, we do anticipate having a wait list this year, as we do every year. Waitlists are important for us to manage our enrolling class. And this year, being a pandemic, it is harder to gauge which admits intend to enroll and will indeed enroll. As I have stated before in a blog post on our waitlist process, -- a waitlist spot means we think you would be a good fit for the program, and if we have room, you could be offered a spot in the class. For those who are offered a spot on our waitlist on the April 16 release date, you must accept this waitlist offer in your Enrollment Connect portal by May 1.
This is not a random process
It may feel like college admissions is a random process of application deadlines and decision releases, but I assure you that it is not. We have a highly trained team of application readers, admissions staff, and faculty colleagues within our Dean’s office that put intentional effort into each review and use research-backed policies to make admissions decisions. The team works hard to ensure that we are admitting and enrolling the best class for the Michigan Ross BBA Program -- and that level of dedication takes time, pandemic or not.
