What You Need to Know if You Were Postponed by U-M
Early Action admission decisions are released by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Michigan in January each year.
When these decisions are released, some applicants will have their final admission decision postponed to the regular decision pool for consideration — what is more commonly referred to as being “deferred.” According to OUA, postponing a decision gives them additional time to review your credentials and determine how your strengths and academic achievements would fit with the composition and quality of the first-year applicant pool.
Understandably, this may cause deferred students to be nervous about the impact of OUA’s decision on their future at U-M and Michigan Ross, but there is no need to panic. To help ease concerns, I wanted to address four common questions related to being postponed and how it affects your Michigan Ross BBA application.
What is the two-tiered review process?
We review applications for the Michigan Ross BBA program on a rolling basis with three distinct admission release dates. However, applicants must first be admitted to U-M by OUA. Once you are admitted, your application is sent to Ross for a final decision. If your application is postponed by U-M, then the application is not sent to us, and we cannot give you a final decision yet.
What happens if my app is postponed?
OUA has an excellent FAQ page on what it means to be postponed. The page addresses what you can expect if you are postponed, how to submit the Expression of Continued Interest form in Enrollment Connect (which you should do), and how to submit recent high school grade updates (also known as Mid-Year Grade Reports). The decision timeline after being postponed is also mentioned. Once you have expressed your continued interest and submitted your mid-year grades, you must wait to hear back on your final admission decision. (If you did both of the previous steps, you’ve done all that you can do to better your chances of getting in, so try not to worry!) For tips on what to do while you’re waiting on a final decision, check out my previous blog post on this topic.
Can I be admitted to Ross after being postponed?
Yes, absolutely! We, at Michigan Ross, send out admission decisions on three select dates from winter to early spring. Check out my recent blog post, which lists these dates. And yes, we do and will admit students to the BBA program that were initially postponed by OUA for Early Action and then admitted for Regular Decision.
What are the next steps if I’m ultimately not offered admission to Michigan?
We recognize that not all applicants who were initially postponed by OUA will get a decision of admission. Thus, keep in mind that if you’re not admitted by OUA and your dream is still to come to Ross, you can always apply as a transfer student from another institution next year. And, it just so happens that I also wrote a blog post on our transfer process, too.
To sum it up
Overall, the admissions process at U-M is thorough on purpose. We put a lot of thought and care into developing each class of Ross BBA students. Remember, being postponed allows the university extra time to review your credentials to determine your strengths and academic achievement in the context of the entire applicant pool, but it doesn’t mean that you won’t be offered admission after the process has concluded.
